Warigeiko - Monday, September 10, 2018
Created: September 19, 2018 4:39 AM
Tags: Warigeiko
Updated: September 19, 2018 4:58 AM
Iwama-sensei
High-level notes
- Biggest thing that I need to work on is fukusa sabaki — specifically making sure I don’t tilt my whole body. Turn your two hands like a steering wheel (sort of). Left hand goes directly down, right hand turns over.
- Also need to work on staying round. Rouuund round round all the time. Pretend you have eggs in your armpits.
- Relax your shoulders. Lots of times, I keep my body tight (especially in shoulders) and I don’t let my arms do work. It’s like I’m bracing for bench lol. Let your arms do some of the work.
- Also, bowing, I go too low and break the en when I’m doing a shin bow. Keep the en, but remember to tuck your chin.
Warigeiko
- Pulling out fukusa at the beginning, look at the fukusa. Don’t just try to do it blindly.
- Make sure the fukusa is folded in even thirds when you pull it out.
- Iwama-sensei moves her hand down on the fukusa rather than pulling through the fukusa when bringing it to the triangle position?
- Fukusa (and everything else) should be at koshi (belt, specifically where the lady’s tie around the obi would be)
- Rotate the fukusa, don’t move the whole body. It might be because I’m keeping too much tension in my shoulders tbh.
- Making ichimonji, at the very end, turn your left hand downward (still flat, just not straight forward).
- When doing the one-finger slide, she says always nagai. Trace the entire top from the beginning, then follow the trace into holding in your right hand.
- Left hand should be completely flat (blade) when folding for natsume.
- Keep the index finger inside the fukusa until after you’ve picked up the natsume. You should pull it out sneakily as you’re coming back from the bon with the natsume.
- Big thing: the “resting position” for your hand that’s not doing anything should be much higher than your hip. Not quite knee, but close. Think about trying to maintain the circle (en) — you don’t want to be too close to your hip, but you also don’t want to be too far away. Again, just maintaining the en with your one hand.
- Note: Use fingertips for less important things, tanagokoro (the palm of your hand) for more important things (like natsume).
- When finishing on the natsume and pulling the fukusa off, your hand should follow the curvature of the natsume. So your hand starts perfectly flat, but as you pull away from the natsume, it should be like your fingers are “falling down” from the rim of the natsume. Then you end in the cupped shape. It’s not flat → cupped.
- Hold chashaku very loosely. Your right thumb should be flat (versus bent bc you’re exerting force).
- When wiping chashaku, left hand thumb should be right in the middle of the fukusa.
- Setting down chashaku, I have a tendency to keep my arms “braced” like for bench press, then set down the chashaku using my back rather than using my arms (like, my arms are a fixed distance away, so I need to bend lower to place the chashaku). Relax a bit more and use your arms to place the chashaku.
- Chasen-toshi, she harped today on, “up is check check check check, down is daijoubu.”
- Don’t make a sound when you place the chasen into the bowl.
- Left hand should be blade when you’re pulling out of the bowl. Except make sure you aren’t breaking the en. Always circle.
- For kensui, transfer the chawan from right to left in the center of your body, not on the side. Right to left, then to the side.
- Same for chakin, bring chawan back to center of your body before placing the chakin. Then when you’re draping over the side is when you rotate over.
- Wipe wipe wipe is all like a mirror.
- Big thing (for me): I have a tendency to go up-up-up with the chakin as I rotate. Make sure the chakin stays in the same place relative to the lip of the bowl as you go around.
- On the last half turn, that’s when you come back to center. But it’s still mirror (mirror until you place the chakin back into the bowl after the interior 4 wipes).
- Place down, then again, chakin comes out through the door. ****