Alexiel’s Heaven

Yesterday, for the first time in a long while I had an aha! experience in training. (“Aha! experience” – that word actually exists? In German we’re using exactly the same combination, how funny… ^^) I’ve been trying to soften my forward rolls on the right-hand side and to make them less noisy for a few weeks now. There seems to be a part of my pelvic bone I always hit when rolling, causing a slight audible bump. At least I know the cause, but right now I’m not able to consciously change it. However, yesterday all of a sudden one forward roll did not make a sound at all, so I guess I’ve done something right. I just wonder what it was… =)

I also noticed another improvement: several months ago, we had studied katate kosa tori kokyunage irimi (a diagonal wrist grab) slowly, step by step. Since that time we had repeated it often, but not as slowly as back then. When, yesterday, we did repeat it once more in slow motion, the difference to before was stunning. My arm has become more stable, and the technique itself feels … rounder, not as constrained as before.

Don’t get me wrong, I love training, regardless of whether I notice improvements or not – these things are just an additional bonus…

Last Friday, there were only two of us in training, both of us students. We used the time to roll extensively and to repeat techniques and the sword kata. For the past few weeks, we had only little time during the normal trainings to roll, and I noticed that my rolls started to lose some of their roundness again. So I was quite relieved when on Friday, after only a few minutes of practice, the rolls became as round and comfortable as before.

By now I’ve come to trust my right arm absolutely when rolling, but with my left arm, I’m not so sure. This had led me to use my right hand unconsciously as an additional support – which is not the point of the whole thing. On Friday, I finally found a trick to strengthen my left arm: just before I go into the roll, I brush along the outside of the arm in order to visualize the line better. =) It did not work miracles, but I did feel an improvement. =)

Yesterday’s training was quite exhausting for a change – we looked at two techniques in their fastest version, so much of the time was spent falling – getting up – attacking at a run – falling again. I guess someday advanced trainings will be a lot like that…?

On Sunday, I went to our second sword training. Sure, we had picked up the sword for some exercises in our “normal” trainings a few times, but three hours straight leave a completely different impression!

After we started with several exercises to get used to our swords again, we repeated steps one to four of the sword kata. Then we proceeded to the following nine steps. At the moment, I can’t even imagine doing those four shomenuchis (a vertical cut intended to split the head) at the correct speed. Every time we tried to execute these movements just a little faster I ended up with uncontrolled slashing. Well, I guess I already know the solution for this: practice, practice, and practice some more… =)

The turning at the end, however, did not pose any problem at all. I suppose my dancing’s responsible for that – yay, I knew it would come in handy some day (like when I have to decapitate several enemies at once)! =)

Taking stock of the aftereffects: compared to the first sword training, my muscles definitely ached less. Last time, my right upper arm felt as though it had swallowed a tennis ball; this time, the complaining muscles are concentrated in my palms and forearms. Who knows, this might be a sign of progress! =)