Did some work with swords today. Worked on a regular Shomen strike across the mat one way and then back. After you swing you pull it back in a "water shed" motion to the side of your body opposite your stepping foot and then continue the swing. An important pointer to remember with the sword is that you always hold it with your left hand on the bottom of the hilt and the right hand above the left. The swinging motion shouldn't be stiff, but rather relaxed as if casting a fishing line out. The tip of the sword is where your energy should flow from with each strike and the last 6 inches is what does the cutting. Never try to cut with the sword like a "butchers blade".
Then we did 8-directions (Happo No Undo) motion with the sword strikes which didn't take too long to get used to. It was the same motion as any other strike and if you just think of it as a Shomen barehand strike it's essentially the same. The only difference is to remember which way to draw the sword back so that you do not clash with the foot you are stepping forward with.
Worked on Randori with freestyle self defense today. I enjoy these because it is a nice benchmark test to see how you are coming along flowing naturally with strikes from an attacker. I enjoy the Randori's with a specific attack for that session but it's always more fun to have to read the attack and then react accordingly. There's not too much to say about these other than it's a great way to learn to stay relaxed in a stressful situation. I still need to work on moving more and allowing myself to stay calm and not tense up. I was very rigid and rather than blending with Uke's attacks I was fighting with their energy rather than working with it.
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