the shinai bag

It finally came.
(featured in the left photo, my blue Fudoshin bag from the e-bogu online catalog here).

Now I don't have to take a cab to and from work while carrying my shinai for the evening kendo lessons.... No more fear of being mistaken for being a crazy Chinese hobo with a stick on the train.

But... it feels like I've got quite a way to go to "proving that I'm worthy" of having such a nice shinai bag....

Last night's session was probably the roughest one yet.
I was reminded during the practice of each technique that there are a few persistent mistakes I keep making:

• not fully extending my arms during my strikes
  
• not using my left arm properly as the main pivot/fulcrum for holding and swinging the shinai
  
• my footwork really sucks
  
• arms and shoulders keep tensing up when they should be relaxed (which relates to the first two)
  

And when I finally got home, I found a nice big blister on my left foot and a nice skin tear under my big toe (also on my left foot), I guess to show just how bad my footwork is. I've got to train harder, though I know it's just going to get tougher before it gets better....