Julie insisted that I post this today. We started Naginata practice a couple of months ago. We're now professionals--in that we finally bought our uniforms. We've upped our attendance to practicing twice a week.
It's enjoyable in the same way as indoor rock climbing: you spend so much energy concentrating on what you're doing that you don't realize when two and a half hours passes and you're exhausted. It's exercising without the boredom. And you get to hit people. With a long stick. What's better than that?
The sun left us today and it's drizzling. We at least had one day of sunshine. We're considering going to watch Chun Li for its comedic value.
We received our Bogu earlier in the week. We practice with it for the first time tomorrow. So fun!
I've been waiting to post this one for a while. It's one of my favorite D&D doodles. I need to create more of these.
Tomorrow we're off to a hike for the first time this summer. We used to be such good hikers.
Much violence (usually on me).
Another relaxing weekend cut short by a Monday.
Happy Monday!
I refreshed the design of Cast of Horribles this weekend. I tried to clean off the dark lines and used handwriting instead of a font for the titles. I also added a nifty navigation section. Julie thinks the navigation is confusing. I decided to stay with the grays instead of move to colors. I tried different colors but nothing stuck. Don't forget to refresh the website (F5) to clear your cache. I didn't think to rename some of the graphical elements when I recreated them.
Even with daily affirmations, my dream may never be real.
It's been too long since I've been to Naginata class thanks to the holidays and visitors. I can't wait until tomorrow's class (I say that now, but I'm sure halfway through I'll be regretting it.)
It's another cloudy day. The sun is supposed to return with a vengeance, driving the temperature into the 80s toward the end of the week. We've already stocked a fan just in case.
Here is the list of words that are used for the greetings before and after Naginata practice.
Before practice:
Chakuza (kneel down)
Mokusou (meditate)
Yame (end meditation)
Shomen-ni, Rei (face the Shomen, bow)
Sensei/Senseigata*-ni, Rei (face the Sensei, bow)
Otagai-ni, Rei (final bow)
(Onegai shimasu) (response)
After practice:
Chakuza (kneel down)
Mokusou (meditate)
Yame (end meditation)
Sensei/Senseigata*-ni, Rei (face the Sensei, bow)
Shomen-ni, Rei (face the Shomen, bow)
Otagai-ni, Rei (final bow)
(Arigatou gozaimashita) (response)
Senseigata is a polite plural form of Sensei.
Word Version
Six Kamae
Chudon no kamae
Jodan no kamae
Gedan no kamae
Wakigamae
Hasso no kamae
Mugamae
Valid datosu-bui (striking points)
Shomen
Soku-men (left & right)
Do (left & right)
Throat
Inside & Outside Sune (left & right)
Kote (left & right)
Parts of the Naginata
Extra Questions
Chudan no Kamae
- fundamental of all kamaes
- body is turned to the side
- kissaki covers the center of the body and is aimed at the misouchi of the opponent
- arms extended
- distance between arms = distance between feet
- distance between feet = 1.5 - 2x length of foot
- rear hand should grasp teh naginata about at forearms length from the ishizuki
- rare hand must lightly touch the inner thigh of rear leg
- spirit filled with energy
Two types of competition
1. Shiai competition
- bogu is worn
- try to hit your opponent on a valid datosu-bui
- while avoiding being hit
- competition continues until someone meets the victory conditions (e.g., two valid strikes) or time runs out
2. Engi competition
- Movements are pre-arranged
- Either shikaki-oji competition or Zen Nihon kata competition
- Winner is pair that is judged to have the best skill
Names of the footwork
Okuri-ashi
Ayumi-ashi
Hiraki-ashi
Famikae-ashi
Tsugi-ashi
Ma-ai ga Chigai (close distance)
- Mai-ai is the distance betweem you and your opponent
- correct distance = 1 step forward to hit your opponent & 1 step backward to avoid being hit
- ma-ai ga chigai is a mai-ai that is closer than the correct ma-ai
- if you can't keep ma-ai and you get too close, you are easier to hit
Distance between starting lines in Engi and Shiai
4m in both Engi and Shiai
