June 16, 2009

Kata on the Beach

This morning I woke up early and it was overcast outside. The beach was deserted and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get outside and run through some kata. I lugged my kobudo weapons and my Mom down to the beach and set up near the dunes so as to limit the view of me from the beach houses.

I ran through my kobudo katas first. Doing kata on the beach was a bit challenging. Without the mirror in front of me and the shinza to the left, it felt different. It was a good test as to whether or not I know my stuff, and thankfully I do.

Doing kata on the beach felt really good. The wind was whipping around and I think my favorite beach kata had to be nunchaku. With the breeze blowing, they seemed to fly extra well through the air. With the sound of the waves crashing nearby, I was able to work on my breathing too.

I ran through all the open hand kata as well and made it through without forgetting anything.

Then I thought I'd have some fun. During the kata Kyan No Sai, there's a part where you go on guard and then step out with the right foot and throw the sai in your right hand, presumably into the foot of an oncoming attacker. It's obviously not possible to do the throw for real in the dojo, but at the beach it's a different story.

I drew myself a little circle in the sand and stood back. I wanted to see if I could hit my target. I hit it every time, but there was a problem. The sai wasn't going in point first and staying that way. Instead it was hitting point first and then quickly flipping over. Sometimes, the sai would end up completely covered in the sand.

I decided to experiment. I moved a little closer figuring these are short range weapons and found the trick. I was definitely too far away from the circle/attacker. By moving in a bit closer and concentrating more on technique and less on power, the sai went in blade first. It was a near perfect stick. The other interesting thing is that when the point went in first, it went in and then sort of rocked back a bit. One can imagine the damage it would do to a foot if it hit and then continued the rotational movement which would rip things apart easily. I realized why this move is near the end of the kata.

I revealed my revelations to my Mom, a registered nurse, who sat there squirming as I talked about it. I find this stuff so fascinating. It's not the gruesome part so much as it is the technique and getting it right that intrigues me. I'm thinking our dojo should put a sand box in somewhere. How cool would that be?