Only a couple of days left…
It is only a couple of days left until grading.
To be honest, I am a little nervous.
It is supposed to be 44 degrees over the weekend and I don’t do really hot temperatures terribly well.
This might explain my performance at my last training session before my grading. Last night was bad kendo. Not that I was missing the mark or not understanding what was required of me. My technique was sound – and there were a couple of moments in jigeiko where I managed to score some very decent hits on more senior and experienced kendoka. No. That was all fine. It was not being able to get all the way to the very end of training that annoyed me. I stopped about 15 minutes ahead of the end and had to rest.
This simply added to my frustration. Apparently, doing this is not the done thing. I am not entirely convinced that is correct – after all, if you have completely worn yourself out, surely you should give yourself time to recuperate? I am not arguing that if you have had enough, you go off and stop. No. That is not what I am saying. I am talking about when you know if you go on you do yourself an injury. Back to the training session: according to some of the senior grades, people should not have been going off into the corner to rest. We should have soldiered on. Hmmm… working through all of that, there is an interesting question posed here: if you get to the point in training where you cannot train (tiredness or humidity or heat or whatever), is it worthwhile to continuing when your kendo in that training session will probably be bad kendo? The consensus amongst many appears to be: ‘Yes. You need to keep going because once you pass your limits, your kendo will improve…”.
It strikes me that the more correct answer might be found in knowing your absolute limits. There is a difference between pushing yourself hard during training and pushing yourself so hard that it amounts to plain and simple stupidity. In early December, just before the State Championships, I remember really pushing myself in training. I wanted to get the best kendo I could out of the two hours we had available at that time. My motodachi even commented on how hard I was pushing myself. I was exhausted but I felt good. I knew my limits. I suspect this is not what the senior grades were alluding to. I think they might be focusing more on those that are lazy. I hope I am not one of them!
So, in the end, training was not brilliant. It was not the best it could have been. Keeping a positive spin on it, though, it was made clear to me how important it was to “find one’s rhythym” as well as continuing to work on my physical fitness. The school year has started in a very hectic manner so I have yet to start my swims or sessions in the gym. I might have to notch it up the “to do” list one or two places in light of last night!
Well, here’s to Saturday. I am hoping it goes well.
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