KendoCamp: So how cool is he?
After a really bad meditation session yesterday my son was a STATUE this morning! We talked about it last night before bed, and again this morning before we went over, and as soon as the bell tolled three times, he didn't move once. You can hear the guy walking around, so as I hear him start to come up our row, I WILL the calmness and focus to him to stay perfectly still and the guy passes by us both. Could NOT have been more relieved. I was so happy for him. When I heard some other people get it in other rows, I thought, "I think he did it" and then I peeked out of the corner of my eye and I saw him sit down a few minutes later. I almost jumped up and cheered 
So how did I sleep? Yeah, not much. Kept waking up freaking out that he was going to get whacked again and it'd ruin his day. The look on his face when the second set of bells tolled was brilliant. He was so excited.
It begs the question tho - a good whack in the shoulders got the message across: don't Move. As I think I mentioned before...as a student, I understood why. As a father, it killed me. I've always been against spanking my kids and to this day, I never have, and I never will. Does a little punishment like this make sense to get a point across? I know he definitely learned something - don't fucking move 
, but was it worth it? By the look on his face this morning, I'd say so, but at the same time, he got hit. I'm up in the air about it. I'll post later, and we might even have a guest poster give his thoughts on the day.
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.
KendoCamp: Day 1&2
Ow. That's all I'm gonna say.
Okay, I'll say bit more We left on Tuesday around 11, on what should have been a 1.5 hour drive. We followed the directions, but somehow ended up at Widner University, not Bryn Mawr A little stress later, and we figured out how to get there and made it right near where we were supposed to be there, so that part worked out. Unpacked the car, trucked up our luggage and equipment, and got settled. Had to pretty much turn right around and get dressed and grab our swords and bogu (the armor we wear) and head across campus for our opening class.
First Practice: Lots and lots of suriashi (soo ree ah shee). Essentially, it's the footwork we use in Kendo. You use sliding steps with the right foot forward, slide forward and quickly bring the left foot up, both feet never leaving the ground. Now do that about 100 x to get across the gym. Now go back and forth across the gym until you feel like you are going to drown in your own sweat It's good aerobic exercise, but it's hell on your feet. Most of the stuff was drills designed to look at your posture, give you little insights into why your foot does this, or your left hand should do that, etc. Very informative and tiring class. Solid 2 hours.
Oh yeah, did I mention there's no AC? And it's 90 degrees outside? And we have to wear armor, heavy cotton shirts and pants? Yeah, that's the fun part. The good thing is, I think I am over my dehydration because all I've been doing is pounding water.
So after the first practice, we went back and showered and changed for dinner. College caf food, you know what it's like. But considering the amount of calories burnt, I ate like a pig. Plus lots and lots of PowerAde, which at this point is beginning to taste like ass.
Went over to the dorm next door to watch Iaido practice. Yeah, more sword stuff. The intricate details are amazing. Very cool class. Not going tonight, tho. I'm enjoying the hell out of just sitting here writing this all down.
Day 2: Alarm goes off at 5:30am. ZaZen (meditation) in the iaido studio, brought a pillow, need a thicker one BIGTIME. Nice bell recording to focus on, meditated around 20 minutes, and then did a walking meditation for about another 10. Came back, realized breakfast was at 7:30 and I could sneak in an hour? Oh yeah baby, naptime. got another 45 minutes. Going to try to do something useful tomorrow instead, but as exhausted as I am, might do the same. We'll see.
Breakfast and then Kendo no Kata from 9-10. Kendo no Kata is forms practice. Again, REALLY informative on the nuances of stance, and who initiates each movement (you or your partner), and nice zen like atmosphere. Took a 15 minute break and then Kendo until around noon. At this point, my gi(the shirt) is soaking wet because it didn't fully dry from the night before so I sweat right into it more. Stinking to high heaven at this point, because I don't have another top, but you know what? I'm at camp and there are a bunch of other people in the same boat, smelling just as raunchy. The worst part was putting it back on after lunch. I put it in front of the AC to hopefully dry it out some. Yeah, good idea Matt. It was wet and ICE COLD as I put it on. And my little A-Hole of a son slaps me in the back so the cold wet top sticks to me. Almost disenherited him right there and then
Class after lunch was 2 hours and it was thankfully after another 30 min nap. I believe these are becoming essential. We're going to try to crash earlier tonight, so hopefully that'll make it easier. Aidan tried sleeping in the room down the hall, but he got too freaked out, so I ended up getting a call from him, asking me if he could pull his matress in here. Probably going to do that for the rest of the week. He's not afraid of the dark or anything, just being alone. He agreed to give it a shot, but when it got to 11pm and we had to get up at 5:30, dude, enough.
The 2 hour class was pretty intense, and I was wearing bogu the whole time so I sweat my butt off. I had trouble untying the knots on my pants because they had become sweat soaked. Thankfully, I have another hakama that I'm going to use tomorrow to give this one a chance to dry out.
We just finished dinner, Aidan found a bunch of kids to hang out with from the DC dojo, so they're all in the common room watching TV. He actually just came up to check on me One of the NJ dojo student's birthday is today, so we're going to go over to Church Sensei's room at 9 for cake. They're at Iaido right now, so it'll be a little surprise.
My feet hurt, I've drunk about a gallon of Gatorade, I've realized just how much I sweat, but I'm have a good time. I needed this vacation in the biggest way possible.
KendoCamp: Packing
Okay, so tomorrow is the day, totally stressed to the gills so having 5 days away from it all with my boy at my side is just what the doctor ordered. It's around 10:35pm, I've just finished packing up all the clothes, weapons, armor, toiletries, towels and a lot of gatorade packets. I'm bringing a camera and the cable to upload pics, so I'm hoping to be able to showcase some cool stuff while I'm gone.
We're also bringing a bunch of cool dude-vies (movies for dudes) that Aidan and I will hang out and watch. Should be a really good bonding time for us, with nothing else to concentrate on except our technique, sweating, not passing out, swimming, watching some REALLY experienced kendoka, and just generally enjoying some time off with my best boy. He's a little freaked because he's going to be staying in a dorm room by himself, but I'll be right next door, so if freaklevel gets too high, I'm right there. Truthfully, the amount of training per day is going to waste his sorry butt and he'll be asleep 20 min after dinner
Tomorrow morning will see me dropping off Gillian at the bus for her Girl Scouts camp (its horse riding, and it's 8-5), then going to get my car inspected (yes, it's overdue from July, don't tell). Then I'll swing thru, pick up Aidan and the stuff, and we're on our way to camp. Totally stoked now that I'm done with work for the week and thinking about this. Nice thing is, it's also only 1.5 hours from here, down near Philly.