Clear Lake Iaido

I just wanted everyone to know what a wonderful time Joe and I had with Tanida-sensei in Houston. After the Sunday practice John-sensei introduced Joe and I, and after reviewing his schedule he agreed to be picked up at his hotel for a practice Tuesday night. So Sunday and Monday night saw a lot of sweeping, vacuuming, cleaning, straightening, arranging, and cooking in order to make a good first impression. It was held in my living room since there wasn't enough lead time to get the dojo (would have meant canceling two regularly scheduled classes at the last minute). I also managed to get a picture of the founder printed, framed, and mounted on the wall (thanks to John-sensei for providing the picture files). Tuesday I left immediately after I got out of the Dentist's office and headed north (his hotel is north of Houston, while we are south). I got there early, phoned his room, sat in the lounge to wait, and a short time later he happened to wander by. After gathering his things we headed south in my van. He was rather quiet on the trip to the house (I initiated all conversation) and seem absorbed in taking in the scenery. In response to one of my queries, he said that he travels to the US about five times a year, and the conference he was in town for is an annual affair (when driving him back to the hotel Joe found out that he was last in Houston three years ago for the same conference). So we are hopeful to see him in Houston again,-- hopefully sooner than three years. I explained that we would be practicing in my living room, not the dojo, and assured him there would be enough room (John-sensei and Jean can attest that it is big enough for three to practice in). I gave him a little background, how we had started in Iaido, how I met John, how long we had been practicing Eishin ryu, the dominant industries in Clear Lake (basically space & oil), our occupations, where we lived, etc. When we got to the house Joe was already there, the living room had been cleared of most of the furniture, and the food was warmed up. I offered dinner first, but he only wanted a coke before practice. Since he didn't have a sword I offered mine, but he preferred to use a loaner iaito I had from John-sensei. As I said he was rather quiet on the trip to my house, but once he had changed clothes, had a sword in hand and two eager beginners in front of him he was a different man. It was wonderful. We practiced for almost three hours working through Seiza no Bu except for Oikaze (a little small for that one). He had brought drawings with him that he had done in his hotel room illustrating the proper position and alignment of feet, line of sight, sword angle, etc. I was touched by the evident time and care he had taken to do this well ahead of time. During the course of the night he would often pause to draw more pictures describing what he was trying to get across to us. And guess what? He left these drawings with us. In addition to technical pointers we learned that our hakamas are too long (should just come to the ankle), we learned how to smooth the back of the jacket so it doesn't blouse out, the proper way to lay down and pick up the sword, etc. Joe learned why the elbows are in during the kneeling bows, among other things.

Afterwards we had a quiet dinner consisting of a very tender pot roast (it had been cooking all this time) with vegetables, Japanese rice crackers, sushi rice, and apple sauce (this last item was the only thing he was concerned about, but he ended up eating it all after I assured him it was just fruit,-- I hope it was because he liked it and not that he felt obligated to do so). I had placed on the table a goblet containing a variety of chop sticks in case he preferred them, but he asked for a knife and fork. He did notice them and asked if I could use them where upon I drew a pair and commenced eating dinner. After dinner we gave him a gift bag containing a small (~6" diameter & light weight) Mars globe with stand wrapped in a silk cloth, a box containing space station and shuttle lapel pins, a box with two 3.5 " discs containing all the jpeg picture files that Jean had posted on the web, and a box containing one plastic rattleback (aka celt). These are all small light weight items that should survive the trip to Japan. Joe drove him back to his hotel.

The next night I spent about two hours just scribbling down everything I could remember from the night before. Thursday night was spent with more scribbling and practice. On Friday Joe and I arrived at the dojo an hour early to review what we remembered. Sunday we were at the dojo for four hours going over all of Seiza and 1-7 of Batto Ho. Joe was overwhelmed by the amount of material he picked up last weekend and on Tuesday night. My brain was pretty full too. It will take a while to assimilate it all (probably won't be back in Denton until March at the earliest). Earlier this week I revised my notes on Seiza, Batto Ho, and Reishiki with what we've learned, and sent it to Joe to review for completeness. After he is done the next stop will be John-sensei for his review and approval. They started out simply as high-level descriptions of the katas (step here, draw there, raise the sword, etc.) and have gradually become much more detailed as my understanding increased. I need to figure out how to incorporate the drawings Tanida-sensei left. They are important training & teaching aids for me because I don't have the luxury of being able to train with John-sensei on even a weekly basis, plus I need to be able transmit what I've learned accurately and consistently to others.

That's all for now (was that enough?).

--Emily

© 2001       Last Updated: 2001.12.16       Credits