Chapter 7 – Kendo training

Shinai¹ sounds that were mutually clashing, screams full of passion, and there was the sound of feet stomping on the wood floor can be heard from Aiide High School’s dojo².

On Sunday, the kendo trainer did not come. So, Sunday was a day where the seniors are the ones that trained their juniors. Therefore, there was no excuse for being late, especially at a time like this where they are preparing for a big match next month. That is why their training intensity increased. Makoto hurriedly walked to the building located next to the dojo to change her clothes to a kendo uniform. Then she held a set of kendo’s protective gear. When she entered the dojo, someone shouted at her.

“MAKOTO!!! You are late! ” Watanuki, the leader of the kendo team who was in grade 11, shouted loudly while holding up his shinai as if he wanted to stab the ceiling. He had a loud voice that matched his big body. His favorite technique was to hit his opponent’s head with a sword from above. The color of the protective clothing he wore is red, so his nickname is ‘Akado Suzunosuke from the Heisei era’³.

“I’m sorry.”

Makoto warmed up in the corner of the room to not disturb other team members who were practicing swinging their swords. She started kendo as an extracurricular activity since middle school, but that does not mean she was interested in the sport. She picked kendo because she did not want to enter an art club, so she picked a sports club. But she also didn’t like any sports that involved balls and athletics looked boring. Thus, the only choices left are judo, kendo, and dance. She immediately removed the dance club from her mind. Then she also removed judo from her choices because she felt uncomfortable touching other people. So, that’s left her with kendo.

During middle school, she stopped kendo for a while. She started kendo again when she entered high school because she felt that kendo was quite fun. Maybe because of her good posture, she immediately passed Nidan⁴ and thought it would be good to challenge Sandan⁵.

As Makoto stretched her body, Watanuki walked towards her.

“Why are you late today? Makoto, you should also help me train the juniors. I can’t do it alone. Moreover, all the seniors from grade 12 are retired.”

“Yes. I understand. My part-time job finished late.”

Seniors from grade 12 already retired after competing in the inter-high⁶, even though they lost in the preliminary round. So, Watanuki, who was in grade 11, became the new team leader and Makoto became his vice-chairman. Honestly, Makoto didn’t consider herself to have the qualities to be a vice-chairman. She thought that the position she got was because this kendo club didn’t have many members. Also, there was no one else in the team members that can fill that position. She never even dreamed of being recognized as one of the best three in the club. Makoto only considered kendo as a fun sport because it can be team play but it can also be individual play. She continued to practice kendo because she felt that the kendo fighting style required her to unite all of her soul to concentrate and to attack the opponent that was suitable for her.

“When you have finished warming up, help me to train the others. ”

“Ok.”

Then Watanuki walked away.

After Makoto finished swinging her sword a hundred times, she wore a chest protector and tied a type of handkerchief called a Menshita in her head. Then she wore a face and head shield along with a hand protector. She wore all the protective gear because her opponent was a junior who was training that still could not control the aim of their sword. Their aim often missed and hit on Makoto’s unprotected arms or shoulders. Because of that, her body was always full of bruises.

“Come on! Don’t be lazy! Keep on hitting! ” Makoto shouted at the junior who was her training opponent. The junior was immediately filled with passion and hit Makoto’s face shield.

“Too low! Improve your fumikomi ⁷!”

If this was kakari⁸ training, the coach can also strike back. But unfortunately, this time it was uchikomi⁹  training, so Makoto had to continue to receive sword swings without being able to do anything. But thanks to that, she could calmly see her opponent’s weaknesses. After Makoto gave direction, the junior’s next aim got a little better. When she gave direction one more time, the aim got even better. It felt quite fun training the juniors like this and seeing their progress. That was why Makoto quite liked the coach’s position.

Finally, everyone sat in the formal sitting position, with legs folded back and sitting on the calf, to do a moment of silence and then ended the exercise. After the exercise was completed, each grade level will take turns to clean the dojo with a rag. Today it was the grade 11’s turn. Makoto told her juniors to go home, while she took out the bucket and rag from the warehouse to start cleaning the dojo.