I was out and about in the Nippori area today... It is quite a big area and includes Nishi (West) -Nippori. This is also a stop on the JR Yamanote Line. This is the Yamanote Line in the picture below. Nishi-Nippori station is at the top of the picture.
This was my lunch at about 1pm today... Plenty of meat, veg and noodles! I was fit to burst after it. It would feed a family for a week I'd say!
I thought that this contraption was cool. This is right outside a mechanic's garage along a very narrow street. It is not possible to drive directly into the garage... So you just pull up sideways and the car can then be rotated into position! Maybe they are common... I never noticed them anywhere before!
I was going through my usual routine before heading to the dojo at 6pm this evening. I had my dogi packed along with my towel and kumite mitts. I went to the fridge to get some water... When I turned to the sink I noticed a HUGE spider in the sink... Bloody hell... Between mosquitoes and centipedes I have been busy exterminating for the last three weeks... This was a totally different kettle of fish...! So... the glass that I use to drink water and orange juice was too small to catch him.... I didn't want to use the mug that I drink tea with in case I break it.... There was another mug that I thought would do the job.... I still wasn't sure what I would do if I catch him in the mug...!
Anyway... I made my move... As I neared the big bloody spider and hovered the mug over it... It jumped about six inches and started running around the sink trying to get out....! When it jumped... I jumped even higher with the fright! I was in my bare feet and I jumped backwards and BANG!! I burst through a pane of glass on a partitioned door with my left foot! My left heel was cut... blood and glass everywhere and the spider looking at me from the sink....! "Bloody" hell!! Anyway... I grabbed a towel and threw it into the sink and pushed my hands into it.... Squish... squash....! Why didn't I do that the first time! I guided him down the sink and scalded it with boiling water... Just to make sure! There it is in the picture below... with the mug that failed to capture him!! I can't tell you how I thought of taking a picture in the midst of all the chaos! I was standing on top of shattered glass with my bleeding foot at that stage!
Anyway... that incident set me back about 20 minutes... I arrived at the dojo at 6.40pm. Kanayama Sensei was teaching the kids class and Makita Sensei was training on his own at the back of the class. He was doing some very interesting drills... If there is anybody in the dojo who I would aspire to it would be Makita Sensei... Technically brilliant, exceptional knowledge, humble and a gentleman.
Makita Sensei took the 7-8pm class. There waere five of us training tonight. We did tube training for the first 30 minutes... Starting off with simple rotations of the shoulders... Standing in shizentai, tubes tensioned and rotating the right straight arm forward in big circles... 30 times... then change... left side 30 times... and we did that for three rounds... We then did the inverse with backward rotations (just like backstroke in swimming)... 90 rotations each side like before... Makita Sensei said that this type of training is very important to develop the muscle around the shoulders.
We then progressed to working on the three main stances with the tubes.. Firstly, zenkutsu dachi... Stepping forward and backwards... pausing in the middle each time.. 30 times each side... Same for kokustsu dachi and kiba dachi... This was fantastic training and I was really feeling that "pull/push" feeling in all stances.
For the last fifteen minutes we practiced Heian Yondan. Makita Sensei was stressing the importance of slow controlled timing for the first movement. We also spent quite a bit of time working on the two moves prior to the first kiai. Osai-uke and then striking down on top of an opponents nose with a closed fist. The slow, controlled movement of the first move after the kiai was also dealt with. We finished off with a Tokui kata (choice) and I opted to do Junro Nidan.. Trying to work on the hip snap that Yamaguchi Sensei was teaching last night.
I gave Makita Sensei a gift after class. I think he was under the impression that I was going to be staying for longer! Maybe next year! So... that's it! The dojo is closed for the next week due to "Obon"... This is a holiday week with Buddist's celebrating the return of the dead... People will leave Tokyo in their masses for over the weekend and return to their homeplaces.
I'll put together another post before I leave next Tuesday morning.
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