Oh, ow, oooh...

Wow! What a week!

My Tuesday class went great! We went over the fundamentals of the Kukishinden Ryu Rokushakubo, such as kamae (postures), strikes, Ukemi Gata receiving forms, bofuri staff flowing movements, and a few kata from the Shoden level. Everybody was in good form, picking up the movements quickly and finding the right 'feel' to the kata. What I emphasized was controlling the effective range needed to use the long staff, which involved good leg work and timing. With the heavier staff common to Kukishinden Ryu, it becomes difficult to make sudden, snappy motions with the weapon. So, you have to time everything just right to keep the flow of the weapon moving and still be able to block and strike effectively. This was an important point which the group understood well.

Saturday, I drove down to Stockton for a seminar with 15th dan Dale Seago. What an awesome time that was! There were around 12-15 of us in attendance, most of whom were black belts. But, what made it even more special was that Dale honored me with being his uke for damn near 90% of the entire seminar! He demonstrated each technique at least 4-5 times, hitting, throwing and twisting me all up. I would crash to the floor, jump up and attack again. The tempo was just as fast and it was great fun! Dale's technique is so precise and his level of control is amazing. After 2 hours of this, we broke for lunch. Then, we resumed for another 3 or so hours of solid training.

Needless to say, I was well thrashed by the end of it. I had sweat through all my clothing and was very happy to get home to a nice, hot shower! Seeing how much Dale had beaten up on me, the guys at the seminar commented how happy they were I was there. I replied that I was honored to "take one for the team"!

Dale did an excellent job of expressing the armored feeling of Kukishinden Ryu, showing how this affects our basic movement drills of the Sanshin no Kata and how our own balance needs to be centered at all times. I understood this very well, having over 8 years of armored sport combat experience through the Society for Creative Anachronisms (www.sca.org). If you haven't worn armor before, it's hard to really grasp how it affects your balance, movement, awareness and so on. But, Dale was able to really describe it well, so that the others were able to replicate it in their unarmored bodies. He really is a great teacher.

So, as I am now back to work, I sit here typing. I can feel the bruises on my arms from the constant blocking hits. My neck muscles ache from repeated smashes with Dale's fist. My back muscles are sore from the consistent landing on the ground in twisted contortions. Even my right toes hurt from something that happened in one of many techniques Dale did on me.

But, deep inside I feel strong and ready for more. Now, I look forward to another of my Tuesday classes!

Cheers!