Seminar Last Weekend, etc..

We had another excellent seminar last weekend with Hal Lehrman Sensei. I was fortunately to attend Saturday's classes and work with some people I have not met before. Hal's approach is what I would call "position-based" Aikido. It's all about being in the right place at the right time, not giving any "fight" to your uke, and well, you just have to absorb the feeling of his techniques. There is a direct transmission of teaching that comes from just watching, being aware, and having the techniques performed on you. It's beyond words, really. I find this is especially true of the more advanced teachers. Subtle.

This morning it was just me and Andy, so we went through a lot of different techniques, and some of the more obscure ones that we don't do often, like gokyo and rokyo.

... and now I'm ready for a nap.

Sabbatical at an End

I have renewed my regular dojo attendance, after spending a few months only training in Carrboro mornings.

It has been great to return to the main dojo in Hillsborough, but last Monday, my second day back, I had the great wake-up call. One of my sempai asked me: "How did you get so stiff?" I was horrified. I guess in my quest to attack strongly I had been tensing up somewhat. What I think happened is that I have been backsliding a little into old habits, and also, two of my ukes in Carrboro spent 5 years training in Yoshinkan style Aikido, which is much more rigid than our style. No offense to Yoshinkan practitioners, but I think some of this rigidity rubbed off on me. Time to unlearn! (again..)

Then there was the freestyle (aka ju-waza) we practiced. I felt pretty lost! No flow at all!

No worries though, as all practice moves me forward.

Mo Jo

One exciting thing about working with jo is that I have spent only a relatively short time practicing jo, compared with my years of Aikido training. When I practice an Aikido empty-hand technique, it's usually the case that I have practiced it hundreds if not thousands of times before, so it is an exercise in refinement, finding a new aspect of what is pretty much a well worn path. There are plentiful bad habits to overcome to be sure. Weapons training, on the other hand, I really am closer to a true beginner, so there is a newness to it, something exciting and fresh!

It's also exciting that I did not get bonked on the head today.

New Jo!

Tomorrow I get to "test drive" my new jo, freshly imported from Japan. We are using Japanese white oak, which is heavier and stronger than my other jo (ash I think). I have been a bit squeamish about making full contact with my ash jo vs. the mighty oaks. Charlie has joked about how it's going to break. I think I may now have to buy a titanium nuclear powered jo that emits a poisonous gas when I press a hidden button. Oh wait, I already emit a poisonous gas, but I try to avoid doing that during class.

Monday AM I was a bit cranky about not really wanting to take ukemi so much. The mind complains "Waaaa, who signed me up for this!" falling on the cold, hard TKD mats. Still another month before I return to the main dojo, where the tatami mats are warm and comfy.

Carrboro Sabbatical

Looks like I'm "on sabbatical" of sorts, training only in Carrboro for another month and a half. This seemed to be the right thing to do at the time--it fits my AM training schedule and is close to my house, and also easier on my squeezed budget, but now I miss the dojo, and Sensei is not currently teaching in Carrboro on Fridays. On the upside however, we are practicing jo on Wednesday AM, and this is just a ton of fun! I jes lurves me some steeick fightin'! :-)

Cozy

Still recovering wrist-wise, so I now have a handy wrist support that doesn't do a whole lot, but it does remind people that kotogaeshi is not my friend right now.

This AM class was tiny, due to many people taking off for the long weekend early. Sensei let Denman and I just work out continuously for a good half hour, a nice wake-up. Then we focused on details of movement for katatetori nikkyo and just doing ki flow exercises--how to move uke's hands using ki flow. OK, now maybe I'm ready for a little nap...

Recuperating

The last couple of weeks have been slow on the practice front. After taking my lumps on the slopes during my first snowboarding experience, my wrists were both a bit sprained, especially the left. Ukemi training does little to help when your feet are anchored to a board. As a result I have been taking some healing time off the mat. I will be back soon though.

I have also decided to limit my practice to mornings in Carrboro until April. This still gives me 3 mornings of practice a week and Sensei teaches on Fridays.