A bit of oomph into the attack

So, another week past! Shoulder has been aching a lot less, and I feel as if I've come quite far with the Kali stuff. I still overextend at times, both reach-wise and strength-wise, but that is something I need to work on, eh!

My research into getting a new katana, a shinken this time, has been a bit uplifting, but mostly made me feel a little downcast. Swordstore.com has the perfect service for selecting all the details yourself and great customer contact, but I can't afford 7200 USD - I've got a little put by as an emergency stash, but it's so far from that it's ridiculous. Nine Circles, the go-to if you're in Europe, have great budget alternatives and it's perfectly possible to change tsuba, tsuka etcetera yourself... but they're out of shinken in the length I'd like. I could use 2.5 (shaku and sun) of course, which is what my current iaito is, but I am aiming for 2.4.5 instead - I like my fingers fine the way they are thank you very much. There's a seminar in a month's time where I'm going to go for yondan (4th dan), and I'm meeting with a buyu (budo friend) who'll bring his 2.5 shinken for me to try a little. It can potentially hurt like the bloody blazes what with it being razor sharp, but it is worth trying!
Well, anyone interested in seeing my iaido, that which I hold most important, progress are welcome to donate to the "get Ellie a shinken"-fund... I'm simply not going to get any better without a new sword. But I can always focus on teaching others! That's something, at least!

I've had a sneaking ache in my left knee on and off for the past few months. I'm rather worried and here I do now pledge that I shall get back to doing some physical therapy exercises in order to strengthen and better it - and the shoulders.
And part of why I keep this blog is to make sure I don't skive off such things. Hence why I give questions and am always happy to receive answers! That's a way of seeing that people see what I do and will know if I skive off training, and any motivation that gets you going...

My footwork in the more self-defensive martial arts have really got better. It has to, really, standing still is asking for having that knife in your belly...
Saturday was great; though only me and Theo was there, we had a wicked good session! Mainly, we focused on single-stick, and on the knife. Because I've picked up a lot of the movements and technicalities on fighting with such, we moved on to something rather interesting: depth of fight, as I'd like to call it. It's like shu-ha-ri of any do, you progress not only in skill but in understanding.
There's a method to the madness. Having the "intention", "thinking about what comes next" and so on are things I have heard many times by now, but last Saturday that actually started to make sense and sink in. It's about pushing, putting weight of mind and body behind your attacks (and defences!), starting to read your opponent's body, knowing where they will be when you've made your attack or defense, and knowing where you will be too, and where you'll be when they've... and so on. I'm not good at chess but this is more physical, so this I can do. At the end he was pleasantly surprised - "I can't just stand around anymore, I've actually got to make an effort!" - and I feel very good about that, because he's just so skilled that he hasn't been able to get any sort of challenge to drive him on or even keep him on the right level of skill. I feel I progress very quickly indeed, although it's really only been half a year of free sparring (or less, even).
So, that feels great! Not just noticing how much I can actually pick up during just two hours, but how much of it sticks, how much better I get all the time, and how much I can help him with his own training! As a trainer, one must not forget one's own training, or else how can one stay on the level needed to teach others?

Now, if I could only start running again... I'm being a bit too careful about that, I think.

If you look back on the past half-year or so, what are the most encouraging points of progress you've made?

Bringing a friend along

The days of rest did me good, the shoulder has not been bothering me as much since, though it's sort of moved and still aches almost continuously.

It was good to get back on Wednesday and pass on the new and not-so-new knowledges gained from the iaido seminar. Some things were dismissed with an "that's the Ishido-sensei way, we do things a bit differently" which, to be honest, is quite all right, but others are changes we do need to implement on the way we do Seitei Gata. I also appreciated being able to go through the kata slowly and in my own time, to better understand the changes. I may not appreciate the ZNKR kata but, oh well, I need to perform them.

Joining the Kali Sikaran training on Thursday was a delight. It's quite satisfying that the majority of the little club are female - if only because it makes people look surprised when you say it. Why should that be strange, really?
Anyway. There were five of us, plus our trainer, and we focused on Panantukan and some cadeña de maño, chaining hands. I need to learn not to stop breathing just because I am punching things, though! I was pleasantly tired afterwards.

I was of half a mind to go to either Kuntao or another club's iaido training on Friday but decided against it - I needed the rest away from people. Saturday, though, I managed to lure with me a friend to Open Training, and we had lots of fun! She wants to start training martial arts and was rather tempted to go for some kind of FMA (Filippino Martial Art), partially because of the very practical part with knife-defense. She was brave to just jump in when I asked her to join, and have a go, with sticks, softsticks and knives, and damn, did she take to it! It was great to see! The learning curve is usually quite quick in the beginning, but knowing that and seeing it in action are two different things. It was so gratifying, such a great experience, to see how quickly my friend took to it, and how fun we had together!

The trainer, Theo, is good at emphasising that you need to practice with intent behind your attack, so both of us got a few bruises, but he also found us a pair of leg-protectors to put on our right arms - all the slapping with and without knife on the right arm hurt quite enough with it on, so I don't like to think what it'd have been like without!

And, I managed to win a small sparring match against him - though it was part luck on my part, more than skill, I think. Still, good to get a few hits in on the trainer as a change!

I was going to go on a run today, but I am still a little worried about my left knee. It's fairly annoying that it's started acting up again... perhaps I need to do more koryu iaido?

How do you do when a friend starts expressing an interest in training, whether it be your martial art or preferred way of training, or something else entirely? Have you ever brought someone along and how did it go?

Double the bad

I was tired and sleepy quite a lot of the past week, though I'm not certain why, as I was during the days even when I had slept well. Monday's iaido practice I got through on pure will, I had such an incredibly hard time concentrating! My thoughts ran away all over the place. It got better as time went, though in the end it became hard to keep again. Especially when my shoulder started acting up some more...
Which, by the way, ties in with Wednesday's practice. I don't know what I did, but I pulled at one of the ties of the only other participant's hakama (a beginner, whom I caught just before he left, as I was a wee bit late and it was a holiday so people turned back home when there wasn't anyone there on time - anyway, I showed him the way of tying your hakama) something felt like it tore in my left shoulder. I could do iaido, after some warmup and cautious stretching, but it hurt, and still does. I'm treating it as best I can with salves with Arnica in, and liniment, and Voltarol with diclofenac (spelling?). Occasionally drawbacks happen - nearly fell on the train and reflexively caught myself with the left arm, which hurt, and I have had to carry heavy things, which also made it worse... and so on.

It drives me a little mad, because it feels like I've almost lost the use of both my arms now. I don't know what to do if a doctor orders me to rest for more than about a week... and I know that my right shoulder didn't exactly get better even after half a year of rest. The pain isn't exactly identical though, giving me hope that the one in the left shoulder might just be a bit of a strain on some piece of the muscle connection to the bone or such.

Because of this injury, Thursday's Kali practice was also a bit more painful and less fun than I had hoped. Some movements with raised arms made the left shoulder hurt worse. I'm debating whether I should push and do some physical therapy exercises, or just leave it to rest as much as possible before the National Championships. I'm leaning towards the former. What do you think?
I do at least feel like I'm getting back my zanshin and correct "mind of iai", and am able to project a powerful fighting spirit again.

Since I was away over the weekend, this post is late. I don't mind however as I managed to go for a run in the perfect weather, with the calm sea beside and below me, and the beginnings of flowers and grass smelling sweet. I went only for fifteen minutes, again, to be careful with my legs. I've had no trouble today though, and my knees feel fine (though the left one's been acting up for a month or so!), so maybe I'll dare start running in the mornings soon? I'm not a morning person but having some zazen and a run to look forward to maybe it'll be easier to get up.

Looking up

Last weekend, I was given a pair of sneakers, some sort of Nike, black with red symbols. They're flat underneath, with no heel to speak of, and I was itching to try them out, see if they were good to run in. Today I did...

I'm fairly happy with the way my iaido is going, I've been able to train that thing that feels the most important to me right now, which is zanshin, awareness, and fighting spirit. The technical matters are as they are, I need a lighter sword to become quicker, and there's little to change this close to the National Championships, but I've felt really disconnected, going through the motions. I need some more space than I am sometimes given, need to be able to go inside myself and find what I need to bring out.
I happened to be the one to lead both Monday's and Wednesday's training, which actually was quite beneficial as I could then change them to suit my needs. And, consequently, train the kata I needed, and leave the participants to theirs for a few moments now and then, doing my own thing. One needs a little time without supervision, to figure things out properly, or so I have found. They said they appreciated it, anyway.

Because our trainer in Kali Sikaran was at the Mandirigma Boot Camp in the Phillippines this week, Tuesday saw, well, me, sort of leading the training. But I've had training in suddenly having to do that before - iaido, anyone? I simply gauged the participants, figured one can always, always use a return to the basics, and off we went. It was very cooperational. It became a little more troublesome when more people showed up - at first it was me and the Two Brothers, then a guy who's had to be away for most of last and this term dropped in, and lastly a young woman, freshly committed to Kali Sikaran. So our skill levels were... uneven. But it worked out all right! After a creative and fun warmup, I took the two less experienced through some basics in double baston (double stick), showing them then some simple applications of that without weapons, the young guy joined the Brothers in kicking, punching and takedowns, and me and the young woman (whose name I cannot for the life of me remember, much less spell - I'll get there eventually, I'm just not very good with names) continued with some really basic defense against a straight punch, and later, a left jab, right cross, left hook (a hit that comes slightly from the outside-side of your head), and the "revenge" part of simply ducking underneath the hook, slamming one fist into the stomach of the attacker and then, once past them, slam your hand into their face just to push them away and make them flinch. She caught on really well!
We ended it with a nice and exhausting piece of workout, that certainly let me know I have some nice back muscles these days...

I was very happy to see on Thursday that Theo, the guy holding the Open Training on Saturdays, guest-starred as the trainer. We went through the oh so important basics of double baston; how to hold, how to hit, how to hit the very spot you need to hit - and that, dear readers, is something one needs to work on. There is a technique to it, as there is to everything, and by the end we'd started weaving it all together into a nice whole. We turned to empty-handed applications after that, which were very enlightening! There are so many good defences, and it is very nice to learn them, one after another, until they are completely internalised. However, with only one and a half hour, we didn't really get through all of his planned program, so, yesterday's Open Training included some repetition. And oh, was it good. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Those two hours might have been some kind of favourite in a long time. Five enthusiastic participants, one enthusiastic trainer, a lot of good new advice and knowledge, some positively humiliating takedowns, some really good tricks... it was great. My shoulders, and my throat muscles, are sore already (it usually takes a little more than just one day for them to start whining about having been used), despite the precautions I took! I love it, of course.
I had a friend along (let's call him Jax), who's trained karate, kick-boxing and other things, and is a devil at kicking, whether it be standing on the ground or flying through the air. He's dedicated to climbing now, and thus has excellent shoulder and core muscles - gratifying to work with, as there is less danger of hurting him. I've seldom had such a fun and excellent partner to work with for two hours straight. We could help eachother, and thank the powers that be for that! My kicks are absolute rubbish, even if I have the strength, but they are his forte. On the other hand, he's not too used to going in close, whether with attack or defence, but I've become quite familiar with that. So, a lot of fun was had! And I love "fighting" with my friends. Seldom do you see their true nature as then, and seldom can you behave like a young, overenergetic fox pup and still get out of it with a smile, a few bruises and no hard feelings.
It was rounded off with a few minutes of sparring, which was absolutely brilliant. Knife fighting, and finally me and Jax had the chance I've sort of been itching for for years! First round I won decisively, sneaking in under his arm and cutting him across his torso. Second round was quite even, and a lot of fun. No one really won, but no one really lost.
So we're both kind of hoping this'll be a recurring event! We had an after-training cup of tea/coffee, which is always great. When it was time to part, most of my mad energy (that always turns up after training) had begun to dissipate, and even though I was determined at first to take a little run when I got home, I eventually just dove into bed and slept for about ten hours. Not straight, I woke up now and then, but, more or less.

It might have something to do with being social, being out amongst people for two days in a row (had to get some art supplies on Friday and therefore had to brave the crowds), and training with great enthusiasm for two hours...

Today, the sun was out from early morning, and I felt the familiar itch in my whole body. I needed to run...
The problem was, I'm a bit hesitant to get out twice in a day (social anxiety and all that), and I did need groceries. I also did not want to waste time. Of course, I eventually wound up getting my trousers on, my new jogging shoes, put in a pair of in-soles that, to my great relief, works perfectly, pulled on my long-sleeved training shirt and grabbed my rucksack and went out. I took a detour, of course, running on the fields behind the house, and only a small distance on asphalt. Bought what I needed, stowed it in the bag, and took a longer detour back, on my favourite gravel and dust road. I ran a wee bit longer than strictly needed to get back home, but, turned as soon as I started feeling fatigue in my legs. I need to be careful, as I've said, now that I'm starting up this running thing again!

The first run in the "new" shoes turned out quite fine. They don't sit as snugly around the foot as I am used to, and their opening is wider than usual for me too. However, I can get used to that. It was nice that they were completely flat, and they gave me a little dampening but not the Mega Über New Technology sort that I really, really can do without... just enough that I can run on unpaved roads. So my running outfit is now complete: long-sleeved Nike training shirt that looks as new from a theatre sale, (probably fake) Adidas used trousers bought from an eBay-spinoff (not really worth the money, but that's auctions for you, and it's all made up by the other parts costing next to nothing) and used shoes. Not a new item in sight, except underwear and socks. I like it that way. Why ditch something that's perfectly useful? I wouldn't use the shoes if they'd been well-walked in, I'm aware of the danger in that, but, they aren't, so, I use them. Carefully, of course, but they do work.

My body is responding well, the shoulder is still painful but seems to like the varied training it is getting these days, and I had a long, admiring look at the lovely muscles on my legs the other day. Really, do take that time to look at yourself and admire all those bodyparts that are so strong, so gorgeous, that carry you through everyday life, trainings and pastimes! Not only are they gorgeous in themselves, but they are strong, and healthy, because you use them!

Yah, spring is here, training's looking up, my goal is now set to be at least a small run every day (ten to fifteen minutes will be quite all right for most days, though Fridays and Sundays might see me run longer) before next winter, and the National Championships is in two weeks time...
How are you doing, readers? Any new goals? Any new equipment to be fond of?

A little on fighting spirit

Again, a late post, and again, with good reason. The weekend was spent away from my little burrow, until very late in the night of Sunday to Monday.

Last Monday, and the one this week, I held the training in iaido, and chose to focus on the ZNKR Seitei gata, that is, the twelve kata that are sort of international and common ground for the majority of iaidoka in the world. The Swedish National Championships are coming up and though I can't be bothered worrying about more than taking at least one flag (it's possible to have zero, one, two or three in a match, as there are a maximum of three in one match), or fighting for a medal in the sandan (third dan) class, I am going to fight for the Fighting Spirit award. That, to me, means more than any medal - a medal means "merely" technical superiority, a good show, a good match... but the Fighting Spirit award, well, that means one beat everyone else, in one's class or the whole competition, depending on how many they hand out. And that one has a good grasp of the technique, and that what is most important, which are, maai, mind of iai and, well, fighting spirit, is something that one has to a greater extent than anything else.
I realised that it means this to me when I won it two years ago.

Nevertheless... I must be proficient in the technicalities of the Seitei Gata, and so I chose to focus on three last week, and three other kata this week. It is good to see the other participants become better during one lesson! Very rewarding, for me and hopefully also for them.
Wednesday saw our sister club in Linköping send three participants to a very rewarding koryu practice, where, although our sensei focused on helping them, I still found useful new knowledge.

Tuesday and Thursday saw Kali practice with different foci. Yet, in that martial art, since everything is linked in different ways, the more time I spend on it, the more it is like a big, multi-layered jigsaw-puzzle coming together. With or without weapons, the movements are similar, for all the right reasons. I'm happy to say that despite heavy use of arms and shoulders, my muscle soreness wasn't too bad!

I've been looking around for a pair of running shoes, so as not to ruin my rather nice pair of sandals. A friend gave me an old pair of fairly battered sneakers (some kind of Nike ones) which I am aching to go out and try. I'm planning on having my first run in them on Friday - I want to step up my training regime to have a run every other day at least, but I know I need to be a little careful, my knee have been acting up as well as my shoulder, and with new shoes and after the forced winter hiatus on running... It pays to be careful.
Am also possibly going to look into the idea of "chi running" or whatever the name was... sounded fairly similar to barefoot style running, but some kind of a variant. I spoke with a friend you see, and, I'll get back to you on that matter...


Regarding what I wrote about earlier, the fighting spirit thing - it is important to have the right mindset, whatever one is training. It will be far less efficient if one is merely slugging on, going through the motions, no matter what one is training! To me, going to the gym is akin to torture. Boring, drab, uninspiring. I have tried using a mindset of "but it will benefit my iaido!" but that has not worked. In martial arts, I can directly link action to result, I know that what I do is useful, or, in the case of iaido, damn cool because I'm waving a flippin' katana around (to speak loosely and rather carelessly here). There's something about martial arts that not only gives my body exercise, but also my mind. Straightens it out, helps me focus. I can see a direct use of what I do.
And with martial arts, well, they are martial, aren't they? Fighting is in their nature, self-defence or what ever you wish to call it. In iaido it is ever so important to have that fighting spirit, not showing it by facial expressions, but by exuding it. You have no (physical) opponent. Yet it must be clearly seen that you are fighting an opponent. You must act at all times as if you were a warrior, not a fighter, and a warrior at ease with their skill and awareness. Zanshin! And when there is violence, you give it your all, without losing focus, poise, control or awareness. Perfect focus. Perfection.
The idea of a Fighting Spirit award is immensely satisfying to me. All too often, that part of iaido falls by the wayside. Mind is important! Mind is even more important than body! With the right mindset, your life will be right. And with the help of said mindset, I walk the streets more safely, I train Kali Sikaran with greater focus and reward, and I live my everyday life a better way.

...I got a bit philosophical there.
So, how do you find that a mindset can affect training? Do you have good examples, bad examples, examples from ordinary gymming, from martial arts? Tell me, I am curious!

Snow and its benefits for my legs

Oh, but I do not feel in the right form at all for the national Iaido Championships in a month's time! My ticket may be booked but I feel as if I've just been going through the motions for so long now... as if there's no fighting spirit in my iaido at all. My body responds, my shoulder aches, but even that is nothing new... It is good, being able to help others, but this is for me one of those flat parts of a learning curve. Still! It will be lovely good fun to see all the others again. I hope. As long as I can take a breather in a quiet secluded spot somewhere, now and then.

I did go through the ZNKR Seitei gata on Wednesday though, and that was just as well. I haven't done so in quite a while. There's not much about them I like, but I need to be able to perform them well, and I daresay I have got a bit smoother action going on in some of them at least. I got a lovely bit of muscle soreness from Monday's practice, too, so that felt kind of good; I did something right, I guess.

Kali Sikaran saw me find out once again that something must be awry with my blood pressure. I'm a bit worried. Father is having is pacemaker "restarted" soon, so it does run in the family, and I don't like at all that I can keep up a good pace, and then, if I stop... suddenly, I go all weak and light-headed and feel faint. It is especially prominent when boxing or something similar. I figured it must be the breathing, so I made sure I breathed correctly.
It wasn't.
I feel very weak and insufficient. It gets me down when my body does not do as I order it to.

But, for all that, I am happy I went to all the four evenings of practice, and my body seemed to like it. I still can't get anything near visible "abs", my body may have them but they don't show, but that's all right... I look hot enough if I look in the mirror anyway.

I feel I need to work more on stretching - I am trying, but it seems so futile. Maybe fifteen minutes of stretching will do me just as much good as fifteen minutes of practice a day?

I also checked the time it takes to get to and from public transport, and I've found that there's not much difference in what route I take, or whether I catch the bus or not, at least not time-wise. So I might just walk a bit more often than I already do, though the road is fairly uninspiring.


Lastly, I missed Saturday's practice, because I was busy walking, striding, gliding and running around in a forest still miserably full of melting April snow. Now, I love snow. I do NOT love melting April snow that underneath it has branches and twigs, so that, when you step into what would, if the snow wasn't MELTING, perhaps have you sink a few decimetres in but now sees you bury your foot up to the knee or even the thigh, and get to what ought to have been the bottom, your foot just goes through that blasted layer of twigs so that you in fact sink up to your waist.... well...
Anyway. I was away larping, and because of the character, I did not huff, puff, bend or take easy shortcuts body-movement-wise. I strode, straight backed and certain, wherever I walked. Didn't matter if a pile of snow had me slipping down a slope, I was straight-backed, slightly smiling and perfectly balanced anyway. Ice was like a welcoming, red-carpet type of ground, as if made to carry me where I wished without slipping. Snow was merely something that bent to my will and flowed around me. Only at the very end... But those two single times, I ran, and ran, and ran, not being able in any way to care about what the snow hid or how deep it was, and even when once or twice I fell, it didn't stop the momentum forwards at all. I just kept on. It felt incredibly good, to feel the body working, and to be able to just bull rush forwards, not caring one bit. Part larp magic, part muscles is what took me through that.
...and today, I woke up with somewhat sore and stiff legs! In a good way, of course. So, it was a good workout too! Five hours of being straight-backed told me I need to think about my posture in everyday life, too! It all inspired me to find new ways of training that might reach certain muscles that can add to the strength of others that I use in my martial arts!

No questions this week - just a profound hope you've hade a good week and are looking forward to the next week as much as I am - at least when it comes to training!

The frustrating shoulder

Well, I was happy last Saturday, when I was able to do so many pushups, even if they were with the knees on the floor. I shouldn't have been. My shoulder has been very troublesome ever since. I'm even having trouble typing.

The aching shoulder meant I forewent iaido on Monday, but Wednesday I took the place as teacher, so that went well, at least. Kali saw me in a wee bit of pain, and in the end I had to forego one of the exercises on Tuesday, thogh Thursday was better. Yesterday, however, when I was so very, very much looking forward to the weekly sparring, I was down with a nasty cold which, as they always do with me, lodged itself firmly in the throat, and has now evolved into full-blown coughing-apart-my-lungs. Of course. They always do.

I get incredibly frustrated with my many issues, illnesses and aches, big and small alike. After all, I have started resting, but when that doesn't seem to help - what then? And, resting is all good, but the frustration in the head when I miss out on something, is definitely not enjoyable! Nor is the one in the body. I'm worried about my back, and the muscles there, so I am going to focus on trying to do "fifteen minutes a day" at home, too, and not just iai and Kali.

Now, rest is all good, but my shoulder has been like this for years by now. I'm thinking of trying some kind of private doctor or bone-tweaker - it can't hurt anything but my wallet, after all.

When you have recurring aches and pains, what do you do? Do you have a recommendation for me? If resting doesn't make things better with your body, do you have some sort of go-to? Or, if you do rest, how do you cope with not being able to work out? Maybe it's a relief, a well-earned rest, or maybe it's frustrating - do tell, and I'll reply!

Articles on barefoot style running

It is about time I wrote a bit about barefoot running again, so, that I will do.

This week saw little out of the ordinary. I was the senpai/sensei for Monday's iaido, managed again to tie in warm-up with the kata we later did, On Wednesday I was a careless klutz in iaido and managed to cut a small cut in my left middle finger - I will continue to badger everyone lifting a sword that is of less grade than I am to do their noto correctly; with fingers together and good hikite/sayabiki. (That is, the motion of putting the saya back onto the sword). Yes, you can cut yourself even with a mogito (not a shinken) - all you have to do is be careless and find that uttermost part of the tip.
Kali held a few challenges, and some of them I conquered quite well! I am very pleased that my knife-work and -defence is fairly decent for my level. Knife-fighting is definitely one of the things I'm most worried about if I would ever get dragged into one.

The Saturday SecurityFitness Open Mat was great as usual. I suspect I might have possibly impressed the instructor a little when I managed to get in behind his guard and hit him with the knife a few times, but, it wasn't really worth mentioning. I prefer finding out what I can do even better, instead of being complimented on something I did all right mostly by accident. So, a few bruises richer, I then took Saturday off from just about everything. Today I merely took a walk in the sunshine - I have to study, so I can't do much else, though the roads are really clearing up now!

And speaking of that: I want new shoes for running in. And I'd prefer not paying a thousand SEK just because they have a nice brand - I know good shoes are important, but I'm cautious nevertheless. I know what I want, but I can't pay crudloads for it, so if I AM going to buy something, I better read up on it. I'm thinking of finding some sort of running flats.

I ran into a few articles on the matter of barefoot running. There are apparently many styles and gurus and preachers and denigrators out there... and as usual, I try to avoid them. Yes, "Born to Run" is a bit evangelical in tone, but at least it is a fairly engaging read.
Now, this series of articles was made by a professional with a background in physiotherapy, and I'm going to drop you right at the end of the series - here - even though it is in Swedish. The little numbers in brackets lead almost all of them to English-language studies on barefoot- and ordinary running. Some are done by companies, others by those seeking an answer and therefore getting it, and so on. Apply caution!

What the series concludes with, in any case, is with an "it depends". It seems fairly certain that too much padding and oddities in shoes aren't too good, but that few people ought to go straight onto running with actual bare feet. The author runs "barefoot style" a few times a week, but mostly in the heel-down way. He is not convinced by anyone's arguments, but stays somewhere in the middle, with a firm "it depends".
There is a bit about marathon runners, a bit about the choice of shoes and a bit about injuries.
And here comes a, to me, interesting part: barefoot running significantly decreases stress and risk of injury on your knees. That is instead moved to lower down the leg, which can be deflected fairly well by good muscles, careful running and proper shoes for you - yes, you yourself, not anything hyped up. Try those shoes out, and don't just trust what people tell you. Shoes ought not to be constricting, too narrow, and, whenever you can, you should walk barefoot - indoors, for example, doing everyday things.
Some people, when faced with shoes with a thinner sole, began putting their feet down more to the middle of the foot, instead of the heel. This too lessens the strain on the knees and the force of the impact on the ground.

So, there were quite a lot of comments for people who said they'd rediscovered the joy of running, and no longer had trouble with their knees! And then there were those who didn't particularily like it, and were fine with running as usual.

One thing that interested me quite a bit was the talk about changes in performance and "economy of running". That is, the energy expenditure and whether your technique is energy effective... and so on. If I understood it correctly, that is. It seems it requires a wee bit extra expenditure of energy to run barefoot style, which, when it comes to running far, is of course a drawback. But as I do not compete, and run for the sheer joy of it, I find it an interesting detail at most. Something to remember, but not anything I will worry about.

Well, for me, the articles and the tests they referred to didn't change my mind about barefoot style running. It did remind me that "to each their own", but I think it is important to tell people that barefoot style running is an alternative. Maybe it won't be for them, but you can't know until you try, and as long as they go on and try past that first bump in the road that is building up the new muscles for it, I'll accept their declining to continue.

Have you read any articles on barefoot style running, and what positive and negative sides did you find in them? Were they well written, or were they more like propaganda? Did they change your mind?

See you next week!

Learning that one can learn new things

Well, look at that, I forgot to write last Saturday! Admittedly, it was a week without much outside of the ordinary, what with the snow beginning to thaw and all but the roads still being treacherous.

I was called upon to lead the iaido practice both Monday and Wednesday, and it went really well. I must say, something has changed in my brain, something just... worked. I tied together warmup exercises and the kata we did on Monday, and I am really pleased that both days, everyone seemed to have progressed in the end from where they were at the beginning.
On Wednesday, both the "ordinary" sensei came anyway, but we had agreed beforehand that they were to focus on their own practice. This, I think - no, I know, in fact - was a very good idea. They, as sensei, need to keep their skills honed, and also to get a break if they start to grow weary of teaching. And more importantly, they as iaidoka need to keep their level of skill and understanding. I am very proud to have been able to give them an opportunity to not be the teachers.

In regards to my other martial art, I am quite fond of being a beginner, I must say. There are many new things to learn, and over and over again it is proven to me that I can learn them. I listen to and watch the explanation and demonstration, try out the first tentative times, and then me and my partner both gain confidence and understanding, and at times we even get quite good at the specific move or exercise in question!
I believe that to be a very important part in anything, really - to accept that there is always something more to learn, to embrace the same fact, and to encourage oneself and others to strive to learn these new things. And, to enjoy the process, no matter how bitter or hard or painful it may be!  With "enjoy" I do not necessarily mean in the laughing, smiling, satisfied way. It could also be the knowledge of an obstacle cleared or that one perseveres even though things look bad - and the knowledge that one actually did persevere.

This was again something I really felt during Saturday's "open practice" hours. It was two hours of mercilessly building things from the ground up. And at the end, all of us used both hands, with weapon or without, stick or knife optional, for attacking as well as defending, and moved about quite a lot in a way we've been badgered to do for quite a while. It took all of those two hours, but great thanks go to our trainer for finding just the right exercises to put piece after piece into place, making it a fine puzzle indeed once finished! At first, everything felt... too much.  "Well, I'm decent at this and that, but all of this... give me a few months, and then maybe..." We had the general gist of the idea of things. But at the end, we moved instead of thought, and learned from our mistakes, having passed "gate" by "gate" of learning. All fitted together, and for me, something that had been building since months, fit into place and I felt really good afterwards. I couldn't describe exactly what that would have been, only that... something suddenly seems to have put me on the right path in regards to my other martial art beside iaido.

I have been having trouble sleeping lately, which I suspect may be due to some medication. Last night I didn't try anything external (such as calming tea), but instead went to bed rather early, and refused to get up (except for the bathroom), insisting on falling back to sleep every time, until half past eight. Well, at least I felt rested for a few hours... before feeling sleepy again. I'll just wait and see. I've found a strategy that works at least.

Over to you, then - do you find that sometimes you simply cannot do an exercise or the like, right away? Or perhaps, the other way round!
The idea is there, you understand the theory of it (more or less) but it takes ages to get it? Unless you have the opportunity to do seemingly almost unrelated exercises, building up towards finally doing the entire exercise, and then you suddenly get it? Or, perhaps you have never had the chance to do just that, instead having to rely on hard work to see you through to "understanding"?

To owe the body a rest

All in all it became a very active week - nine days altogether, with some kind of physical exertion every day. Sunday saw me confirm my theory of the possibility of skiing from the back door all the way to the sea, I would have done the same on Monday and Tuesday too considering the weather was just as stunning then, but having had the week I did, and knowing I was to be the trainer for Monday's iaido, and go to Tuesday's Kali Sikaran, I felt I had to forego skiing those two days...

Which is a pity, as there probably shall be no more skiing this winter. But there you are.

 The skiing tour took me over those glorious golf fields - glorious only because they are covered in snow and I don't have to see them, nor am forbidden to go right across them in winter. I followed a small brook, or perhaps a stream, on the northeast side of it, going past a house or two and then across field after field, interspersed with trees and the occasional track from the local wildlife. Actually... there was quite a lot of tree, both beside the stream and around, but everywhere the land was flat enough, there were fields. Eventually I saw the castle (a rectangular, tall building looking like a large house, to be honest, but I've nae been inside it yet), and noticed that I had some time to go yet before the bus would take me back. Now, I'd not normally have taken the bus, but as I said, I knew I had to let the body rest a little, even if I didn't want to.

So I walked (taking my skis off) across the road, put them back on, and found my way the last bit beside the stream and out to the sea, going past a picturesque red house or three on the way, delighting in the feeling of skiing right across another snowed-over golf course, seeing a couple of other skiiers in the distance (they, unlike me, seemed to do some sort of active effort of going fast and getting into physical shape, whereas I mostly... explore, and enjoy the nature around me...) and eventually finding a small collection of wood probably meant to moor boats by in the summertime. The sea was covered in ice, that was covered in snow, and I toyed with the idea of going out across it. It looked solid enough as far out as I could see, it was a rather protected little cove of a sorts, and there was a bus an hour later too... but I didn't have any sort of ice safety equipment, and therefore decided to just ski back to the bus.

Once home, I took a long shower, and, still grinning like a happy maniac, made myself some food. Because one really, really does need to eat as soon as one can after such an extended period of physical exertion.


After Monday's practice, I stayed behind a little and did some Chuden kata from Musou Shinden Ryu, just to work my leg muscles a bit more. ...yes, you can probably see the flaw in the plan here, you too. It wasn't really a bad plan, not really... but maybe I could have done some other kata, that weren't quite that taxing for the legs. The day after I definitely felt the strain and the lack of a whole day of resting them. But I knew the Kali practice was unlikely to be very hard on the legs, and I was right. So they didn't feel worse after that, just "as bad".

This influenced my decision to be a "roller" rather than a "carrier" when I packed my bag - I didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on my knees, and to be a bit careful about them. I went to my lovely Chalcatraz, and spent the Wednesday in good company. Thursday, though, I flitted about, here and there all over town, on a bike and on foot, and Visby may be lovely, but flat it is not. So I do count that as a bit more than the normal kind of everyday exercise!
Yesterday and today saw quite a bit of walking, and I haven't really felt I've missed the training, but that could be because of the resident cat... and the soreness in my stomach muscles after about 140 crunches in succession on Tuesday's Kali practice...

Well, all in all, nine consecutive days of glorious exercise certainly felt like a treat. I still wish I would have dared to go skiing on Monday and Tuesday too, but, I have learned the hard and bad way to listen to my body, and so I had to do this time also.
Have you ever foregone practice purely or mostly because you know your body probably could take it, but shouldn't? Or have you used it as an excuse, feeling a bit guilty - or, perhaps, felt guilty despite having a very valid reason?
I know I've been guilty to that very last part quite a few times.
Listening to what the body tells you is important, though it is important to know the difference when one can push through, and when one really needs to go a bit easier.

A lot of legwork

And on the sixth day, she kind of felt a little exhausted.
Monday saw me help out with coaching two of the more advanced iaidoka, so it was reasonably productive, but Wednesday saw frustration running fairly high. Sensei took a bit more of an interest, and I focused exclusively on my cuts - kiritsuke, that is, straight down from over the head. I've had trouble with that, and my grip, for as long as I can remember. Ohara-sensei tried to correct me, but I think I only managed to fix it in small part, and though it has become better, it is not good. My cuts are decent, but not as good as they could be. And it is such a delicate thing to fix, that it's incredibly hard to see what is wrong if someone is doing it "almost right", and even more so if they've already been doing it wrong for, oh, eight or nine years.

My katana being a wee bit too heavy for me, just a wee bit, does make things worse. I think I have a fair idea of the principles and the theory of it, and I may have felt what it feels like if I hold and cut right about once or twice, but it doesn't stay that way, and we shan't even speak of what happens when I actually do kata...
But I am working on it.
With fifteen minutes left of practice time (twenty went to warmup, and fifty-five for cutting and cutting only), I finally felt that my frustration was more of a hindrance than anything else, and went over to doing a few of my favourite kata. Now and again I did only cuts, but mostly I did kata.

Ah, how frustrating it is with these old troubles! One can only continue to work on it.

Kali Sikaran was far less frustrating, much, much less. I certainly didn't do perfectly, but I didn't hurt anyone, and I had fun. I didn't overexert myself, but managed quite well! I have actually begun to get some sort of control over the fighty stikks (or rattan sticks, baston or whatever you wish), both double and single. I am starting to see how things fit together, with and without weapons. Sometimes I can't really figure out how I'm supposed to do a particular string of movees, but most often I can figure it out after a while.


And then, Friday arrived, with lovely sunshine, and I absolutely could not resist: I took out my skis, and grinning rather broadly I'm afraid, I set out across the fields behind the house. And then I found a tunnel under the road (oh AM I going to use it for when I can run again!) and after following the broad path for a while... I found wide, wide fields, pristine and sparkling, with houses scattered far and wide, and forests encircling it, or dotted here and there on them. I found the tracks of other skiers, and followed them. After a while it turned out that the fields had turned into the fields of a golfing club. This reminded me that I am often not very interested in taking long walks, but skiing, oh, skiing is freedom! I could go anywhere with skis, through a forest or across fields, and hurt nothing and no one, and not be stopped. It's fast going, it doesn't hurt and I can go fast or slow.

I revelled in the feeling of freedom.

The track ran around the golfing area, though I didn't follow it all the way around the meandering edge, I stayed on the south side of a brook. But next time I am going to cross it and go out to the sea - it's not far, I've looked it up thoroughly on a map. Or, "far", I should say... This jaunt took me about two hours, and I think it was ten or twenty kilometres. I'm not certain. I loved it, regardless. And then I came back home, still grinning, had a long, good shower and then ate a nice meal. I ought to have stretched more than I did, but, oh well.


And theeeeen... today was again Open Floor, or Security Fitness. I couldn't resist it in the end, but went, and in quite high spirits too. And it was good, really good! Nice warmup with a mix of complex moves and physical exertion, too.
We mostly used the baston, sticks, building on what we did last week and variants of that. Blocking, hitting, but first and foremost: footwork!
As many martial artists know, footwork is paramount if you are to ever have a better understanding of fighting, whether said fighting is in competition, only amongst your art-mates, proper self-defense, UFC... or what ever. There are those arts who have lost that knowledge over the years, or simply do not need it anymore. However, the Filippino Martial Arts are often still very much grounded in real life application, and I am very, very glad of that, partly because it complements my iaido so well. If I ever were in a sword fight, I couldn't rely on simply walking back and forth. I would need to be able to dodge this way and that, step lightly and adapt. And with such a focus on kata, these things are often, if not overlooked, under-trained. We don't have the opportunity. The knowledge we may obtain, but the practice is far less often possible.
Oh, if I had the opportunity, I would learn. I certainly did get a grip of the basics when doing longsword fencing, and during my miserably few kendo lessons. But when you are armed or attacked empty-handed or with a knife, why, then it is very, very relevant to have it in your backbone to bloody well move not just back and forth, but to the sides and a bit of everywhere. So I am learning it at a high speed, which feels very good.

Today's practice, then, was good in many ways. I also learned a few new ways of blocking and checking, and we finished it all off with a "king of the hill" sort of thing. I did quite well, despite everyone there being more experienced in me in those kinds of arts. In fact, I DID get quite a good hit on the fourth participant (a man who has practiced FMA for 18 years) with the softknife, almost at the very start of our second bout, but maybe he was too surprised to notice. I did well, but most of all I am happy to find out what I can get better at! And it was all done in good spirit. He also went on to tell me, afterwards, a lot that I could get better at. I tend to prefer hesitating and grabbing the initiative from my opponent, and he gave some very solid advice on how to do that in a better fashion. Even after two hours of new information, exercises and physical exertion, a lot of what he said stuck.

Now, however... oh, am I glad I have learned to make those after-workout smoothies. My body is admittedly a little sore, and a little tired... And I am going to have a lot of bruises tomorrow! But that's all good, really, and getting hit in a safe environment in a way that does not give permanent injuries is good practice. Otherwise, I'm probably not going to react very well if it happens in real life.
Although... I do think of getting some sort of boob protection. When holding up a large blue mits, the force of someone's punches or kicks still spread through it and onto my chest, and when being stopped doing a pushkick, with one hand on my chest, well, that kind of hurts too.

...you know what, I ought to write something about how those things get in the way - boobs and crotches. Something for a future post perhaps. Today has mostly been about "wohoo yay six days of practice this week".
A lot of legwork, all in all, and they are pleasantly tired. And quite a bit of armwork too. Good, allround training this week!

And my question this week relates to that:
Do you only do your "routine", whether that be jogging, gymming or martial arts (or whatever)? Or do you sometimes add something else, just for fun, or to up the level a bit? Maybe one more session a week, or a new way of working out?

Until next week - enjoy using your body, enjoy keeping it strong, and take good care of it!

Fun in training

Monday's iaido practice was certainly one of the better I've had lately, intense and focused. Not as good as last Monday's, but good all the same. Some of it was led by the sensei, but other parts were "do this kata, I'll come around if it's needed" and I definitely managed to focus quite well. I may have ironed out a few details too, that I've been having trouble with. Wednesday, however, something upset my stomach, and I had to stay in bed.
Tuesday and Thursday were given over to Kali Sikaran, of course, and oh my did I have fun. I was exhausted after Tuesday's practice, and found out that 10 oz gloves get really, really heavy after a few hours of hitting people and things, and acting as a punching bag, or blocking... etcetera. Lovely. Though my blood pressure did that odd thing that happens sometimes when as soon as I calm down, I feel close to fainting, and have to sit down for a while. Bloody annoying.
Thursday, oddly enough, we were only three at practice. This meant a lot of focus on details and techniques. Some kadena de maño, some knife fighting, mostly, and I had my one Valentine's Day greeting: me and Jen were practicing cutting eachother over the chest with mockup knives (before learning to block such a proper cut), and suddenly grinned. In Sweden, Valentine's is called something which is translated something like "All Hearts' Day/Day of All Hearts" - thus making cutting eachother's heart out quite funny indeed! Quite cheering, which gave us new energy and focus.

I feel a bit guilty that I haven't made use of the snow that's been lying thick outside, but I really haven't been feeling up to going outdoors for anything but "musts", which have been going to training, this week. My social phobia seems quite mild compared to before, those times I go out with such a definite goal in mind. I did make up for it a little by going to Open Practice (Security Fitness) for its two hours today. And it was great fun! Nastily (and therefore awesome) exhausting warmup and strengthening exercises, and then, variations on the same fighty theme with empty hands, knife and stick. The theory behind it was also explained, which is always beneficial, at least to me. It was all finished with an "all on one" circle - one person in the middle, the others around, making attacks that the center person meets with, well, anything, really. It is a very good exercise, helping one to not get a narrow focus, meet a variety of attacks and learn to take hits - we used soft padded sticks, for example, and so, a bop on the head when I didn't manage to block an overhead hit was a good lesson rather than annoying or painful. One learns to act on instinct instead of over-think, and, if having a weapon, using it. In Miyamoto Musashi's way of thinking, taking over the initiative from your attacker.

So as you can see, I've been having fun in practice lately. Sometimes it seems pure drudgery, and then one have to push through no matter what. And sometimes, one feels elated and happy and, well, one has fun! It has kind of been what's been keeping me alive lately.

And this aspect of training, fun... Do you have fun, training? Do you have any ways of making your training fun, do you ever do that, or, is it perhaps something you've never thought of?
I have of course spoken at length about the joy of running, the lovely feeling of cleansed mind after iaido and so on, but... sheer fun, that's a bit different. Joking too much must not be done, because that frazzles concentration and focus, but still - sometimes you need some smiles, some grins, some laughs, or at least something that just feels... well, fun, amusing. So what're your takes on that?

An all-round good training

I decided that those smoothies I came up with were worth doing, and so, I now try to keep some fruit at home, some frozen berries and also canned fruit. It is a good thing to be able to get something so filling in the stomach right after training, and the mix of ingredients once again gives relief from muscle soreness. Thus I make a new smoothie every time I go to Kali Sikaran practice, and have a sandwich after every iaido practice. It seems to be working out rather well, so far.

We all train for different reasons. One of mine is, very clearly, that it makes my body stronger, which I definitely approve of. For various reasons. Once, I worked hard at it because if I was to be superior to my tormentors in school not just in mind, but also in body, well, I'd have to work for it hadn't I. So I did. Then my knees got in the way until I discovered iaido, and...
It occurred to me many years ago by now, how much better I feel after iaido, and it has at times been the only thing that kept me going. I get edgy and skittish if I am unable to go to practice or train something. It is oh so easy to just sit still and try to fill my mind with something, to make it not go haywire or hurt. But practice, oh, once I get into the swing of it, there is no thing as good for clearing the mind and giving me the strength to go on, as training!

Iaido is particularily good for cleansing the mind. Kali Sikaran too, it seems, has the effect to clear my mind and calm me down somewhat. It is social in a wholly different way from iaido, and I seem to crave that. We may hit, punch and kick at eachother, but it is always done with respect and in the interest of mutual benefit. And I get to use my muscles to the very end of their strength - and that, often, is just what I need. With the way the public transport runs now, I also have about half an hour extra after training has ended, and I use it for extra exercises and stretching, and some socialising, and perhaps a bit accidental extra practice.
Yesterday I found a new nice tool for training - I think it is called the "t-rex", and the basic idea is two handholds on one string each, and then there's all manner of things one can do with those. The core-strengthening exercises were particularly brutal, and therefore, I must of course feel the urge to get one myself. My shoulders, too, had a nice time of being savaged and thus strengthened. I do appreciate meeting others who train, and especially martial arts. One can always share and learn from eachother!

To me, iaido and Kali Sikaran complement eachother in just the perfect way for me. I am overjoyed at the snow outside, and will definitely be exploring the area behind the house to see if I can find some nice fields to make tracks along, now that it's stopped being all thawy and icky again. I cannot run, as the way they keep the roads here... argh. Honestly, making them all spongy and sploshy, instead of letting them get hard and fast, so that one can run properly! But I can run in the apartment - yes, indeed, I discovered this after I returned after the holidays. It's not a big apartment, but if Nelson Mandela could run two kilometres every day in his tiny cell, then so can I in my apartment... All right, so I do not run every day, but the point is that I can, and I do, just to assuage my burning desire to run outside.

I like a good overall training. I love "finding new muscles", so to speak, and to learn how to work them, too. It does require cold showers afterwards, healthy food and after-practice eating, and good stretching, but once one gets into the habit of actually doing some sort of working out, one can just keep adding more if one likes.

So, like I said - the things I practice complement eachother quite well. Do you think about this aspect of your training at all, do you do it without thinking, or is it perhaps something you ought to think more about?
And - what are your methods to avoid muscle soreness, if you get it at all?

Return to power

Dear me, but I have let this blog fall asleep. Well, there was a lot going on, and I had rather better things than sit down and type...

The Kali Sikaran Christmas camp in Gothenburg was a blast, of course, and the ensuing soreness was glorious. I struck up an old friendship again, the person who once mentioned the very thing of Kali Sikaran to me in the first place. That was really nice, and we are a rather good team as far as practice and sparring goes. It was clear to me that my talent this far lies mainly in unarmed combat, "chaining" techniques, knives or improvised weapons. This is a nice thing as the movements for one can usually be used for the others as well... Karambit was inordinately fun to learn, although apparently it is not a very good idea, juridically speaking, to protect yourself with them in a real-life situation... (Open-palm slapping however, is, to my great pleasure, as I have also proven to be quite adept at using open hands rather than closed fists if applicable).
It was also rather cool to see the advanced classes and those I did not participate in - and there were a few, and oh, how hard it was to choose at times! Good fun, all in all, and great to have many different partners of varying skill levels and body builds.

And as soon as I got back, the very day after, I went to iaido practice, of course. To my disappointment, the holidays, during which I had been rather looking forward to going skiing a ridiculous amount, went... well, soggy. One good long ski tour was had, but then the weather changed for the worse. And of course, bad enough that it wasn't possible to have a good run either, until later, and when I did, well, I borrowed mother's shoes, and had blisters that are still healing (not hurting anymore, though, just... the last loose pieces of skin are falling off). But damn, it went well! I had to slow myself down again and again to pace myself, and not come back home completely exhausted. So, of course, I did have energy to spare when I had completed the run, but... well, I think my lungs still thanked me.

I had a go at being ill in mid-January, to my great unhappiness. It was no fun at all! Just when the training had started up, too!
Buuut, then, I hit the ground running and have been keeping it up since. The muscle soreness is a joy to feel, and this week, there's been a lot of it. The two arts truly do complement eachother well regarding my muscles. My shoulder has not been giving me too much trouble apart from a brief spell around the time I was ill, when I could hardly sleep for the pain in it, and the rest of the neck - I am uncertain as to why this was, but, it passed, and I now sleep with a plastic teeth-protection-bit-thingie. This helps my jaws to no end, and I no longer wake up with my front teeth in a new shape every morning....

For me, it was easy to get back into training after the involuntary hiatus over the so-called holidays. I occasionally run to the train just for the hell of it, or, jog, at least, as I can't run properly in my big boots, I challenge myself in every training session, and I am working on my cutting technique in iai, and, well, whatever is thrown my way in Kali. I have really started to have the various pieces fall into place, even double stick. Today's practice was a joy, with and without sticks. And it's not just me who find that speed is one of my strengths - one of the others grinned and muttered that it'd be far easier to "hit" me were I not so quick. ("Hit" because it was warmup, and all about a light touch to the shoulder or knee, rather than a punch). Also, today I had a truly epic smoothie after the training. I usually only take a sandwich with inordinate amounts of cheese, sausage or something such, usually with salad on top, but I had the chance to mix up a pure-fruit smoothie, and so I did. Strawberries, raspberries, an orange, a banana, an apple... ecologically grown, too, or as locally grown as I could get them - because it damn well tastes better, and is better for the environment too. And, I added a dash of that powder (Gainer or Whey-80, can't remember which and can't be bothered to go and have a look right now) from StarNutrition which I used for a while when I went from pretty much easy workout to four days of hard training a week and very little sleep - it saved my health and I am not ashamed to use it, though I do not use it as a substitute, but rather a complement to the food I eat, a dash of extra help to avoid muscle soreness and promote muscle growth. It's Swedish made, tested for pretty much everything and one of th brands with the best reputation there is, as far as I have found. And if I take just a dash, and blend it into a LOT of other things, well, then I can hardly taste it, and I can stomach getting it down. So tomorrow, I shall see if it has helped the muscle soreness somewhat! I will not overuse it, but, like I said, use it as a complement to give that extra little bit that my body needs. I didn't slack off too badly muscle- or fitness-wise over the holidays, but I am certainly not going to let my evolution stall here...

Over to you, now - was it easy getting back into stride after the holidays, or did you just not stop doing your regular routine?

I hope you're going to follow me yet again, because I am back, and so should you be! Oh, and that enormous blue blotch on the inside of my knee, pay it no heed. That was caused by a well-placed heel, and is now being treated with a very helpful gel, hopefully to be vanished soon...

The reasons for training

The shoulder seems to have settled into being trouble, but it is generally less painful than it was at first. Kali works better than iaido, possibly because of the lack of vertical lifting movements with heavy objects. Regardless, this Monday I had to forego the iaido practice. On Tuesday, I learned that blocking a rattan stick with the (in my case rather protruding) bone bump by your wrist is a bad move. On Thursday, I learned that blocking a rebounding rattan stick with your eyebrow is equally bad, if a little less short-term painful. My eye didn't swell shut, but it did look rather odd until I got to it with the Voltarol/Voltaren cream. Wednesday I had the opportunity to be a hardass, evil trainer with lots of nitpicking, when there was only one other more experienced practicioner at the iaido. I managed to get through the ZNKR kata, as well as all Shoden and Chuden kata I know, but it was good to be able to break it off and rest the shoulder with some nitpicking. The student I helped coach has, as so many, a great many tiny issues. One of his is that he is constantly talking back. Not necessarily arguing, but I am schooled in the Japanese way - you listen, nod, and do. But at times I allow him to speak, because he seems to need it in order for things to stick. We managed to fix a detail no one has noticed before - he kept his sword much too far pushed into his obi, too far to the left, which caused some awkwardness in his gripping the tsuka and drawing, and also made him sloppy with hikite/sayabiki, that is, drawing back his left hand to allow the katana out of the saya/scabbard. Having fixed this, much of his form instantly became better. I am always glad when I can iron such little creases out. And, I pushed for something which I personally am very aware of - when walking, or moving, I try to teach students to avoid bobbing up and down. This is not something the other teachers speak much about, but I have become a little audacious in my teaching, and am now pushing for this. No one has yet told me off so I suppose they are fine with it. I have been thinking again about motivation. Why do I do iaido, and why do I do kali sikaran? My reasons are different, but frustratingly intangible in a way. I am a perfectionist. That was one of the reasons I mentioned when my first iaido teacher asked me why I had come. The perfection in iaido spoke to me. Also, of course, swords are cool. I have been doing iaido for a very, very long time now. I feel an obligation to all the sensei before me, all those who have passed their knowledge on to me. It is forward reciprocity, which I am very keen on. I want to be fast, skilled and strong. I want my form to be perfect, so that when a situation arises (hypothetically, as always, who walks around with a sword in their belt these days?) my mind will not stop. I will move outside the kata and just act. And I pursue perfection, as I know I have many things to perfect yet. Iaido is closely tied to Zen buddhism, and since it is a do, it needs must be connected to my life, and vice versa, in a much stronger way than most people think martial arts is. But that is the way of it! A do is a way. It is not just a thing you go to and exercise. Kali sikaran is... enjoyable. Flexible. Full of variation. Physical. Changing. Evolving. It requires, in its proper form, the same no-mind and non-stopping-mind as iai or any martial art. It allows me to move beyond one weapon, allows me to broaden my perspective and when I drop the sword, if I do, I will still be highly armed and dangerous. I am a beginner and am yet able to remember that, and avoid being frustrated at my inability to do things perfectly at once. This is very good, as I like to be reminded that there is always more to learn. Yet there is still the politeness and the "practice WITH rather than AGAINST eachother" that I am so very fond of in Shorinji Kempo. Running is sheer enjoyment. It is something which I can feel strengthens my body every time I have the chance to do it, it cleans my mind, helps me keep it in the now or helps it roam, depending on what is needed at that moment. I am now able to run barefoot style in my big combat boots too, if only for limited distances, and it is not as comfortable, but still - I have changed my way of running and am better off for it. It is floating across the ground, instead of pounding it. I run because of freedom, exploration, stamina, strength, no-mind, its beneficial effects on everything else I do... I run because running makes me feel alive. Do you have different reasons for doing the various physical exercises you do, and/or what are those reasons?

Update after a while of quietude

It's been quiet here for the past two weeks, hasn't it? It is due to the phenomenon known as "midterms", which had me swearing and whinging quite a lot. Summarize and discuss the Viking Age in no more than two pages? For an archaeologist with a specialty in the area? I made it, of course, but it was a hard task. I haven't been avoiding my practice, though! That weekend did admittedly see me mostly sit still and study, but I took a few walks. Monday saw iaido practice, mostly koryu, and Wednesday also, although, I was the one to lead the beginner's training then, and consequently did not exert myself quite as much as usual. Not that I didn't do anything and just walked around shouting instructions, but it is a natural consequence that one doesn't do as much as a teacher as when one is a student. Tuesday meant Kali Sikaran, with a lot of stick fighting (escrima, if that sounds more familiar to you). I had a bit of trouble, I don't know why, but I felt somewhat craptastic and unfocused, no matter how much I tried. We focused mostly on one or two different "kapkas", I think they are named, which are sequences of hitting that can be used with or without weapons. It was very rewarding, and also, I was amused to feel sore in my torso muscles - I seldom do, but clearly these movements woke up muscles I don't use as much. We finished by an all-on-one, which meant everyone moved around one person with one mitt, and feigned a cross hit attack, to which the "attacked" responded with a certain sequence of blocks and strikes. It was great fun and very rewarding, though my defensive nature kicked in and I think I may have been a bit too good at avoiding getting fenced in at all... which wasn't really what the exercise was about. Next time, I'll try and stay put and just defend myself. Thursday we had one of the most senior Kali Sikaran practitioners there is, as a guest trainer. It was quite different. His charisma and way of leading is quite different from our usual one's. He divided the group, though, with the two most accomplished in one corner, and us other three (and our trainer) in another. It was a good choice, I think, as it meant the other two could really get some extra challenging practice! And I enjoyed very, very, very much to get the chance to practice with out trainer. He is a very good partner, and I find him very skilled at gauging and adapting to the skill level of those he trains with, while never giving an inch and always challenging you. Also, his way of explaining really works for me. The Katalong Guro showed us several long chains of attacks, defenses and so on, and we took them in quite large chunks before putting them together, or using a variaion. Very rewarding, but oh, I felt quite frustrated at my own ineptitude sometimes! Which, I must point out - was a good thing! Because, it reminded me of how one should deal with such setbacks and emotions. Not give in to them, but accept them, and transcend them in a way. Accept, and then grit your teeth and fight. Do, do again, and do it until you can do it correctly. Never sag and give up. Accept your ineptitude, listen to the trainer, try it this way and that, do it slowly and deliberately, until your body begins to understand what you want it to do. So I am very grateful for my ineptitude and frustration! It lead to something good. In the end, we were all quite cheerfully (though, of course, in a focused manner) blocking, attacking, kneeing and tumbling to the floor. It was very interesting, very challenging and I am happy I had the opportunity to train with a different trainer! And of course, the day after I felt a little sore in my muscles, as it should be! That, I expect, will also be the case tomorrow - it seems to take me about two days, or one and a half, to get the after-effects of a hard time's practice. And yesterday, I was the one to lead the iaido practice, and I wasn't a nice trainer yesterday. I started out a little tetchy, but with some good reason - standing around talking to the previous users of the hall in the dressing room is NOT what you should do five minutes into the practice time has begun. So I drove them, and myself, hard. Lots of things that had our legs beg for mercy, and then some more. And I had that as a bit of an underlying theme - use your thighs, and use them well, and use them all the time (I also had a bit of a focus on weight, as I consider 55% on the front leg, and 45% on the back leg, as being the very least of a proper weight distribution you can use in iaido. You want to be pressing forward, prepared to spring and never once let your weight fall onto your back foot). You need to use them to do proper iai, and when we finally went from excruciating (well, more so for them than for me, but I've got a head start) bokuto exercises to ordinary kata practice, I kept nagging them about this. And, I think it worked quite well, everyone did the five first Musou Shinden Ryu kata quite well in the end. But they looked a bit stiff-legged afterwards. It is so very important to use the thighs, and not just shuffle around on the floor. You have to really use those muscles, never once letting your body take the easy way out. In the end, I think the best thing we managed was to straighten a certain issue of balance and weight distribution out, in Inyoshintai. So, I am happy. I have practiced evil-sensei-happy-smile, so I think I'm getting quite good at being one. This weekend saw me travelling, and thus not much in the way of conventional practicing was done, but certainly a good amount of carrying and walking up stairs. No running to trains this time, though, but that is one spontaneous bit of exercise I can really, really do without, for the sake of my mental health. Tonight, it will be Kali again, yay! I hope we're not going to do too much Sikaran, though... my legs do feel what I did to them yesterday. Heheh. ...now that I think about it, my shoulder hasn't been giving me much trouble since yesterday. I must have done something right when focusing for cutting. And though my toe is certainly behind, it often bends and doesn't quite follow instructions, it no longer hurts constantly. I take this all for being a good set of things. What have you been doing these past weeks? Have you ever had periods of practice where you focus on one particular group of muscles?

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?

Colourful toe

I now sport a toe which is turning into all kinds of different colours. It is the next to smallest on the left foot, and, interesting to me, it is the one that most often fails me when I do iaido and need it to slide across the floor without bending. What happened was that during Kali Sikaran practice, practicing Sikaran (kicking) specifically, I did a bit of a clumsy movement with my left foot when kicking with the right leg, and the toe felt a bit as if it cracked. It's probably not broken, though, even if it hurt. But then, a lot of things hurt. I thoroughly enjoyed today's practice, it felt good to use my whole body, and my shoulder feels a bit better than it did yesterday. I think it is very beneficial that I vary my iaido practice with something else, in many aspects. The warmup consisted of easy and relaxed kicking, and built gradually from that. We used mitts for some technique practice, and gradually even I started to get some sort of semblance of good kicks, for a beginner. I kept training after my toe went wonky, of course, I just found some tape and taped it together with its neighbour, though I had to refrain from standing on my left leg, and had to use it exclusively, for kicking. When practice was over, I was sweaty and happy, and was given two fighty stikks, that is, rattan sticks (or bamboo), that are used in other aspects of Kali Sikaran. I shall sew a bag for them. I ate a sandwich with cheese, smoked ham and mushroom, and drank a lot of water. This is necessary for me, I cannot simply have a banana or two. I also showered in cold water, and, speaking of which, I have not felt any muscle pains from yesterday's iaido, possibly in part thanks to doing the same yesterday. During the day, I ate my customary youghurt bowl, a well-mixed bowl of bulgur, sweet corn, haricots verts and meatballs and another small youghurt, plus some extra stuff. I know that my practice of iaido has left me with a good set of muscles, and it seems it is easier than I feared to get them back after an extended period of rest. Also, it helps me in general during Kali. My most frequent sparring partner this time was a shorter but probably a wee bit older woman, who went from absolute nothing to, well, Kali, and passed "quit smoking" on the way. She, and many others, visibly struggled somewhat as the exercises became more and more demanding, and while I certainly felt it, I did not falter as much. This makes me very happy, and spurs me on to try even harder! Well, that must be all for today - look at the timestamp for when I post this... I intend to attempt the thing called "sleep" now.

One more week

As I said before, I get home late, and then have no energy to write anything. But, I have not been lax and lazy! Monday it was again time for iaido practice, though I was senior and the others did not think there was to be any practice - as I am a woman, I change in a different room, and miss out on all the pre- and post-iaido social stuff, and they missed me going into the hall. Well, I did a good warmup with some extra core exercises, and then had a good hour and a half practice. I tried to do many of the basic things, and also did mostly koryu kata, which are more strenuous, which is good. I had a plan to go to Wudang Tai Chi Chuan on Tuesday, but my head wouldn't hear of it, and it ended up being a day for stillness, except for a walk. Wednesday however, I got to iaido practice, and there was nothing special to tell you about that. I had forgotten to bring proper food to eat afterwards, which is never advisable! Always have something to eat after your training session. Your muscles rebuild themselves faster then. On Thursday I went to Kali Sikaran practice after a very quiet day, and it was very good to burn some energy! Kali Sikaran includes much sparring of varying kinds, and I went away sweaty and cheery, and decided to commit. It is pricy, but I believe it may be worth it. The all-round exercise seems to help me even out some of the one-sidedness I have acquired to certain movements and muscles and reflexes, from the iaido, which is by necessity rather "one-sided" when it comes to the sword. You always keep it to the left, for example, when it is in its sheath. So, like every sensei I have met have recommended me to do, I have now got a secondary budo art (well, not budo, strictly speaking, but a martial art, at least). Friday, I had slept lousy, and was very tired, and thus took only a walk and did some core exercises. I noticed when I was going to sleep, that this affected my ability to fall asleep. I sleep marginally better if I have done something physically exerting during the day. Saturday had me dressed to the teeth and going to an event, which made my legs ache - walking, walking, walking; it takes more out of you than you think! Today I also took a few good long walks, and tomorrow I am hoping to go grocery shopping, since I am almost out of things to make good food with. I had to revert to chicken-meat sausages and pasta with some sauce and cheese the other day! Which is nice, once in a while, but I do prefer something more... vegetably to go with it, if that is the case. I would go running today, but I suspect I ought to listen to my knees and not do so. I do have twenty minutes to spare for some easy exercises for my torso and legs and arms however! Tomorrow, I look forward to iaido practice, but not to getting home at around eleven in the night. Remember to always do something, no matter how small! Fifteen minutes a day is the minimum you should do, and after all... fifteen minutes is hardly anything. It really is a very short time, so anyone can fit it into their schedules.

Spontaneous running

Dexterity. That was the word I was looking for! Not flexibility. I shall go back and fix the older posts. Thursday saw me try Kali Sikaran practice, and I found it to me immensely fun and rewarding. It was far less "macho" than I had worried about, and one practices with eachother, rather than against - much like Shorinji Kempo, then, which I remember that I really liked. The training session started right away with warming up, but in this case, that meant taking turns to do loose kicks, at first, and then other things were introduced and gradually we got to more strenuous stuff. Using a bamboo stick was also interesting. I took to it all rather like a fish to water, and I am sorely tempted to commit at once. However, I said I would try Wudan Tai Chi Chuan twice, so I will. I merely had a walk on Friday, and one on Saturday, but today I decided to go on a run. I was itching to do so, after not having been able to for quite a while. Well, able, with regards to time or to my head and its antics. It was probably a good thing I had the chance now, as my left knee was starting to act up, and I suspect it was because I had not exercised enough. I started off with the slow uphill stretch and then turned around, and it was glorious. It was a bit of an exploratory run, as I came upon an unexpected rune stone, which I simply shall have to find out everything about (telling me that the road past it is far older than any building nearby, and hinting on interesting relations in the landscape... but I digress), and found that the gravel road is quite long, and quite empty at that time of night. I foudn that if I didn't check myself, I automatically speeded up, and by the end of that road, I let myself fly. It was, again, glorious. There are quite a few paths in the fields, which are possible to take although at times somewhat muddy. This is a blessing (the paths, not the mud) since neither I nor my legs particularily like running on asphalt. It took about 25 minutes, and I finished off with ten leg-lifts (strengthening the stomach muscles), some random stomach-strengthening excercises, twenty back-lifts and a bunch of stuff for my shoulder. It was a good idea to take the chance, while I was going out anyway to see a friend off at the bus, to prepare and get my running gear on, and when the bus had gone, just set off. I was outdoors anyway, and that, I find, is something people at times find the hardest: just getting out the door. Once out, once in your shoes and on the road, it's not hard, but you have to take the step to get there. Self-discipline is sadly lacking in many people, but there are ways around the most obvious obstacles. Try to find what works for you, and surprise yourself with something new now and then! Sometimes, it's still hard to believe that I can run. And just like that! And how I fly across the landscape, as if borne by the wind. It is quite remarkable, really. I had lost hope and put it behind me, but as so often, what was needed was merely a different view, another path, a slightly different way of doing things. That is worth keeping in mind.