My First Tai Kai: East Coast 2013
My thoughts are all over the place with regards to the East Coast Tai Kai, so let me start off by saying this: many thanks to everyone, both for the experience and the shared knowledge. I know I said this before, but I truly mean what I said: I'm grateful to Sang Kim sensei, especially for taking me in as one of his students.
Now, for the experience: it was one of a kind. Quite taxing, but it was to be expected. For a kouhai, it should be expected, but it's not like I mind it either. In the seminar period (August 8-9), during the times I'm not in a seminar gaining valuable outside knowledge, I would help out with some behind-the-scenes work, like moving barrels of mats, spiking mats for cutting seminars, and even cleaning the remains after every mat cut. A small workout before the real Tai Kai? I gladly accept.
All the seminars I've taken were quite enlightening, but the one that interested me the most was the Chuden Kata seminar with Sakaida sensei. The initial movements have some similarities from Toyama Kata, but a lot of the transitions towards the next cut(s) are very different. Also, the fact that some kata involves more than three enemies boggles me. It's a ton of fun, but it can also be confusing at first; trying to visualize the placement of enemies can be tough, especially with five or six. Definitely something I'm looking forward to learning in the future.
Wish I had more money to take other seminars though. Ah, the life of a college student.
As for the senseis I've met and took lessons with, they were all nice people. It was also a bit of a downer, since I don't know much Japanese; I would've liked to talk with Hataya sensei and Sakaida sensei a bit more. Sando-san is fluent in English, so at least talking to him was no problem. He also gave me some pointers on how to practice outside the dojo; watching past videos of other senseis is a big help. It does make sense, since most of our learning comes from mimicry. Also, Sang sensei mentioned this to me already, but a good reminder: when practicing kata, an actual sword isn't really necessary, because in the end, your body remembers it all. So yeah, low ceiling issue: solved.
And lastly, the Tai Kai itself. Long story short, it reminded me of how much of a newbie I still am. There's always going to be someone better than me, and I knew this, but despite that I still went in guns blazing (or...swords swinging?), trying to cling on to whatever sliver of hope I had. Spoiler: yeah, that hope was false. Still was a ton of fun, trying out new things like Dodan and Hayai Nuki. Ironically, I think the event I did the best in was Gekken, which I barely do in the dojo. Perhaps those Kendo lessons did me wonders (many thanks, Ishibashi sensei and Dan senpai). In the end, Mike Edelson was the one to take me out, who eventually got first place (a big congrats to him!).
Overall, I managed to learn plenty, but not just from seminars. I especially got to learn more about myself. At one point before the Tai Kai, sensei mentioned that we should at least look confident in front of the judges. At that moment, I thought to myself, "It'd be nice if some of that confidence was real though." I'm not even just talking about the Tai Kai; there was also testing to be done. Of course, it's not a matter of telling myself I can do anything they throw at me. What kata am I worse off on? What is my best cutting side? What should my approach be like? In my opinion, knowing your flaws leads to improvement, which eventually leads to confidence. As long as I know where my errors lie, I will work hard to correct them. However, knowing that there are still things to improve upon, thinking about one's own errors while testing may be a bad idea. I feel that it's alright to still keep it in the back of your head, but at the same time just focus on what's in front of you, calm and collected.
How to make that approach is a whole different story.
One thing Charles told me a while back was how to get your mentality to be like how you usually are when doing something you're comfortable in. Er, that was a mouthful. For example, in my case, I'm...alright at pool/billiards. Because I've been doing such a hobby for so long, I eventually become comfortable playing it. Now, the challenge is how to have that same feeling when doing kata/cutting. What do I do when I play pool? Look at what's in front of me, don't overthink things, and just take the shot, because chances are I'll mess up if I take too long. That ended up being my comfort zone. Needless to say, Charles made my aim a hell of a lot better. Many thanks.
Obviously, I still have a lot to work on (my suihei still isn't that pretty), but it was still, in my view, a much needed dose of self-esteem. Just knowing that I'm actually getting somewhere means a lot to me. However, that's not a good excuse for me to rest. It's only gonna get harder from here on out. Bring the pain.
Now, for the experience: it was one of a kind. Quite taxing, but it was to be expected. For a kouhai, it should be expected, but it's not like I mind it either. In the seminar period (August 8-9), during the times I'm not in a seminar gaining valuable outside knowledge, I would help out with some behind-the-scenes work, like moving barrels of mats, spiking mats for cutting seminars, and even cleaning the remains after every mat cut. A small workout before the real Tai Kai? I gladly accept.
All the seminars I've taken were quite enlightening, but the one that interested me the most was the Chuden Kata seminar with Sakaida sensei. The initial movements have some similarities from Toyama Kata, but a lot of the transitions towards the next cut(s) are very different. Also, the fact that some kata involves more than three enemies boggles me. It's a ton of fun, but it can also be confusing at first; trying to visualize the placement of enemies can be tough, especially with five or six. Definitely something I'm looking forward to learning in the future.
Wish I had more money to take other seminars though. Ah, the life of a college student.
As for the senseis I've met and took lessons with, they were all nice people. It was also a bit of a downer, since I don't know much Japanese; I would've liked to talk with Hataya sensei and Sakaida sensei a bit more. Sando-san is fluent in English, so at least talking to him was no problem. He also gave me some pointers on how to practice outside the dojo; watching past videos of other senseis is a big help. It does make sense, since most of our learning comes from mimicry. Also, Sang sensei mentioned this to me already, but a good reminder: when practicing kata, an actual sword isn't really necessary, because in the end, your body remembers it all. So yeah, low ceiling issue: solved.
And lastly, the Tai Kai itself. Long story short, it reminded me of how much of a newbie I still am. There's always going to be someone better than me, and I knew this, but despite that I still went in guns blazing (or...swords swinging?), trying to cling on to whatever sliver of hope I had. Spoiler: yeah, that hope was false. Still was a ton of fun, trying out new things like Dodan and Hayai Nuki. Ironically, I think the event I did the best in was Gekken, which I barely do in the dojo. Perhaps those Kendo lessons did me wonders (many thanks, Ishibashi sensei and Dan senpai). In the end, Mike Edelson was the one to take me out, who eventually got first place (a big congrats to him!).
Overall, I managed to learn plenty, but not just from seminars. I especially got to learn more about myself. At one point before the Tai Kai, sensei mentioned that we should at least look confident in front of the judges. At that moment, I thought to myself, "It'd be nice if some of that confidence was real though." I'm not even just talking about the Tai Kai; there was also testing to be done. Of course, it's not a matter of telling myself I can do anything they throw at me. What kata am I worse off on? What is my best cutting side? What should my approach be like? In my opinion, knowing your flaws leads to improvement, which eventually leads to confidence. As long as I know where my errors lie, I will work hard to correct them. However, knowing that there are still things to improve upon, thinking about one's own errors while testing may be a bad idea. I feel that it's alright to still keep it in the back of your head, but at the same time just focus on what's in front of you, calm and collected.
How to make that approach is a whole different story.
One thing Charles told me a while back was how to get your mentality to be like how you usually are when doing something you're comfortable in. Er, that was a mouthful. For example, in my case, I'm...alright at pool/billiards. Because I've been doing such a hobby for so long, I eventually become comfortable playing it. Now, the challenge is how to have that same feeling when doing kata/cutting. What do I do when I play pool? Look at what's in front of me, don't overthink things, and just take the shot, because chances are I'll mess up if I take too long. That ended up being my comfort zone. Needless to say, Charles made my aim a hell of a lot better. Many thanks.
Obviously, I still have a lot to work on (my suihei still isn't that pretty), but it was still, in my view, a much needed dose of self-esteem. Just knowing that I'm actually getting somewhere means a lot to me. However, that's not a good excuse for me to rest. It's only gonna get harder from here on out. Bring the pain.
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