01/28/2010 Class Notes

I was exhausted last night during kendo.  I made it through suburi okay and through the following practice.  But by the time we got to keiko I was ready to collapse.

I notice a number of common flaws that happen when I’m this tired.

1. I stop going in straight.  My wrist is in pain today because I kept going in at an angle rather than a nice straight approach.
2. I reach with my arms a lot and stop moving with my waist.  This, combined with #1, leaves my kote wiiiide open for all to whack mercilessly. 
3. I react more to my opponent than trying to create an offensive move.

These are some things I need to keep in mind if I’m in a long match or just “not feeling up to it.”  Normally I pay attention to these but when I’m tired I need to doubly watch myself.  It’s all too easy to start thinking about just defending oneself I think, and in my experience this does not work.

So the next time I’m tired I’m going to try to concentrate more on just keeping straight good form and try not to be so concerned about my opponent.  Even if this is “easier said than done.”