Tuesday February 22nd

It was on this date one month ago that I arrived in Japan...!  The weather is starting to warm up here slightly in Tokyo.  It was about 13/14 degrees today and it is expected to get up to 18 degrees on Friday.  So this is a nice change and a sign that spring is fully here!  Went to Ginza Cozy Corner today to get another two boxes of chocolates for Inada Sensei and Kai Sensei.  I must confess that I bought two boxes yesterday but I ate one last night with my tea!  So I prepared two boxes of chocolates for Inada Sensei and one box for Kai Sensei.  I'll explain something about Kai Sensei next week maybe... I think it may be a little secret at the moment!

Was at the dojo at 5.30pm for 6pm training.  Inada Sensei and Matsue Sensei were teaching.  While I was stretching Inada Sensei came over to me (smiling and nodding) and asked me if I would do some more of the dips with the chairs that we did a couple of weeks ago.. Of course I said "oss" while bowing and smiling as well!  There were only three of us in the 6-7pm class... myself and two young purple belts.  Inada Sensei increased the number of reps and sets this week so we (Inada Sensei and I) did sets of 30 while the kids did sets of 10.  I was powering on with these and it felt much easier this week compared to a couple of weeks ago.  Inada Sensei came over to me when we were finished the "chairs dips" and asked if I would go to morning trainings.  I indicated that I have lots of study to do with my research in the mornings... He said "oss" and that he understands but.. I have a different feeling now.  Yes, I'm busy with my research and this is most important... But, I feel this sense of loyalty towards the Sensei's... and the fact that Inada Sensei has mentioned it to me I think I should start... I didn't intend to take up morning training for another 2/3 weeks.

The remainder of Inada Sensei's class involved kihon and ido-kihon.  As I was doing the ido-kihon and stepping backwards Inada Sensei pointed out to me that as I'm pulling my front leg backwards (initial movement) that I tend to lift my toes and drag my heel slightly... I should be keeping my foot flat and I need to work on this.  We did Junro Nidan and finished the class with some jiyu kumite.  Inada Sensei and I took turns sparring with the two kids... They were wrecked when we were finished with them!  Inada Sensei didn't do kumite with me... I guess this will wait for morning training!

Matsue Sensei took the second class.  There were only three of us in this class as well.  The two kids finished up and two senior male black belts joined in.  One of these who is Haga-san (the guy who gave me the sushi for Setsuban) said to me when we finished that first class that my delivery of the "Dojo Kun" is improving everytime he hears me.  This was nice to hear!  The Dojo Kun (training hall rules) is composed of 5 sentences that are said aloud at the end of every class.  As the senior grade in the 6-7pm it is my responsibility to say this out loud.

Matsue Sensei's class was very enjoyable.  He went through almost all kata that are required for SanDan.  He explained that as a SanDan (third degree blackbelt) that it is important to know how to break each kata down using proper counts.  So we practiced this.  Everybody taking turns at counting through each kata.  I thought that this was brilliant training and really focused me to think about timing for each kata.  Matsue Sensei was in very relaxed form and he was willing us all to ask him any questions we wanted.  For those of you who are interested... the "higher" kata we practiced were Bassai Dai, Jion, Empi, Kanku-Dai, Jitte, Hangetsu, Gankaku, Tekki Nidan and Tekki Sandan.  Great training and lots of little points learned.

After training I gave Inada Sensei his gift and I also gave him Kai Sensei's gift as well.  I gave them both an envelope with a note inside in which I thanked them for bringing me to the tournament etc. on Sunday.  I wrote these letters in Kanji (with the help of Google Translate!)... They took quite a while to do... but it's nice to make the effort!  Will do an hour of research early in the morning and I'll then head to morning training for 10.30am.  So I'm climbing to the next level tomorrow.... morning and evening training every day!  Off to bed now!