2015-05-14: Jukendo with Panache

Jukendo training again today.
One of the things with not really speaking a lot of the language and also not knowing much about the martial art is that we have little idea how well we are doing.

The Surprise Cup. I would put my money on the guy in the bottom left but I am saving my gambling money for the Spit-Take cup.

Our sensei is 8th dan Hanshi. For all intents and purposes this is as high rank as you can get. He has won the All Japan Championships often enough that he doesn't remember exactly how often (although that could be my understanding of Japanese rather than his memory).
The other "Student" we train with is 7th dan.
Keep in mind that many martial arts clubs outside of Japan are run by 2nd or 3rd dan people. I am 4th in Naginata (and quite proud of that achievement).

Just like Silverware etiquette I think you start from the outside and work your way in

This means we have completely unrealistic baselines to work with, the only comparisons we can make are to people that are so insanely good we are unlikely to ever reach their levels.
We have each other for moral support so at least we don't cry ourselves to sleep in fits of despair (that often).

And Kitty Chan provides moral support too

I also suspect that our baseline for Duration Of Training is not quite correct. We aren't allowed on the military bases which is where most Jukendo training occurs and so we train at a small kendo dojo which has been kind enough to let us use it when they aren't.
I don't know if Sensei has decided that we should therefore use it for the whole period that they aren't using it in some kind of Waste Not Want Not theory but our training is rarely less than 4 hours.
Keep in mind Jukendo is probably the most physically taxing thing I have done in my life. I think it is because the movements are so small and subtle they can be learned (badly) quite quickly.

The clothes look so pretty at the beginning of training. Less so on the way home.

By contrast Naginata movements are quite complex and so it is harder as a beginner to put all of your energy into them; if you are off balance in Naginata and try to go balls to the wall energy wise you'll just fall over (I still fall over a lot - but I am special).
Boxing is the same; complex movements and hard to use all of your energy up (oh and I fall over there often enough to have the trainer no longer worry too much - I like to think it adds happiness to the world - I am generous).

I think the white outfit would soak up less sweat and therefore weigh less on the long trek home. Ewa claims my keikogi weighed a couple of kilos more on the way back.

Jukendo on the other hand seems to be easy enough to learn the basic movements (badly) that you can absolutely drain your entire body of energy within 5 minutes without falling over (although I think I have a couple of times). Fortunately we seem to be developing reasonable recovery skills and after a minutes break we are ready to go again. Well, maybe a 5 minute break. I can also now drink half a litre of Pocari Sweat and sweat it all out within 5 minutes later. I wonder if they give gradings in Fluid Metabolic Conversion Rates. I could finally find something I am a natural at.