a history of me

After two failed attempts, I finally made it to the Kendô class today. It was something else. The meeting was held in a dance studio in Schenectady, which was appropriate because martial arts is kind of like a dance, except you also gain the ability to kick ass. Of course, I didn't hit anyone today, and that's a good thing because if we were fighting I would be dead now.

First off, I don't have any of the cool equipment the regulars had. Everything I used was borrowed from other people, mostly from Leo, the guy who brought me to class in the first place. Secondly, it wasn't just a Kendô class. The first order of the day was something called Iaidô (居合道), which is all about drawing the katana (刀) from the saya (鞘), killing your opponent, swiping the blood off of the blade and then replacing the katana. These routines are called kata (型), a word which many different martial arts use. I was instructed separately on the side by some of the senior students. I was safely using a bokken (木剣) but most of these guys were using actual swords. This freaked me out a little bit. I mean, if Schenectady hadn't gone to hell and the bank next door to the studio was open, we could have robbed it. We could have walked next door, cut the line, walked up to the teller and said "Hi. We have swords. Give us the money."

After a few hours of Iaidô we took a break and switched to Kendô. At first, we were doing more ritual-type stuff, only now I was going through a kata with another student in a mock battle. Don't worry, in Kendô nobody uses real swords. We did the kata a bunch of times before everyone put away the bokken and broke out the bamboo swords, known as shinai (竹刀). At this point I was swept aside and practiced something a little more basic while the regulars began smacking each other around. I had to learn the basic "shuffle" step that Kendô students use, which has its own Japanese name that I can't remember. Frankly, I learned so many Japanese words today that I've forgotten them already. Anyway, it was really exhausting, shuffling forwards and backwards on the floor, but it's a great workout and I certainly need that more than hitting people with sticks. It was hard to hear the instructor as everyone was shouting and the shinai make a lot of noise when they strike things. Iaidô class was calm and quiet but Kendô class was loud and chaotic.

Everything wrapped up around two o'clock as the people who had all that armor began really competing with it. Leo and I both had work to do anyway. On the way home we realized that we'd missed brunch at the cafeteria and we'd have to wait for dinner, a tall order since we were both hungry after all that work. So we stopped and bought lunch on the streets. I had Chinese food for the first time since August, and boy did I miss it. The food they give us here isn't that bad but it's always the same. Lots of pasta or cuts of meat, with the occasional sandwich or cooked chicken. Where's the General Tso's Chicken? How long must I go without Chicken Tikka Masala? And who do I have to blow to get some Takoyaki?