After a week’s absence, today’s return was sweltering despite the A/C (!) which Sensei decided to turn on. The main thing I noticed after was fatigue in my abs, which I hope is due to my greater use of my tanden and so on. It could just be the heat, though. The daily 5-minute plank routine has worked wonders–forward, side, side, back, forward, at 60 seconds each. One of those things where you don’t get faster when you get better…

So today’s practice was super-crowded given our celebrity visiting Sensei, which meant a three-nanadan practice, though I ended up deferring to my sempai, not practicing with all that many people outside of the dojo, actually. But it was a good practice, with a solid hour of jigeiko and one practice with a sensei I normally do not see at all. I think what I need to focus on is the difference between how I practice with kohai and with sempai or sensei. The main pointers, being posture upright and hip power, I think I should also continue to keep in mind, as keeping my back straight has made a big difference, I think, in jigeiko as well as kakarigeiko. I do, however, notice that I very rarely effectively use taiatari in jigeiko. I also tend to stop a few steps even after a good strike which I know to be good. The other recurring criticism I get is the tension in my right arm, which is still far too much. A wider tsukagawa helps in this respect, I think, and I think that doing better kiai like I was today, in which it was quite intense and consistent, will help me to eventually actually put my power in the hara where it belongs, which I never really do.

There was one men strike in particular today, where I felt that my power was emanating from the tip of my shinai, straight forward to strike, cleanly and solidly.

I must also strive to hit better immediately from sonkyo, or to get the first strike.