The Russians are coming!

Since my last update, I've been to an onsen in Hakone with Tomoko and her mom and trained with Soke last night, which was a trip.

Tomo's mom is very sweet and had set up quite the little adventure for us, so we could see Mt. Fuji from our onsen. Just getting there is a real story. We left Shinjuku on the Odakyu line, a private bullet train that looks like the starship Enterprise on rails. Ninety minutes later, we pulled into Hakone, a city surrounded by mountains. Another 40 minute train ride to zig-zag up the mountain, then a 20-minute cable car ride to pull us up the steep part, then a 'Ropeway' cable car suspended 200 feet or so to get us to the top. Then, a bus ride. Then, a 1/8 mile walk to the hotel proper. The hotel was nice.

Last Wednesday, I trained with Nagato sensei in the afternoon. He was in great form, as always. We worked movement to 'stumble' our opponent backwards as if 'falling into a hole.' We also worked 'one point' on the shoulder, just above the blade, to control the opponent's entire movement. During kukei, he talked about issues with bodybuilding, saying its unnaturalness makes Taijutsu more difficult for those who rely on it. He said fitness should be derived from natural endeavors.

That same night, I trained with Noguchi sensei, who always has a smile to spare, not to mention some mind-bendingly tough throw or something. And he did plenty that night. We worked our way through the forms of Takagi Yoshin Ryu with nary a moment of rest. Great fun. No sooner would we begin what he showed, he would change it, based on 'Juppo Sessho,' directional change, creating a constant flow of movement.

Last night, plenty were on hand for Soke's class, including a Russian TV crew that had scheduled time to come in and shoot. The atmosphere was charged and Soke really put on a show - we were his costars. Noguchi sensei got us started and things ramped up to a fevered pitch. Start, punch, stop, kick, sword, staff, demo, fall down, get up, get down, and boogie - double time. I've never seen it so tense. Soke did some wiping out with a shinobi-zue and called out a group to do 'Go-nin' - where five guys grab hold and you GO! with NIN!(persevereance). It was wild.

They demoed the 4-staff escape thingy and brought a bunch of us up consistently to demo, including me. Nagase sensei also did a shuriken demo and taught us the basic theory. He could nail any part of the target from a good 15 feet, pretty amazing.

Overall, the night was a blur, more so than usual. I'll see Soke again Sunday and Tuesday. Tonight, I'll see Nagato sensei at his dojo near Asakadai.

It's sunny here!