Note To Self...Go Train...

[SteyrAUG]

This is a repost of an older topic I once put on another forum. I've been pretty good and am training two to three nights a week, but I have to prioritize a little better.

So it is a reminder for me, and if anyone else is motivated and benefits...even better.

A Moment Of Incredible Peace And Clarity...

Tonight I picked up my sword again.

For nearly 2 years it sat neglected, save for an occassional cleaning, in a Katana Kake in the back room where I last put it down.

For you see, I had gotten "busy." Work, responsibilities, obligations and a host of various other distactions had monopolized and occupied my time. This meant I was often still at my desk at 3am and when I did get to bed I would lay awake another 2 hours thinking about all the things that needed to be done.

All day long my mind would race from one matter of great importance to the next. Sometimes I would forget to eat lunch and only the inevitable headache would remind me to eat.

And today I was in the back room going through my stuff looking for something important when I noticed my Katana on it's stand. A blade I once trained with so frequently it was a part of me. Almost akin to a child I had abandoned, but more of a faithful companion I was once had.

So I took it from the back room and moved it to a place of prominence in my office.

And after dinner after tending to a few items of business I pushed away from my desk piled high with distractions and picked up my sword.

I stood in the humid night air with my blade in my obi and tried to calm my mind and focus. I performed the first drawing kata of Iai known as Mae. The weapon escaped its scabbard and performed two lethal (though still something short of flawless) cuts in the air before returning to the saya with a crisp "snick."

My katana still knew me and the movements were still there. Fortunately two years of neglect had not completely eroded two and a half decades of muscle memory. But things were still a bit off.

Within a half hour of peforming draws and cuts I had tuned out all distractions. I still saw and heard the kids playing down the street. The dog running through yards. My neighbor working on his car in his driveway. The various critters that buzzed through the air around me. But my focus was on the sword.

The movements began to fall into a well worn groove of practiced skills.

Within an hour my mind didn't need to be reminded of anything and I entered a state of Mushin where the sword moved without my direct mental participation.

And within 2 hours I entered a state of Zanshin.

Everything left my mind. I was alone in the world with only the katana I held in my hands. It was a state of pureness.

It reminded my why I train. It remprimanded me for the loss of skill I suffered. And it showed me the way back. It showed me a way of life.

Every day train.

[sensei8]

Rekindling ones passion fueled fire is never a waste of time. Your story touched my heart in many different ways. I thank you for it!!

[Zaine]

This was a fantastic story. Thank you for sharing.

[Nidan Melbourne]

thank you for sharing your story

[Kusotare]

I performed the first drawing kata of Iai known as Mae.

Did you study with a ZNKR group?

I think "Mae" is the first of their 12 Seitei-gata.

Have you studied any older systems?

K.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for sharing. Life gets busy, and its tough to train at times. This is great motivation.

[SteyrAUG]

I performed the first drawing kata of Iai known as Mae.

Did you study with a ZNKR group?

I think "Mae" is the first of their 12 Seitei-gata.

Have you studied any older systems?

K.

Nope. The All Japan Kendo Fed. actually encompasses many systems so I'm not sure if the Kenjutsu or Iaijutsu systems I studied are older than those representative systems or not.

I do know Mae is as common to most systems of Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu that I've seen as Naihanchi / Tekki is to most Karate systems. It's also found in most of the Iaido I've seen.

I've studied some very old systems, not quite "Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu" old, but still pre Meiji and thus what I'd consider "koryu." As an example the Kendo I practiced growing up used a bokken for the first couple years only putting on armor and grabbing shinai a couple times a week to practice the techniques we had drilled the other days of the week. Eventually we graduated to steel blades at intermediate rank still using armor and shinai once or twice a week to "spar."

There were no multiple point matches, single point and the match is over because somebody is dead. There were no strike backs allowed (because you would actually be dead) and shinai "flicks" (or any other movement that could not be done with a katana) were not permitted or counted.

Matches were single point and the survivor got a fresh opponent except in cases of "ai uchi" where both parties died. Then the next two in line were up.

I studied with a teacher of no particular fame who grew up in Kyoto and taught us an amalgamation of various ryu which we simply considered "kendo" or "kenjutsu." So on one hand in terms of pedigree we were less authentic than some budo systems but on the other hand in terms of technique we were more orthodox than many established systems.

My teacher of course didn't consider what he was doing unique enough to declare a new system and promote himself to grandmaster or soke as was sometimes the practice in the US at the time.

[Kusotare]

Nope. The All Japan Kendo Fed. actually encompasses many systems so I'm not sure if the Kenjutsu or Iaijutsu systems I studied are older than those representative systems or not.

Do you know the names of the systems you studied or do you mean that you learnt some techniques/kata from certain systems?

It's interesting that you use the word system, because in the case of many Koryu Bujutsu they are exactly that! They are a system of education (ie teaching key principles that allow us to fight efficiently)- not just a bunch of fighting techniques.

In essence, many of the kata practiced are done so for educational purposes rather than for immediate combative application.

This goes even further when we talk about sogo bujutsu ryu-ha as these systems are designed to pass on shared core principles in both the armed and unarmed section of their syllabus.

Gendai Iaido however has a different raison d’être of course.

My teacher of course didn't consider what he was doing unique enough to declare a new system and promote himself to grandmaster or soke as was sometimes the practice in the US at the time.

Credit to him, that’s a refreshing change.

K.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Kusotare

[SteyrAUG]

Do you know the names of the systems you studied or do you mean that you learnt some techniques/kata from certain systems?

K.

I do, but again we never studied any system exclusively so it really doesn't matter.

[Kusotare]

Do you know the names of the systems you studied or do you mean that you learnt some techniques/kata from certain systems?

K.

I do, but again we never studied any system exclusively so it really doesn't matter.

The reason I ask is because I’m interested in how you got it to work.

A Koryu system is the sum of its constituent parts.

Take techniques / kata out of any said system and they most likely become useless (or at least less useful).

Practicing kata out of the context of the system may look and feel very nice to do, but unless you know how to connect the dots it’s a pretty empty experience.

That’s why I was interested in the systems from which you say you have knowledge of kata and how you linked them up to the bigger picture of your training.

K.