A True Cut and the Nobi Dojo

I somehow went through July without an entire entry.

So I was in my new Battojutsu class on Tuesday, and I was practicing a horizontal cut that goes from left to right or right to left. A perfect cut never leaves the horizontal plane. Needless to say, my cut leaves a lot to be desired.

Sensei came over to demonstrate the correct way. First, he held out his wooden sword, vertically, and told me to cut. I hit it a few times and then it was his turn. I held out the bokken and he hit it a couple of times. He said, "No. No. Not this way." He then took up position to do it his way. He swung. One second, I'm holding a healthy practice sword and the next, I'm holding just the handle. He actually cut through my wooden sword with his wooden sword.

It wasn't the same as if somebody just hit it and busted it with a bat. Not a lot of force made it up to my hand. In fact, the first time he hit it (showing me the way I was doing it), my hand reacted violently to the force. This time, he just cut through it. It was a nice demonstration of how to cut.

On another note, I joined up with another dojo. Sunday mornings, I will be going to the Nobi Dojo in The Highlands neighborhood. I'm paid up through August and after August, I'll decide on what to do next. It's kind of expensive and comes out to be 1000 yen per class.