holiday in Japan (2)

So I ended up working over ten hours on Christmas Day, meaning that working "only" eight hours on my birthday last week was a kind of relief. The holidays have slowly wound down, but there was one more in store in Japan, so-called "coming of age" day when young people turn 20 and are suddenly considered adults in Japan.

But the day before was the highlight for me. Special iaido practice all morning, feeling very "on" throughout. Then a Chinese martial arts exhibition all afternoon. I was part of two group demos, one for the Sha family 24-move sword form, another for the ubiquitous tai ji 24 form.

Later, having finished and changed and feeling much more relaxed, I had a long chat with a teacher. In the middle of that, an older woman came up and started talking to him. I burst out laughing when she joked that demos of the tai ji 24 form should be banned at such exhibitions. (we've all seen it and/or demo'd it so many times....and there I was, just changed after my own 24 demo). It would be good to have more variety in these large, several-hour exhibitions. On the other hand, most people are beginners and all beginners go through the paces with the 24 form. And these demos are not a competition - they are a chance for each group to show their progress across a year, to get used to performing in front of others, and so on.

Even so, at six minutes a pop, endless viewings of the tai ji 24 form can be a bit .... monotonous.

I suggested that performances of the 24 form should be restricted to mirror image forms or something like that, maybe doing the entire form in reverse order, whatever. There are always several performances which mix moves within the 24-form freely and these are much more interesting to watch.

What struck me was that the person who made this comment (ban 24!!) was older, and older people in Japan just don't make many bold comments like that. It was said in jest, but I could laugh in agreement.

Photo is of people age 75 and over receiving awards for their practice. Highest was aged 89 - and she was a genki one, full of energy and vitality. That helps me continue my progress into the dreaded 40s with a somewhat lightened feeling.