Kung fu axe

For the last year, pretty much ever since I started taijutsu, I've been practicing sword cuts with my fire wood. Perhaps I should clarify. A solid sword cut has several things going for it: intent, intensity, focus, clarity, and control. Now granted, the mechanics and balance of a swinging axe or maul or sledge hammer are somewhat different than a ninja-to or bokkun, but I think some of the same ideas apply. The axe moves of its own accord when its ready to split the wood. The wood leaps out of the way of the blade more than it gets cut. I stand there, balanced, focused, elbows pulling my wrists down like I'm pulling a bell rope, energy (ki, anyone?) sizzling at the edge of the axe. Half the time, the axe ends up solidly burried in the cutting block after splitting the piece of oak. This makes cutting firewood so much more fun than just setting wood up and knocking it down. Of course, I don't really have endurance yet. Maybe twenty minutes of the serious wood splitting is all I can do at a time right now. I think, though, that as I work on my meditation and physical conditioning, I'll be able to split better and longer. No to mention beat the hell out of Pete the next time the padded bokkun comes out. Of course, I still have to figure out how to get out of the way of his sword...