Nihon Kendo Kata — Tachi-no-Kata

First class was Aikido and we practiced some basic techniques at the beginning of class and then two advanced techniques towards the end. One was an okuri-ashi yoko ryoto-tori technique: step aside when someone comes in to grab both hands and you step aside while making a big circle with your hands and end up applying nikyo. The other was a very interesting variation where spread your hands and turn, placing one hand behind your back and then rotating and applying kote-kaeshi.

Second class was 日本kendo形. This is one of the basic kendo kata that everyone in Japan probably knows. We must learn is as one of the bokken kata for the shodon exam. Have I mentioned that the shodon shinsa (test) has a 177 page test book and includes 150+ aikido techniques, (over an hour) and over an hour of bokken and jo?