This year is nearly half over and it's been busy. In January, I ran 10Km for the first (and only) time. My hip joints hurt, as if I've strained the tendons, especially on the right side. I was a really stupid thing to do, as I had the Kendo 2nd Dan exam a few weeks after. I knew the body posture wasn't right and I should have failed, but were it not for the kendo masters' intervention.
The winter wasn't too bad but the spring was terrible. There was no snow in Tokyo until the end of February. From February to the end of April there were 11 days of snow, I believe. The last time there was so much snow was 50 years ago. Temperatures was also bizarre - one day 25C, the next freezing. The net result was a constant cough, runny nose etc, cold-like symptoms. Physical strain, bad weather and illness all mean I haven't got much exercise and the legs hurt even more.
Last week I got around to thinking how the muscles work. Over 45 minutes, the muscles were stretched and contracted. This must leave the muscle fibres twisted and is the source of pain. There is a Yoga position called the alligator pose. I've been doing this morning and evening for a week and the pain is significatly reduced. I still can't run but I'm doing 30 sit-ups each session.
Back to my goal: the japanese sword. Further to the last post, there are five positions to hold the sword - uppper, middle, lower , hasse kamaeru and side position. These are also known as heaven, water, earth, yin and yang. So far, no-one can tell me about the meaning of the last two. They aren't really used in shinai kendo but are important stances in the kendo kata and probably in Iaido (I just begun to study Iaido, so I can't say).
At the beginning of May is Golden Week, Japanese public holidays for the constitution, to celebrate nature and to celebrate children. All of Japan goes somewhere, but the Icelandic volcano disrupted travel! We went to Nikko, because it's an important aspect of Edo culture. Unfortunately, so did everyone else and we didn't see much. We went to the Edo village and got dressed up. The photos are at Facebook. That was pretty much my first exposure to a metal sword. Getting it in and out of the scabbard (saya さや鞘) was difficult to begin with. It got easier with practise. I want to do more with a metal sword - outside Japan you might say katanaかたな刀 but in Japan it usually Nihonto 日本刀 or iaitou居合刀.
Finally, right up to date, on Sunday I did kendo keiko in the morning and went to the shigin/iaido meeting in the afternoon. Some videos are on Facebook. We had a class on Monday morning, where they suggested I study the Iaido or kenbu for the next competition. I want to but I have the kanji proficiency exam in 3 weeks. Y'know, the pen is mightier than the sword, especially this month.
