Last year in kendo keiko I was under the strange delusion that all four datotsu-bui (men, ko-te, do and tsuki) were equally important. 3-dan aite went ge-dan (dipped the ken sen), leaving men and tsuki wide open. I had a long time (in a kendo sense) to think men or tsuki ? men was too obvious so tsuki. Ai-te was furious and that was our kakari keiko over! Other people have told me since that in the dojo during keiko, tsuki is very rude and you shouldn't do it. (A shiai is a different matter, anything you can do is good.)
If ge-dan (下段) leaves you so vulnerable, what use it ? I read in lots of texts there are 5 dan - we normally use cho-dan (中段) or sometimes jyo-dan (上段). Ge-dan leaves you vulnerable but in the past, before WWII, kendoka wore leg protectors and ge-dan was a threat to the legs. I'm still pondering the utility value of ge-dan.
Thinking a little more, has kendo lost the value of ge-dan as there is no datotsu-bui below the belt. 剣道日本 magazine has some articles on the history of kendo. 1945-1954 it wasn't called kendo. Until 1989, it wasn't called budo. Tai-atari was also illegal. It get's me thinking about the future of kendo and the source of kendo.
Completely unrelated, the family are wondering about the summer holiday. Yagyu family name comes from region, a Yagyu valley in Nara. Searching for this, serendipitously (I finally used the word!) turns up Yagyu Shingan-ryu, which is 400 years old and founded by a student of Yagyu Munenori. Ueshiba Morihei was also a student. Attendance is by invition only and I'm not ready for this.
The Western view of the world is to compartmentalize and chain reasoning. For example, disease is caused by bacteria, antibiotics kill bacteria and cure disease, so if you're sick take antibiotics. Stop taking them when you're better. Consuming antibiotics is leading to resistant strains and not finishing you course makes the surviving bacteria populations stronger. Both consequents of the logic are the wrong thing to do. Considering modern budo, kendo with a sword, kyu-do with a bow, jyu-do as hand-to-hand fighting, is this type of western thinking. Kyo-ryu by contrast is a holistic budo. It might be what I'm looking for.
Practical matters first; after gashuku I want to perfect my men stroke. Everything else is flash and doesn't help get better. And despite Yagyu's words, I want to win. I also read 'Hagakure' written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (translation by Wilson) and The Unfettered Mind (Takuan, same translator). One of says a young samurai shouldn't learn Buddhism. So all of these thoughts must wait a few years, while I'm driven to more training and the lust to win.
