So, my current physio was now suspecting tendonitis, so I went to the doc to see if a cortizone shot was an option…anything to get going again, as long working hours, crappy food and zero exercise is making me balloon out badly. Oh and the small matter of grading in November.
Regular Doc was away, so saw a different one, who did one (simple) test and says “Nope, that’s a tear and you can’t do anything”.
Not really happy with the way that that answer was produced, I asked around if anyone knew of a shoulder specialist and ended up with a different phsyio, who specialized in shoulder injuries.
After a battery of tests, he thinks it’s a small tear in the superspinatus (and not deltoid, which the Doc so brazenly diagnosed).
I got 10 days of light exercises, after which I have to go back for a review and then hopefully will be able to start working with some light weights…this times in when my current work project *should* start ramping down and maybe I’ll even be able to go to the dojo and at least work on some footwork.
So, this time it’s a combination of a new shoulder injury and an awful lot of work.
Not sure what the shoulder issue is. Physio is slightly mystified and it’s not improving (3+ weeks now).
Work is also demanding crazy hours at the moment (70+ hours per week), so even if I were fit, I’m not sure I could make it to practice.
However, the Vancouver Taikai is only 3 weeks away, so I need to go to practice this week (shoulder injury or not) to find out what I have.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so sore after a taikai before. It also became clear that my toenail was going to fall off. (It finally did today..it looks disgusting!).
Crossfit Monday and Wednesday was a bit of a chore, but by Thursday my energy levels had picked up again and pretty much carried on where I left.
Friday, I decided that it would be a wonderful idea to first do a Crossfit workout (mainly cardio based) and *then* go to kendo. (I had work Saturday and was going snowboarding Sunday, so couldn’t work out those days). It sorta worked. Paced myself during kihon and the first two ji-geiko’s were fine. Maybe not at my quickest, but it worked. Last one, against David, (who was going back to Oz for a few months), I started to run out of steam and it went on for a lot longer than I would have liked, before I finally got him on a degashira-men…and then I was done!.
Oh and I also saw a video of my daihyosen fight…and it was not quite as I thought!. Funny how the mind filters things.
So..Steveston Taikai. This year was the 50th, probably making it one of the oldest taikais outside Japan and this year had 330-odd participants.
Aside from the ‘Fresh-legs’ Thursday a week or so ago, I have been very happy with the progress of my kendo and have been feeling largely invincible and as such, should feel good about the taikai. However, knowing me, the kendo I do in the dojo, rarely turns up on the shiai-jo and another performance where I let my self down was not really welcome, so I was more nervous than usual..
I shouldn’t have worried. While there’s certainly stuff that didn’t come across to the shiai-jo, it was a huge improvement. Individuals first and now even the Steveston has the 4th dan+ in the morning, but only on one court and there was *a lot* of participants. The judging was also very strict and only very solid points got awarded.
First opponent was S. Lee from NCKF. I got close with the men a few times, but he also had a quite good shot at my kote…more telling was that I got *really* close with kote-nuki-men twice. First one it hit the side of his men. Second one was pretty solid, but maybe not quite enough ki-ken-tai. On to encho and fairly early on, I pulled it off a third time, this time with all 3 flags going up.
I then faced a long wait for the 2nd round to start. My opponent was a guy called Matsu-xxxxx? from Hawaii. This one was a lot more tricky. He very clearly wasn’t going to commit to any attacks and my usual can-openers (gyaku-do) wasn’t really firing. On to encho and it felt like it would probably go to hantei. I was feeling ok with that, but then I think I also ran out of steam a bit and he started to pick up my timing and got close to my men (of all things) twice and I think that flipped it in his favour and all the flags went up for him.
So, out in second round, but aside from the last minute of encho, I was overall happy with my performance.
I was then shanghai’d by Murao-sensei to help out refereeing on the 5th court (in a separate hall) and was then there for the next 3 hours until the start of the teams.
With the regular Vancouver team being depleted by members fighting for Team Canada, the line up was: Shin, Sukhyun, Me, David and (Ray) Kato. I don’t like much fighting in the chuken spot due to it often being filled with draw-specialists, but today I didn’t really care.
First opponent was Kogakukan, who were missing 1, so the first one was a bye, Sukhyun won. (by 2 hansoku’s!). My opponent was fairly tall, but again, I established the degashira-threat and then pulled out a slightly weird nuki-men from close distance and a morote-kote.
(Steveston team taikai ends when there’s a winner, so that was that round).
Next up was Highline. Their senpo aside, they may lack the speed/power of many of the teams, but their certainly crafty and can be dangerous.
Shin drew, Sukhyun drew and I was then fighting De Jong (Snr). I’ve lost to him before and was keen to make up for it and that I did. ”Hajime!;A bit of seme and , Pow!, men-uchi. “Nihonmen”. Same pressure again, opponent reacts to it and, Pock!, morote-kote. “Shobu-ari”.
David was then fighting Elliot-sensei and while he may not have the speed, age and reach of David, he still pulled him into fighting his game and David eventually drew 1-1 after going 0-1 down to a crafty kote.
Kato, however, rusty and injured, won 2-0.
Next up was Steveston “A”.
Shin & Sukhyun drew again and I know had to fight Nakano, who’s rather (in)famous for his physical play. I, full of confidence in my own physical ability, was not going to shy away from it and while it was within the bounds of the rules, it probably wasn’t pretty…and in fact bloody!. At one point my men got knocked half-off, and as I stopped to re-tie it, I notice that my left big-toe was bleeding. As Shin brought over taping supplies, he reminded me that I didn’t need to play this way (Actually I think I did, but I should have changed earlier), so after roughly doubling the size of by toe with tape (it bled through the first layer in no time), we re-started and I started working on setting up the men and straight away realized that there was something to be had. Unfortunately we then ran out time and then both David and Kato drew and it was time for Daihyosen. I was ready to suggest Kato, but Shin then said that it would probably be Nakano for Steveston and asked if I wanted to finish it…and much to my surprise I said yes.
I’ve never been in that position before, but I was feeling good, moving well (throbbing big toe aside) and whether they sent out Nakano or not, I wanted to finish it.
Nakano it was and I started out where I left with 2 men attacks that beat his timing and tested his blocking. Shin told me afterwards that he thought I would get the men on the next attack and seemingly so did Nakano, so I feinted towards the men and jumped in for the now-open kote as the hands went up to block and while it may not have been the cleanest of cuts, it made a nice big fat “Pop” and 3 flags went up…and I must admit…that was a very nice feeling.
Semi-final time and the opponent was NCKF and that was always going to be a tough match-up. Shin lost, Sukhyun lost (both 0-1), so it do or die time. With David’s opponent being pretty tough, ideally a win, but at the very least, a draw. My opponent, Park was tougher than I would have liked and also physically stronger than I expected and I think my energy levels were fading at the point. He was also playing carefully and neither of us got close to scoring and it ended in a draw. David then faced Ichimura and while he did well, he still lost 0-1 and then, that was that. (NCKF then lost to Team Canada in the final, but certainly made them fight for it!).
1 match lost (on hantei), 3 wins, 1 Daihyosen win and 1 draw. No points lost .3rd place in teams.
What’s more important, than rather than scrapping through it, as I usually do, this was largely my kendo. For large parts of the matches, I was in control (of my self at least), my timing was good and when I hit, it was solid points. Gyaku-do just wasn’t working today and I still struggle to see the katate-kote opportunities in shiai…but still, I think it’s safe to say that Jodan 2.0 has arrived.
A lot of this should be credited to Crossfit. I haven’t spent that much time in dojo, but the time spent in the gym has not only given me more strength & speed, but also a new confidence in my physical abilities. This means a more stable kamae, stronger,crisper hits and more explosive speed.
I took an unscheduled rest day Wednesday, as I somewhat overdid it on the Tuesday at CF, so I was eager to go for Thursdays keiko and for the first in ages, with fresh legs…and frankly, it was awful. First practice with David was ok. Then second one, with Sukhyun it started to go awry. After being initially on the back foot, I regained control somewhat, but started the opportunities I created, by not compensating enough for his movement and then I overcompensated on the next one, etc. Consolation price was that I pulled of a nice degashira-men early on in ippon-shobu, but then with the last keiko with Shin, it just completely fell apart. We normally do sanbon-shobu and after losing a gyaku-do! (my trick!!), I again started to regain control, but I couldn’t hit anything. Further, I also started expressing my frustration more and more, something I know I shouldn’t do. After more than 5 minutes, I managed to give him an almighty whack on the elbow (sorry!) and we stopped it there. I must have created at least 10+ decent scoring chances. Straight seme-men, debana-men, kote (morote & katate), gyaku-do, even uchiotoshi-men, but every single one of them was slightly off, slightly deep, slightly too soft. Aaargh!.
I guess the lesson is never to go to practice with fresh legs?.
So, January came and went.
As mentioned, I bumped up my Crossfit schedule to 4 times a week and combined with kendo and snowboarding, that meant exercising 6-8 times per week.
The first week was tough, 4 CF sessions in a row and by the time kendo came around, I had nothing left, but also that all I needed to do was to get through that session and it would start to get easier…and it did.
Second week was still tough and I was still very tired when Thursday’s kendo came around, but at least my body wasn’t screaming in agony as in the first week…and by the third week, I was actually getting used to it and some of the movement, which had been rather stiffled by stiff & sore legs, started to return.
My degashira-men in particular was starting to work real well, as my timing also seemed to take a step in the right direction. I can now, with much more confidence, set it up and then keep pushing forward until they attack and then pick them off. It so easy when it works!.
Andy Fisher (UK Team member, now also Tozando/Miyako bogu rep) was then in town last week and came to both our practices and it’s always nice to meet old kendo friends again. On the Friday, he held a small talk about what goes into manufacturing a bogu and the various materials/construction methods and while it was perhaps mainly aimed at the beginners, I also found it quite educational.
As I started 2012 with a cold, it wasn’t exactly a great start, but I got it kicked off yesterday with the first workout of the year and tomorrow I’ll have the first practice of the year.
As for Crossfit, I’ve done the same as last year and upgraded my membership to enable me to go almost every day in January. Combined with kendo and snowboarding, that means getting some kind of exercise every day.
My long terms goals for Crossfit is just to get stronger and faster. Short term goals are improving the O-lifts (to a 70kg snatch & 90kg clean & jerk) and then finally nail down kipping pull-ups and double unders.
For kendo, the primary goal is just to practice regularly. No month+ breaks this year.
I will be working towards the godan examination in Nov/Dec and while it’s by no means the ‘end goal’, it’s what will be deciding my short & medium term goals, which are:
Short term:
- Regain my sense of distance.
- Loosen up footwork
- Continue progress on katate-kote. (Build hitting dummy!)
- Get rid of knee-bending ‘seme’. (it doesn’t work, stupid)
- Never back down
Medium term:
- Continue work on presence
- Continue work in degashira-men.
- Improve the quality of the attacks. (Be more picky, be more decisive)
- Maintain presence in shiai. Even if it means losing.
- Never back down.
Next taikai is about a month away with the Steveston Taikai, which will be the first real test of my ‘resolve’….
Yesterday was my last practice of 2011 and it wasn’t half bad. We also had a nanadan sensei from Japan visiting to add to the occasion, who was a former (current?) policeman.
Dean Ara-sensei also turned up and we had a pretty good turnout.
We had a quick and efficient kihon-section, which finished early in order to get as much chance to practice with Hasegawa-sensei as possible.
Having arrived late (as always), I still wasn’t warm and had a few ’rounds’ before lining up. I particularly enjoyed watching his kote, which was easily his best attack. Very compact movement and with a solid drive forward, he would force the reaction and pick off your kote, the moment you moved.
When it was my turn, I went into jodan straight away, but it was a bit of a mixed bag. Partly, I think, because he was being rather polite and tried to play at our level, but a the same time, he would not acknowledge anything less than perfect. My timing was ok, but I struggled with distance. (My feet slipping badly on the floor didn’t help) and on the few opportunities I got, I didn’t quite pull it off.
I then practiced with Ara-sensei, who was in a bit more feisty mood than usual and it was a bit hammer and tongs, before settling down into a more, say, productive mood. He easily brings out my best kendo and it’s a joy to practice with him, but I also know that it’s largely because he allows it. I’m a little worred that I’ll get lulled into a false sense of security, but as long as I use it as a ‘positive image’ training, then it should be all good. (Besides, there’s a dojo full of people to otherwise pull me back down).
I pulled out one of the best morote-kotes I’ve done for a long time, largely due to moving my body correctly. I also had a shout at a good degashira-men, but foot-slippage made it really awkward.
I still really struggle with distance. Slippery floor and lack of consistent training gives me not only little idea of how far I can reach, but also how far I actually move, given X amount of effort.
Anyways, that was it for 2011. It’s probably the least amount of kendo I’ve done in a year since I started and I very much hope to change that for 2012.
As predicted, it’s messed up again. It wasn’t the tennis table game that did it, it only highlighted that it never really got fixed properly, so it was back to the physio.
The good news is that nothing is torn, etc, but the muscles on the back of the shoulder are still not functioning is they should and the shoulder keeps slipping forward, impinging on the bicep tendon and causing it to be inflamed.
Anyways, it means that I just have to be even more careful during practice, but it’s not that simple…so this Friday, Shin had asked to me to take the practice as neither he or Takashi could make it. Normally I don’t mind, but my footwork is still very rusty and I’m really struggling with control of my right arm, so it’s hard to make convincing demonstrations. I do 45 mins of fairly basic kihon (kirikaeshi, men, kote, kote-men, do, kote-do, kakarigeiko) and then it’s usually free practice.
New guy is visiting from another dojo and he comes up to ask for a practice and I start of in chudan, as per my ‘own’ etiquette. When I change to jodan, it becomes reasonably easy to hit him, but it’s not really that convincing, to be honest, as I’m struggling with getting the distance right.
I practice with two more people and again, the men cut is not really there, but I’m having a surprising amount of success with the kote. It’s not as clean or as sharp as I would like, but the timing is good and I’m getting a decent fumikomi too.
My shoulder is now screaming at me, so I decide that it’s enough and sit down and take me men off….only to notice an older guy in dojo, who wasn’t there when we started and then realize that it’s Okusa-sensei! He must have arrived after we started the free practice…so back on with the men and line up.
In chudan, I can occasionally penetrate his defenses, but when I change to jodan, it’s very difficult. I get a weak morote-kote at the end and he calls it for ‘ippon’, but I think that’s more to end the practice than actually acknowledging that’s a decent cut.
Still got a lot of work to do to get back to my old level. Yeah, speed and strength might be there, but the footwork isn’t.
Kendo practice has been replaced by redecorating our new condo.
We’ll get a new big-ish balcony, which means I can finally build a hitting dummy.
At the same time, I think I managed to bugger up my right shoulder again, by playing table-tennis last weekend. I thought it was now strong enough for a casual game, but it appears not and I’m off to see the physio (again) tomorrow.
Bah.