- Shai Hulud
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- Exalted Mythic Member
With B.B. gone, the passion of Bungie.net has lessened.
So this weekend I went to a town called Barrie (just north of Toronto, Ontario) for a Kendo Camp that was being held there. Not being in the best of shape (although I wouldn't say I'm fat), I was sort of scared to go. Hell, the schedule of this thing would scare anybody!
So I got there with my sensei, my mother (aww, that's sweet, ain't it? Going to a camp with your mommy...), and another student from my dojo. We checked into the dorm-hotel at the campus the Camp was being held at... Nice hotel. It even has a fridge! After going out to eat, we got back, changed into the formal Kendo atire, and went to the first Taiso (rather heavy-duty warm-ups) and Open Keiko (fighting with anyone) session that lasted from 8 pm to 10 pm. There were about 50 people there, and I was kinda shy to fight with people out of my dojo. But I managed it. I even summoned up the courage to fight with head-sensei. Ok, so I didn't really fight with him, since he knew I was low rank and had absolutely no chance. Instead, we did more of a Takari Keiko (he shows me what area to hit (head, wrists, or body), and I have to hit it as fast as I can (which isn't that fast)). One rather gross thing about fighting with him: He cut his toes on the gym floor's volleyball net casings (round metal things), and there was blood all over.... And I had to step through it several times... Although I considered it somewhat of an honor to have his blood (of all people) on my feet.
So after those two hours, I went back to my room, and didn't get to bed until after 2 am (I don't sleep well).
The next session:
6 am: Running and Taiso (tires you out, makes you all hurty, but I liked it... It made me want to start running more... or so I had thought)
7: Breakfast!
9-12: Taiso, Group practice, Takari Keiko, Wasa, and Open Keiko (by the end, you think sleep is heaven)
12:30: Lunch!
2:30-6 pm: More Tiaso, Group Practice, Takari Keiko, Wasa (basics), and Open Keiko (sleep sounds more heavenly, and you wish you had pain-killers). But we also got to do Kendo-no-kata (kinda like dances... but not really. You're paired with another person, and you use bokans (wooden swords) rather than shinais (bamboo sword-sticks). You do NOT hit eachother with them...), so that was a bit of a plus.
6:30: Dinner!
8: Seminar on Miyamoto Musashi and how people who know about him shouldn't make him out to be a demigod, because he wasn't really a very good person, and wasn't all that intelligent. (good seminar, but sleep sounds better).
1:30 am : I got to sleep.
So that session was very fun. I got to practice kendo with more people I didn't know. And although I get very tired, I tried my best. I felt a little... inferior at the end of the day, since I didn't have the stamina to keep going and going, as I saw others were capable of. But I didn't let that stop me... I managed to put the pain in the back of my mind to help prepare me for the toughness of the next day...
I'll type up Sessions 2 and 3 later, when I get the money.