![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirLowell House, on the Feast of the Presentation at the Temple
When your body is sore all over and your calves and lower back creak in protest with every movement...you know you've returned to kendo, and all is right with the world. ^_^ I got to wear my new men and kote today. Wow, it's an odd experience wearing men that actually fits. For one, I didn't have any trouble with my himo coming loose or my tenegui falling over my eyes. It also places more pressure on the jaws and neck than I expected. I suspect that means I've been supporting the weight of the men with my shoulders these past three years and am only now having to hold it up properly. >_> But I adjusted more quickly than I thought, and this new men does a much better job of insulating my poor head.
Actually, I had a harder time adjusting to the kote. For one, I think I need to lace them more tightly. Also, the padding is thicker around the first two fingers, which is forcing me to correct my grip drastically. (You're supposed to grip the shinai mainly with your last two fingers. The extra padding places pressure on my first two fingers, forcing me to relax them and grip the shinai correctly. Yes, that does mean that my grip is usually wrong unless I'm thinking about it.) Once I fixed my grip, the kote felt more comfortable.
The dojo was full today, for the first time since Alumni Weekend. It was really nice to hear everyone's kiai fill the mezzanine during warm-ups; I thought to myself, that's the sound we missed last semester. People who've been away have returned, and veterans that went missing last semester came back as well. (Eugenia came to practice as well and gave us all WKC tenegui from the Taiwan women's national team.) It really does change the whole mood and pace of practice when there are more people around. That being said, whoa, my stamina is nil. -_- Also, I only had jigeiko with new members today, which isn't necessarily bad because you still learn a lot from sparring with someone less experienced but also makes me get lazy and less aggressive. >_>
Brian had an interesting insight at team dinner today: instead of pushing down with your heel to get the leverage to push off in fumikomi, flick the heel up and push forward. Hm...it's easier to visualize than explain in words. Anyway, I think it makes sense because what I tend to do is lean back as I lower my weight on my back foot, which only tempts me to raise my knee and land on my right heel during fumikomi (i.e. not the right way to do it). It not only makes it really easy for your opponent to tell that you're about to attack but also slows down your whole strike as well. But if you flex your foot forward from the starting position, then it would be much faster. Something to try, if I can successfully override my bad habits. -_-
As for shopping period...You know, despite being the type of person who plans her academic schedule at least four years in advance, I have never had a college semester turn out exactly the way I expected. I suppose that's why we need a shopping period in the first place. Anyway, after long agonizing, I think I've finally decided on my courses for the semester.
To fill my last Core requirement in Literature and Arts B (visual or performing arts): "Bach in His Time and Through the Centuries". We haven't had a lecture from the professor himself yet, but the head TF played a videorecording of the St. Matthew Passion at the first class meeting. *_* Of course I couldn't resist. Anyway, Bach was the only composer I ever enjoyed playing on the piano, and I love listening to counterpoint, so I'm very much looking forward to this course.
I had a hard time finding a second course because I wasn't satisfied with either of the biology courses I shopped. "Introduction to Biostatistics" was going to be my backup option, but I found the class to be deathly boring. I went again this morning to give the class another chance and found myself nodding off and counting the minutes to the end of the hour. -_- As an alternative, I shopped "Ordinary Differential Equations" today and really enjoyed it because the professor is quite nice and a clear lecturer. The catch is that biostats is ridiculously easy (all lecture notes supplied in a spiral-bound coursepack, all exams both open-note and open-book), while previous experience has shown that I don't exactly find differential equations intuitive. >_> Also, statistics is probably slightly more urgent in terms of material I should learn for a future career in science. So I've been pestering my mother, my roommates, my post-doc and even Angelette for their opinions on the subject, but I think I've finally decided to go with differential equations. I took a look at the first two assignments today and found them thankfully straightforward. I still hate the thought of having to hand in problem sets during my last semester in college, but I suppose taking biostats instead wouldn't change that situation.
(Argh, I'm going to have to be fairly industrious to make up the material for all the classes I'm going to miss from being away at interviews. >_<)
I decided also to audit "Writing Asian Poetry". I'd be missing too many classes to take it for credit, but I really liked the small group atmosphere, and the professor was awesome. The course covers the Chinese quatrain (Li Po and Tu Fu), Japanese haiku (Basho), and Korean sijo (Yun Seon-do). The reading is light, and I figure it can help me keep my equilibrium over spring semester, which is always a stressful time. I suppose auditing brings my course load officially back up to four, but I'm officially taking only two lecture courses and thesis research. ^_^ Here's to an easy spring semester! Let's ignore the fact that I'm going to be spending my weekend trying to write my thesis.
Yours &c.
When your body is sore all over and your calves and lower back creak in protest with every movement...you know you've returned to kendo, and all is right with the world. ^_^ I got to wear my new men and kote today. Wow, it's an odd experience wearing men that actually fits. For one, I didn't have any trouble with my himo coming loose or my tenegui falling over my eyes. It also places more pressure on the jaws and neck than I expected. I suspect that means I've been supporting the weight of the men with my shoulders these past three years and am only now having to hold it up properly. >_> But I adjusted more quickly than I thought, and this new men does a much better job of insulating my poor head.
Actually, I had a harder time adjusting to the kote. For one, I think I need to lace them more tightly. Also, the padding is thicker around the first two fingers, which is forcing me to correct my grip drastically. (You're supposed to grip the shinai mainly with your last two fingers. The extra padding places pressure on my first two fingers, forcing me to relax them and grip the shinai correctly. Yes, that does mean that my grip is usually wrong unless I'm thinking about it.) Once I fixed my grip, the kote felt more comfortable.
The dojo was full today, for the first time since Alumni Weekend. It was really nice to hear everyone's kiai fill the mezzanine during warm-ups; I thought to myself, that's the sound we missed last semester. People who've been away have returned, and veterans that went missing last semester came back as well. (Eugenia came to practice as well and gave us all WKC tenegui from the Taiwan women's national team.) It really does change the whole mood and pace of practice when there are more people around. That being said, whoa, my stamina is nil. -_- Also, I only had jigeiko with new members today, which isn't necessarily bad because you still learn a lot from sparring with someone less experienced but also makes me get lazy and less aggressive. >_>
Brian had an interesting insight at team dinner today: instead of pushing down with your heel to get the leverage to push off in fumikomi, flick the heel up and push forward. Hm...it's easier to visualize than explain in words. Anyway, I think it makes sense because what I tend to do is lean back as I lower my weight on my back foot, which only tempts me to raise my knee and land on my right heel during fumikomi (i.e. not the right way to do it). It not only makes it really easy for your opponent to tell that you're about to attack but also slows down your whole strike as well. But if you flex your foot forward from the starting position, then it would be much faster. Something to try, if I can successfully override my bad habits. -_-
As for shopping period...You know, despite being the type of person who plans her academic schedule at least four years in advance, I have never had a college semester turn out exactly the way I expected. I suppose that's why we need a shopping period in the first place. Anyway, after long agonizing, I think I've finally decided on my courses for the semester.
To fill my last Core requirement in Literature and Arts B (visual or performing arts): "Bach in His Time and Through the Centuries". We haven't had a lecture from the professor himself yet, but the head TF played a videorecording of the St. Matthew Passion at the first class meeting. *_* Of course I couldn't resist. Anyway, Bach was the only composer I ever enjoyed playing on the piano, and I love listening to counterpoint, so I'm very much looking forward to this course.
I had a hard time finding a second course because I wasn't satisfied with either of the biology courses I shopped. "Introduction to Biostatistics" was going to be my backup option, but I found the class to be deathly boring. I went again this morning to give the class another chance and found myself nodding off and counting the minutes to the end of the hour. -_- As an alternative, I shopped "Ordinary Differential Equations" today and really enjoyed it because the professor is quite nice and a clear lecturer. The catch is that biostats is ridiculously easy (all lecture notes supplied in a spiral-bound coursepack, all exams both open-note and open-book), while previous experience has shown that I don't exactly find differential equations intuitive. >_> Also, statistics is probably slightly more urgent in terms of material I should learn for a future career in science. So I've been pestering my mother, my roommates, my post-doc and even Angelette for their opinions on the subject, but I think I've finally decided to go with differential equations. I took a look at the first two assignments today and found them thankfully straightforward. I still hate the thought of having to hand in problem sets during my last semester in college, but I suppose taking biostats instead wouldn't change that situation.
(Argh, I'm going to have to be fairly industrious to make up the material for all the classes I'm going to miss from being away at interviews. >_<)
I decided also to audit "Writing Asian Poetry". I'd be missing too many classes to take it for credit, but I really liked the small group atmosphere, and the professor was awesome. The course covers the Chinese quatrain (Li Po and Tu Fu), Japanese haiku (Basho), and Korean sijo (Yun Seon-do). The reading is light, and I figure it can help me keep my equilibrium over spring semester, which is always a stressful time. I suppose auditing brings my course load officially back up to four, but I'm officially taking only two lecture courses and thesis research. ^_^ Here's to an easy spring semester! Let's ignore the fact that I'm going to be spending my weekend trying to write my thesis.
Yours &c.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-06 04:45 pm (UTC)congrats on your new gear! i'm glad you're enjoying it!! excellent insight of brian's, btw. i'm currently trying to readjust my footwork/weight distribution too, and i MAY have learned a new short-people trick. i'll play with it some more and pass it on if it seems to work. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-06 04:59 pm (UTC)I really hope we'll be able to keep the beginners we've manage to retain so far. I heard that one of the freshmen officially quit on Friday, which is very sad. >_< Still, I think it'll be a good semester. People are ambitious for the Shoryuhai, which is always a good incentive to get people fired up about kendo again.
Oh, please do share any good tips! ^_^ Short-people tricks are always super useful. :D