Kendo presentation =D -->> Before and After || And other stuff

OMG. MY DAD JUST EMERGED OUT OF NOWHERE WITH HIS TOWEL OVER HIS HEAD COVERING HIS FACE AND WEARING MY MUM'S SKIRT.

*take deeeeeeeeeep breath*

Okay. I was supposed to talk about our kendo presentation, rught? Yeah, I'm going to refer it as presentation or performance. I can't really consider it a demo, since we're just doing the kendo moves without actually explaining what the heck we were doing to the crowd.

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD BECAUSE I LIKE TELLING THE DETAILS.

We were informed that we are to do a presentation of our CCA club somewhere last week. My reaction was, "Uh, what? So we're supposed to come up with something by wednesday? ...Fuck." So anyway, I'll divide the training into the two days plus the real event.

Wednesday

Our meeting was supposed to be on Monday, but Jynn postponed it to Wednesday, when he said that he didn't postpone the actual meeting. But anyway, we met up on Wednesday, just have no idea of all what to do. We finally decided to show the

• basic men, kote, do cuts;
• kiri kaeshi,
• ni-dan waza: kote-men and kote-do;
• kaeshi waza: men kaeshi do and kote kaeshi men;
• and ipponme kata.

The initial arrangement and pair-up were Riku with Syazni, Kaza with Hafiz and me with Syafiq. Jyn was supposed to be the one giving out orders since he doesn't have a partner and then pair up with Kaza during the kata. We trained in the gym. We only have two days of practice and lots to do. We know we couldn't really expect much from the three boys since they've only done training during CCA unlike Riku, Kaza and me. We tried to not put much pressure on them as well as ourselves. But yeah. You know when you combine good with not so good, you would at least get an average result. But when you combine not so good with not so good, the result is me and my partner. Boooooo.

Thursday

Nash and Zul joined in, Syafiq didn't come. So my new partner is Zul. He is TINY. When I say TINY, imagine comparing a tree trunk to a stick. I'm the tree trunk, he's the stick. It was very hard partnering uo with him but I couldn't complain because Jynn was already on the "forceful, cheerful swearing-cursing" stage of stress. Which is what I would do when I am stressed yet sarcastic and hyper. And honestly, by the third rehearsal on stage, I was feeling discouraged. I guess the others were too since Jynn asked the teachers if we can do a "kiai check" on stage. So kiai we did. I felt quite refreshed after that.

All of us had to do EVERYTHING, from basic cuts to waza, except for kata, so synchronizing was hard. Syazni, Hafiz and Zul went home at noon so left were Jynn, Nash, Kaza and me. (Yes, this was mentioned in my previous post, so if you don't want to read it, shut up and hide in you closet) We were thinking of how to make everything nice and smooth. So we paired up and Jynn would count for every move we make. It was okay for basic cuts but for the others, I say it was quite impossible.

We ended training and Kaza and I went to the canteen to grab some food and drinks. We discussed how difficult it was to follow Jynn's counting so we wanted to tell him our idea. We want to follow the Karate do style, where the juniors do the basics techniques, and seniors do the advanced techniques. But then again, technically, we are all juniors since we started at the same time, except for Jynn. But the level of skill were obviously caried between us. We didn't say it directly to him, just some few subtle hints, and he came up with the idea to let the juniors (which are them who did not come to central dojo's training) and the others are up to the seniors (those who came to central dojo's training) And then somehow, it does not sound fair to the form two kids. So final decision was, juniors for basic cuts and kiri kaeshi, and seniors for waza and kata. And damn. I was to perform kata with Kaza. NOOOOO. I can't hold back my laughter when I partner up with her. We went home after that.

Saturday

Finally, the real day has arrived. Oh god. Now I was starting to panic. Chris joined us! Yay! *pinch* Muahahahaha. We THOUGHT the CCA Closing Ceremony was after break, but then Ms. Jennifer said that it was in the morning!

Of course, I was getting even more panicked. Jynn was our leader but daaang, at that time he was busy with choir, Riku was busy practicing with Ramzul who also joined in the last minute, Nash couldn't join the presentation though he was still there, so it was up to Kaza and I to be in-charge of the juniors.

Good thing Hafiz, Syazni and Zul decided to stay with us. Thank you, guys. But I was worried about their kiai. They were not loud enough, I guess. So I told them to kiai while doing men cuts. I love Syazni's kiai. It's the deep, husky type of kiai. He should do that more often. Chris's kiai was good when he does it. It's just that he doesn't do it often. Hafiz had the deep, smooth kiai voice. Zul's was still weak but he was the most friendly among them. Em, why the heck am I commenting on their kiais, you ask? I am just so proud of them. HAHA wtf I sound weird. My voice went into a screech during my kiai. Opps. Too loud. XD

Then, we did two more rehearsal when Jynn was done with choir. And the FINAL-EST final arrangement was (BEWARE, OVERLOAD OF DETAIL)

• Basic cuts & kiri kaeshi = Syazni-Hafiz, Chris-Zul.
• ni-dan waza: kote-men, kote-do; kaeshi waza: men kaeshi do, kote kaeshi men = Riku-Ramzul
• ipponme kata = Kaza-Maj
  

Oh man, and that was pretty last minute. But it was simple and since only one pair is up each time,there was no need of synchronising. And for basic cuts, Jynn only needs to count for the two pairs to sync, and for kiri kaeshi the two pairs just have to go at their own pace, at the same time trying to adjust to the other pair's speed.

Okay, it looks as if Kaza and I got the smallest part of the presentation. Honey, you think WRONG. Kata is basically the hardest part the whole thing, I tell you. I had to practice the Kata so many times with Kaza to get used to looking at each other without laughing and also to perfect my moves. Sigh. It was tough. D= So basically, there was additional challenge for the both of us.

And then, it was time. We were up next after Karate. I've seen the Karate rehearsals. There were about 12 or more of them and they've basically been on stage more than us, plus they have awesome moves. How can we compare that to eight newbie-on-stage, first-timer kendo performers? But then again, we shouldn't compare. That's just bad.

There was so many people. The audi was basically packed. Greeeaaaat. Now, butterflies were about to burst out of my stomach.

Okay, more useless details ahead.

We entered through the backstage, led by Jynn, then Ramzul, Riku, Kaza, me, Syazni, Hafiz, Chris and Zul. Haha yes, I remember. I guess adrenaline in some way increases your memory. XD We faced the audience, and rei-ed, screaming "Onegaishimasu!" as loud as possible. We saw Yazin in the front seats. Getting more nervous having a senpai looking at us.Then, the rest of us seiza-ed while Chris, Zul, Syazni and Hafiz took their positions and Jynn stood by the side. I don't know why, but the audience laughed. Out of amusement, or amazement, or because we look plain weird and funny on stage, I have no idea. I was later told because they all looked cute. XD Right. The audience laughed even more during Kiri Kaeshi. Is it really that funny?! We kept on stealing glances at Yazin who was sitting, leaning forwad with his chin in his hand, loking serious. OMG Was he mad and disappointed?!

Then, they seiza while Riku and Ramzul performed ni-dan waza and kaeshi waza. Everything was going smoothly, until kaeshi waza where Jynn was supposed to announce "kaeshi waza: men kaeshi do!" which basically means your opponent attack you with a men cut and you counter using do cut. He somehow accidentally said "men kote do!" which confused Riku so when Ramzul attacked her she paused. But they managed to cover it up when they repeat it. Then, kote kaeshi men, Riku attack and Ramzul defend. Every time Ramzul hits Riku on the head, the audience again laughed. Of course he didn't really hit her but I guess it was so close that the audience felt the suspense.

And then came our turn. In my head, "ohshitohshitohshitohshit." I don't know why, but after I took out my bokken during the initial sonkyo, I was halfway through doing the sageeto, as in, returning it back to my invisible sheath. WTFFFF. By then, I was sooooo nervous already, and as I was the defender (shidachi) in the first round, I just threw out all my stress and embarrassment into a long and loud "TOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" And again, people laughed. WHYWHYWHY? When Kaza did the "to!" they did laugh, but not as loud as they did during my "to!" Boo.

And then, the kata ended. Everyone lined up and moved up front stage. It was time for the finale, HAYASUBURI!! Haha, even my friend who doesn't really know much kendo was looking forward to this one the most. So, we were ordered to "chuudan-n0-kamae" and our shinai's were basically pointing at the guest of honour and principal and the teachers. So, bein the mature adults they were, yeah, you know, the typical playful reaction you get when a swrod is pointed at you. Oh yeah, Kaza and I were using bokkens, heavier than shinais, so it was a good thing that we were only doing 20. Haha. And another good thing was, this time, the audience was not laughing, instead they were cheering, filled with "WOOOAHHH!" and claps. I guess everyone seriously likes to see us torturing ourselves with high speed men cuts.

Then, it ended. We rei, and screamed out a satisfying "ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!!!" and walked out of the audi were I automatically apologised to everyone about my mistake early in the kata.

We were told to go into the audi from the back and had to wait for the event to end after tons of awards given away. The instructors for the CCA clubs which had instructors got certificates which had cool lines, like the one Yazin got. "For Professional Supervision in Kendo." Proof of his hard work. Woohoo.

We met up with him when we went out of the audi, (no, we didn't stay bacjk with the other students when the invited guests were supposed to go out XDD) Haha scared with what he had to say, but turned out he was actually happy with the presentation. He even personally commented that our kata was getting better since the last time we trained. But he did notice the teensy-weensy mistake I made. SORRRYYYY. He also praised MS which I'm not going to mention or else I'll sound...obnoxious. Whatever that word means. XD Besides, I don't remember. XD And he said the hayasuburi was the most exciting part of the presentation. LOL well, I am noraly slower than others at doing hayasuburi, but dang, that day, with all that happened, I put my whole heart into it and just screamed out the numbers, like the others. Heheh.

And here, is us. L-R: Chris, Riku, Kaza, me, Zul, Nash, Hafiz, Ramzul, Syazni and Jynn. Yazin-senpai took the photo.

Post-presentation!

Yazin took us to EasyWay as a treat for the success of the presentation *cough*when we were supposed to go back to the audi after the break for more performaces *cough* Pity Chris, Syazni, Hafiz and Zul didn't join us, I mean, we were starting to get to know each other, finally, after months of training together yet not interacting. Maybe next year I should suggest boys pairing up with girls so that they won't get restricted to getting know one gender only. And we should be paired up randomly, because as far as I notice, we only choose to pair up with our friends. Because I seriously regret not knowing them earlier because they are fun, and they're not continuing Kendo next year. I mean, that was how I got new friends out of Kendo in the central dojo.

So anyway, where was I? XD Oh yeah. EasyWay was clooosed. And then we passed Desa Cafe. Riku hinted me. "Maj, you have something to say about that Desa Cafe, right?" So, I guess even I couldn't hold back, so I blurted out, "That's my...aunt's cafe." Yazin obviously heard me, so his response was, "This. Is. Awkward." I will explain in one sentence and then I will never say it again. Desa Cafe is Yazin's mum's cafe which is also my aunt's cafe, so you get what that means? Honestly, I really don't like finding out I'm related to someone who I first know as a friend or something like that. I mean, I already knew that Yazin is related to Zati who is related to Pinji who is related to me, but I thought that was as far as it goes. D:

So umm, why do I always get off topic so easily? We went to Jollibee. Yazin's treat! The bill was up to $33 for only the six of us. We greedy people. Reef and Nash were there. I think they walked from school. Um. LOL. Riku was still thinking about that fact that people laughed during Ramzul's and her waza which just reminded me about the laughter of people during my "to!" -_-;; haha again, I wondered about it, but did I hear unmistakably from Yazin that the kiai was good? X) Okay, ignore me. So we talked, shared stories and blabla til it was 12+PM and Riku and Kaza has to go home since they're going by bus. I had to go back to school too because I was supposed to be with Froggy. I was stuffed with fries, beef burger, rocky road sundae and coke.



*NOW THE KENDO RANTING SESSION HAS ENDED, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED THAT AFTERNOON, ALSO AT SCHOOL*



Froggy has gained permission to use the Audi since she needs the piano to practice with Andy. Again, like our last practice, they didn't actually practiced much. Just...sat there, with Andy playing random songs on the piano and Froggy singing some random song and me just either listening to them or lying down, or listening to some random stories. They did manage to practice, separately, like last time too. I told Froggy that I won't be able to come to her to every practice since there really was no use of me there, anyway.

In the mean time, Andy shared with us some of his Wu Shu knowledge. I really like the "Chi" concept. He demonstrated by pushing me. It was obvious that his hands didn't move much but I actually went tumbling few feet back, trying to balance myself. Good thing I didn't flew but the impact was there. Awesome.

When they did manage to combine both the singing and the piano singing, it was nice. I felt like sleeping to the song. Wow. Unfortunately, I had to go home too soon, at least I think so. Had so much fun with them.


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I should really stop now. Took me an hour and few glasses of orange syrup to write all this down. Ahaha. Please don't complain. I just want to make sure all this happened when I somehow miraculously find this entry again in a few years time.