Jukendo: Basic Exercises, Renzoku Tsuke (銃剣道: 基本)

This is our usual second exercise after chokutatsu. Renzoku means continuous. (read Chokutatsu first as I won't repeat much from that which applies here)

• Sensei yells "Renzoku Tsuke"
• Rei and take Kamae (this is sometimes yelled by the sensei and sometimes by the person that will receive first and sometimes not at all, may as well take any opportunity to yell I figure though)
• First receiver of  each pair takes two smooth steps forward to Issoku
• Receiver makes a slight opening for the basic tsuke strike
• Receiver yells "Tsuzuite Tsuke"
• Attacker hits tsuke (suite) with a single step forward
• Attacker withdraws the strike (nuite) standing still but moving balance back to vertical
• At the same time as nuite the receiver takes a single large step back to issoku
• Attacker strikes and so it repeats. 3 strikes are made.
• After the last strike the receiver takes two large steps backwards
• The attacker does mai tsuke, a step to cover distance and a step to strike the fourth and final strike.
• Receiver takes two small steps back to issoku and the gun shake signal of role reversal is done
• Entire process is repeated with roles reversed

Important Points:

• The timing of the nuite and receiver stepping back should be nicely synchronised and smooth. Do not use footwork which would result in bouncing your centre of gravity up and down. Especially on the last double step.
• The final strike for the attacker should be a single movement, it may be two steps but there is no stopping in between them.
• Also ensure that your momentum doesn't make the last strike have a pushing aspect to it. It should be just as distinctive as the one step cuts.

My thoughts:

• To get the final two steps smoothly don't focus on your front foot stepping out. It moves out sure but that is just to get your centre of gravity where your back foot can come in and then push hard.

Jukendo: Basic Exercises, Chokutotso Tsuke San Bon (銃剣道: 基本)

Most of our Jukendo classes start and finish with Chokutotsu San Bon (Direct Thrust, three times).

• Starting 4 or so steps further apart than Issoku
• Sensei yells "Chokutotsu San Bon"
• Rei and take Kamae (this is sometimes yelled by the sensei and sometimes by the person that will receive first and sometimes not at all, may as well take any opportunity to yell I figure though)
• First receiver of  each pair takes two smooth steps forward to Issoku
• Receiver makes a slight opening for the basic tsuke strike
• Receiver yells Tsuke
• Attacker hits tsuke (suite) with a single step forward
• Attacker withdraws the strike (nuite) standing still but moving balance back to vertical
• Receiver then makes two teeny tiny steps back to Issoku, ideally of about the same size for each step
• Receiver yells Onagi (repeat / the same) and so it repeats. 3 strikes are made.
• After the last strike and 2 step withdrawal by the receiver the little shake of the gun is made indicating time to change roles
• Entire process is repeated with roles reversed
• Once the final issoku is taken the final receiver takes two smooth steps backwards and someone (see above) may or may not yell Naorei
• Do naorei

Important Points:

• When the strike is made a good receiver makes the tiniest backwards feet movements to absorb the blow. Someone told me you can get to 5th dan just by being good at receiving, they were probably being slightly facetious but it illustrates the point.
• When, and it will happen, the distance is too great for the attacker to do a perfect strike without reaching it is preferable to miss by an inch or two and be perfect rather than connect at the cost of posture and so on
• If that happens a good receiver adjusts the distances to try and get good connection along with the perfect posture.
• The timing of the opening and the yell of tsuke is, I think, Open, pause, yell. Not open as they come in and not open as you yell (I don't get told off too much about this so it might not be too important at our level).
• The yell by the receiver is very important! Your yell should put fire in the eyes of the striker. Not hearts. Ewa finds this hard because I am just sooo damn pretty, I try to yell better. It isn't so much the volume as the downward inflection and intensity. Basically don't be casual about it and you should be fine for a while.

My thoughts:

• The receiver doesn't have to go back to chudan I don't think, they can just stay open while stepping back, I still do because I suck at the distance gauging.
• The opening is tiny to my eyes, Basically I ignore the opening and just strike trusting the receiver to sort out everything.
• When striking try to look the opponent in the eyes rather than looking at the target and the bits you are trying to fix about your posture, with practice you can feel where everything is and the eyes focus gives you bonus points that will make up for a lot as a beginner
• When receiving I think the best footwork for me is just to move the back foot a little to absorb impact, anything else and I am off balance for the next few steps. Realistically I am the big person so I haven't been forced to learn this very well yet, Look at Ewa's absorbing rather than mine
• Even though barrel angled down is okay in some scenarios this is not one. Mokuju barrel must be horizontal. Lower your body (and if you are like me, your back hand) to ensure this criteria is met
• Shime and Hanmi are crucial and obvious here. You don't want wobbling or pushing. The strike should land where it lands and everything stops at that moment.

Jukendo Kata: Mokuju vs Tanken #6 銃剣道 形 （木銃と短剣）

And now the one that I feel has the most potential for mistakes being a tad painful.

• Starting from 9 steps apart.
• Ju takes a geidan aimed at Tan's front knee (I think this is the aggressive geidan)
• Tan covers with a twist of the forearm so the blade is now pointing over the left shoulder of the gun barrel and the base of the tanken is to the right of the gun barrel but quite high. Almost a horizontal tanken.
• 3 steps in each
• Tan quickly steps in with one huge step (right foot first)attempting to pressure the mokuju similar to in the previous kata
• Ju evades the pressure stepping straight back, dropping the mokuju kensen and almost immediately launching an attack.
• Tan strikes the mokuju barrel (Uchiotoshi), fairly close to Ju's front hand knocking the mokuju up and away.
• Tan steps forward (left foot) simultaneously putting the tanken on his hip (aimed at Ju's kidney) and grabs Ju's front arm just below the elbow. Tan's grabbing hand has thumb on the right.
• Tan's left arm is straight, pushing Ju's elbow up and back
• Ju is off balance, maintaining eye contact Tan uses the hip rotation stabbing technique.
• Tan performs zanshin by Ju's front arm and running the point of the tanken down the arm as he steps away
• As Tan moves back to centre the tip of tanken follows the line of the arm and then the base of the blade controls the barrel. The tanken is between Tan and the mokuju
• Note that in this case the "natural" choice is to hold the mokuju out to the left from Tan's perspective. If you ask Ju to try and hit you this choice will be revealed as somewhat stupid. Get the tanken onto the outside of Ju's arm immediately when you are bringing their arm down.
• Return to chudan
• Drop weapon point down releasing pressure on opponent, At this Tan's back hand goes down as well.
• 5 steps back
• Return to Chudan, Tan's back hand comes up to hold the (imaginary) bayonet scabbard

Important Points:

• When Ju makes the attack it must be straight and on target. If Ju deliberately aims high it just looks stupid
• As in #5 the Uchiotoshi strike of the mokuju is like a drummers strike. It isn't a slap or a sliding technique. It is an abrupt hard strike using wrist movement (not arm).
• The uchiotoshi strike is late. Ju has to have fully committed. This is where Ju might have to say sorry to Tan.
• The contact point of the tanken and the mokuju is back of blade to blade of mokuju.
• I don't tend to actually grip the opponents arm as much as just use their elbow joint as a big bump to push down against. The important thing is the lack of balance on Ju's behalf and the control of Ju's body by Tan

What we did wrong:

• When I was Tan we were too close in the centre at the beginning
• I move my head back away from the mokuju while attempting the block, this made the block less definite
• I chose the natural feeling (and wrong) side at first when coming down for zanshin 
• Ewa's covering with the Tan was a bit too horizontal
• My strike with the mokuju was not a strike, more of a general waving of a stick in Ewa's direction

Jukendo Kata: Mokuju vs Tanken #5 銃剣道 形 （木銃と短剣）

• Starting from 9 steps apart.
• Ju takes a fairly straight geidan
• Tan covers with a twist of the forearm so the blade is now pointing over the right shoulder of the gun barrel and the base of the tanken is to the left of the gun barrel. Still very vertical 
• 3 steps in each
• Tan has decided to attack before reaching centre and so isn't pressured into making a mistake like in #1
• Tan quickly steps in with one step (right foot first)attempting to pressure the mokuju similar to in the previous kata
• Ju evades the pressure stepping straight back and almost immediately launching an attack.
• Tan strikes the mokuju barrel (Uchiotoshi), fairly close to Ju's front hand knocking the mokuju down and away.
• Tan steps forward (left foot) simultaneously putting the tanken on his hip (aimed at Ju's kidney) and grabs Ju's front arm just above the elbow. Tan grabbing hand has thumb on the right.
• Tan's left arm is straight, pushing Ju's elbow down and back
• Ju is off balance, maintaining eye contact Tan uses the hip rotation stabbing technique.
• Tan performs zanshin by Ju's front arm and running the point of the tanken down the arm as he steps away
• As Tan moves back to centre the tip of tanken follows the line of the arm and then the base of the blade controls the barrel. The tanken is between Tan and the mokuju
• Return to chudan
• Drop weapon point down releasing pressure on opponent, At this Tan's back hand goes down as well.
• 5 steps back
• Return to Chudan, Tan's back hand comes up to hold the (imaginary) bayonet scabbard

Important Points:

• When Ju makes the attack it is nice of her to aim slightly to the front and down of Tan's body, makes it easier for the Uchiotoshi technique
• The Uchiotoshi strike of the mokuju is like a drummers strike. It isn't a slap or a sliding technique. It is an abrupt hard strike using wrist movement (not arm).
• The contact point of the tanken and the mokuju is blade to back of mokuju.
• If your opponent has massive arms and your delicate hands cannot grip properly you can instead grab the fabric of the sleeve. This is not ideal though I don't think.
• I don't tend to actually grip the opponents arm as much as just use their elbow joint as a big bump to push down against. The important thing is the lack of balance on Ju's behalf and the control of Ju's body by Tan

What we did wrong (this time it is actually hard, sensei said this one was very good for our level):

• My uchiotoshi was kind of weak and afterwards my tanken was out of position
• When Ewa has the mokuju we are too close at the beginning which then makes my strike too close which makes uchiotoshi very hard for her.
• I also strike too high with the mokuju making it even harder.
• Both of us pause between the uchiotoshi and the arm grab. It should be one movement I think.
• Ewa's zanshin starts with no control over me

Jukendo Kata: Mokuju vs Tanken #4 銃剣道 形 （木銃と短剣）

And now it is the Tanken's turn to win!

Note that the next 3 kata are effectively the same as the first three, just the results are different. Currently I think that there is either a mistake made by the loser or a good thing done by the winner to decide the outcome and that is what we are supposed to be learning. I could be wrong about that.

• Starting from 9 steps apart.
• Ju takes a fairly straight geidan
• Tan covers with a twist of the forearm so the blade is now pointing over the right shoulder of the gun barrel and the base of the tanken is to the left of the gun barrel. Still very vertical 
• 3 steps in each
• Tan has decided to attack before reaching centre and so isn't pressured into making a mistake like in #1
• Tan quickly steps in with one step (right foot first) and uses the tanken to hold the mokuju down. The tanken slides all the way down the barrel until almost at Ju's front hand. The tsuba almost touches the hand here.
• Ju makes the natural reaction of fighting this downward pressure by slightly raising the mokuju with both hands (i.e. horizontally up), Ju should do this with forearms, not with shoulders.
• Tan takes another step (left foot), grabs the mokuju with his left hand between both of Ju's hands and presses down firmly. The back of Tan's left hand is towards him. At the same time Tan moves the tanken back onto his right hip aimed at Ju's soft kidney
• Utilising a twisting of the torso Tan strikes Ju, the tanken is not moved off the hip if possible (I am a little tubby and inflexible so mine does come off here). For me I think the heel of my right foot comes off the ground for this bit.
• Tan performs zanshin by raising the grabbed mokuju slightly and running the point of the tanken down the outside of Ju's front arm
• As Tan moves back to centre the tip of tanken follows the line of the arm and then the base of the blade controls the barrel.
• Return to chudan
• Drop weapon point down releasing pressure on opponent, At this Tan's back hand goes down as well.
• 5 steps back
• Return to Chudan, Tan's back hand comes up to hold the (imaginary) bayonet scabbard

Important Points:

• Timing of the strike. Tan walks in One, Two, Three, pressure. Tan makes the third step but doesn't allow Ju to apply pressure.
• As Tan slides in the mokuju stays below the centre of gravity of the tanken the whole way
• When Tan makes the strike he is in close and body upright, left foot between Ju's feet
• During zanshin the tanken is a shield against the mokuju
• When talking about these kata afterwards sensei said that all of the mistakes we made were meaningless compared to the eye contact. Whenever you do an arm lock / hip stab the ippon is granted from the eye contact I think.

What we did wrong (this time it is actually hard, sensei said this one was very good for our level):

• Too fast
• Kamae when I had the mokuju was too high on the end.

Jukendo Kata: Mokuju vs Tanken #3 銃剣道 形 （木銃と短剣）

• Starting from 9 steps apart.
• Ju takes a geidan aimed at Tans front knee
• Tan covers with a twist of the forearm anticlockwise to cover over the top of the gun. At the same time leans a long way forward. The tanken blade is a long way to the horizontal at this point. Maybe 30 degrees off horizontal. The mokuju is almost in the centre of the blade length.
• 3 steps in each
• Tan pushes forward (seme) applying attacking pressure to the top of the gun
• Ju evades with a step back and right, simultaneously lowering the barrel to and swinging the butt right up to his cheek to avoid the tanken.
• Ju strikes nodo (throat)
• Ju does hiki nuki zanshin (big step out followed by a lowering of body weight and a covering of Tan's wrist)
• Return to chudan
• Take a few steps back to middle point slowly moving back into kamae at the same time
• Drop weapon point down releasing pressure on opponent, At this Tan's back hand goes down as well.
• 5 steps back
• Return to Chudan, Tan's back hand comes up to hold the (imaginary) bayonet scabbard

Important Points:

• Timing of the seme by Tan. Tan walks in One, Two, Threeeeee, pressure. It is quite a huge push in but not so that balance is lost or any more steps are needed. There is a slight lowering of the tanken towards the mokuju
• The nuki waza has the unusual lifting of the butt because Tan can push in so far due to the weight being forward. If Tan doesn't push in so far as to force this movement then it looks a bit silly.

What we did wrong ():

• Overall speed is too fast. This one in particular was way too fast.
• All in all when Ewa has the mokuju I can't see much big stuff wrong with it. Speed, balance and crispness but I think technically correct.
• When I have the mokuju we don't return to centre, aside from that I think it is, as Sensei says "Almost Okay".
• Still using naginata footwork when I have the mokuju and return to centre and therefore probably wrong.

Jukendo Kata: Mokuju vs Tanken #2 銃剣道 形 （木銃と短剣）

• Starting from 9 steps apart.
• Ju takes a geidan aimed at Tans back knee
• As in #1 Tan covers with a twist of the forearm so the blade is now pointing over the right shoulder of the gun barrel and the base of the tanken is to the left of the gun barrel. Still very vertical (you can see the purpose of this kamae in number 4 kata of this set.) 
• 3 steps in each
• Tan pushes forward (seme) applying attacking pressure to the top of the gun
• Ju evades with a step back and right, simultaneously lowering and swinging the barrel to the right a little to avoid the tanken
• Ju strikes do
• Ju does hiki nuki zanshin (big step out followed by a lowering of body weight and a covering of Tan's wrist)
• Return to chudan
• Take a few steps back to middle point slowly moving back into kamae at the same time
• Drop weapon point down releasing pressure on opponent, At this Tan's back hand goes down as well.
• 5 steps back
• Return to Chudan, Tan's back hand comes up to hold the (imaginary) bayonet scabbard

Important Points:

• Timing of the seme by Tan. Tan walks in One, Two, Threeeeee, pressure. It is quite a big push in but not so that balance is lost or any more steps are needed.
• When Ju escapes (nuki waza) the seme make sure the juken is not swung too far out, it will not be pointed at Tan but should only be aimed an inch or two behind them
• The nuki waza to strike doesn't have a pause

What we did wrong (include most of the previous kata mistakes of course but these are the big ones I think):

• Overall speed is too fast. Almost everything could be slower by maybe 50%
• I am not sure I was supposed to lean forward with the Tanken when taking kamae
•  Ewa's nuki waza to strike moment didn't have the crispness of two movements which I think is desirable. I think this might be because she raised the barrel before finishing the nuki
• Again my walking backwards sucks quite a bit. Wobbling before moving then quite jerky.
• I think Ewa lowered her Tanken too much when taking the covering kamae
• I have a suspicion my walking back to centre with the mokuju uses what we shall call "interesting" footwork. No one told me off for it yet but it is naginata footwork and therefore probably wrong.

Jukendo Kata: Mokuju vs Tanken #1 銃剣道 形 （木銃と短剣）

Things get fun! Some poor bugger has lost his rifle and is holding just the bayonet when a bad man with a rifle and bayonet (but no bullets) comes running at him.

I am not sure how the Uchi/Shi nomenclature will work as this time each side gets 3 kata where they win. So I will call then "tan" and "ju"

• Starting from 9 steps apart.
• Ju takes a fairly straight geidan
• Tan covers with a twist of the forearm so the blade is now pointing over the right shoulder of the gun barrel and the base of the tanken is to the left of the gun barrel. Still very vertical (you can see the purpose of this kamae in number 4 kata of this set.) 
• 3 steps in each
• Tan is feeling pressured and starts to think about attacking
• Ju strikes during that chance (Deyōtosuru tokoro)
• Ju does hiki nuki zanshin (big step out followed by a lowering of body weight and a covering of Tan's wrist)
• Return to chudan
• Drop weapon point down releasing pressure on opponent, At this Tan's back hand goes down as well.
• 5 steps back
• Return to Chudan, Tan's back hand comes up to hold the (imaginary) bayonet scabbard

Important Points:

• Timing of the strike. Ju walks in One, Two, Threeeeee, Strike. Ju is in striking position only long enough for the pressure on Tan to cause the beginning of a reaction.
• Equally importantly Ju has to apply that pressure, if the steps are One, Two, Thr, Strike it is a completely different technique
• Eye contact is a good way to create this tension.
• Dropping the tanken down prior to walking backwards is hard. You should have a pouch for an egg created by your tsuba and thumb / forefinger crease. As you go down it is more of a roll of the arm than a twist of the wrist.
• If Tan has no Hanmi, my lord does it stand out. Body should be as close to perpendicular as possible. But make sure you are still facing the opponent with a vertical head.

What we did wrong (I am actually quite happy with these two examples, I think we done pretty good):

• Overall speed is too fast. Almost everything could be slower by maybe 50%
• Ewa could take a stronger kamae with mokuju
• My Tan kamae might be high.
• Ewa bounces up at the bottom of taking geidan
• I rock back before walking forwards and vice versa a lot
• Ewa has a tiny amount of lean after the strike
• I still haven't got the walking backwards smoothly thing working yet.
• As I walk in with the mokuju my kamae gets higher, shouldn't
• Neither of us really build that pressure to force Tan to react

2015-08-07: Salty training

I read a theory (or heard a drunk person say) about why Ladies in general don't sweat at training.
The theory was all due to volume versus area. If you have a sphere with diameter 2r the exposed surface area is A=4πr2.

Exposed surface area is not about clothing, it is a theoretical thing.

Obviously the square in that equation means that if the volume creates heat at a standard rate, say 1m3 = 1btu and if surface area releases heat at a standard rate, say 1m2 = 1btu then a higher volume person has more trapped heat. Which has to be released through more drastic measures than just simple heat transfer. That measure would be sweat.
I am a sweaty bastard is what I am saying, however I am claiming it is because I have soooo damn many muscles.

I think this is about as 'Merica as you can get. I took the picture from Liberty park, Freedom Tower is just to the left and a hotdog stand to the right.

The same source used this to explain why Japanese Lady sensei never sweat at all. They are comparatively tiny and they are also really good so they don't waste energy poking you with sticks, they are very efficient at it.
I am not that good yet either so my sweaty bastard ranking stands.
Sweaty bastards are normally relatively salty if you lick them. Salty people are people that swear a lot.

Or of course this could be as 'Merica as it gets. Except you can this pile of crap in most countries. We felt as bad after eating it as we would have in any other country.

This is applicable to me both ways.
But I have a cunning plan! If I cover myself with seawater then I will taste salty when anyone licks me and if someone licks me I think I am allowed to swear.
See? It is all about taking my own failings and reconstructing reality.
At the bar which had the truffle oil popcorn one of the locals mentioned that you can go kayaking beside the Lady of Freedom.

Lady Of Liberty.

I figure that will have at least partially salty water even if it is technically a river.
There were two varieties of kayak. One was called the Outback explorer or some such nonsense and had pedals which operated little paddles at the back. Apparently they are really good once you get the hang of them.

Gentleman of Liberty

But I am a traditionalist and went for the boring use your lazy arms. Ewa took this as a challenge and chose the same. Ellory (our host) probably wasn't being competitive because he is a normal person but he took the same.

Plus Horseshoe crabs. I seem to recall their blood is blue for some copper reason. I don't think they told us this.

All in all I think this is probably the best fun thing to do as a tourist in New York / New Jersey. I can't remember how much it cost but it wasn't much and there were lots of local knowledge stories about some guy blowing up some magazine during some war.

Liberty Park was full of foolish people that didn't want to play in kayaks. I have to admit I was kind of tempted to see if I could join in until I noticed there were no smokers, then I figured it would be just more lack lustre barbecue and went to play in the waters.

Then we went to training because we are predictable.

Sometimes you meet an actual fighter. This young lady is one of them. I am glad I have training and she doesn't or I would be toast.

Afterwards we got booze. I may have ranted. Usually do. It may have even been me that came up with the surface area versus volume theory.