The pitfalls of the “dominant eye”

One day, my Sensei said to me, “Okay, Kendo Cat, let’s do Ai-Uchi-Men!”

So Sensei and I practiced Ai-Uchi-Men for about 30 seconds to a minute.

How many men did I try during that time?

I don’t remember at all.  I can’t count.

The moment when I successfully finished my men was only 2-3 times, which was when Sensei gave me a big opening.

Actually, I didn’t expect I could finish my men faster than my Sensei…

Oops! Even if my opponent was my Sensei, it would be disrespectful to him to go in with this kind of weak-lazy mindset.

What bothered me was that no matter how many times I tried to hit men, I ended up being off center and my Sensei hit me again and again.

There’s no bargaining involved, but we both raise our spirits and strike straight men at each other, so I must at least get to the point where, after fighting for the center, both shinai caught each other and neither side was able to finish men successfully.

That’s what I aimed for, so I tried hard, focusing on the center.

However, the result was I lost the center 100% and sensei succeeded with his attack so easily.

100%…

If I wasn’t focusing on taking the center, it could happen, but I was focusing on the center … so, this is really something wrong.

Yes, there must be something wrong inside me…

I tried to think about what the cause might be.

After thinking about it, one suspicion emerged. That is…

Could it be that the line I think of as the “center” between me and my opponent isn’t actually the center at all?

But why does this happen?

I’ll think about it again…

Huh? Could it be

I’m using my eyes in a weird way.

Just like dominant hands, maybe there’s something like that for the eyes too?

Dominant eye?

I’ve never heard of it, but when I think about it carefully, it seems like there really is such a thing.　I googled it, and sure enough, there is!

I do have two eyes, but

When I think about it,

I feel like I unconsciously use my right eye more often to see things.

If the reason why I always end up being off center is because I’m overusing my right eye, I think it would be worth trying” this!”

Yeah！

“Let’s invite my left eye!”

So, one day, I tried this when we had another Ai-Uchi-Men practice with my Sensei.

Come on, my left eye♪

It felt extremely strange, but I still disciplined myself.

While I was doing Ai-Uchi-Men practice, I tried using my left eye, or I even tried seeing with only my left eye…

And then…

As I mentioned, my sensei hit me successfully 100% before,

but this time, it’s dropped to about 98%!

And what’s more, that 2% is what I was aiming for: the bamboo swords clinging together, and neither of us can hit men!

Wow… I did it!

After all, even though I was focusing on the center, the reason why I couldn’t get it in the center was maybe it was just the way I was using my eyes.

In numerical terms, it’s probably only a 0.5-1-inch difference.

But in kendo, 0.5-1 inch is still quite a lot, considering the diameter of a shinai.

Whew! This time it was about the “dominant eye”…

There are pitfalls everywhere.

I was reminded that kendo really requires us to use every part of our body,

and in a balanced and skillful way.

This is a sudden statement but… My parents have already passed away.

I believe my body is their keepsake.

In fact, when I think about DNA and things like that, I sometimes feel like my parents are still alive inside me.

I will use this precious body which my parents bestowed upon me to the fullest in kendo!

Watch over me from heaven, Mom and Dad♪

Let’s do kendo together!

Anyway, from now on, I’ll try to pay more attention to my left eye

I’ll go to practice again tomorrow ♪