Late To Post, On Time To Class

I usually like to post here on the same day as class, but it seems I'm lagging a bit. Friday class... seems like long ago. Morotetori techniques (2 on 1 hand grab). We spent some time working from a static position, letting uke get the arm into an uncomfortable position before we started to move. This was to give us the feeling for how to work out of this disadvantage, as in "should you find yourself stuck in this position...", the problem being that many aikidoka are so used to working dynamically that if they should get the arm in a twist, they're stuck. Anyway, as we have been doing on Friday mornings, we paid a lot of attention to ki projection, collecting and drawing into the center, and then projecting outward. Good progress this morning was the feeling.

I had an interesting thought this morning: fear manifests as tension. When I realize this, I can conciously release some tension in my back and other places. It it ridiculous how much tension I carry throughout my day without noticing most of the time. It's only when it gets to the point of acid reflux that I always notice.

Not Late

Awake, not quite, but at least on time this time. Josh, Jim, me, Andy, Jason. Suwari waza, not too fun for the knees, but when you go from kneeling to standing, it gets sooo much easier. Techniques from tsuki (punch). I felt pretty good yesterday during class, but I was really tired for the rest of the day--not enough sleep.

Late

One of my least favorite qualities is being late. Last week I was late to both of my classes, only a few minutes, but I really have to fix this habit. So.. for the time being, if I arrive late, I will just skip it, turn around and go home or go to McD's or something (yeah, that will be a great workout).

Class Friday: Charlie, who graciously let me in, Jim, Andy, Josh, Jason. I haven't seen Josh at Friday classes in a long time. Charlie is preparing for his nidan (2nd degree black belt). I am preparing to show up on time.

Iriminage

A good class tonight with a good number of beginners. Iriminage--Sensei considers this one of the techniques unique to Aikido. I would call it a signature technique even. The closest thing we had to iriminage in TSD was what was called the "clothesline" technique. .. or imagine a biker gang going along the highway with piano wire strung across. The Aikido version is the same, but without the headless bodies. With the emphasis on blending with the attack, iriminage is circular and relies more much on taking uke's balance than applying any external force.

Defense Against Lameness!

This morning I lost the battle against sloth and slept in. Lame! At least tonight I will make it to evening class.

Ki Exercises

Friday classes are focusing more on ki flow exercises. It's almost like qi gong.

FYI, I have updated the free mp3 on bitworksmusic.com.
Enjoy, or not.

Suwari Waza

Suwari Waza describes techniques when both partners are kneeling. We started with this Wednesday, shomenuchi ikkyo for warmups. Also, hanmi handachi (uke standing, nage kneeling), with .. well I forget the name of the technique.. whatever. My knees can still feel it today. We had an interesting discussion after class about working with new people (Jason is pretty new). It is more like "real life", but doing the techniques properly is a challenge. Working with Jason is always interesting, since he is a big guy, so moving him around is no small feat. I didn't feel I did that very well today--I used too much muscle.

Silence

I have decided to stop posting on others' blogs for a while, as it is a drain on my time and energy. Just to keep this post somewhat Aikido relevant, one concept we apply is efficiency of movement, doing away with unnecessary exertion. Keeping this in mind, a lot of what I have been posting out in the "blogosphere" has not been productive. Time to move on.

So if you see me posting to your blog, beat me with a stick! (Caveat: I may post occasional short notes in support of others' efforts, but these will be few, promise.)

Loosen Up

Friday: Sensei, me, Charlie, Andy, Jason

For a while I have been trying to "stay connected" in my attacks through my palm, trying to maintain contact with the wrist. Sensei corrected me big time: I should connect with my center and loosen my death grip, not contort my body. All this time I've been ... not quite right, clueless you might say.

Who Signed Me Up For This?

The former 7AM Weds. class has moved back to 6:30AM in the freaking morning! This morning I was on the borderline of just lying back down and going to sleep, but I fortunately decided this was not the way to go. I stumbled in just in time for Josh's class.

Shomenuchi iriminage and shomenuchi shihonage were the main focus today. Brian from Dublin was visiting, and he was in the mood to go a little hardcore for this crack of dawn workout. His style is more of what you might say is a "hard sytle" of Aikido (though he is still affiliated with Aikikai as are we), a little more forceful than what I normally see at our dojo. I would say that the direction our dojo moves in these days is the way to soften our technique, to only apply necessary force, to "find the lead" as Sensei would say. I definitely enjoyed feeling a different influence, getting "schooled" as it were by someone with very good technique, but as a student here, my aim is to learn what is taught here. One thought: "No fair! In Ireland it's afternoon, so Brian has more energy than we do."

Andy reminded me to turn my head into the direction of the throw for shihonage, something I haven't been doing.

I think I'm ready for more coffee...