day 322: miao dao power generation

concepts:

• structure
• kua
• dantian
• sword surface
• diffuse/central focus
• decreasing radius
• ting, hwa, na, fa jing
• dragon, tiger, snake gates
• far, middle, near gates

lessons:

• miao dao

we had a Sunday class last weekend. there are more people coming to the Sunday sessions, although most of them are beginners learning baji (i'm guessing they can't make the Saturday sessions).

for the first part of class, i worked on reviewing the 4 lines of the miao dao form with Stephen and Phunsak. Phunsak took time to refine our movements, particularly lines 3 & 4. i haven't really learned lines 3 & 4 that well, since they're the most recent and i missed those classes over the summer. as a result, this was actually a chance for me to really get some instruction with them.

the second part of class was spent on miao dao basics. Sifu looked at us doing lines 1-4, and said that our power generation was lacking. while part of this was from not doing the correct techniques, he also said that a lot of this was from poor body mechanics. the solution for this is to work on the basics and build our foundation. he has us work on just doing the initial basics that related to line 1 (e.g., cut down, cut at an angle, cut horizontal).  he made a number of points:

• power with the miao dao comes from the overall body structure, particularly in terms of aligning the head, neck, and spine. Sifu stressed the importance of making sure that the crown of the head was aligned vertically with the neck and spine. to do this, it helps to slightly lift the head and subtly tuck the chin in.
• as much as you need to have structure with the head, neck, & spine, you also need to have structure with the kua. the bending of the kua has to be done in a way that allows power to come from the legs through the torso, so that the arms and shoulders are not doing the work but instead are more structural guides directing the power of the sword stroke.
• the dantian has to stay stable. this means it has to stay level (i.e., not go up or down) as you move through the techniques. in addition, the power of a cut has to go from the dantian (during the initiation of the cutting motion) and come back again (during the final phase of the cutting motion). essentially this means that a cut involves a loop in power starting and originating in the dantian.
• for power generation, Sifu said it also helps to go from diffuse to point focus in a cut. this means that when you start a cut you start with your eyes and attention in diffuse focus, and then at the moment you make contact with the opponent and perform the cut you switch your eyes and attention to point focus on the point of the cut. this helps to bring everything into the dantian, concentrating the power of the sword into the point of contact.
• for one of the cuts (the horizontal cut in line 4), Sifu said we were missing the subtlety in the movement. originally, we'd learned as a horizontal slash similar to a baseball bat swing. Sifu said this is a mistake, and that the movement is a horizontal slash that follows a path with a decreasing radius of the arc. Sifu said this helps to improve the cutting. he said that this was true of all the cutting applications, even for those (like in line 1) where it was not apparent. he noted that this makes it easier to cut since it relies less on power and more on slashing.
• Sifu also discussed the sword surface, noting that we have to apply the techniques with the proper surface of the sword facing the proper direction. sometimes this means that the blade faces the opponent's sword, other times that the flat or back of the blade faces the opponent's sword. this is because there are times when we're want to receive and deflect the opponent's strike and other times when we want to attack. regardless, we have to be mindful of the application and adjust our blade to match it.

at this point, i asked Sifu about the connection between the miao dao and the concepts we've learned before in ting (sensing), hwa (deflecting), na (control), and fa (projection) jing.  Sifu said that just like we exercise ting, hwa, na, and fa jing with empty hand combat, we do the same thing with weapons. he noted that in some situations, depending on the technique and the spacing and timing relative to the opponent, we actually combine some of the steps. but the idea is the same: you want to first sense out the opponent, then receive and if necessary deflect their attack, position yourself and the sword so that you control the opponent and constrain their movement, and then project your own attack into them. Sifu pointed out that for purposes of ting, hwa, na, and fa jing the sword--and any weapon--can be seen as extension of your body.

we went on to talk about gates. Sifu said that this is the same as empty hand combat, in that the sword (and any weapon) is constantly working through the jings to try and find or entice openings in the opponent's gate, and then attacking when we are able to do so. Sifu reminded us, however, that this doesn't just mean in terms of dragon (opponent's back), tiger (opponent's front), or snake gate (side of opponent facing you), but also means in terms of distance: far (out of range from the opponent), middle (within in the far edge of contact range with the opponent), near gate (within close torso/torso range of the opponent). Sifu said it's possible to go through ting jing and hwa jing without actually making contact with the opponent or the opponent's weapon, in that we're working their far gates. however, he said that for control (i.e., na jing)and power projection (i.e., fa jing), we have to be in physical contact, and so have to be in striking range (meaning either middle or near gate). this is why so much of fighting is actually spent sensing the opponent out or trying to mislead them, because you want to minimize risk by avoiding striking range until you are confident of being able to enter the opponent's gate and successfully attacking them.

we practiced the basics for the remainder of class, and then left around 1:30 pm.

day 319: miao dao review

concepts:

• line 2
• distance 
• speed

lessons:

• miao dao

it was a small Sunday today. i asked Sifu if we could spend more time reviewing the miao dao form, since i missed the last Sunday class, making it essentially a month since we'd worked on the miao dao. he said that it was a good idea, since we also had one of the new students trying the Sunday class out.

we reviewed the lines, and then Sifu had us go a little farther on the applications in line 2. there was a bit of a discussion re the proper application of some movements between Sifu and Phunsak, and so while they were engrossed in that i ended up returning to the basics with the new student.

this was actually pretty useful, since it helped me work out some body mechanics issues within the applications. it turned out i think i was making mistakes on some movements, and i felt the changes were an improvement in terms of mobility and control.

i have to say the miao dao is a challenge. while the spear is much more intensive in terms of the effort it requires on the body core, the miao dao is more demanding in terms of speed. while it's ostensibly a long-range weapon, it's not the same distance as a spear, and so you don't have the luxury of having engagement ranges that are relatively farther away. it disrupts the comfort level, and it makes a difference in terms of shortening the reaction time--the closer you are to the opponent, the better your reaction times have to be. Sifu said this is why it's imperative to be able to read what the opponent is doing, since that helps speed up your reflexes. the combination of a weighted bladed weapon with speed makes for a solid workout on the body. 

day 314: subtleties of the miao dao

concepts:

• body & blade movements
• small movements
• tip location
• borrowing energy
• bouncing energy
  
• body movement & center
  

lessons:

• miao dao

we went a lot farther on the miao dao in the last Sunday class. we spent the initial half going through the basics, but then Sifu said he wanted us to start working through the applications in the form, saying that we'd understand the basics a lot better if we saw how they were used in practice.

miao dao

we worked on the first moves of line 1 of the miao dao. Sifu said that there's a general misunderstanding of these moves, with most practitioners using large, sweeping motions. he said that this was a dominant misperception, with many people taking the miao dao as a weapon requiring large slashing movements.

in Sifu's view, this is a mistake. the nature of the weapon is not large movements. given the size of the weapon, large sweeping motions invariably open up large openings which an opponent can attack. in addition, because its size means greater mass, the inertia generated by large movements makes it very difficult to counter against attacks made in tight space.

according the Sifu, understanding the movements and their application requires an understanding of how it was used on the battlefield. the miao dao was made large with the purpose of providing greater range, with the goal of taking down attackers mounted on horseback. soldiers who expected to stay alive against mounted attackers needed to exploit the range advantage of the miao dao while still being able to quickly engage defenses. this meant movements that extended the miao dao to penetrate an opponent's gates while still keeping your own gates closed.

Sifu demonstrated what he asserts is the right interpretation of the moves. he stressed the following:

• that in the 1st few movements of line 1, the body is actually doing the majority of the activity and the blade, relative to the body, is actually doing a minority of action. as a result, the work is being done by the body rather than the blade.
• the blade movement is actually small. Sifu said that if we observe the path traced by the tip of the blade that it actually follows a small, tight path, and that in contrast our bodies are tracing a much larger path across the floor.
• the tip location is important. the tip essentially marks a vector following a curve, with the force of the blade moving parallel to the direction of the tip. wherever the path of the tip goes, so goes the application.
• on defense, you're not supposed to block the opponent's blade. instead, you have to receive it in a way that allows you to borrow the energy of their movement. the idea is to take the magnitude of their force, but then redirect back into your attack against them.
• redirecting energy involves a slight bounce. Sifu cautioned that this doesn't mean a bounce off their blade, since this is just a type of block. bouncing off the blade means that you're bouncing without redirecting their strike. he stressed that we have to receive and redirect their energy first, and then bounce off their energy vector. the idea is that you take whatever force they're applying and sending it off in a direction that is sufficient to ensure your safety and opens their gate for your attack.
• the magnitude of the force vector in the blade is not from the arms. Sifu said that it actually should be a combination of the force from the opponent's attack and the force generated from your body. as a result, body movement is critical. Sifu said that this requires movement driven not so much by the arms but rather by the center, with the body moving the center so that you maintain a single structure capable of conveying power without loss.
  

this, of course, is harder than it looks, and it's counter-intuitive, since the instinct is for you to use your arms to deal with threats identified by your eyes. it's different using your body, and involves a certain measure of conscious effort, which in turn requires a certain measure of composure--which is hard to do when there's an opponent with a 6-foot sword coming at you.

Sifu took some time to note that every movement in the form has an application, including the opening and closing. as a result, it's important not to distort any of the movements for aesthetic effect, since they all should retain some connection to their applications.

i have to say that this was actually enjoyable. it's a bit of a workout, but it's illuminating to learn the miao dao in the context of history. it gives a sense of logic and purpose behind the form. it's also interesting to me, because it gives more insight into history, particularly in terms of what ancient Chinese soldiers actually had to do. if i had any historians interested in Chinese history to talk to, i'd really recommend that they try this.

day 309: miao dao basics

concepts:

• triangle
• borrowing
• percussion point
  

lessons:

• miao dao

i should note that i'm going on vacation for several weeks, and so i'm going to miss class for a little time. as a result, there won't be new posts for awhile. i'll be back in early July, so things will resume then. this post will be the last for now.

miao dao

we resumed the miao dao lessons. oddly enough, Viet wasn't here. but we had enough people that we could still partner up for practice.

today was mostly spent on familiarizing ourselves with the weapon and trying some basics. there's a bit of an intimidation factor in learning weapons, particularly ones like the miao dao, which can generate a lot of force off simple movements. this factor is multiplied in the initial stages of learning, when use of the weapon is still clumsy, since minute mistakes are magnified into physically dangerous consequences. as a result, it takes a little time to just get used to the miao dao, particularly in terms of learning how to manipulate its weight and inertia and understand its characteristics in force, direction, and spacing.

Sifu showed us the opening movements of the initial form, and then focused on having us just practice the applications of the movements in pairs. the movements look simple, but they're very precise (simple movements = lots of force, remember?) and require some getting used to.

this was particularly true for today. i had trouble with just about everything we were doing. the movements are all new and so felt unnatural to me. the first application, for example, was most vexing. the idea is to receive an opponent's incoming downward strike without blocking, but instead receiving it so that you use the force of their strike to drive your miao dao down and around to strike in return. essentially, you borrow their energy. it's meant to be a combination deflection and strike, so that you deflect their attack in a safe direction and move yourself into a striking position.

the idea is to receive by forming a triangle between your arms, your miao dao, and the opponent and then borrowing the opponent's energy. i really struggled with this. i think it's going to take some time until i get comfortable with the miao dao and get some intuitive sense of its feel and physical characteristics.

Alex, who stuck around for a little bit, also pointed out that it's important to have an awareness and instinctive feel of the percussion point of the blade. the percussion point is a term from engineering, and it refers to the point where a force vector won't generate a torque or rotation on a body mass but instead produces a lateral translation of the body's location. this is important, because it means the maximum amount of incoming force engages in a reaction with the mass to generate a recoil, so that the reactive force is an inelastic collision rather than an elastic one. an inelastic collision means an efficient transmission of energy, elastic means dissipation and hence inefficient transmission of energy.

for objects like a tennis racquet, the percussion point is often called the "sweet spot" in the center of the racquet head, where the ball won't generate a torque moving the racquet around the player's wrist and hence generate inefficiencies in the player's application of force (and hence dissipate the player's effort), but instead transmit directly into the racquet and generate maximum recoil off the racquet head, thereby maximizing the player's application of force.

for a bladed weapon like the miao dao, the percussion point is somewhere along the blade, usually closer to the handle. if you receive a strike on the percussion point, you maximize the amount of force you can borrow and minimize the amount of effort you have to use. if you don't, you have to expend more effort, wasting your energy.

the thing is, you can't think consciously about the percussion point in the context of actual use. it has to be instinctive and natural. and for that to happen requires an intuitive grasp and comfort level that can only come with time. given my relative lack of exposure to martial arts over my lifetime, i haven't had that time.

which means i have to spend that time now.

so yeah, this is going to take some work.

day 307: miao dao

concepts:

• basics
• long-range
  

lessons:

• miao dao

so Viet is back in town from the east coast, but only for the summer before he starts med school. he's asked the Sunday classes be spent on miao diao, with the goal of learning the basics and the form before he leaves at the end of July. i should note that Andre showed up after a very long absence, and so it was fortuitous for Viet (Andre seems to focus primarily on weapons and like the miao dao; he taught Phunsak in years past). everyone else seemed to go along with Viet's desire to learn the miao dao, since there wasn't anything else we've specifically scheduled on Sundays. luckily enough, i had my miao diao with me and so was able to join everyone else.

today we didn't do that much with the basic miao dao form. we ended up just doing the basics with Phunsak. i've including all the videos i made of the 8 basics we learned today, as well as the basic form, below:
basic 1: http://youtu.be/GmpT3wc6FcI

basic 2: http://youtu.be/kvIaQW_3Ypw

basic 3: http://youtu.be/DnkVxGCGCFs

basic 4: http://youtu.be/uhujy87RKhs

basic 5: http://youtu.be/qj2dkGIGzl0

basic 6: http://youtu.be/WAszitg5WKk

basic 7: http://youtu.be/lGRpuALn1xQ

basic 8: http://youtu.be/xPIu6Y1u83k

basic form: http://youtu.be/z05vrj8J--0

my only comment is that the basics are somewhat similar to jian shu in terms of how they are identified by angles (e.g., diagonal, up/down, left/right, etc.), but differ in terms of what the blade is doing. Sifu said that a miao diao is considered a long weapon, and so has to be treated as such. this means that in terms of the philosophy and the fighting strategy you want to exercise the same approach as used with other long weapons, especially the spear. as a result, you don't exercise the same qualities expected of short-range weapons like the jian (e.g., speed, dexterity, and thrusts) or the sabre (e.g., speed, large movements, and slashing) where you are trying to get inside an opponent's gate, but rather qualities expected of long-range weapons like the spear (e.g., small movements, probing, and facing the enemy) where you are trying to keep the enemy at range.

Sifu said like long-range weapons you drive the movements from the dantian, so that small movements of the body translate to large movements of the weapon's tip. he also noted that you're supposed to take advantage of the miao diao's length so that it closes your gates and keeps the enemy out of range while also probing the enemy's gates and penetrating without exposing your own.

day 270: moving with the spear and reviewing chen pao quan

concepts:

• movement
• center

lessons:

• spear
• chen tai chi pao quan

i skipped kung fu and kyudo for Saturday, March 20. i made it for Sunday morning, March 21, so this post applies to that. it was just me and Chieng-Chieh, since Phunsak was at a seminar.

spear

Sifu had us spend time on spear moving basics. so far, the drills we've been doing have been from a stationary position, with the feet largely immobile. today, Sifu showed us some initial drills for spear with footwork.

the footwork was similar to others we've learned when training for sparring work: linear footwork, 1st with a shuffle-step with the front foot initiating, then with a shuffle-skip with the rear foot iniatiting; circular, following bagua stepping; and finally what Sifu translated as a "gangster" walk or Ching-Chieh labeled as a "duck waddle", with the body moving in a see-saw movement as the weight shifted with each footstep. with each step in each drill, you're supposed to time thrusts with the spear in a way that the footwork helps generate power into the spear thrust.

Sifu also noted that in the moving spear drills it's important to keep the center down, so that it moves parallel to the ground rather than up-and-down, and that we also work all spear movements from our center, so that the feet and the body serve to move the spear. this proved to be a total body workout, and quite a bit more strenuous than i'd expected--for all that, Sifu said it's better than simply relying on your arms, which get tired far more quickly than your legs or body.

chen tai chi pao quan

we had enough time to work on chen tai chi pao quan. Ching-Chieh is still catching up, so we spent the remainder of class working on review of what we've done to date--which is just as well, since i hadn't had any time to practice at all in the past 2 weeks, and i needed the review as much as anybody else. i think we're starting to get it better, but i really do need to start spending more time practicing. hopefully i'll get the time now, but i'll have to see.

day 255: spear and push hands

concepts:

• following
• control
• yin/yang
  

lessons:

• spear (chaang)
• push hands
  

we had some new students today, with some of the CSULB students coming to check things out. they did have spears of their own, so we ended up playing musical chairs, letting people work through practicing with the full-length spears.

spear (chaang)

we continued on with the basics, with Sifu having us try the 2-person drills. the idea here was to focus on control, with both partners facing each other with their spears in contact and tracing circles while trying to maintain contact. the drill involved leading and following (i.e., letting the other person follow you, or letting you follow the other person) while tracing a circle with the spear tip (e.g., either clockwise or counterclockwise).

the act of following was definitely harder, since it required that you have enough control that you can maintain contact with the other person. Sifu noted the following:

• initially it's easier to work in big circles, but that to improve control you need to try smaller circles,
• control is much easier if you follow proper technique, with the base hand (i.e., the hand holding the base of the spear) is connected to the kua,
• control is also easier if you maintain a low stance.

i'm starting to get a little better with the spear basics, but this was another level of difficulty. it takes quite a bit of concentration to maintain contact. good technique helps, but the concentration aspect requires quite a bit of energy, and proved to be the most demanding part of this exercise.

we worked in pairs, swapping partners and spears. this ended up taking most of class, since it proved so difficult.

push hands

the rest of the time we spent on push hands--not the typical one with static feet, but a more dynamic total-body one. apparently there is a drive to introduce a different competitive event at the tournaments, one related to push hands in terms of allowing people to engage each other, except with a goal of being more similar to actual fighting, with competitors able to engage and disengage, make throws, joint locks, and move freely about the ring. it's supposed to be different from sanda, which allows punches and kicks, or shuai jiao, which involves more constant engagement. Sifu is helping out with this, and is involved in the rules formation (it's still in the formative stages).

Sifu sees this as comprising one of the 5 events of making a well-rounded fighter: spear, sword, sanda, shuai jiao, and push hands.

i should note that the term "push hands" is temporary, since the phrase itself has become locked with the current perception of tai chi practitioners locked in static footwork. the event described here is meant to be much more expansive, encompassing any martial arts style. the ulterior motive is to allow practitioners to sense the yin-yang forces in a fight and to learn how to use them. the prevailing tai chi push hands does this only with the upper body. the hope is that wit this different version you can sense yin and yang in the feet and lower body, and then thereby also sense it in the way the encounter flows through space and time.

i worked with Jay on this. it's a very useful exercise in terms of training--i see it as a step on the progression towards utilizing TCMA in full-contact combat, since it helps attune your instincts and reflexes to applying a lot of the concepts, not just in terms of yin-yang, but also in terms of jing (ting, hwa, na, fa), whirlpools & vortices, tangents and vectors, spacing & timing, rooting & releasing, balance, and structure. it's also useful in that it lets you see how the principles are consistent regardless of technique, and hence regardless of style, and that ultimately everything is about principles and less anything else.

none of these are things i'm very good at, at least not in terms of real-time spontaneous application. in practicing with Jay, i can see that i'm still thinking my way through a lot of these things, and i'm not working on an intuitive level. this is something necessary, as it's only at an intuitive level that you develop the instincts and reflexes necessary for full-contact situations.

i did okay at times, but then i would reach stopping points, where i would understand the principle but either 1) not know how to apply it, or 2) apply it the wrong way. i told Sifu it's like i'm feeling my way through a maze, and hoping each decision leads down the right path in the maze, but every once in a while i make the wrong decision and wind up at a dead end. Sifu said that's the point of training: to learn how to avoid the dead ends.

something else that also became apparent is that my posture continues to be an issue, with Jay and Sifu noting that i still slouch, and while it's gotten better, it's still bad enough that it 1) puts my head within easy reach of the opponent, making me vulnerable to a lot of head strikes and grabs, and 2) disconnects the power from my center to my shoulders, suppressing the transmission of power from my legs through the dantian at my shoulders, throttling any further projection out through the arms--which is where its supposed to go.

this is something i'll have to really focus on to completely resolve. it's going to take a lot more work.

day 192: finishing stick seminar

concepts:

• applications

lessons:

• shaolin stick

this Sunday was a continuation of yesterday's stick seminar, and also ran the full day. while yesterday covered basics, today covered applications.

shaolin stick

we began with a brief overview of some of the basics as a warm-up, and then went on to the applications. i won't go into all of them here (again, that's to leave an incentive to go to the seminars), but i can say that it was comprehensive. Sifu cautioned that the applications we got today were just the basic applications, and that there were more advanced ones that we didn't have time to cover this weekend. he also said that just like anything else in TCMA, there were forms associated with stick, but that we didn't have time for them this weekend either.

here's a sample of what we covered today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knDJxyWJf-4

also, i should note that we had a special guest today: Master Su Zhi Fhang, whose son Yuan has been learning baji quan from Sifu. Su Zhi Fhang is originally from China, but Sifu says her lineage is related to ours in varying ways. she teaches bagua, xing-yi, and tai chi, but i also understand that her knowledge also includes other styles. she was present today to give a brief introduction on weapons, particularly on the principles common to both short and long weapons.

here's the video excerpt i managed to record of her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a8F9LnYJA8


we finished a little after 4, and then went home after saying our goodbyes.

day 191: full days

concepts:

• jumping
• basics
• memory
  

lessons:

• chang quan
• stick seminar
• kyudo
  

this was Thanksgiving weekend, and Sifu decided it was a good weekend to hold a seminar this weekend on Chinese stick fighting. as a result, we had 2 full days, going from 9am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday. i went to both days, and also maintained my schedule with chang quan and kyudo.

chang quan

chang quan was pretty straightforward today. Sifu went over my bagua forest palms first, since he saw me practicing it and wanted to correct a few points. following that, we also went through and refined several areas of my chao quan. from there, we went a few moves further into the form.

i'm at the point in the form where it's becoming more strenuous. today Sifu took me through a sequence of moves that involved consecutive tornado kicks, with one going left and another going right. this follows a series of other jump-kicks. the form seems to be hitting a peak involving a lot of jumping. i'm sensing that chao quan is like pao quan in the sense that the intensity level goes up the deeper you go into the form. Sifu confirmed as much when he said we're getting near the end of the form, and can probably finish it before he goes home for the winter break.

because of this, my Friday private lessons are going to have to be re-arranged a bit. starting in January, my schedule won't allow me to make it to the park on Friday afternoons, but Sifu said we could try Saturday afternoons following lunch. he said we'd try it this coming weekend, since my Friday class is going to be cancelled because of Pau Hana, which is a UCLA event for students to present their projects and is on Friday evening, meaning that Sifu has to go.

stick seminar

Saturday class was replaced with the 1st day of the stick seminar. i'd managed to get a pair of sticks--as well as pairs for several others in the class--and so came with equipment. following Sifu's recommendations, i'd managed to secure a waxwood staff (thanks Sakura Martial Arts!) of a straight length and diameter and cut it in half (waxwood is surprisingly easy to cut, but strangely difficult to dent).

Sifu began the seminar by noting the differences between what we were learning versus various other styles of stick fighting. stick fighting is widely known, since it's such a basic weapon so easily obtainable anywhere, and is a component of just about every society in the world (there's traditions in European styles, African styles, Native American styles, Asian styles, etc.). Sifu said we were learning Shaolin stick, which involves stick lengths that go from the ground to just below the navel. much of the principles and movements in Shaolin stick are related to those in other weapons (sword, saber, etc.) and empty hand actions, and so are transferable to many other areas.

we spent today learning the basics, working through ways to hold a stick, learning how to change grips and change hands, and learning different movements. we spent a good portion of time also doing drills, first stationary while standing, and then moving. Sifu stressed that these are the kinds of drills we need to be doing on a regular basis to improve stick fighting skills, since they form the foundation of Shaolin stick and the basis from which the combat applications originate.

we finished a little after 4pm, at which point everyone went home to prepare for tomorrow.

kyudo

kyudo had a very large turnout today. normally class size has been around 8-12 students, but tonight it was 20. it made for a packed environment, with some challenges in spacing things out to allow everyone to sit and move.

Sensei had the beginners focus on the form. he asked to hold a dojo bow, and to try doing the form with the bow in our hand. he also took all the junior students--including the beginners--aside to show us the nuances of the bow grip. he made a number of points:

• the line of the palm (going from the forefinger side to the small finger side) should line up with the edge of the bow (looking down the arrow, it should be the left outside edge facing the target).
• the forefinger should be loose, to the extent that if can actually point at the target.
• the cuticles of the middle, ring, and small fingers should line up vertically, and the tips of the fingers should line up with the cuticle of the thumb.
• the hand grip should be loose (which occurs when the cuticles are lined as described above), so much so that the weight of the bow should only be felt in the bottom of the grip by the small finger.
• when drawing the string, the pressure in the hand should transfer from the bottom of the grip to the soft portion of the hand at the intersection of the thumb and forefinger. the pressure should be great enough that you should be able to open your grip and still have the bow stay in this location.
  

he also reminded us to practice during the week outside of class--apparently a number of students are continuing to exhibit the same mistakes and bad habits that he's commented on in previous classes. in particular, he noted that people were still not full expanding from the center in drawing the bow. he said this was important, because doing so created proper structure, and that good structure made drawing the bow easier and more stable, and hence more accurate. he reminded everyone to remember the lessons he's been passing on.

during the tea break, Sensei reviewed the fees for the class, upcoming events, and also said he'd be gone next week but that class would still be held.

i stayed after the tea break with Phunsak (he's started taking the kyudo class as well) for the informal shoot. we worked on our form, using the dojo bow and performing iterations of the form. my memory is getting better, enough that i can devote more focus to technique, which now seems to be my main concern. this went on until the informal shoot ended, which was around 10 pm.