Distracted today. A continuation of anti-jodan waza. I am still too stiff and scared of being hit. Need to straighten back leg more and not flinch backwards. A smaller men like in kihon.

Lots more kihon tonight and it was kind of muggy. Focus on anti-men and anti-kote waza from oji to counterstrike. Keiko with sensei meant lots of decent men but no good kote. Damn sweaty, and I need to built on this feeling of striking with legs. Should probably add more footwork (kote in particular) to my drills.

More kihon bokuto waza and then being yelled at for the same shallow men, waiting. And no shinsa till October. Sadface.

Super kihongeiko today–focus on right hand and left hand, left hand at sternum at end of strike, last two fingers of left hand at the tsukagashira, right hand only with thumb and forefinger (I use middle for convenience), with a pinch (but a strong one) upon the strike, which should be firm, then relaxed. Torso must stay straight and not lean forward or backward. Left foot pushes downward hard as if crushing an acorn.

Two days later, I probably won’t make it to tonight’s practice (or if so, stuffed with pizza), but it was a little disappointing given all of the big guns who were in the dojo how I ended up practicing with only two yondan. Good keiko, of course, but I need to line up more aggressively (normally I would have positioned myself in the right place, but of course I got bumped and didn’t even make it to the bottom of the dojo. Such is life, I suppose: but not even any good mitori-geiko to be had!). More suburi in the interim!

Back to Kihon Bokuto Kata, or whatever it’s called. Worth doing again, even though shinsa is coming up. In particular kiriotoshi seems way out of place, but somehow useful for the feeling and a good culmination.

Actual keiko had more of the same–the need to have better posture, mostly, and not to lean so much, and much more left hand, much less right hand, which is the perennial complaint. Sensei says I should learn to swim, as then I will be able to relax and to float above the waves.

I did feel different though when I focused more on my legs and flinging myself at the opponent. I got a few men I did not at all expect. Should try that more.

It was the right time today, but the feedback was relatively uniform: I learn back too much when I strike, and bend my back leg. I should practice at home, intensively.

Sensei returned, having had the shinai twisted out of his grasp in shinsa, but we applauded him nonetheless. He’s right–you’ll pass when you’re ready.

Meanwhile, I need to work on my posture and my stance. In kamae I tend to be too heavy and not in the right way, still stooping. Also I need not to lean back so much.

What’s with my hasuji? This aspect seems to be the big problem. I lift up too much, and almost shoulder the blade, and so I do not come in straight. Thsi also involves planting myself into the ground (which I think is my misunderstanding of how it is that I should keep my back left leg all straight and powerful, which doesn’t involve, of course, sinking into the ground). I should probably retool my homeworkout routine yet again to make sure my attempts to build legpower don’t just twist my torso forward, backwards, or to the side.

Tonight I managed with five sensei to practice, and the reviews were none too happy: plenty of little things to work on, the old routine: hasuji, maai, smallness of cuts, looseness, and footwork with the hips. I tend to crunch down too much still.