Notes from 2007 MWKF Summer Camp

稽古 Notes:

• 一足一刀の間合い is from your left foot to your opponent. Not how far your 竹刀 cross.
• 打突 is from the movement of the body, not striking with the 竹刀. If you move in correctly with proper 踏み込み, 有効打突 will naturally follow.
• 3 things to consider for each strike: 打つの前に、打ったの時、打ったの後で. (Before you strike, the moment of the strike, and after the strike.) What needs to happen at each of these 3 moments?
  
• You don't always have to coordinate 気剣体一致 by stomping with the right foot. For example, side stepping to the right while performing 表面すり上げ面. The timing of the strike can be on the right foot and move forward or on the left foot and move backwards. All depends on the situation.
• Don't let the left hand collapse during 体当たり.
• Cut down to the chin on each strike for 素振り.
• Take big steps forward and backward for はや素振り, or 跳躍素振り.
• 田川先生 kept hitting my head during 打ち込み稽古. Why? He only did it when he opened up his 小手, and hits me regardless if I hit 小手 or 小手面. He never hit me when I hit 面. I didn't miss any strikes either. Was I supposed to ignore that opening and strike 面 instead?
• Raise the 竹刀 straight up for 面返し胴. That should be more than enough to deflect your opponent's 面 strike.
• Practice your 手の内 when receiving 切り返し, but do not knock the other person's 竹刀 away. Your first priority is supposed to be receiving and allowing your opponent to practice.
  
• 斎藤先生 said the left hand shouldn't leave the centerline, 中心, while receiving 切り返し. Specifically he didn't receive by moving his 竹刀 left and right. He turned his body, kind of like 半身, to receive. A bit advanced for beginners to learn at first perhaps?
• For すりあげ面, 斎藤先生 said to raise the 竹刀 straight up while side-stepping. This will naturally create the half-moon trajectory. I was confused and unsure about this. At first I thought it would create the opposite half-moon trajectory to the one you want. Upon further reflection, I believe he's right. If you think of raising the 竹刀 FIRST and then side-step, the trajectory would be correct. If you side-step and then raise the 竹刀, then the trajectory would be wrong.
  

形 Notes:

• 合気, understanding and working with your opponent, is very important in both 稽古 and 形.
• 理合い, reasoning, is very important to 形. It is important to understand "why" (なぜ) we perform the movements.
  
• 三本目: When the 打太刀 blocks, the sword should extend to the throat, 喉, of the 仕太刀. The block should also direct the 仕太刀 sword outside the body line. It's not obvious to me how to accomplish this without adopting a 半身 stance. 山中先生 said "自然に", or "move naturally". To me it looked like it's a variant of the 半身 stance.
• 三本目: 仕太刀's block should also direct 打太刀's sword outside the body.
• 五本目: 打太刀 should cut down to the chin. For the 仕太刀, it should be a すりあげ, using the breadth of the sword, not a 払い.
• 六本目: 仕太刀 should 攻め towards 打太刀's hands from 下段. 仕太刀 should also take a large step forward when 打太刀 backs up. (スーとに) Otherwise the distance would be too far apart.
  

Other nuggets of "wisdom":

• We're not doing 突き because the moon (月, つき) isn't out.
• 演歌 (en ka) might be ドルか (dollar ka) in America.
• If you hit someone in the head by accident, say 面 instead of ごめん.
  
• 山中先生 claims to be able to get at least 30% discount from the 松勘防具 shop. He bought their most expensive set of 防具. 山中先生、斎藤先生、と菅原先生 all use 松勘防具.
• Have at least one song memorized in case called upon for singing.