Catching Up: Hindrances, Bogu, and My First Grading

Sorry for the long delay in between posts! Last school term was especially busy, and when I feel inclined to write I've been directing that time/energy into a travelogue about my trip to Laos and Thailand during winter break. But I'm still here, and still practicing Naginata -- albeit less often. Japanese schools are generally unheated other than the teachers' room, and the heat there is often inadequate. After being uncomfortably cold all day I had little desire to stand barefoot on an icy gymnasium floor for a 3-4 hour-long practice, even for something I love as much as Naginata! Fortunately the weather has started getting warmer, so I intend to practice more often.

Another complication is the fact that I've often found practice frustrating lately. Now that I've started using bogu (armor), the techniques I'm learning are complicated enough that the language barrier has become an issue. My sempai (people who have been practicing Naginata longer than me) don't speak English and my Japanese is not equal to the task of understanding what they're trying to explain to me. I don't feel like I'm learning as much, and what I am learning I think I'm probably doing wrong. Unfortunately I can't read about them either, because the techniques I'm learning aren't in any English-language Naginata books (probably since they're advanced enough that any authors know that that you'd have to have someone teaching you in order to use them). :( The new school year starts in April; I hope from then I'll have an easier time learning because the new first-year students will also be learning at the same time. In the meantime, I'm just mucking through as best I can.

Though I am proud that I finally figured out how to tie the top cords for my do (breastplate) yesterday! There's multiple ways to do it, and I think I was combining a couple different ones which resulted in knots that didn't hold. Looking at diagrams didn't cement how to do it in my head, and when I asked others to help me I couldn't clearly see what they were doing since I was wearing the do at the time. But yesterday I asked my sempai to show me before I put the do on, so I finally understood!

Many months ago I had my first grading. I tested for 3-kyu(the third level below "black belt"[1]) even though I think I know enough to pass 1-kyu; the members of my Naginata club felt that it was best I try something easy and pass rather than attempt something challenging and potentially not. I took their advice even though I think they underestimate my ability (I practice less advanced techniques with them than I do with my schools' clubs). I also didn't know how strict the grading would be, but apparently it wasn't too strict because one of the other people testing for 3-kyu made a very obvious and fairly major (IMO) mistake and still passed! Regardless, I'm glad I didn't test for 1-kyu; perhaps because of an age requirement all the 1st-year sempai at my schools tested for 2-kyu. I would've felt rude testing above their level considering they're all much better than me!

Before the grading there was a big group class with many practitioners from all over my prefecture. It was really great to have my form critiqued by sensei (teachers) rather than sempai. Though it was also a double-edged sword because I didn't have the time/practice to fix in muscle memory what I was doing wrong. So during my grading later I was even more nervous because I could tell I was making mistakes! I would've preferred having the class after the grading. Fortunately, I passed anyway!

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[1] There are six kyus in Naginata, and different colored belts are not worn for any rank.