Kihon in the forest

Recent storms have left me with several downed trees. Bit too much to cut with my Kotetsu, but excellent practice with an axe.

An axe has all of it's weight at the head (where our kissaki would be). This forces you to swing in a full arc.

Concentrating on technique, I tried to feel the difference in using all of the basics.

First, taking a full arc produced way more power into the cut.

Bad hasuji was given instant feedback with a glancing cut.

Using "hara" and pulling from my center produced even better results, with less fatigue.

Using my little finger to initiate the cut, taking a full arc, and pulling from my center produced measurably more effective cuts.

Amazing how adding a little thing like the pinky starting the cut and tenouchi really made a difference in tip speed and power.

Eye - hand coordination, placing your cut to where you are looking could also be practiced while swinging the axe.

Cutting limbs off the fallen trunks gave an opportunity to cut at 45 degrees with amazing results. Cutting a laying trunk was great dodan practice.

Each cut gave excellent feedback, good form was rewarded with good cuts.

I never imagined how much could be learned from doing yardwork!