Observations on cutting

So we did some cutting yesterday, and I was happy that I was able to get good angles and hit pretty much where I wanted (at least with kesa). However, I noticed that as I got lower on the mat, all of these things changed. Partly that is because of fear of hitting the peg, stand or floor, but mostly because I don't know how to make the adjustments to hit a lower target at the proper angle.

Some of this comes from my German longsword stuff, where the sword is long enough that it doesn't change much when you cut low, and also long enough that you learn fear. Fear of hitting the stand or ground. Most of it, though, comes from a weakness in my technique that I will have to work on.

I love how kata, cutting and gekken work together to solidify your technique. Each exposes weaknesses that the others can't. When you teach an art in which you have no teacher (referring to my HEMA school), there is a natural tendency towards stagnation. It's hard to identify what you're doing wrong because there is no one to tell you. One of the things I love most about training in battodo is how often I am wrong about so many things. Like cutting. If you are wrong, it means you have an opportunity to grow, and that is something that I have come to appreciate very much.

Now if I could only cut suihei... :)