The gist of tonight’s friendly visit to another dojo.
- Got seated on the sensei side — perks of being a dojo-leader, if I wasn’t used to this possibility by now, it would be very embarrassing.
- I was looking forward to participating when 7th dan visitor sensei said “men tsuke” but then my men himo broke as I tightened it.
- I borrowed a men for the duration of kihon
- I’m stiffer at kihon outside my own dojo, I feel I’m not as relaxed as I usually am and the crispation goes into my shoulders.
- I had to give the men back for jigeiko.
- But then I tied my broken men himo bits together for the duration of keiko, and it was good enough.
- Luckily I have spare men himo but that means reverting to kansai style.
- Had good time and late night dinner with a senior of my dojo, the other dojo leader and visitor sensei in a local restaurant
- Meal was offered by host dojo
- During the meal, sensei spoke about the importance of “just doing it” (what is uncomfortable to us, gives us doubt, makes us fearful) on that, I’ll have to write a longer post at a later time.
- Sensei asked me what I thought were the skills I should work on and concepts I should grasp for my next grading and my answer was greeted with approval.
- A fellow 3rd dan confessed they didn’t like championships and I could relate and it felt nice to talk about it, and share ideas on how to overcome that error of judgment we shared.
- The different conversations at the restaurant made me feel motivated.
- I have no pictures because my phone is having problems but someone else took a group shot, just waiting to see it pop up on social media…
- It’s almost 3am and I’m not tired.
Very good night indeed.
Gentle Kendoist : A Diary 