Lightbulb moments, improvements and kendo mates

A few weeks ago, there was a thread on Kendo World about lightbulb moments. I have a big lightbulb moment, however, I didn't share it in that thread because, for some reason, the timing didn't feel right. My most memorable lightbulb moment came not at keiko but at my first individual shiai. In terms of my kendo, it was life changing.

Months leading up to the shiai, the only other people I'd ever practised with were my seniors. I don't recall ever doing a jigeiko with mates of the same rank, or those my junior for that matter. Of course, doing jigeiko with seniors is hard (that's the point!). They don't show openings, at least not intentionally. I was at a stage when I was still discovering my kendo (only been in bogu slightly more than 6 months at that time), so half the time I didn't know what to do in jigeiko. All I ever tried to do was to initiate attacks and execute them with sutemi, as per Strenger sensei's advice.

The Moo Doo Kwan tournament was held on October 9, 2004, and that was the first time in absolute eon that I'd ever been partnered with people of similar rank. I competed in the 6th to 4th kyu category, being a 6th kyu at that time. My only goal at the shiai was to try my best, and to show ki. My plan was to kiai as loudly as possible after sonkyo lol and try my best after. Anyway, from the first match onward, it dawned on me how many openings were visible to me. In the next few matches, all I did was spot the openings and went for men cuts. Rinse and repeat. Being able to "see" was such a special moment for me, and I'll never forget it. My friend Jackson calls it the "enlightenment". I played 6 matches in total that day, including the final. Up to the final, I'd played 5 matches, conceded 0 cuts and scored 10 ippons (2 in each match, 9 men 1 debana kote). I lost to my fellow dojo-mate and senpai Jayson Chaplin in the final who outplayed me in every fashion. Though the placing was a total surprice, albeit a pleasant one, I treasure that special moment even more. Whenever I see that runner-up medal, all I ever think about is my lightbulb moment, and it'll guarantee a smile on my face.

Up til recently, I've never seen the videos of my matches simply because I didn't know who has them. At the Australian Nationals, Dino showed me the match between us in the semi-final. The exposure was abit on the dark side so it wasn't really clear. After the nationals, I discovered that Vivian has videos of my matches! She lent it to me last Sat and I didn't touch it until yesterday. You see, I was, for the lack of a better word, afraid to watch the DVD. That day was indeed magical, and I know I'd done well. I was afraid to view it because I wasn't sure whether my kendo was better then (flawed logic I know). 6 months after the shiai, and after many keiko (including those many squad trainings), to find out that my kendo is worse off now would indeed be heart-breaking. Anyway, I bit my tongue and watched it.

Ha! Geez...was I THAT slow 6 months ago?! At times it's almost painful to watch. Perhaps the feelings I felt on that day was special because of what happened. I realise that I've now moved on in pursuit of better ippons. All in all, I'm very relieved after seeing those matches - it goes to show that my kendo has improved 6 months later. Yay!

If you want to see whether you've improved, the best way is to watch a shiai or keiko from the past. Sometimes I don't feel like I've improved. Heck, at one stage I actually believed that the more I trained, the worse I became. I suppose, at the end, one's kendo is improving without one realising it. As long as one goes for keiko, one is almost guaranteed to improve. Perhaps slowly, but SURELY.

I noticed that my opponents in the shiai have also improved too. In fact, 3 of them, Dino, Chris and Jayson, as well as myself, are all sankyu now. Chris and Jayson are from my dojo, and I do often keiko with both of them. I learned alot from them: Chris's tai-atari is absolute gut-wrenching (he did that to me just last night), Jayson's men is fast and Dino has nice reach. For me, the single most improved cut is definitely kote (thanks Master Kim!). There are other sankyu as well, such as Adam, Anna and Gavin. I look forward to walking the kendo path with them as we progress together.

By the way, I've linked up quite a few kendo blogs. You can find them at the right hand side.