Heavier and Lighter

This Monday I finally finished re-wrapping my tsuka-ito..

This has been a long process - longer than I had initially intended.  My last wrap of my hilt was not as tight as I needed it to be because it kept slipping over the folds. I kept meaning to get to it but kept finding reasons not to - it takes an afternoon to do it and I have always felt that my skills in this area are lacking.

As a result, I have found myself without my shinken for the better part of two months. In lieu of the shinken for practice I have been using my new bokuto - the longer version more reflective of the swords used in our style.  I have been somewhat grumpy about this process:  the bokuto is 3 inches longer and some pounds heavier than my previous version so my technique seems to have all come undone:  my nukituske (draw) is much harder, with the sword not coming out like it is supposed to much of the time.  My draw time is slower, my blocks less firm.  It has put a certain amount of "unfun" in my daily practice.

But over the weekend I finally found the time I needed to finish my rewrap.  I got it on the tsuka, let the knot dry, and then yesterday prepared to practice.

And was totally surprised.

The shinken was like a feather in my hand.  My cuts flowed, my blocks were effortlessly.  The drawing and sheathing of my shinken was like I have often tried to visualize it in my mind:  smooth, quiet, almost reverent.

Suddenly the months of struggling through practice with the blade that was a little beyond me appeared as it really was:  not just an exercise in learning to do the same activity better in a different way, but training the muscles in the use of something heavier and more bulky such that when the actual item is present, it was remarkably easy.

Will my bokuto practice immediately become easier?  Of course not.  I need to train to the heavier and longer blade - and besides, now I will have to consider a longer shinken (of 33 inches) to match my style.  But now as I continue to try to cut and thrust, to block and sheathe, to see the blade dip low or move more slowly I can take comfort in the fact that it is not an exercise in futility.  It is merely another exercise in training.