So I am not suddenly a kendo-god thanks to contacts--it's more like, "OOOOhhh.. I see his kote is open.... Ooops"--it was better when I was more impressionistic and twitchier, but it's already different in terms of assertivenes and aggressiveness somehow--tai-atari is a lot easier when nothing can fall off of your face....

Meanwhile, the more I think about it, the more necessary it seems to really get serious about getting into good shape, as all of this shinai-play is not really aerobic enough to improve my base-line health... I'm not talking white-people abs--that's nonsense, but it would be nice for Wifey to stop complaining about my backfat.