MORNING!!

I'm hoping that the orange will wake me up. I'm really tired today... and it doesn't help that it's pea-soup outside. Blah!! If there's anything that'll kill a good mood... it's rain. And if there's anything that'll make a not great mood worse, it's rain. So... there you have it - rain, my friends, causes all ills. Of course there's the side that says we need rain for crops and stuff like that... but I still think that autumn is the WRONG time for rain.

Ok... that being said...

Last night kendo was AMAZING!! Once again I got to use my bogu (armor) and had a blast. This time I didn't get nearly so sweaty because the windows were open and there was a nice breeze. But I did get to do more practice with my "ki-ai". Hmmm... "ki-ai" is the sound that you make in kendo. It's philosophically the focusing of the spirit and helps a person to strike with strength and power, etc. But really, it sounds like you're yelling and that's about it. It's quite loud, and every person has a different approach to "ki-ai". Anyway, with kendo you're meant to yell out the part of the body that you're hitting (in practice)... so you "ki-ai" (yell), then yell the part you're going to hit "men" (head), "kote" (wrist), or "do" (chest guard). Well, I was lacking on the second bit... I was kind of going "Yaaaaa" and then "men". Or at least that's what the teacher told me. So we worked on that for a bit... and I got to hit him a bunch of times. :-)

SO, the moral of the story is... when feeling down... Hit things with bamboo swords and yell in the face or your oponent!! :-)