Katori seminar!
Some photos from this weekends katori. It turns out that I'm not bad at katori. OK, I know, I've been doing it for two years, but I've been doing it as exercise/active meditation (I like sports like practising kata, long distance running and yoga because the effect they have on clearing your mind), not to actually learn sword fighting, but it seems I have. Who knew? Anyway, I've been taught two things to concentrate on, making my moves all flow together, rather than separating them out into the blocks of movements (which is how you're taught at the beginning) and bending my knees more to try and keep my head level during the moves.
Still, it was a shock to me that I knew what I was doing. I fought Luigi-sensei and we did each kata normal speed and then he started going fast and far, I was impressed (and I think he was too) that I could move fast and far to get out of the way. Funky. The thing is, I think I'm at the point where I'm probably 75% of the way to being a black belt (then you gotta progress through the black belts or dan grades) and this is the point where things kinda take their own momentum and speed up. And I got all this way without even noticing!
If only I could keep my balance... Surely, one day I will learn to do that, right? It can't be completely out of my reach, can it? (It's been two years of katori and a year of yoga and I'm still not balanced...)
Anyway the photos:
Luigi-sensei and a guy called Green (who knows why) doing naginta (spear) form. We each got to go up and practice in front of the class, which would have been a great chance to get photos against that nice green wall, if I'd had my camera the first day. Still, I got some the second.
Green and Jonny about the stab each other in the knee. I like the symmetry. The training area was difficult to photograph, it was dark, the floor was orange, the walls green and it was lit by fluorescent lights very high above and daylight coming in the windows. Colour soup!
Some sword fighting. The black and white looks light and airy.
Pimping hte colours. When the walls are green, just go with it, I say.
I should have taken more photos from up the top, there were some shots from this angle.
Cat paw block. Her wrist is that funny shape as she's putting the sword between the strike and her wrist.
Mooody daylight portrait. You can kinda see the lighting conditions.
I've got more photos to do, but other that this little update, I'm supposed to be working on my paper today!
Still, it was a shock to me that I knew what I was doing. I fought Luigi-sensei and we did each kata normal speed and then he started going fast and far, I was impressed (and I think he was too) that I could move fast and far to get out of the way. Funky. The thing is, I think I'm at the point where I'm probably 75% of the way to being a black belt (then you gotta progress through the black belts or dan grades) and this is the point where things kinda take their own momentum and speed up. And I got all this way without even noticing!
If only I could keep my balance... Surely, one day I will learn to do that, right? It can't be completely out of my reach, can it? (It's been two years of katori and a year of yoga and I'm still not balanced...)
Anyway the photos:
Luigi-sensei and a guy called Green (who knows why) doing naginta (spear) form. We each got to go up and practice in front of the class, which would have been a great chance to get photos against that nice green wall, if I'd had my camera the first day. Still, I got some the second.
Green and Jonny about the stab each other in the knee. I like the symmetry. The training area was difficult to photograph, it was dark, the floor was orange, the walls green and it was lit by fluorescent lights very high above and daylight coming in the windows. Colour soup!
Some sword fighting. The black and white looks light and airy.
Pimping hte colours. When the walls are green, just go with it, I say.
I should have taken more photos from up the top, there were some shots from this angle.
Cat paw block. Her wrist is that funny shape as she's putting the sword between the strike and her wrist.
Mooody daylight portrait. You can kinda see the lighting conditions.
I've got more photos to do, but other that this little update, I'm supposed to be working on my paper today!