I don’t think that I have done so many suburi in my life.
Actually, this isn’t such spectacular statement. In terms of a normal iaidoka and/or kendoka development, I am like a kid half way highschool. Never mind that I did high school so long ago and so far away from where I live now, that it is even shameful to say so. Never mind that even my son is done with high school years ago. All the same.
I don’t think I have done so many suburi, ever.
Of course, COVID19 is partly to blame. And David sensei and Piotr sempai, who invented and started the 1000000 suburi challenge as yet another way to keep us in contact and training. Without this pandemic I would probably be doing suburi three times a week, and only some few hundreds of them per week, as part of the standar lesson. Most likely at the beginning of the two hours, more frequently than not as some sort of warming up/get-in-the-mood-of-the-real-training-to-come kind of thing.
Great thing of being a martial artist in spe is how frequently I am dead wrong.
It was said before, many times, both by sensei and sempai. “don’t do suburi automatically” “focus in something to improve when doing suburi” and many variations of these messages. But in one way or another, my wandering mind never quite got the knack of really focus when doing suburi. Never up to now, that is. And not because suddenly I developed focus. That neither. But because now, when there is no dojo to go, there is no sensei perhaps looking at you couple of times a week, when there is no central trainings, nor seminars nor competitions… now suburi is all that is left. And no matter what, if I don’t manage to focus now… when will I focus in my development? It is now, in each suburi, or is never. And then, guess what! it is possible to learn doing suburi!
Great thing of being a martial artist in spe is to learn from the most unexpected corners.
I started with a simple goal: build up to do suburi about half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon. So I started with 100 suburi one day and slowly climbed up and settled in two sessions per day, each with 350 iaido and 350 kendo suburi. It sounds like a lot, 1400 suburi a day. But it’s just couple of half hours! And boy oh boy, how much can I improve.
That is the wonderful thing. Being easily distracted, the dojo helps me a lot. Because if I get distracted somebody will notice and I will be called to attention. Now there is nobody to call me to order, but myself. And guess what? it works! Once my brain accepted that no matter what, I will be doing few hundred suburi more, my brain starts paying attention, and remembering.
Pinky power, said Elaine sensei once. So pinky power it is. I know and I use it… but I didn’t use it in kesagiri, did I? Well, now I do. Or at least now I can. Because after few days doing 700 kesagiri a day, my hand begins to actually use the power of the pinky. And all me goes like aaaahhhhh, that’s what she meant! Or in another week, remember that my initial soetezuki cut does not even make a sound, so probably I didn’t have nor the right hasuyi nor the right timing nor the right anything. And then again, I remember advices. Draw at the face of your opponent, use your shoulder blades, cut with the tandem… and then again, after try and try and try… some things improve! there is some sound!
I do want to say that much of what is changing, much of what I believe I am improving, remains a question mark. I will only have some level of certainty when sensei can take a look at what is going on, and says nothing, or something. Then I will kind of know. But so far, this silly challenge of doing together an impossible number of suburi has made me do an impossible number of suburi, and, much more interestingly, has make me seriously think about my own progress.
I think that this is an important thing. Because I know that there will always be some other sempai or sensei ahead of me. I know that I will be following their steps for the many years to come, if not for ever. But I also know now that in these crazy days of COVID19 I have made some steps on my own. Following other steps, in their directions and using what they said, no doubt.
Yet this steps are mine. And I am, again, grateful.
