Boken Attacks hurt

Has anyone here felt that Ki sensation where you attack before they do cause u know what they are going to do?

I had the sensation you were going to ask that question, then you did

Hello everyone that responded to my earlier post (Ian, Don, Jesse, Nick,and Bryan) I really appreciate you all trying to cheer me up.

I still feel a little rotten about hitting my sensei, but my own self-inflicted head injury seems to be clearing up. At least I don't seem to be suffering from loss of concentration,loss oof conceeentration,loss of concentrationgrogaloga,looosso of concentragzep... or anything.

No Bryan(Bateman), I don't really know how it happened. The kumitachi are paired forms and we each have all our strikes and steps predetermined. I don't know if my own timing was off, or was his. Because I am a beginner, and he has 13 or so years of experience, I tend to want to believe the former- it was my fault.

If the kumitachi is performed correctly, I attack with a (mune?)tsuki (thrust to stomach), and he in turn blocks with a circular-style block which flings my blade up and over my left shoulder as I cross step to the left off-center with my right foot.

As he comes in with a shomen strike to my head, I pivot to my left on my right foot and simultaneously strike to his wrists. The problem was that when I pivoted and struck, his head was in the place where I was expecting his wrists to be, and my bokken was already in motion and moving fast.

Anyway, I appreciate you all responding. It has cheered me up substantially, and I don't feel so bad about going back to the dojo next Monday night and having to face everyone (especially sensei) after such a blunder!



Thanks, James

Lan Powers wrote: After all the instructors in the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs may have disproved this as a no-longer-valid theory. Twenty years have passed since I was taught this, so... (And, no, I haven't fenced in the olympics...)

My fencing coach was not Olympic caliber, and neither was I, but I was always told to observe the bell guard in foil fencing. You can see shifts there that telegraph what the blade will be doing. You care what the tip is doing, but it is too fast to follow.

This seems to parallel the watching of the hands on the Katana a bit.

James Giles wrote: I was practicing the 8th kumitachi with my Sensei, and I cracked him on the top of the head with a Shomen strike by accident. Looking back, I don't even know how it all came about. I tried to pull back at the last instant, but I heard a loud *WHONK* and a very hurt look on his face. Has anyone else out there had to go through this? James

He is practicing for nidan? You should hit him twice hard! At this level, no more mercy, no pulling back.......... It wasn't your fault at all. Hurt look? Surly, cos he knew he failed to defend himself in prearranged practice. So he imagined himself in spontanous practice and realized: "Oh, well, I'll test in 2010". Long way to nidan, isn't it....

Look between the eyes, or at the forehead. Kinda blurr your vision a bit. This way, you are not being drawn into anything but the situation. This works for me.

yup. they hurt. That's the whole point of using a weapon

As for where to look, my sensei says too look past the opponent. If you relax, you can see their whole body at once. There is something similar in go rin no sho where it musashi says something to the point of 'don't focus on one part, see everything. easier said that done

I've been told to look at the center of the upper chest. Using your peripheral vision you should be able to see their feet.

I'm always trying to train myself to use my peripheral vision. Yesterday I was in a waiting room reading a book and was noticing the people's movement around me while still reading. It takes some practice but it's really not that hard, you just have to remember to do it when you have the opportunity.

This is something I started learning how to do when I learned to juggle. You can't watch each ball or you lose the other ones. You look through the center of your pattern and use your peripheral vision to adjust the position of your hands....which if you're good shouldn't be much

Bronson

GC_Chew

I dunno. I kind look at the middle of the guys forehead, being sure to keep his shoulders with my peripheral vision. That way you can see if his shoulders, chest, hips etc move, without (1) Having to gaze into his eyes (hypnotic) (2) letting him know you're not gazing into his eyes (3) focusing on nothing in particular (soft eyes)

If I do the "soft eyes" thing - I tend to drift off / loose concentration.

Me-tsuki: soft eye focus gets better use of periphery vision which picks up movement faster. It isn't really a matter of where you look, but how. If you focus on any one thing, you tend to miss everything else. Its about just looking and seeing. Also when your eyes see weapon, you mind sees fear.

Relax, breathe. Practice slowly at first. Look through the uke as if just gazing at the horizon. Some people say look through the eyes, others suggest looking through the chest.

Since most people are used to eye contact, looking through them is a disorienting experience. It make you look calm, so they feel the fear.

It just take practice.

Hope that helps in some small way.

I try to focus on where I am moving. For exmple, if I am making a tenkan movement I first turn my head/eyes in the direction I want to go. That being said, I also what boxers call the soft gaze. That is not focusing on any one thing in particular, but trying to see as much at one time as possible.

Hope that is not too confusing

In Kenpo I was tought to focus on the shoulders. Eyes will lie to you shoulders will always project where the attack is going. Can't tell you how many times I would reel someone in to focusing on my eyes and project a head strike then get me a foot full of rib cage.Through training with my friend who was Aikidoka, and learning Breaking techniques. i.e. focusing through the object not on the object. I found that I had greater success in Free sparring (weapons and empty hands) when I focused on nothing in particular but kept everything in peripheral vision. If that makes any sense. Now that I am Aikidoka as well....I find that these principles are even more essential. The more I focus on any one thing the more jumbled I get in thought. Thought interferes with the natural progression of the technique.

Here is the quote you were looking for:
"Don't look at the opponent's eyes, or your mind will be drawn into his eyes. Don't look at his sword, or you will be slain with his sword. Don't look at him, or your spirit will be distracted. True budo is the cultivation of attraction with which to draw the whole opponent to you. All I have to do is keep standing this way."

- O Sensei


Respect to all

Tex http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/editpo...tpost&p=72422#

Hitting someone with a bokken can be a little scary. While testing, during the kumitachi, the uke missed the block totally (they made me do them all over again since I was too aggressive-don't know how you can be too aggressive in a sword fight . In any event, I have one of the middle weight Bujin bokkens (not light). I realized the guy was going to miss the block and managed to only lightly thump him on the cheek bone. When I did them over, he missed it again and I hit him again. Fortunately, it was not hard enough or loud enough for the test committee to hear. If I had not been able to stop the stike I would have shattered his cheek with the heavy bokken. I felt bad but the uke knew what was coming and should have made the block.