Breaking bad habits (3)

Hello!

Another energetic morning practice today. It’s Haru-chan, the Kendo Cat! ♪

Today, I’m going to reflect on my practice while writing this blog.

Continuing from the past two posts, today’s topic is: how to break the bad habits that have become ingrained in me.

I have a LOT of bad habits that I need to break.

And,

It’s been a long time since I became aware of these bad habits…

However, I still haven’t broken any of them!

Why?!

I really hate myself like this!

But as usual, I took a quick look around me, and realized, “Huh? It seems I’m not the only one…”

Everyone else don’t break their bad habits either!

But with everyone in the “Bad Habit Ignorance Club,” including myself,

You know you need to break your bad habits,

and you probably want to…

So why aren’t you breaking them?

This seems like something you need to think about seriously.

Hmm, hmm…

Ah…

Oh, maybe it means something like this?

Maybe…this is also like “the elementary school teacher who was able to laugh it off”?

(If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, please read this blog: “Let’s do Tsuki.”)

When I think about it, kendo is really no good without ‘克己心 a self-controlled mind (kokki-shin)’…

Because it’s so easy to deceive myself…

For example, in my case, I always want to perform nice men with ki-ken-tai no icchi.

However, during matches, as long as my monouchi strikes my opponent’s men, the referee usually raise their flag and I may win.

In these cases, winning the match is more important than anything else, and I tend to turn a blind eye to the fact that the decisive strike was actually without ki-ken-tai no icchi.

Well, what I’m trying to say here is…

Even if I haven’t corrected my bad habits, I can still feel like I’m doing kendo…

And even when my bad habits remain, I can sometimes win matches…

Because there are sweet temptations like this everywhere,

Even if I haven’t been able to improve my habits,

I think I’m actually already fairly “satisfied” with my current state.

And then, after that,

I end up practicing only to avoid getting hit by senseis during jigeiko,

or only to win the next match,

or only to pass the next promotion exam.

I’m sure this is the reason why I can’t seem to correct my bad habits no matter how much time passes!

But then, I recently realized something…

If I neglect the foundations (kihon),

As my rank increases,

I will eventually find that when I want to perform some waza,

I can’t perform them the way I want.

In many ways, I feel like I’m finally starting to understand why high-ranking senseis always tell us to “Foundations are very important!!”

So, after all, I have to correct my bad habits and practice kendo that is faithful to the kihon!

But…

I’m going to tell you a story that may seem daunting.

For example, in addition to ki-ken-tai no icchi, I’m also struggling with my “right-hand dominant strikes.”

I want to fix my right-handed strikes and be able to strike correctly using my left hand more.

Okay, so, here, suddenly, I’d like to invite ♡Calculator-chan♡ to make an appearance!

Oh, what a cute girl… Oh well.

Hey, Calculator-chan.

Can you tell me, roughly, how many times I did do “right-handed” men strikes last year?

If you don’t feel like reading on this part, feel free to skip ahead to Calculator-chan’s next speech bubble.

Um, Haru-chan,

You practice four times a week, right? But one day of that is kata practice, and another is basics review practice without bogu, so you practice with your shinai and bogu twice a week.

That means the number of times you practice with shinai and bogu per year is
2 (times) x 52 (weeks) = 104.

Also, Haru-chan’s practice menu usually includes approximately two sets of Kirikaeshi
(suriashi) and (tai-tari & fumikomi-ashi), the number of times you hit men during Kirikaeshi is

(1 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 1) x 2 x 2 =88 times.

After that,

Men strikes (big men) & (small men), 4 strikes each x 2 types = 8 times

And then, renzoku waza (kote-men), (men-do), (tsuki-men), 4 strikes each x 3 types = 12 times

Then, practice various waza (harai-men, kote-surigage-men, men-suriage-men, men-kaeshi-do (motodachi), debana-men (including motodachi), denana-kote (motodachi)), 4 strikes each x 6 types + 4 = 28 times

And finally, 3 sets of jigeiko, or ai uchi men, roughly 20 men strikes

Assuming you do this 104 times a year

I got the answer!

Last year, Haru-chan did men strikes incorrectly with her right hand dominant 16,224 times!

If you add in the men you hit in matches and de-geiko, I’d say it’s close to 20,000 times!

If I hit 20,000 times just last year,

Even if we start counting from when the COVID-19 pandemic subsided,

it still comes down to 70,000 to 80,000 times.

Wha-aat?!

80,000 times?

Once I’ve trained my body to do something 80,000 times, it’s not going to be that easy to undo it!!

Is that really right number, Calculator chan?

Yes, this is the mind-boggling story I’m talking about.

Just when I was thinking about breaking my habit,

I realized that I had already ingrained the incorrect way to strike men over 80,000 times…

Hey, how do I break this?

One thing is clear: trying to overcome a bad habit that has been firmly ingrained after 80,000 repetitions in terms of sheer numbers is infinitely challenging.

For example, if I wanted to break a habit over the course of a year, I’d need to strike “correctly” about 770 times per practice session, or I wouldn’t be able to keep up! (20,000 strikes / 104 practice sessions = 769 strikes)

If I tried to strike men 770 times in a single practice session, I could possibly die…

So unless I find a way other than sheer repetitions, I’ll never be able to break my bad habits!

For now, during the 104 practice sessions per year, I will be utterly disciplined and never just casually strike men incorrectly.

I absolutely have to make sure I strike men correctly!!

To be honest, looking at the daunting number of 80,000, really hit me hard.

It’s clear to me that physical repetition alone is definitely not enough for change.

If I don’t also do something outside the dojo, I’m sure I won’t break my bad habits, even after a year.

After all, it’s 80,000 times…

But physically, it’s difficult for me to keep up with practicing twice a day…

How about if I do something in my brain that will simulate practicing, even though I’m not actually practicing?

In other words, can I trick my brain into thinking that I’m practicing, even though I’m not?

I have to find a way to do that 24/7, without a break…

Because if I don’t think about correcting my bad habits all day long, I’ll never reach 80,000!

So, I’ve just come up with an idea!

I think it might be great method

Hehe… Chudan-kun has impressed me again.

I’ll reveal the method! And the method is…

(drum sound)

Write down how to correct your bad habits on pieces of paper,

and

stick them everywhere you can see them!

Huh? ?

A very analog method?

A very Showa-era exam study method?

That’s right.

I put papers with instructions on how to correct bad habits everywhere.

I put them on the walls of the bathroom.

I put them on the table where I eat.

Of course, I put them on my PC desk.

I also put them on the back of my smartphone case.

I also keep one in my bag.

This way, I feel like I can ingrain good habits into my brain all day long.

The moment I sit down on the toilet,

the words “Match monouchi and my right hand!” suddenly pops into my head.

The moment I finish using the toilet and pull up my pants,

the words “Start with your left hand and strike with both hands!” pops into my head, without asking me for permission.

There are times when I think, “Ugh! Give me a break at a time like this!”

But… I have no choice!

I feel like I’ll never be able to beat the 80,000 strokes unless I do something like this.

First, I need to thoroughly memorize the exact movements I need to make.

Then, I need to see if I can move my body in accordance with the information I’ve input into my brain.

I’m going to try a human experiment using this method with my own body and brain.

Anyway, the important thing is,

First, face the harsh reality…

And another important thing is to have 克己心 a self-controlled mind (kokki-shin).

No matter how sweet the temptations are, I won’t give in!

So, With 克己mind,

I’m going to practice again tomorrow ♪