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My experience
BTW, good point on the bi-polar sales pitch of chanbara. Like a willingness to lower standards in the dojo to permit juvenille behavior from kids with paying parents. I have felt a bit of this in my dojo- sensei seemed to want to attract younger kids for a second class, maybe to involve his daughter in his school to get his wife off his back? His heart wasn't in it so it never happened. But, having many photos on the web with helmetted six-year-olds hacking away at each other is humbling. I use the opportunity for ego-deflation.
I have been studying with sensei for a little over a year.
Sensei brings up tournaments some times, I guess he was involved when he first became connected with the official organization. We aren't preparing for any, though. I haven't heard about any coming up.
Mostly, we use the kodachi (wakizashi) for paired form practice. Thousands of "men, kata, kata" repetitions of stricking and blocking. Lately, he has been switching our targets and the order of who goes when to get us to move more. He continually mentioned the best defense is to "not be there".
How this affects iaido technique? Well, I am a total begginner, so nobody on this forum may care about my understanding of my experience. I haven't come to any conclusions myself other than to stop trying to judge and compare my training to what I thought it should be and to justpractice hard and try to really listren and understand sensei. That has seemed to be the most help to my practice.
Anyway, I'm finding that I can visualize the actions of the "imaginary opponent" in the kata. Maybe anybody could without the paired practice I've had in just months of training? I am using more of my body than I was before I was coached to move, evade, etc. in shiai/sparring that we do. Here, it's more like a randori with assigned "tasks" for each to do, but either could end up as uke or nage- a bit more intense than the aikido practice I have. For instance, person A can only strike kote, the senior student has to evade and strike sune, or can attack only if there is one or two fakes, like fake high, low, then strike kata as they block. Does this make sense?
Really, the practical experience of maai has been good. I extend much more when I do noto on a couple of kata- I didn't realize what the problem was until i missed for two classes in one of the paireds chanbara techniques.
I guess a point from this might be that a beginner like me, at least without any practical experience of using a weapon to block and cut an opponent in different directions, can gain an understanding of what the body needs to do to connect with the monouchi and make a good cut.
My iaito with hi is the only thing that coached my grip and angle- chanbara weapons are round fabric. I do use the seam on the back as a "mune" to practice controlling myself. I juswish the tsuka on them were oval and not round.
Enough.
Steve McGee
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