I Want To Be Like Mike

Had the opportunity to work with Mike F. last night. I'm still working on taking ukemi like he does. OK, I'm working on approaching the level where I can ponder the possibility of taking ukemi like he does. One key I believe is maintaining the connection to nage, using the connection to take some of the energy from the fall. We were practicing kotogaeshi, and M's comment was to push toward him during the technique.

I also enjoyed working with 2 new people last night. It is nice to be able to help someone else, to be of service to others rather than just being in student mode.

I have been busy lately working on my mp3 download site, BitWorks Music. During March I will be working on new music for our upcoming aikido video. It's going to rock! :-)

Jory Jo Class

A nice AM class working on jo (short staff) techniques. We continued with the 31-step kata with a "counter-kata" done by a partner at the same time. This is very cool and I'm starting to get the hang of it (well, barely starting to get the hang of it anyway).

Jo classes are not the most demanding physically, so after class I'm left wanting to train more.

I made a point to memorize the kata so I'm not totally lost. Still, learning the counter-kata and just keeping track of the moves is a challenge.

Farewell, Weds. AM Class?

Alas, I may not be able to make it to many more Wednesday AM classes for
a while. I am the backup "bus driver" in case either of the kids misses
the school bus in the morning, and my wife has a "leads group" that
meets at 8. Andy wasn't in class today, so I had the privilege of being
Josh's uke for the whole class. Yokomenuchi (diagonal strike)
techniques were the soup du jour. Jory, Paige, and I worked as a trio
most of the time. This is nice in the morning, a little less exhausting.

The most exciting bit was the end of class, where Josh demonstrated
several techniques in a row and I didn't know beforehand what was
coming. One goofy fall, but not too bad.

Workin It With Da Big Boyz

Today's morning class was really good. It was just me, Josh, and Andy,
so it was like extra attention for me day, being the "beginner" in the
group. We did several techniques from ryotetori (two-on-two hand
grab). Every class you hope to pick up something new, and this class
felt like a step forward. It felt like an "on" day for me.