By far the longest 15 days of my life and without a doubt, the hardest physical training I have ever been a part of, kangeiko (winter training) is over!
Characterized by rituals of colored men himo (helmet strings) depending on age, and tsubushi or 3 on 1 beatings, the training menu went as follows:
Morning training
5:15am Running & warm up
5:35am Kirikaeshi (repeated striking drills) for 40 minutes
6:15am Kakarigeiko (attacking practice at 100%) for 40 minutes
6:45am Jigeiko (sparring practice) for 40 minutes
Afternoon training
2:00pm Warm up & stretching
2:15pm Zazen (seated meditation) for 30 minutes
2:45pm Jigeiko (sparring practice) for 45 minutes
Evening training
6:00pm Drinking & serving drinks to the sensei
9:30pm Drunk speeches & translating drunk speeches
Below is a day by day chronicle of the Osaka Taiiku Daigaku kangeiko as I experienced it.
The day before kick-off –
Out with guests for 4 hours, drinking and translating. Did my best to hide the fact that I wasn’t drinking much at all. Making this fact known could land me in hot water, as “it is all part of the hard yards”. A bit tired and cranky that I could not get to bed early before the big day.
Day 1 –
Morning:
Nervous as hell. Not being sure of the system or how to move around the dojo in between fatal beatings proved to be super draining. Had my butt kicked by M sensei…possibly as a “welcome to hell” initiation?! Not entirely sure, but I just hope there is no repeat any time soon!
Hurting under the left foot – actually, I’m hurting places that have never bothered me before!
Afternoon:
No zazen today so I had time for a 2 and a half hour nap this morning…felt even sorer when I woke up! Felt great at training though… so very thirsty.
Day 2 –
Morning:
Not as nervous today, and had no trouble waking up at 4am (I am petrified that I will sleep in for training and pay the price upon a tardy arrival!)
Fought all the sensei again today for kirikaeshi and kakarigeiko…apparently most people avoid doing this everyday due to the pain they can inflict!
I saw some nasty stuff from the OB’s (old boys) today…just so very nasty. Talking to the lads afterwards though, it seems there are some tricks to the trade of shortening the beating. For example, the first taiatari (body collision) has to be bone shaking to show that you’re up for anything…and DEPENDING on the receiver, your ordeal may be slightly shorter. I guess this depends on whether the receiver is wrecked too…
I am compulsively watching the clock during trainings…but this only makes the time go slower.
I was happily surprised when the sensei stopped kirikaeshi after 30 min…but devastated to find out that 30 minutes of kirikaeshi = 50 minutes of kakarigeiko! Sore right ankle today and oh so thirsty.
Afternoon:
Had me a 30 minute nap this morning and felt great for the arvo training. I think I may have worked out the trick…short refreshing naps rather than long (well deserved) siestas!
Past the point of pins and needles, zazen did strange things to my feet today. It felt like when I stood up from the 30 minutes of crossed leg meditation, my right foot was a couple of meters in front of the rest of my body with every step.
I noticed that there is yellow electrical tape on the tare of the injured students… but talking with the some of them, it seems there are far more injuries out there than people are letting on…yet they are still training.
Day 3 –
Morning:
Its like a war zone out here. Its like there is a motodachi clan (the sensei/OBs/OGs) and the kakarite clan (the rest of us), and the harder the kakarite clan fights, the harder the motodachi fight back. There are usually 3 or more people on the floor at any given time and as every part of the shinai is used to inflict pain, there is no escaping this basketball gym battle field.
I have no more pain in my body anymore, I’m too wrecked to feel anything other than fear.
Afternoon:
I couldn’t move my foot for 5 minutes after zazen today. Felt great in training though. Did well against the stronger students...
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