Race against the Clock - Pushing Endurance

Some days ago I bought a pulse computer and did my first run now. It's awesome and a lot of fun. The track I have chosen is 4,4 km long and I needed 23:53 min. In the beginning I felt very well and I wasn't too fast, but the last kilometre was quite exhausting.

Long-term endurance is not as important as in other sports because the muscles are trained for steady, continues use of power. After some minutes the anaerobic system gets active. This metabolism allows long and continues burden of muscles.

In Kendo you need an activation of the maximum power as fast as possible, what is only possible with aerobic work of the muscles. Therefor I only do a short training but with higher intense. My pulse computer allows me to find the optimal rhythm for running. I based my calculation on a simple formula:

(180 - age) +/- 10 = 156 - 176

It's not useful for person beginning with doing sports, but that's not my case. I had an average heart frequency of 176 this time and I'll probably reduce it a little bit next time.

Anyway... I am on the run now.

4th KenVO Squad Training

Yesterday the 4th KenVO Squad Training took place in Leipzig. I got up 6:10 am in the morning and met with Stephan at 6:50. I went out of the house earlier than I do it on weekdays. We met the others (namely Tino, Patrick, Liv, Lilli and Elisa) and went to Leipzig.

We started the training with a normal warm-up and probably ten-times Kirikaeshi. Then we did basic strikes in different variations, but not in the easy way. On the first whistle we had to do Kiai and keep the tense in our bellies, this tense is also shown by stopping breathing. On the second whistle we had to execute three strikes in a row without breathing. Very exhausting. To calm down a little bit the next exercise was Tsuki. In the beginning slowly, then faster ending up with Ai-Tsuki (both try Tsuki at the same time on command).

I did a good job at the Tsuki training and I didn't feel uncomfortable anymore. Anyway our trainer had some good advices for me.

• execute the thrust with the hip
• Fumikomi-Ashi is very important
• I shouldn't care about my arms that much, just naturally raise them

After some more exercises and a little break we did some more technique training. This time Nuki-Do. In the beginning the motodachi started with a Tsuki and at the same time we executed Do. It became more difficult with every round and we ended up with Men-Nuki-Do.

My timing and the step side-wards and even the Do strike work quite well. The real problem is the Zanshin after the strike, my arms don't do what I want them to do and I get stuck. I really have to improve the movement of my arms and body after the Do strike.

It wasn't exhausting enough and we started the final showdown before our mid-break: Suburi of all types, Double-Naname-Suburi on command, Koshiwari (very hard). We all felt like dying, even our friends from Berlin being invited to this training. But, this was not enough. Again Koshiwari in a very special manner anybody knew before: Koshiwari with jumping and without stretching the body to relax. Well... now some Hayu-Suburi. We survived.

After 1:20h we started again, just a short break to take a breath. We did Mawari-Geiko and Jigeiko. I met all important persons for Geiko and one of the final rounds I met, as always, our trainier Tomo. He always forces me to strike with his strong centre and his dangerous Maai.I have no time to relax at least a bit. Strike after strike. My body felt so weak even before we started and after two minutes of bleeding I felt like dying. I gasped for air and he said:

You are weak. Gasping for air is NOT a problem. Invest everything you have into one strike, its not a problem if you fell down after the strike. Overwhelm the weakness of your body with strength of your heart and fighting spirit.

Its not like I am not able to fight, but it's meant to be able to cope with very strong Kenshi on high national and even international level. Another reason why I started my extra conditional training.

Anyway we survived this day, but it was not enough. There was a kind of sport event in town and we have been invited to present Kendo. Again those wet clothes, our muscles felt like pain. The only reason to smile was a free meal and drinks. It wasn't enough though and we did a, almost traditional, stop at Macess (McD) afterwards.

Puh... what a journey. Big thanks to all who take part on this, especially Dresden's Kenshi, and of course our friends from Berlin.

On the long run...

Today I did my first running session. The track is 11,1 km long, straight through the Elbe Valley (World Heritage Site) and it took me 1,5 hours. I did this session with one of my classmates (Holger) who is an experienced sportsman able to guide me quite well through this journey.

I never run before, so it was something new to me and I didn't know how fast I should run. In the first half hour we did almost the half distance. Quite fast for a newcomer running with ~12 km/h. After this first part I started to struggle and we walked for a while. We slowed down a little bit for the last kilometres and were even able to talk. That's very good because your pulse is not to high and not too low. Anyway I'll buy a pulse computer soon to optimise my running speed and training.

It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the long run.

Offence / Defence

Last week we did a great exercise to learn the basics of every Shiai called Offence/Defence. The main purpose of this exercise is to train the physical and mental power, agility, reaction as well as the players condition. Some students of the Waseda University (Japan) brought it some years ago to our Kendo Club, but sadly we are not doing it often enough.

The Rules

Depending on the experience lasts 30 seconds until one minute. One player is the defender. He tries to avoid an Ippon of the offender by evading the attacks (Nuki). You can do it with Hiraki-Ashi and Okuri-Ashi, what is in my opinion very elegant. Another method are fast steps backward with Ayumi-Ashi. It is very japanese-like if you can evade with footwork.

Another method to avoid an attack is the use of Suriage or Kaeshi techniques. The defender shouldn't use Ukekata (Basic Blocking) all the time, because he wouldn't do it in a real fight. The offender must do an Ippon in the prescribed time. He should try all the techniques he is able to do, to become more flexible. Very important is good concentration to see an opportunity for a strike. The offender should NEVER stand still, because he is in a hurry. In fact the situation of Tsuba-Zeriai and Issoku-itto-no-maai is not good for the offender.

The Situation

To get a better understanding why this is exercise is important one should make some things clear. Imagine you are the Taisho of a Kendo team in a final match. Your team needs an Ippon to win the match. For the other team its enough to reach a draw. Now you have 30 seconds left. Its a difficult situation, after all the matches you have less physical and mental power and could easily make an mistake. You shouldn't be carelessly while doing Seme and a Strike. That's the same in Offence/Defence.

I always try to imagine this before I walk to the baseline when I am the offender.

My Keypoints

• fast Seme
  
• well-placed strikes, variety of Men, Kote, Do and Tsuki
• when the defender is doing Uke another place can be hit, I have to watch that clearly
• gain the ability to analyse the defender while striking
• as a defender: try to evade with footwork only (very japanese-ish)