A bit on training others and oneself

One more late night writing, for your pleasure! My toe have gone through all manner of shapes and colours these past two days, including a neat blue-black-red streak that seemed to spread down to the space between that toe and the one next to it. I should have taken some sort of time-lapse sequence, with one hour between photos, I suppose. Iai was very little trouble despite this small injury, and we had a visitor who normally lives in New Zeeland, here to visit his parents. It is always fun to meet other iaidoka and discuss their takes in iai, see what and how and why they do things, and so on. This turned out to be no different. And of course, it is a small world, isn't it? This yondan (fourth dan) iaidoka from New Zeeland, whose parents live in Sweden, have met my beloved Ohara-sensei from Japan, and others that I know too besides. He has also practiced at a club where a guy who trains in the same Kali Sikaran group as I, used to practice. "Coincidence", people call it. There is no such thing. There is just a creeping suspicion that something is up. But back to important things! I have become quite adept at mixing together random things into edible and tasty stuff, often with a bit of squash/zucchini as key ingredient. This is good, as cooking is seldom something I do for enjoyment, but I sorely need to keep my every-three-to-four-hour eating habit up. I was the one that held the training for the beginners yesterday (Wednesday), which meant I did exert myself as much as I would otherwise have. But there were of course a proper warmup followed by core strengthening exercises, and so on. I tend to drive iaido beginners quite hard, if not unfairly. I expect them to make an effort, and if they do, it shows right away. You can tell the difference between pure lazyness/indifference and inability/struggling. Some people think this is not so, but I know when someone tries their best but their body or mind does not quite and entirely follow their orders, and, conversely, when people are probably just not interested enough to bother. And I am not nice, I suppose, in that I know the power of mind, and have very little patience with whinging people who constantly convince themselves they have every excuse not to do this or not to be able to do that. Especially when it comes to iai. By no means am I unfair to beginners, but I have sharp eyes. I do very much like to spread encouragment around me, though, and I make certain to tell people when and what they are doing right, which is perhaps less Japanese in mindset than what I described above. But, some beginners need to hear it, and it never hurts to tell someone that what they just did was good. You learn after a while. I am no expert, but I can figure things out. Regardless, I did feel today that I had exerted my leg muscles quite a lot this week. So I was a little relieved today, when during Kali Sikaran training, we not only did Sikaran (kicking) but also quite a bit of Panantukan (boxing, more or less) with and without mitts and gloves. I also wore a pair of new shoes, some kind of Asic wrestling shoe, I think, which after a very short moment's reflection I bought without even mentioning the price. I wanted good shoes, I need good shoes, and they are just what I want: split-sole, about as thin as I can get them and still have them stop my toes from getting bent again. And wide enough, I do not like shoes which squeeze my toes together. It was highly refreshing, but I was not as sharp and focused as I generally am. I think it may be because I took a whole anti-anxiety pill yestereve to be able to sleep, and this probably still had effect today and tonight. I know I was a bit drowsy today, even after I slept almost two hours longer than intended. There was also a bit of strengthening exercises, with some interesting boxing on people's stomachs to make them stiffen their muscles (and get used to getting beaten, even if we did it with gloves and rather softly), and while good, my shoulder doesn't quite permit me to do pushups the way I ought to. It is a delicate balance, for me, to be able to sleep I need help (or the brain simply goes into higher gear and I lie there and the Autobahn that is my thought processes - several lanes at the same time - go on and on and I never fall asleep), but I must be careful with what I use. Herbs are good, but tend to be less effective in chasing away unwanted dreams. Yet sleep I must or I cannot practice! Sleep, eat, hydration and training, I need them all to feel good. I had a period where I slept much too little and practiced, well, what was back then a bit too much. I did not have time or money to eat enough, and I couldn't figure out why I was always bone-weary and had nosebleeds all the time... Take my advice: Sleep enough. Eat enough (do it, damn you, muscles weigh more than fat anyway, if THAT's why you're exercising). Drink enough water (soft-drinks and the like do not, ever, count). And have fun while you're doing whatever it is you are doing. And now I shall drag my tired legs to bed, hope that the endorphines wear off and that my soothing tea will help me sleep. Tomorrow I may actually take a day off from training, or then again, I may simply do some core exercises just to keep it up. Over to you, reader - what have you done this week, and what was your favourite training-related thing that happened?