JAPAN TRAINING - JULY 19, 2013 - OMAGARI

I am writing this part of the email update on our lunch break, sitting in the Budokan lobby with a small bit of breeze coming through.  The first two training days were rainy days, so cooler even though humid, but today the heat has come back with a vengeance.   I'm also suffering from some gastro problem which is making me pretty miserable.  I didn't even make it through the first 45 minutes of warmups and moving basics before my body began cramping up.  Misery.

But as Demura Sensei says, "It's okay to quit...you just can't be first."  So you press on.  I stopped to get something for my stomach at a convenience store and had an interesting pantomime routine with the lady clerk with much pointing to stomach and butt and gesturing. She was very perceptive and found something that at least calmed me down.

The three hour morning session consisted of many many repetitions of Sanchin and Tensho kata before we were divided up into those testing and those not.  Of course, the folks grading get to be on the front row where nothing escapes the eyes of Shihan Fujiwara, Lipinski,  Rasto, Naidoo.    Many repitions of Tensho and Sanchin and many many corrections as those two kata are 60% of the grading.  If you don't show well there, you are failed.  The nuances I'm picking up from Fujiwara Shihan, and how they apply in defense application are incredible.  It's nice to feel like a student and not an instructor.

There are low windows and high windows in the Budokan (see the photo) and outside there is an elementary school and some beautiful gardens.  After many reps of kata and heat you get into a trance.  I swear I was watching the garden grow and the reflection of the sunlight on the floor was like another bank of windows.  Very strange.    More later.

Tough day so far.  I start to compensate for my bad knees when they become sore and less flexible as the hours of constant training role by, and when I do, something else goes south.  As I mentioned, I was cramping up immediately this morning, and after lunch my left hip seized up and  I could barely stand because of the pain.    Sorry, Demura Sensei, but I did have to sit and stretch while the group pressed on through and hour or better of spirited kumite drills.  Then it was back to more kata for the final hour of training and I'll be damned if I was going to keep sitting, so joined back up with the 6th dan bunch for Seisan kata.  It's amazing how much you learn about kata and application after 30 or so reps with Fujiwara Shihan instructing and  then watching us like a hawk to make sure we put his instruction into it.  My hip actually felt much better.  Not good, mind you, but I was standing!  I'll take that!

Dinner tonight at the ryokan was absolutely incredible: miso soup, agedashi tofu, a curry with beef and potatoes, pickled veggies, a semi-baked fish, watermelon, and of course, a big mug of Kirin draft beer.  Afterwards, many of us sat around the dining room having good company and telling many tall tales.  At the table were USA, Canada,  India, Aussies, Slovakian, Brits, and no doubt one or two other countries.  You can imagine the accents.  It is like having a huge extended family and great fun.   You always tell yourself that you will only have a beer or two, but everyone who drops in seems to have brought something to add to the liquor smorgasbord.   You know that between the hot bath and the training you will sweat it out quickly.  I'm actually trying to be quite moderate, but you learn quickly to leave drink in your cup or glass or someone will fill it again.

I'm now in the laundromat (as usual) and it is about 6:30 a.m.  Today we are taking a couple of busses to some place in the mountains for "waterfall training".  So much for our day off.  I'm sure it will be enjoyable, but my body would prefer doing nothing at all.   Tonight is our Seiwakai party which s an amazing affair of food and karaoke.  More on that later.

 

 

The Incredible Floor Cam.

 The windows and reflections in the Budokan