So... from Friday-Sunday, I was in a training camp which included tai chi, kobudo and yuishinkai karate. Friday was all about tai chi. It didn't have many people, but the people there were all nice. Tai chi had a really nice and soothing effect, the sword form was had some "nice" low stances. Much to my surprise, I was told to do my yellow belt exam in kobudo on that day, instead of the next day. I was nervous as hell, I even did one part in shuji no kon sho kata where I have to do the same thing 3 times, 4 times. After I finished, sensei told me that my 10 kumite was great, my kihon was good and that my kata's form was good but I lacked power. He passed me, but told me that I were to do my kata for my dojo's sensei 10 times again, with more power until I'll be allowed to wear the new belt.
The next day, we fully concentrated on kama, mostly paired exercises. I was paired up with a Finnish white belt, or so I thought. He seemed to know all of the things we did, his form was excellent, great power and he did a lot of "snapping" sounds when he did his moves also. I thought that he was way too good for a white belt so I asked him if he really was that. He told me that he was. I felt really weak compared to him, as I just passed my yellow belt exam. He was doing a belt exam as well, but he was doing a LOT more then I did. At that time I thought that Finnish people must have a lot harder training program then or something. After the day was over, I found out that the guy really had a blue belt in kobudo and that he was doing the exam for a brown one. He was also supposed to have a black belt in yuishinkai karate and that he was also learning to use the naginata (samurai's spear).
On Sunday, we started off with karate. We learned a kata - Pinan Nidan and we also did it's bunkai (application for the kata). The diagonal parts of the kata confused me quite a lot, but I kinda got it at the end. Bunkai was really fun, the things we did there were mostly self-defense situations so I really enjoyed that. Every time my partner asked for help, our guest sensei showed him how to do something, on me. Due to that, I got hit in the groin, solar plexus, jaw and some pressure point on the neck, got pulled from my hair, ear and was thrown to the ground. Fortunately, my partner didn't do those hits as strong as the sensei did. I enjoyed doing those things myself later though.
After a few hours of karate, we went on town to get some lunch, which was really enjoyable. After we returned, we were taught a new bo kata - Sakugawa no kon sho. It was pretty confusing for me, but thanks to Mr. P, I kinda got it. Although, during the entire bo class, I managed to hit the mirror with the back end of my bo at least 3 times (all of them were when we were practicing the kata). That felt pretty horrible. We also did a bunkai for that kata, it wasn't as fun as karate's bunkai but it was pretty good.
Another sensei, Mr. P, came back to the practice again after not having attended it for a while. He's my favorite sensei, since he always mixes some nice humor to practice and his teaching methods just work better for me then other people's, somehow.
We mostly worked with the yellow belt material again and did some pre-testing again but Mr. P found quite a lot of details that I needed to work on in all of the material. My biggest issue was the lack of (or rather poor) kiais. So, we spent a nice amount of time working on that. Our mission was to scare the guys at the hall right next to us. I don't think I got there, but at least I think I improved. I don't feel so uncomfortable doing kiais anymore. Even though that in some parts of bo 10 kumite, doing a kiai still feels a bit weird.
Tomorrow's gonna be the last day of practice before a training camp with a guest 6. dan sensei. I still feel like I have to work on a lot of things, hopefully tomorrow can make me feel a bit better about my skills.
I like to run through my katas in my mind as I'm riding the bus. It helps to confirm those katas to my mind and get a better idea of how I'm supposed to do it. I also wonder about random things or just look around in the bus. Today, I noticed that most of the people actually sat like so that noone could sit next to them. We have such friendly people, huh?
Tai chi was good today, I'm starting to figure out that crazy sword form a bit, just a bit, it's still complicated. Since yesterday's practice was suddenly cancelled yesterday, we made up for it today. It was great, we did "pre-testing" for the yellow belt. I got a few complaints, the biggest one was that my kiai (breathing out fast and kinda screaming) wasn't scary enough. I worked on the things they mentioned the rest of the class but they said that I was good enough for a yellow belt, just a few small things. What a nice motivation boost.
We were told to come again tomorrow also, even though we usually don't have practice then, to prepare some more for the examination, I guess. So, I'm going to have a martial week (I'll have practice every day besides Monday this week). Fun, fun, fun!
We went to the beach today. Me and three of my friends. Because I didn't have any shorts (I searched, I don't have any >_>), I couldn't go to the water T_T. It was still an enjoyable trip, even though I got a little sunburn. I'm gonna try to get some shorts as soon as possible now.
As I got home from the beach, I only had about 10 or less minutes to get ready for my kobudo practice, which I managed. I actually had a weird and a nice encounter with some stranger at the bus-stop. As I got off the bus and was waiting for the next one, a guy came up to me and asked me if I had a bo inside of that tall long bag. I answered with a surprised "Yes." I was surprised, because people usually think that I have a fishing rod inside of that bag, or when I'm on the bus, some people think that it's a grabbing pole. Apparently that guy knew what kobudo was and everything.
When I got to the dojo, however, things were not as nice. I saw my sensei and a few other students waiting outside of the main door. I asked them why they didn't go inside and I found out that a class before us got cancelled, since our sensei didn't know anything about it, he couldn't mention it to the little old lady who is in charge of the dojo. Because of that, she taught that noone was coming and went home - dojo closed, we couldn't get in. Because of that, I was told to go home pretty much as soon as I got there, and to come back tomorrow evening to make up for this class. My fastest practice so far...