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Thread: How do you practice in your own time?

  1. #1
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    Default How do you practice in your own time?

    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?
    -John Nguyen

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

    Why are you reading this instead of being out training? No excuses accepted...

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    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 . 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.
    Ken Goldstein
    --------------------------------
    Judo Kodansha/MJER Iaido Kodansha/Jodo Oku-iri
    Fencing Master/NRA Instructor

    "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it'll annoy enough people to be worth the effort."

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    I specifically bought a house with a large, secluded garden out the back.
    Mat Rous

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    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.
    David Sims

    "Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum." - Terry Pratchet

    My opinion is, in all likelihood, worth exactly what you are paying for it.

  6. #6
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    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.
    Josh Reyer

    Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet

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    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
    -John Nguyen

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    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.
    David Sims

    "Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum." - Terry Pratchet

    My opinion is, in all likelihood, worth exactly what you are paying for it.

  9. #9
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    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.
    Josh Lerner

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    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.
    TSKSR - Kakudokan Kristiansand
    Kendo - Kristiansand Kendoklubb

  11. #11
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    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.

  12. #12
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    [IMG]C:\My Documents\Kendo\Ken's-Dojo small.jpg[/IMG]

    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:

    [IMG]C:\My Documents\Kendo\Dojo-view small.jpg[/IMG]

    Somebody has to do all the hard work...!!
    Ken Goldstein
    --------------------------------
    Judo Kodansha/MJER Iaido Kodansha/Jodo Oku-iri
    Fencing Master/NRA Instructor

    "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it'll annoy enough people to be worth the effort."

  13. #13
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    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.
    Mat Rous

  14. #14
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    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.
    -John Nguyen

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    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.
    Steffen Gjerding
    Kakudokan dojo

    Yup, lousy english

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