seme (pronounced say may)
I sometimes float between adoration and irritation with sensei. He is extremely picky and rarely complimentary. I realize that this is very "old school" Japanese. I've lost count of the times I've thought, Jesus Christ, how minor is that? However, I do find that my skill level is much higher than my peers in other dojo of the same time of training. I do also credit fencing and Aikido for their sense of timing and distance. I fought an exhibition bout with a nidan from another dojo and scrubbed the floor with him, 5-0. It was all about maneuver and angle. Seme is the "psychic" energy that overcomes the opponent's ability to resist. (it also has an interesting manga meaning too) Sensei had been harping on me about seme for some time and I could feel snippets of it. In this bout, it was like I was controlling his mind. :P He attacked when I wanted him to attack and I constantly had him at a bad angle where he would have to adjust his position before he could attack or defend. I've also been working on the "floating step" where I advance, but don't set the front foot down right away. If I see an opening, I'm already in motion and too close to be parried. If his guard is tight, I just set the foot down and don't commit. I had one head cut where I was inches from the target before he realized he was under attack. I also had a wrist cut that was right out of Aikido yokomen uchi - sidestep to the left and deliver a cut as he misses.
I taught beginners Iaido class. It was literally from Rei. Nomenclature and sword handling. How to bow to shomen. How to bow to sensei. How to bow to the sword. We got up to nukitsuke - the initial draw.
We had baby fest breakfast with Kelli and Lena. Lena's girl is OMG adorable. She is just about ready to crawl and has the rock back and forth shamble to get things. We left the kids with the respective husbands for a run to Sephora for beauty products and makeovers.
Cy, here is my chameleon! This is baby Smaug.
This is my praying mantis, Harold.
Pistol team practice. 7 yards, 5 round strings from the holster in 5 seconds. Draw, fire five rounds, do a reload, holster. Glock 22, .40 cal. I got a little sloppy on the head shots and my group was a little helter skelter. The center box has 30 rounds. I gave a lesson to Izzy.
Alan, thank you for the song!!! :)
I flew past 3300 hours (after 3000, my next big milestone is 4500 hours). I flew with a newly minted pilot. The last time I was scared to death (it's a whole different story when you sign for the bird). It's nice having a padawan though. He's all, yes ma'am, roger that, ma'am, right away, ma'am! This time, I let him take the night landing with the howling winds. Tower even changed runways on us as we turned base to final. The whole time I'm thinking, F!!! I'm going to have to take the flight controls! No, he aced it. It wasn't quite butter, but it was grease.
I had my interview with the brass for the job. I'm ranked #2. I joked to the other competitor, who is a friend of mine, that we should have a dogfight or a duel for it. I'm a much better shot, but he was a fighter pilot.
I taught beginners Iaido class. It was literally from Rei. Nomenclature and sword handling. How to bow to shomen. How to bow to sensei. How to bow to the sword. We got up to nukitsuke - the initial draw.
We had baby fest breakfast with Kelli and Lena. Lena's girl is OMG adorable. She is just about ready to crawl and has the rock back and forth shamble to get things. We left the kids with the respective husbands for a run to Sephora for beauty products and makeovers.
Cy, here is my chameleon! This is baby Smaug.
This is my praying mantis, Harold.
Pistol team practice. 7 yards, 5 round strings from the holster in 5 seconds. Draw, fire five rounds, do a reload, holster. Glock 22, .40 cal. I got a little sloppy on the head shots and my group was a little helter skelter. The center box has 30 rounds. I gave a lesson to Izzy.
Alan, thank you for the song!!! :)
I flew past 3300 hours (after 3000, my next big milestone is 4500 hours). I flew with a newly minted pilot. The last time I was scared to death (it's a whole different story when you sign for the bird). It's nice having a padawan though. He's all, yes ma'am, roger that, ma'am, right away, ma'am! This time, I let him take the night landing with the howling winds. Tower even changed runways on us as we turned base to final. The whole time I'm thinking, F!!! I'm going to have to take the flight controls! No, he aced it. It wasn't quite butter, but it was grease.
I had my interview with the brass for the job. I'm ranked #2. I joked to the other competitor, who is a friend of mine, that we should have a dogfight or a duel for it. I'm a much better shot, but he was a fighter pilot.