Bulk update: 50DoD: Days 5-11
Days 5-7 fell during the dark days of January, which is invariably the most emotionally difficult time of year for me. I've got reams of notes about those sessions, and a handful of nearly-complete journal writeups that will never get posted. Doesn't really matter; the techniques will be the same a month or a year from now as they are today. Everything I heard from sensei will come back again and again even as I improve.
Day 8 got caught up in the inevitable late-January crisis, an annual tradition for me where something bad happens and my body unleashes all the stress and tension that it has been holding in since the weather first started getting dark back in October. This year's crisis involved a miserable night with Png, very little sleep, lots of barking and yelling, and an eventual rescue by Angyl. As January crises go, this was pretty small. But any morning where your first thought is "I want to lash out at the puppy", a useful second thought might be "I shouldn't be handling a sword today." So Day 8 was the last casualty of winter.
We're both doing much better now, thankfully.
Day 9 felt qualitatively different than its predecessors; January Meltdown always leaves me feeling relaxed and calm and open to new possibilities. I could practically feel the new muscle memories form as I tried to incorporate all of the suggestions and tips and admonishments of the last few weeks all at once.
Day 10 began with a really brutal drill where you take long, low strides while cutting, without letting your head or hips change elevation. It's hell on your legs, and two days later I'm still sore. But the soreness didn't prevent me from practicing the techniques, nor was I limping afterwards. Way back, I predicted that by the time I could do the first kata tolerably, my legs and lower back would be in terrific shape. Yes, yes they are. My legs feel like they belong to a different person. It's like someone tool my lanky, skinny, desk-bound geek legs, and replaced them with body parts taken from an alternate-universe version of me. I no longer dread seated waza. Crouching waza, that's a whole different story. With sensei's encouragement, I'm going to start doing kata number four from a standing position instead of seated; the initial rising action, before the pommel-strike, causes my left knee to make a horrible popping sound every time, and it's just not worth risking injury. Thankfully, there's only one crouching technique in the entire All-Japan set.
Day 11 was another private lesson, this one two weeks after the last. Two weeks is a magic interval right now: each day, I can't say I feel like I'm doing better than I did last week - but I definitely feel like I'm doing better than two weeks ago. I'm very, very happy about this - two weeks is not long at all to achieve noticeable improvement! I keep having to remind myself of the stakes - Assuming I don't miss a single session - not a safe assumption - I have only thirty-eight practices left before the make-or-break qualifying tests for going to Japan. Sensei said last year that I could do it, and I've been taking him on faith as I give it my best effort. But now I'm starting to actually believe him.
Also - mad props to Graypawn for the awesomely appropriate custom icon - the first of two new swords I'm getting this year. The other one is coming in the next week or two...
Day 8 got caught up in the inevitable late-January crisis, an annual tradition for me where something bad happens and my body unleashes all the stress and tension that it has been holding in since the weather first started getting dark back in October. This year's crisis involved a miserable night with Png, very little sleep, lots of barking and yelling, and an eventual rescue by Angyl. As January crises go, this was pretty small. But any morning where your first thought is "I want to lash out at the puppy", a useful second thought might be "I shouldn't be handling a sword today." So Day 8 was the last casualty of winter.
We're both doing much better now, thankfully.
Day 9 felt qualitatively different than its predecessors; January Meltdown always leaves me feeling relaxed and calm and open to new possibilities. I could practically feel the new muscle memories form as I tried to incorporate all of the suggestions and tips and admonishments of the last few weeks all at once.
Day 10 began with a really brutal drill where you take long, low strides while cutting, without letting your head or hips change elevation. It's hell on your legs, and two days later I'm still sore. But the soreness didn't prevent me from practicing the techniques, nor was I limping afterwards. Way back, I predicted that by the time I could do the first kata tolerably, my legs and lower back would be in terrific shape. Yes, yes they are. My legs feel like they belong to a different person. It's like someone tool my lanky, skinny, desk-bound geek legs, and replaced them with body parts taken from an alternate-universe version of me. I no longer dread seated waza. Crouching waza, that's a whole different story. With sensei's encouragement, I'm going to start doing kata number four from a standing position instead of seated; the initial rising action, before the pommel-strike, causes my left knee to make a horrible popping sound every time, and it's just not worth risking injury. Thankfully, there's only one crouching technique in the entire All-Japan set.
Day 11 was another private lesson, this one two weeks after the last. Two weeks is a magic interval right now: each day, I can't say I feel like I'm doing better than I did last week - but I definitely feel like I'm doing better than two weeks ago. I'm very, very happy about this - two weeks is not long at all to achieve noticeable improvement! I keep having to remind myself of the stakes - Assuming I don't miss a single session - not a safe assumption - I have only thirty-eight practices left before the make-or-break qualifying tests for going to Japan. Sensei said last year that I could do it, and I've been taking him on faith as I give it my best effort. But now I'm starting to actually believe him.
Also - mad props to Graypawn for the awesomely appropriate custom icon - the first of two new swords I'm getting this year. The other one is coming in the next week or two...