How do you practice in your own time?

[Nii]

Hi all,

I was training yesterday, since I haven't had a chance to goto to the dojo for some time. I practiced indoors since it was too cold outside at the time. Anyway I accidentally whacked out a light, and made an indent in the wall... the ceiling in my house, while normal for living purposes, is just not made for training. ;)

How do you guys manage to train in your own time and indoors? :)

[Chidokan]

Practise my sword grip on the steering wheel... think of my posture while at the pc...then go to the dojo!:D

[Ken-Hawaii]

John, some of us are lucky enough (or maybe we planned it this way? nah, not that smart) that we can practice outdoors all year. In fact, our MJER dojo is homeless until at least October because the recreation center where we normally practice has ripped off the roof to renovate the building. We had our first outdoor practice yesterday afternoon under an immense monkeypod tree at a local school. Our SMR dojo practices only outside, rain or shine, & I'll admit that occasionally we get slightly damp (read that as completely soaked) because of our tropical climate - it takes lots of rain to keep this place green! The shinken stay in the car when it's even cloudy.

Linda & I built our upstairs lanai to serve as our home dojo back in 2004. The insert picture function doesn't seem to be working in Firefox today, or I would include a shot of our practice area. It's 37 X 22 feet with a large mirror so we can see all of our mistakes :D. With only 9-foot ceilings inside, we'd likely have the same problem you do, John. By the way, Linda & I are headed down under for a long-needed vacation in December, but will only be in Sydney & Melbourne.

[Maro]

I specifically bought a house with a large, secluded garden out the back. ;)

[DDATFUS]

There is a park a few minutes' walk from my apartment; when I have time, I walk over there to train outside. When I'm busy, I have a little patio area where I have enough room for suburi. My ceilings are too low for much indoors training. Not that I haven't tried before.

[Josh Reyer]

Initially I thought I'd be able to do suburi on the balcony of my apartment. After the first few classes, I was up there swinging away happily. Then the next time I went to class the sempai teaching me said, "No, a big circle, like this." I went home went to the balcony, raised to jodan, and before I even swung I was hitting the ceiling of the balcony.

Now, like David, I walk to a park a few blocks from my apartment for when I really want space to move. If I'm just spending 5-10 minutes doing some kihon, I just go down to the parking lot. Sure, like swearing, the first time I was embarrassed and self-conscious, but I soon got used to it. I also practice kurai, and for batto, nukitsuke and noto in my apartment. I just cut out the actual cutting.

[Nii]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I guess doing it in my backyard will have to do. =/

Note to self: When I buy my own house, I'll renovate one of the rooms to look like a dojo =P

[DDATFUS]

Josh brings up something quite useful-- you can tell if you are doing your cuts correctly by trying them inside. If you don't hit the ceiling, you're probably doing them wrong (I recommend a fukuro shinai over, say, a shinken for this type of test).

Also, on a related note, I know many, many budoka who have a couple of cuts on their ceilings. One of my senpai assures me that toothpaste (the plain, white kind, of course) is very useful for filling in those little cuts. Just thought those home-trainers out there might benefit from that tip.

[Joshua Lerner]

It might be useful to invest in putting several dents in the ceiling. Then, if you whack the ceiling, when the wife sees it and says "Is this new?", you can try to convince her that it's been there all along with all the other ones and she just didn't see that one before. She won't believe you, but it's worth a shot anyway.

Also, avoid practicing while she is in the house. The sound of an exploding light bulb, and the subsequent scurrying for a broom and dustpan, is very difficult to explain away.

[K. Fredheim]

I'm fortunate enough to have a pretty high ceiling, so I can do suburi with about a centimeter to spare:). I can even do some bo suburi, if I'm careful with my positioning.
I'll usually do some suburi and check my kamae in front of the mirror. If I'm particularly inspired I'll do a run-through of the kata as well, but then navigating furniture becomes an issue:p.

[Brian Pettett]

When I first started iai about four years ago, I tried to practice at least something in my apartment every night. It varied between noto, suburi or even full kata (with the stated considerations for ceilings, lamps, TVs etc.) I'm sure that practicing my zagi waza drove the downstairs neighbors nuts! And I still pick up a mogito from time to time at home. My ceilings are just high enough for a full swing...

But nowadays, I find myself not even really needing a sword in my hand, as I am getting much better at visualizing what should be happening at each specific point. In fact, some of my more recent breakthroughs have come to me while sitting at my desk at work, just thinking through a particular waza in my head. Or I take a minute's break in the lunchroom to go over some minor body movements, 'cutting' with my hands. I use these impromptu sessions to think of major points to focus on during class.

[Ken-Hawaii]

C:\My Documents\Kendo\Ken's-Dojo small.jpg

Hah! Finally got the bloody image button to cooperate! This is what you really need to work towards setting up, John, rather than an inside room. You'll never have quite enough interior space no matter how you set up the room. And unless your wife also does iaido, there will be new items brought in there, slowly but surely.

Oh, & here's the view looking northeast from my dojo:

C:\My Documents\Kendo\Dojo-view small.jpg

Somebody has to do all the hard work...!! :D:D

[Maro]

Ken, IMG Tags only work from websites. You'll need to upload them to a file store website like photobucket to view them like that.

Initially, I lived in a small unit and couldn't swing. However, my noto got very good as it was the only thing I could practise regularly. :D

[Nii]

Hi Ken,

I'm very interesting in the photos you posted. You'll need to upload them on here:
http://imageshack.us/
Then it'll give you the forum hotlink to paste in here.

[Stefffen]

Well, when I and my wife moved she found a nice place to rent. Not that big and all but with the roof at 3.5 meters high. So… we rent it. Now I even practice bo inside. :cool:

[Ken-Hawaii]

Thanks for that information, John. It's been awhile since I've posted any images, & I didn't realize that we now have to use ImageShack. Anyway, here is the main image of my home dojo, one more time:

[img=http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/8675/kensdojosmallee1.jpg] (http://imageshack.us)

[Dan Keding]

Neighbors,

When my wife and I moved into our present home I decided I needed an office that could accommodate my 3,000 plus books and give me room to work so we converted the attached garage to my office. I started iaido a little later and lo and behold the garage ceiling is really high. So I have an office/library/music room/arsenal/dojo. A friend of mine taught in his garage for a while - plenty of room for three students and high enough ceilings. I'd like to have a little dojo that was only for iai but until then this will do.

Dan

[K. Fredheim]

Thanks for that information, John. It's been awhile since I've posted any images, & I didn't realize that we now have to use ImageShack. Anyway, here is the main image of my home dojo, one more time:



Wow, that looks like a really nice place to practise. Are those mats on the floor (roof:P)? It's kinda hard to tell from the picture.

Btw, the image link isn't working (for me at least). I'm not sure, but I think it should be put in like this:
[I]imageurlgoeshere

[Ken-Hawaii]

Kenneth, my entire ImageShack account disappeared right after I had uploaded a few dozen images for later use. No idea where the bloody thing went, either. :mad:

So I've created another account, & will try once again to simply show my home dojo:

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/7483/sdojosmalllg2.jpg

Okay, that finally seems to be working, so here's my view to the left of that image:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/4244/dojoviewsmallwd0.jpg

No, those aren't mats on the roof, by the way, just the underlying one-inch marine plywood covered with a tan epoxy overlayment with about 10% sand for good traction. Only during the hottest part of summer does that surface get too hot to practice on, so then we use tabi. Having this practice area does help a lot with Linda's & my proficiency at both MJER iaido & SMR jodo, especially as my office is right underneath my dojo, & I can go work off my frustrations whenever I want! :D :D

Oh, yeah, one more big advantage. Since we swing swords up there pretty much every day, we've never been bothered by (1) burglars, (2) door-to-door salesmen, or (3) religious nuts. Wonder why that is...? :rolleyes:

[Jack Chen]

If practicing indoors, I believe one can still practice by going into a low horse-stance and do dotangiri. ;)

[DDATFUS]

Ken, I really envy your training space. That looks awesome.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Thanks, David. When our second floor blew away back in 2004, we decided that the least we could do is to provide ourselves with a real workout area when we rebuilt...especially as the insurance company paid for it. :p They actually got a good deal because it cost them less to put in a flat area than it would have to replace the original peaked roof. And of course we get to benefit from having a convenient home dojo. Sensei has conducted a few advanced MJER classes up there for a few of us sempai, & we also practice tameshigiri here because our normal home at a local recreation center doesn't allow cutting.

Every five years or so, we'll have to recoat the surface with the epoxy-sand mixture - we sure don't want any leaks with my office & the kitchen underneath! Getting the surface color just right was quite an adventure the first time: too light & we're blinded by the sun; too dark & we burn our feet! :eek: So since we have our pontoon boat out there in the water with a similar plywood deck, we experimented on that to determine the best color, as well as the amount of embedded sand for traction. The result has worked very well for both. Even with our normal early-morning rain showers, it doesn't get too slippery (well, as long as we keep the mildew in check).

If any of you get out here to Hawaii, give me a call, & we can practice together. :D

[Steve Delaney]

I have my own wee dojo indoors.

Very small, only 8 jo.

[Josh Reyer]

I have my own wee dojo indoors.

Very small, only 8 jo.

Ha! I've lived in smaller apartments.

[Steve Delaney]

Well, I can swing a cat, a sword, a bo and an uke in it, so I'm really not bothered, as long as I have the space to train. :D

[DDATFUS]

Well, I can swing a cat, a sword, a bo and an uke in it,

Hmmm... which of the schools that you study teaches nekojutsu? That sounds like a very devestating martial art... particularly if your weapon has been shaken well and splashed with water.

[Steve Delaney]

Nyajutsu is a very specialized art mate. Can't really talk about it openly. ;):D

[DDATFUS]

Nyajutsu is a very specialized art mate. Can't really talk about it openly. ;):D

Ah, I understand. We Daito Ryu practitioners are very hush-hush about our badger-throwing techniques, so I can sympathize with your position. Hmmm... maybe I've said too much already.

Though the mental image of a Jigen Ryu practitioner performing tategi uchi using a cat instead of a stick will never go away.

[Enfield]

Though the mental image of a Jigen Ryu practitioner performing tategi uchi using a cat instead of a stick will never go away.
Now you've caused me to wonder which one makes more noise: the cat or the practitioner.

[DDATFUS]

Kent, it's definitely the practitioner who makes the most noise, especially after the cat manages to get loose and get its teeth into him.

To make an unexpected leap back to the original topic of this thread, I just finished making a little stand designed to hold a small bundle of sticks horizontally so that I can practice my cuts (an idea that I stole from Yakamura Jigen Ryu). I've set it up on the patio and will test it as soon as I can gather the necessary sticks. We'll see how long I can keep up a regime of a few hundred cuts a day before the others in my apartment building try to kill me (which, of course, will also further my training).

[Steve Delaney]

For such activities, tabbys are best - More durable. :cool: