KendoCamp: Day 3
This is inside the gym where we've been working out. As you can see, it's pretty freakin huge.
So it's Wednesday night, and I'm nursing a sore back. ZaZen this morning was interesting. The guy who was leading the class brought in one of his shinai, and unbeknownst to us, you get whacked with it if you move during meditation. Unfortunately, Aidan was fidgeting something fierce and got it. Startled the hell out of him more than anything else, but he got pretty upset. The unfortunate part is, it's part of the study of kendo, and the whack across the shoulder isn't used as a punishment, but as a reminder. Now, as a father, how do you listen to that? He was pretty brave, and waited till we got back to the room before shedding a few tears. We watched HellBoy for a little while and he felt better.
Now, as a student, I totally understand why they do it. The dad part of me wasn't psyched because I didn't think they should have done it to the kids. He ended up doing it to most of the kids under 15. Again, he didn't reach back and wail on them, but it was Loud in that room. Needless to say, Aidan's going to hold still the whole time tomorrow. Truthfully, I wanted to turn around and whack the guy with it 
He's a trooper and is okay now. Not looking forward to tomorrow, but is determined to not get whacked.
Morning kata practice and the following kendo practice went well. Didn't need any breaks to cool off or drink more so I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then in the afternoon practice, about an hour in, my back told me to fuck off. Annoying because I wasn't feeling too bad, just did a strike wrong and strained something. It's feeling find now, but swinging a sword was out for the other 1.5 hours. Got a chance to take some pics of Aidan as well as a movie. Here's a good pic of him doing a strike called Do (pronounced Doh, and not like Homer Simpson). The strike happens when your opponent lifts the shinai over their head and you strike their midsection on the left side. The cut is finished as you drag it across their stomach and pass on the right side. Essentially, it disembowels them :)
I have to say, I had my doubts about how much he can handle, and even tho he's not in armor, he's still far exceeding my expectations. He's been a real trooper, even when I was sure he'd stop. He's set his goals as not moving for tomorrow's Zazen, making it through kata and practice without stopping for a break as well as the afternoon practice. He's testing on Saturday, which I will definitely film. I"m not going to test this time, per my Sensei's request. She thinks that since I already have bogu, that he should have something that's his, so after Saturday, he'll be ranked and I won't. I don't really care about where my level is, but i know it's important to him, and I know that I would be ranked higher. So we thought letting him have this one for a while until I can test will be good for his ego and selfesteem.
Gonna sign off now and call the honey and the girlio. Gillian starts camp on Sunday, so I'll leave here after the test on Saturday, get home, wash all of Aidan's clothes and repack them, crash Saturday and leave around 10 or so to drive 4 hours up to her Camp in Rhode Island. Then I'll drive to my parents in Long Island and stay there Sunday night. After I leave for work in the morning (my folx is actually closer for me to where I work), Aidan and my Mom are heading to Chicago to hang out with my sister and her two kids for the week, so Fae and I get a week by ourselves. Probably going to end up sleeping
Here's a video of Aidan practicing with one of the other students. Check him out, but listen to how loud it is, and how fast the people are going in the background.