July 12, 2020
Today we mostly focused on warigeiko. Nothing really revolutionary about araijakin specifically.
Araijakin
- Waributa notes:
- You can leave the hishaku / futaoki on the waributa during usucha, but not during koicha. Think about chaji and when you would get the opportunity to refill an okimizusashi.
- He uses his hand flat like a blade to hold down the waributa, but I personally really don’t like that. Doesn’t look good with my hands. I like to hold down with my thumb.
- Walking through temae:
- The chawan (with water in it), he says to use 70% water, I said 2/3’s, basically the same thing.
- In general, don’t use as much water!
- Your kensui is going to fill really quickly, given how much water you’re walking in with
- Moreover, you spend all this time trying to create a cool feeling for the guest. Then you go and add a shitload of hot water and really heat up the bowl? Even a half scoop or one third scoop is sufficient.
- Chawan during karioki (and moving to mitsu kazari) should be handled primarily L R L. Your opposite hand shouldn’t hold the chawan itself, but rather support (strongly).
- Whisking tea with a hirajawan, it’s okay and even recommended to hold from the top rather than from the side with your thumb on top.
- Bringing the bowl in front of you from honjimae to temae, really come all the way up. Like, bring the bowl above your knee line. Even though it has water in it, it should be okay. Your hands aren’t that unstable.
- For wiping natsume (apparently the two halves movement at the beginning is called kobiki), your palm should be completely flat when you’re pushing forward. I don’t… personally like it. But I want to try it and get used to it before I decide whether or not I like it.
- Downside is that it makes the fukusa much harder to control. Need to practice it.
- Kris’s chashaku holding, I’m very bad at it. Practice.
- When pulling the chakin out of the bowl, it can come up pretty far. Maybe around hishaku height or so (your hand)?
- After wringing it out over the kensui, un-wring it a tad so that when you open it up to fold it, it pops open easier
- Personally, I hold the chakin too high when I’m folding it. Be careful with that.
- Emptying water out over the kensui is like emptying a tenmoku. Hold primarily with L, support with R. Start out very low over the kensui, then raise the chawan high until it’s fully empty.
- He says that he was taught to put natsume lid in front of your knee, and in fact in a straight line directly below the regular natsume position. I said I learned about a shin / gyo / so positioning around the bowl. Interesting thing to think about.