aikiblog

Back With Seminar Action..

2011-04-09T17:36:00.002-04:00

Claire Keller's seminar today. Personal points for me:

- Be spontaneous in practice. Less calculating, more flow.
- Ushiro: don't turn toward the reaching hand. Do technique as if uke is not there. Just move forward.
- There is tension in shoulders (but we know that!)

1st Kyu Testing

2010-07-28T15:00:00.002-04:00

It has been a year since writing here. Training continues, though blogging has fallen on hard times!

First kyu test is next Monday evening. While I enjoy the preparation, I can't say I like testing at all. Still, it gets me motivated to put in extra effort. This in itself is very useful.

Viva La Blog!

2009-07-22T15:14:00.002-04:00

Forgive me blog readers... It has been a year since my last confession.

I have decided to once again pick up the pen (er um.. keyboard) and post now and then.

One year later, 2nd kyu, Aikido is keeping me alive during difficult times. I was out of work for 5 months beginning last December, and was rehired at my former company (now a struggling startup that may or may not survive). Staying with my practice has been essential for me during this time.

Carrboro classes (much closer to my home) have been consistent, though sometimes attendance is a bit low. Not so many people are willing to practice at 7AM classes, which is the schedule Monday and Friday, and Josh is teaching at 6:30AM on Wednesdays, which is twice as difficult to wake up for as 7 for some reason. Then again, I went to Tuesday evening class in Hillsborough and there were only 6 students.

On Tuesday evenings, Andy has been emphasizing freestyle randori. The goal is to really "go with the flow", and for me, the major difficulty is to not think, to enter the "no mind" state where action and reaction just happen. I am still far from this, but can see my sempai do pretty well.

It being Wednesday, I'm feeling a little slow right now... zzz.

Still Hitting the Morning Mat

2008-07-21T10:49:00.002-04:00

The mat is always a little bit harder in the morning. The payoff, however, is that I always feel pretty good after class, even if it wasn't that hard a workout.

So, 11AM on Monday, I'm doing well, after barely dragging my ass out of bed in time. The debate goes: "zzz.. the choice is: be happier after working out, or sleep in and feel like a slug, a well-rested slug, but still a slug. OK, 5 more minutes..."

Yes, dear reader, I know I have not updated this blog since May! I know you're dying to hear the latest training trials and tribulations. Sorry, just not much drama. But wait! There's this!! Headline: "5 killed in tragic hakama explosion!!" Well, the "5 killed" part is a lie, but my hakama did kind of explode last week. The back support popped out of its seam after my uke stepped on it. I have to find time to sew it up, or buy a new hakama, which with the current exchange rates, will cost 3 years' wages. I suppose I can fashion a hakama out of curtains--it will become the height of fashion. You read it here first.

Anyway, training continues.

Seminar Last Weekend, etc..

2008-05-09T12:37:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-11T12:23:00.003-04:00

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

2008-03-12T10:30:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-02-26T15:35:00.002-05:00

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

2008-02-19T16:51:00.002-05:00

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

2008-01-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

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

2008-01-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

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.

Pimsler Sensei Seminar

2007-12-02T08:51:00.000-05:00

Another great day of practice at the dojo with lots of friends old and new, which means today is another great day of soreness and recovery. However, along with the physical soreness there is the post-seminar happiness that comes along with it.

One thing I found impressive was that we had a new student start THE DAY OF THE SEMINAR! Amanda is one of Mike's Aiki-jo students at Duke, so she wasn't completely new, but this was her first Aikido experience. I hope we didn't scare her off.

Hey, look! Mike has a blog!

Highlights: I always like working with "strangers". I was able to work with Crandall Sensei from the Raleigh dojo and several of his students. Pimsler Sensei gave us his perspective on Aikido--it was very useful to see how his style differs from other teachers, even among others from the NY Aikikai. Everyone brings something different to the table.

Lowlights: Unfortunately, one person took home a souvenir in the form of several stitches to the head. We really have to be careful when the mat is crowded. The good news is that he's OK.

Post-Turkey Blues

2007-11-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

After a weekend of holiday travel and recovery I went to class Monday AM. I was not in the mood, but there I was. After about 45 minutes I was already thinking about breakfast and coffee. Distracted. The class itself was fine, but the attitude! On days like this you just have to declare victory for showing up. In Aikido, we need to move energy. There is physical energy, but also mental or psychic energy that gets processed, burning off "stuff".

Seminar this Saturday! I may go to class this evening if the taxi dad schedule permits.

Allegedly Still Practicing

2007-11-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

So the busy season begins! We drive up to MD Thursday and then back to NC the next day along with the millions of other lemmings. I have been in training this week, stretching my stomach for maximum expansion on Thanksgiving. This reminds me of an exchange I had with Sensei a few years ago that went something like:

Me: "Hmm, I drove past McDonalds and weighed the possibilities.. Aikido or a Big Mac? Eating a Big Mac would lower my center!"
Sensei: "It would broaden your center."
Me: "Oh.. there's that."

Anyway, still working out, shifting my schedule around to take better advantage of the classes nearby. Carrboro is 10 minutes from my house, so I have no excuse to ever miss those 7AM classes (now Monday and Friday) except for my laziness. Sometimes there is a huge mental battle being waged! ".. me want sleep.." "No, I need to work out!" .. and so on.

Saturday was the first time I had seen Jory in a while. He is our ranking student (3rd dan) and I can always count on learning something when I work with him. He said I have been practicing (judging from my technique). I guess it's true that I have made some improvement in the last few months. It's difficult to see incremental changes though. I really don't focus on the need to advance though, like some people are driven to achieve whatever milestone by such and such a date. Really, it's just a joy to be able to work out at all. However, one milestone: I can dress myself! After a few months wearing hakama I can tie it reasonably well (read: it stays on).

Some Days You Just Feel Like Crap

2007-11-09T11:38:00.000-05:00

I had a nice enough workout this AM, but afterward my body quickly rebelled. "What do you think you're doing to me?!?" Mostly I feel like I need to sleep all day. I am sore and cranky. Unfortunately, today is a work day.

I told Sensei I might show up tomorrow AM as well, and he told me he'd save me a seat! Expectation is not such a good thing, sometimes.

I did think of one useful thing today. I told one of my partners that these days I try to think of my arms and elbows as being "rounded", not pointy and angular.

Energy

2007-10-18T12:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday AM was a good class, for me anyway. The morning classes tend to be a little less intense, though not necessarily. (It's less intense unless Sensei decides to throw you, er.. wake you up.) For at least the first year at the dojo, I would sometimes literally run out of energy, not only being winded, but not being able to move enough for the technique to be effective. Of course, I was "doing it wrong" and I was out of shape. I'm still not in the best of shape aerobically, and oh yeah, my back hurts--not good! But now I have an idea of what it feels like to use ki and not muscle. All the motion originates with your center, and in the hips. The energy ideally just radiates through the rest of your body like electricity. To do this you need to have the arms relaxed and the spine flexible. Your body moves more like a single unit and your arms and hands should (almost) never be moving without your center being in motion, because the center is driving the technique.

So a primary exercise is being able to maintain relaxation. This lessens the amount of energy required, and by the end of class you may be hardly winded.

Unnatural at 6:30 AM

2007-10-10T13:22:00.000-04:00

I felt the need to workout this morning, at 5:50 AM. Dragged my ass out of bed and couldn't find my hakama (naturally). I made it to class on time and it was only Jim and me. That was cool, but there is something about hitting the mat that early.. the body just says: "What are you doing to me? Who signed me up for this?"

I always feel great after class, but after a few hours I'm about ready for a nap.

Today we went over some techniques Sensei taught last night (I wasn't in class, but fortunately Jim was). It was addressing the question of: "What if it doesn't work?" So you start with shomenuchi ikkyo, but you perhaps miss the elbow. Then it's a matter of reacting to the situation by flowing with the technique, seeing what is natural from where you are.

In general my Aikido is not spontaneous enough, a work in progress.

Seminar With Hal Lehrman Sensei

2007-09-24T08:55:00.001-04:00

Another exceptional seminar weekend (OK, for some it was a weekend. For me it was a Saturday, but anyway..) I'm still recovering, of course, but it doesn't hurt too bad if I don't move. heh heh The takeaway: I'm learning to relax more into my techniques. This is a new development for me. Of course releasing tension has been a goal for quite a while, but only now am I feeling any success with it. Sure, there is still "habitual tension", but now and then I get it right.

When done correctly, Aikido should feel like you really aren't doing anything actively. You just happen to be in the position where the attack is neutralized. Ideally, an attacker doesn't realize anything has happened. They just happened to lose their balance and fell.

One thing Sensei mentioned is that it's great to practice good stance and posture, but at the advanced level there is no form. The point is to be aware of where every part of your body is, and also to be aware of where your partner is.

Hal has been practicing for 43 years, as long as I've been alive!

Alright Already...

2007-09-14T15:48:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my 1 confirmed reader, "uchi deshi", I will actually get off my proverbial ass and start posting again.

I am still training, tis true! I am still as enthusiastic about Aikido as I have ever been, though it is always a struggle to fit it into my insane schedule.

To catch you up on .. everything, in June I (finally) tested for 3rd kyu. According to Charlie, I hold the dojo record for the most years of training to get to 3rd kyu. Yeah, when you take a break for 10 years that's easy to do.

In our dojo, we begin to wear hakama "skirt" when we reach 3rd kyu. Because of the summertime heat (plus the fact that I would have to actually learn to tie the thing), I put it off until a few weeks ago. I was surprised to find that it makes a difference in my technique! It lowers my center by a little bit and the flow of the hakama for some reason enhances the flow of the body.

Friday AM class today. Matt is testing for 4th in a couple weeks. Sensei had him demonstrate a few techniques. He was very nervous. I hope I have a chance to work with him before the test.

Hal Lehrman Sensei seminar next week! Come on down y'all!

Still Falling, With Style

2007-04-27T11:05:00.000-04:00

After long writing hiatus, time to begin again.

I have been going to mostly morning classes, now and then an evening class. AM is easier, as Sensei is pretty merciful with the pace of class. My aerobic conditioning is still pretty lousy, so when I went to Tuesday night mixed class, by the end I was ready to pass out. I guess I got a workout then!

Seminar, restarting..

2006-12-02T18:55:00.000-05:00

Great seminar today with Peter Bernath sensei. Now a bit sore and tired, zzz, but Harry the dog must have his walk!

After a long hiatus, I have decided to restart my blog entries here. Aikido is often the best part of my day, so it makes sense that I just keep on writing here whenever I feel like it.

Dust to Dusty

2006-11-29T14:31:00.000-05:00

We have a seminar this weekend, so today is dojo cleaning day. With all the flying bodies, quite a bit of dust collects in every nook and cranny! Jason applied his industrial strength vacuum to the ceilings and walls while I cleaned a few of the ceiling fans.

I really missed working out over the Thanksgiving holiday. Actually, my brother and I went to the gym once and I got lots of walking in during our journey into DC, but Aikido practice supports me beyond just exercise. I could go on about the nature of our support for each other, but I will leave that as an exercise for the reader.

Over the holiday break I found myself questioning the purpose of this blog and its usefulness. Its purpose is to support me in my practice and to support any readers in pursuing their practice, whatever that may be. For now I believe it still supports my practice in some way. As for others, I don't know. If you are reading, my hope is that you might someday visit an Aikido dojo and find out if it might be for you.

Everything is Temporary

2006-11-13T15:12:00.000-05:00

I am finding that I have not been blogging my heart out lately. A lot is going on. I have been spending most of my free geek cycles redesigning my BitWorks Music site which I now predict will go live in January.

So.. I will probably not be very much focused on my blog entries here for the time being. Training continues, but for now I will write less.

Friday was a well attended AM class. The usual suspects were in attendance. There is something about the first few falls on the mat, especially before I am fully awake.
It feels more like a splat than a roll.

Test Night

2006-11-07T15:50:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to attend our fall kyu test (and apply my "expert" videotaping skillz) last night. Some really good technique, especially the sempai. Matt was having a great night and Shelley also. I found the randori (freestyle) as "scary" as usual. I should practice that more often. I imagine some of my sempai would oblige after an early AM class.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

Late To Post, On Time To Class

2006-10-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-26T09:30:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-24T17:11:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-19T08:43:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-10-18T16:49:00.000-04:00

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

Ki Exercises

2006-10-17T17:39:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-12T12:01:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-09T09:49:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-10-04T11:56:00.000-04:00

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...

Spoiled Again!

2006-09-29T17:50:00.000-04:00

7AM class today: me, Andy, Danny, and Sensei. These AM classes are the best kept secret, a rare treasure to work with people who have given their life to the art.

The last two AM classes have been aerobically easy (difficult for the knees at times, which aren't doing too badly), as we are focusing on ki concepts. The idea behind aiki--blending, is that we find the path of least resistance, moving around uke's center. Basic hand work, then moving to tenchinage.

The other thing that happens that we don't usually acknowledge is the subtle energy of training, the mental and subconcious impressions exchanged between one another.
This has its own value.

OS @ CH TKD

2006-09-25T17:20:00.000-04:00

Last Friday's AM class is now meeting at Chapel Hill Tae Kwon Do. It was sensei, Jim, Andy, Charlie, and me. CH TKD is a pretty large place, so we created a "mini-dojo" in a corner of the room. Sensei discussed how this was meant to contain our energy, since large spaces can act to dissipate the energy created by people working together. I am a little bit tempted just by being there to revert to "old school", maybe just one kick to a heavy bag or something. However, my "charter" so to speak, is to focus my practice on Aikido, and that means giving up the old stuff for now.

We reviewed some of the techniques the yudansha (black belt) guys practiced at a weekend seminar in Charlotte. One of the techniques was an arm bar adapted from jujitsu--we did it as a stretch, which is nice for early in the AM.

The only bad part about CH TKD is that the mat material is a bit sticky, so you risk twisting and ankle or knee. It's not as bad as the wrestling mat I used to have to train on in Chicago, to which I owe a permanent ankle injury--it still pops to this day, though fortunately not painfully.

Frippism

2006-09-21T10:22:00.000-04:00

Years ago I took a few guitar courses with Robert Fripp. He has a thing for aphorisms. One that comes to mind now (paraphrased): we may not be equal in ability, but we may be equal in aspiration.

Sometimes I feel like I'm moving "backward" in my progress, as if I'm forgetting things I already know, or making new mistakes that I haven't made before. I had this feeling in last night's class--I screwed up basic movements that I already know well. I need to remember how I used to feel about my students when I am being harsh with myself.

I was glad to meet new beginners last night. New blood is the life of a dojo.

We also had an ukemi (falling) class with Mike. I am very glad to have this opportunity, as ukemi is Mike's specialty. Mike is also our editor for the upcoming (it's been upcoming for a year, but it's still upcoming) music video. I am reviving this project as a group social activity after class, hopefully at the Mex restaurant next door. Unfortunately, it looks like we will be doing it Weds evenings for now, which means I won't be going to Josh's class on Weds AM for a while.

Practicing Sleepy

2006-09-17T08:57:00.000-04:00

Yesterday AM is normally a workout time for me, but .. zzz. I just needed a break. My elbow has been a little funny, not that it would keep me off the mat, but heck, any excuse will do right?

They changed Wednesday AM class to 6:30 *AM*. Yikes!

Practicing Peace

2006-09-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

I normally don't get "preachy", but sometimes something must be said.

Aikido is sometimes called "the art of peace". There is no competition in Aikido.
The emphasis is on creating harmony between "uke" (attacker) and "nage" (defender). You could say we are practicing a way of bringing peace into our lives. In time, the peace we feel in the dojo pervades other areas of our lives.

Having come from a background in "hard style" martial arts and trained with a lot of different schools, there are some obvious differences. In many schools, there are macho egotistical types, very competitive, and sometimes even violent in their lives outside of training.
Now, almost all senseis discourage this sort of thing, but my point is that our training affects everything we do: the way we deal with friends and family, how we approach conflict, how we think of ourselves, and literally every interaction with another person.

Peace must be practiced, as it is not human nature to be peaceful. Violence has been a part of human history from the beginning. In order to move beyond conflict we all need to practice what makes us peaceful.

El Maximum Dojo!

2006-09-12T23:13:00.000-04:00

Our dojo is so awesome! Sure I'm biased, but I have had so many classes where I am just blown away by how good our sempai (senior students) are. I was privileged to be the "junior" student in tonight's advanced class. High points: I managed to do a pretty decent rendition of suwari waza (seated techniques from kneeling position)--ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, yonkyo. .. and of course, there were the not so high points. I always have difficulty with ju waza (freestyle). Tonight we had 4 on 1, and I sort of lost it a few times. So this is my "frontier". I also got a bit too winded working with Mike. I need to retire so I can workout more!

I also made Saturday AM class, though I did not get around to blogging.

BTW, I "got memed", or I'm about to get memed. If you don't know what I'm talking about, people send around these lists-o-questions and you're supposed to blog about them or something. Hi ALa.

No Workout :-(

2006-09-07T12:41:00.000-04:00

This week has been a bad one schedulewise for my training. Morning classes are currently on hold, and my evening schedule has been not behaving.
Soon...

Just Right

2006-08-31T12:33:00.000-04:00

Last night's class was just right for me--not too hard, but I got something of a workout. In beginning classes like this one, it is great to get Sensei's breakdown of the details of techniques I have done for a long time, often incorrectly.

I was going to ask Sensei about my preference for not testing for a while last night, but during class thinking about it, my inner conversation was: "It's only a trip--just flow with it." Really, whatever I said would be just my own insecurity talking, pretty much just BS. So.. just keep practicing.

Starvation

2006-08-30T15:28:00.000-04:00

Lisa and I are doing a "cleanse" diet, drinking those yummy shakes and mystery potions of "stuff", mostly tea extracts it seems. Of course, since this is a fat burning diet, the idea is to make you starve half to death. So, if I lose 10 pounds, how will that affect my center? Chocolate (yeah, but is it really chocolate?) shake and later to class this evening.

I unfortunately missed Josh's class this AM.

Moody

2006-08-28T12:28:00.000-04:00

I made it to Saturday class this weekend, but I was in a crappy mood. Sometimes I almost think I would rather spare people my "bad energy", but I always finish class in a better mood than when I started.

Randy is ready to test. Overhearing this on the mat, I get this mixed feeling of "hey, I want to test", but then "ugh, I don't want to test". I would like to be able to train more intensely to prepare for it if and when it happens, but life is a bit intense right now all around. Aikido is a way for me to relax now, and I don't really need more stress. I will have to talk to sensei about this.

I have enjoyed working with our new guy Jason (we actually have 2 new Jason's, go figure!). Beginners have modest expectations of me, as opposed to sempai who expect me to do things correctly. I guess they don't really expect perfection, but when I work with experienced people I demand more of myself and we do the "learning dance". I also feel I can be somewhat helpful to beginners, and they give me a feeling for what the "real world" feels like, since they are not conditioned to react to my technique in any particular way.

Anyway, we really worked on using the lower body, doing a katatetori kokyunage (tenkan and simple throw) using mostly the motion of the lower body. I really felt the thighs getting a workout.

Yokomenuchi

2006-08-23T10:54:00.000-04:00

Class with Josh this AM (me, Jason, Jim). Yokomenuchi is a diagonal strike to the neck, cutting downward toward the center. Josh showed us iriminage "California style", almost a static off-balancing that feels really awkward for the uke, because well, you're off-balance! How do you become off-balanced "with style"? Unhinged?

I was attacked by my inner space cadet today! My flow felt off for much of the class. I like to think that there is an allowance for it being 7AM in the friggin morning, so acting stupid is sort of par for the course. I was really wishing to be back in bed this morning to be honest, thinking "this will feel good when it's over". Pathetic really.

I still remember with nostalgia one of my first AM classes being uke for Andy, who was training for his shodan test. Jim was teaching that day and he was pretty merciless as far as the pace was concerned. Iriminage can be pretty brutal and I got winded pretty quickly.

Ki and More Ki

2006-08-18T09:15:00.000-04:00

This morning Jory was not feeling well, so we had the treat of Steve Sensei teaching. We spent the first half of class doing ki and stretching exercises, just the ticket for us overly tense old guys. :-)

Next Steve gave an introductory approach to tenchin movement. I tried to relearn it from the beginning and focusing on the details of the technique, found it more difficult than "just doing it" without thinking. I would focus on one aspect and totally lose something else, like focusing on the right hand and losing the position of the left. Since there were only 3 students, I had Sensei as my uke, and there is still part of the mind that says: "I'm working with Sensei--he's 6th dan. I'd better get it right." Then my energy gets jittery, which ironically, is not getting it right.

After class Steve clarified the movement for basic ki exercises. It's like coiling the energy into a ball, into the spine, rounding the back, and then springing from the center and opening back up. This was very useful, as this idea of energy movement and release is central to aikido.

4th Kumitachi

2006-08-15T11:43:00.000-04:00

We continued with bokken (wooden sword), learning the 4th kumitachi. I hope I don't have to memorize all of these! I wish I were able to practice more on my own, and well, sometimes I'd like to retire and do this all the time. Ah, retirement... (come on, snap out of it Dave!).

Jory says that I know enough to be dangerous now. I'm not sure I'd agree. Dangerous to whom? I would venture to say that the less experience one has, the more dangerous one is. Mostly he sees some bad habits. This is good, er bad. The habits are bad, but it's good he sees them. I think it would be accurate to say that I'm in "the middle", the difficult period of "knowing" some techniques, though superficially (making them dangerous I suppose). One positive thing, if it can be called that, is that I don't have the illusion that I have mastered anything. It generally feels to me that I have only a rudimentary understanding of ki. In aikido, it's all about blending with the attack. If there is a feeling of applying a lot of force, it's not blending.

Honored Visitor Day

2006-08-09T11:00:00.000-04:00

This AM I had the opportunity to work with John, who is an old dojo member visiting from Hombu dojo--aka THE main dojo of Aikido for our style of Aikido. John pretty much rocks, and he has lots of tales from Japan about the various awesomeness that goes on there.

Considering the hour and my lack of adequate sleep (not quite 6 hours), I was surprisingly awake. We have been focusing on basic techniques, mainly because we have a new guy and a fairly new guy. Of course, in Aikido, even the most basic techniques can be interesting, exciting even, because you are always working to take your technique to the next level of subtlety, and if you aren't, well, I guess there are other perspectives, like teaching newer people, but within teaching there is the same principle.

Thought for the day, inspired by reading something about Vipassana meditation: how aware am I of my "molecules"? How much refinement is there in my awareness? ... and so on.

Hey, I Showed Up

2006-08-04T11:55:00.000-04:00

Today's 7AM class I worked with Josh on bokken, 3rd kumitachi I think. I should know this already, duh, but today I felt like a beginner. I was sorry not to be able to give Josh a good workout today. But.. a 7AM workout is still a workout, despite beginnerisms and goofiness.

Need To Grow Gills

2006-07-26T10:15:00.000-04:00

It was foggy and humid this AM and we were pretty sweaty, since none of it evaporates.

A nice basic class with a couple of new guys, Jim, Josh, and me.

Kaitenage is one of those techniques that isn't quite real. Working with new people, I get a feeling of what it might be like to do aikido in "real life". With experienced people, it's more like dancing.

Tantotori

2006-07-15T12:44:00.000-04:00

Tanto (wooden knife) defenses yesterday morning with Jim and Sarah. Spent time doing basic body rotation against tsuki attack. Then into kotogaeshi.

It was the first time in about a year with Jim teaching. He's fun to work with, an older guy from CT--just became a grandfather in fact!

More Newbies!

2006-07-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

It's always nice to have new people in the dojo. We have picked up a few new faces in the past couple of months. We now have 3 Jasons!

Good beginner's class last night. It's always good to work on the most basic techniques. There is so much we don't pick up from sensei the first million times we see him do a technique, so I always try to focus on the details of his movement, to see something I hadn't noticed before. This is sometimes hard to do when the mind says "Yeah yeah, I know that one, sure." Then the mind shuts off it's learning mode and goes into autopilot. This is the opposite of "beginner mind" that we strive for, as if we are always relearning, as if for the first time.

Practice x2

2006-06-30T16:43:00.000-04:00

A couple of back-to-back classes--does a body good! Well, except for my left wrist, which is a bit sore (kotogaeshi this AM).

Last night "mixed" class with Sensei--I have often, more like almost always, had trouble with shomenuchi ikkyo against "giants". I can never catch the arm high enough to be effective. Sensei showed me an alternate way to catch the technique, let it come down to my level, and then do the technique. Still, it would be nice to be able to do "for real".

Another private lesson with Jory this AM, and I felt I came away with some good revisions to my technique. Jory is very practical. Sensei is very "zen", for lack of a better description.

Newness!

2006-06-22T10:14:00.000-04:00

It takes a while before you get to the "meat" of a technique, but I have had a couple of instances where I felt I made a leap of understanding lately.

First, I was fortunate to have a "private lesson" (by virtue of the fact that nobody else showed for 7AM class that Friday) with Jory, and I felt I got the feeling of ryotetori tenchinage (ura). I have a tendency to over-extend myself into these long stances, and generally I use way too much energy in my techniques. But for a few attempts that day, I was able to do the technique with a feeling of effortlessness, and not taking such a long stance on the throw. To paraphrase Jory, that feeling is in everything!

Last night I was able to observe how sensei does katatetori ikkyo ura. I have always felt like I'm pulling uke down, like I am out of position (I have been!). Last night I noticed how he enters and keeps the curvature of the arm applying the technique above uke's elbow. He almost keeps his forearm parallel to uke's upper arm. My approach has been to over-extend my arm, being more perpendicular to uke's arm.

On the inside, yesterday was a not-so-good day at work.
I just didn't feel productive. When I got to class I just wanted to hide.

Summer Begins, "Slow" Season

2006-06-07T10:30:00.000-04:00

We had 3 people leave the dojo for other parts of the world last week. Summers tend to be slower, though a few diehards are going to Charlotte this weekend for a seminar.

Working on the soundtrack for the first Open Sky music video. It's taking forever to complete, but someday...

More Morning Bokken

2006-05-26T14:19:00.000-04:00

I had a difficult time making it to class this AM, but I managed to show up and not seem any more goofy than usual (not saying much).

We continued work with bokken (wooden sword) and did some "freestyle" ju waza.

I think I need to catch up on sleep this weekend!

Bokken Work

2006-05-19T16:48:00.000-04:00

Back to work with bokken (wooden sword) this AM. Long time no post to
this blog.. oh well. Tom was visiting from MA.

I'm thinking it might be fun for A&C to practice with me on some of these.

Tired.. zzz.

Seminar w/Yamada and O'Connor

2006-05-08T16:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend was more fun than I remember having at last year's seminar,
though I also don't recall being quite this sore. It was probably all
the koshinage's. One of the most amazing things is working with people
whose technique is way out of my league. I remember working with one
guy from out of town (Joisey or NY, can't remember), and I was just
blown away by how accurate he was. It was as if in a real situation, I
would have been on the ground and completely unhurt without an idea of
how I got there.

One low point, however, was when I accidentally poked someone in the eye
with my little finger. There's no worse feeling than causing another's
injury due to my ineptitude. It was horrific. I sure hope the guy is OK.

Now I believe every single muscle I have is sore, though it seems my
legs are the worst off for some reason. My lower back isn't doing so
well either, but I'm at least able to move. We'll see if I'm ready to
workout again anytime this week.

Missed Opportunity

2006-04-03T10:16:00.000-04:00

I unfortunately missed a seminar this weekend. We were traveling. Fortunately, Yamada Sensei will be coming soon.

Mental Training

2006-03-21T12:47:00.000-05:00

When we get beyond the basics of knowing (more or less, sometimes more,
sometimes less) technique, training moves to a more subtle level.
I operate mostly by mimicking those whom I think do it "right",
especially Sensei, down to the level of detail where, if I succeed in my
training, a high ranking aikidoka could recognize the style of my teachers.

One measure of progress is how much mental garbage gets stirred up
during practice. Almost all of us carry on an unspoken dialogue with
ourselves. "Oh, that worked pretty well." Or maybe something closer to:
"DOH!" or worse. Last night I enjoyed practice and had not very much
"DOH!" in the mental flow. As I work with others, there is the sense of
their mental state that comes out in their technique. It's a curious
thing to watch. The beginner is saying: "I'm am unsure of my
technique." Sempai are often saying: "I am here to help." I also
notice how people bow before and after we have practiced together.
Everything we do speaks volumes.

The bad news: Sarah had an injury just before her test! She
unfortunately has to postpone her test. This too is part of her test.

Back From Plague

2006-03-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted here in a while, mainly because I was out for a week
with the cold that has been going around, but finally I'm getting back
into the swing of things.

Last week I went to Thursday evening and Friday morning classes and got
a double dose of jo work. In Thursday class, Andy is working on jo
techniques in the style of Chiba Sensei, currently working on the kata
called Sansho. In Friday AM we are working on the 31 step kata from
Saito Sensei.

I really enjoy weapons training, or as we say here in the south, "I sho
nuff love that steeick fightin'!"

Tonight is Sarah's 3rd kyu test and afterward dojo cleanup in
preparation for a seminar in 2 weeks. Good luck to Sarah tonight!

My Deadliest Technique

2006-03-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

Last night was a nice class, redeeming from last Friday's AM class,
which had to be one of my most frustrating since I started again over a
year ago. Last Friday, we continued with the two-person 31-step jo
kata. I don't know about you, but my brain just doesn't want to think
about much at 7AM. I had trouble remembering the moves! Grrr. Well,
I'm about to go on break with jo in hand for a few reps of the 31-step
kata. I was thinking maybe I should try some ginkgo tea to stimulate
memory or something.

Anyway, on to last night. The high point was practicing kaitenage w/C.
The flow was there and I didn't get too winded, though after a few
minutes I'm thinking "OK, I'm getting tired... are we there yet? .. are
we there yet?" I also discovered my deadliest technique! At the end I
practiced kokyudosa with Max, a young guy around Cory's age. As Max
pushed me over the first time, the impact caused a "small explosion" of
gas. Were I working with an adult, this may have been politely
ignored. Max, however, was cracking up! I was glad I could provide
such fine entertainment, but young Max, you must beware lest I unleash
the full wrath of the gas attack upon you!!! None can withstand its powah!

I Want To Be Like Mike

2006-02-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-17T10:21:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-02-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-01T17:14:00.000-05:00

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.

(sing it) Memories...

2006-01-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, remember when I used to have a memory?

We worked on the 31 step jo kata this morning. I still don't have all
of it committed to memory, but I'm getting there.

One thing I also need to work on is efficiency of movement. Jory said I
tend to make larger movements than necessary. Distancing is also an
ongoing challenge. Working with Josh was fun.

Old Fart's Disease

2006-01-26T16:13:00.000-05:00

A nice "easy" class last night, so why the hell am I so sore?!? We
spent a long time on 1 technique, ryotetori tenchinage, and I guess
after rolling for so many iterations, I just got kind of worn out. I
was hoping that my recent return to running (2 whole times, woohoo!)
would pay off a little, and I think it maybe did, but the blister on my
toe (from running) was a bit of a bother, even though I taped it up.

The video project is getting moving, I think. Sensei is supposedly
going to deliver a DVD to Mike.

Tomorrow AM is jo class, the 31 step kata, which I have forgotten!

Getting Started?

2006-01-16T09:44:00.000-05:00

This weekend we did another video taping, the Saturday AM class. Matt
was doing the camera work, so I got to practice, but later the horrific
thought occurred to me that I may appear in the video. Taking stock of
the situation was enough to get me out running yesterday, because
frankly, my conditioning sucks! This month marks my first year back as
an aikido student after many years. I have made some progress with my
technique, but I have also faced the harsh reality of being 41 years old
and getting way too little exercise in general. There was also the ego
to deal with (there is always the ego to deal with). There are too many
facets of dealing with the ego to mention here--it's a book in itself, a
tragic/comedy/horror flick. Once I asked myself what the greatest
attainment from martial arts practice is. My answer is: self
acceptance. By this measure I have a ways to go.

2006 Begins

2006-01-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

I haven't been writing much, as I have been busy with other exciting
things, but I am still practicing fortunately. I made it to class this
AM, and I was awake early enough to put my contacts in, so I didn't have
to workout with glasses, or worse yet, without clear vision. It was a
good workout for me. I felt "on my game" until... suwari waza!
(techniques from kneeling position) The problem with suwari waza is
that it's just plain difficult to move on your knees! As I get tired, I
start to get lazy with my movement and I end up out of position or off
balance. So a lot of my development also has to do with physical
conditioning. One thing I have worked on is maintaining awareness
during all parts of a technique. I have noticed that the mind goes in
and out of perceptive mode. Even during a single technique, I may be
paying attention during the first second, but then my mind takes a split
second to wander ("I wonder what I'll have for dinner?"). As you can
imagine, this is not ideal when taking a fall. You can think of the
infinite levels of perceptiveness, from the most basic movements such as
which foot is forward, to the most refined exact positioning and
balance. You begin to be able to control movement when you become aware
of the finest details, and until you are aware at this level, you cannot
conciously control it.

Sensei has officially been promoted to 6th dan! This is a major big
deal. It is a great privilege to train here.

Tis the Season

2005-12-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

... to be busy! I have unfortunately been slacking on both the aikido
and blogging fronts as we begin the hectic holiday season.

Stan was visiting the dojo a couple of weeks ago, and I was fortunate to
get a "redo" on kokyudosa with him. He said I had gotten better and had
loosened up since we last worked together. It's like there are
thousands of lessons, and you get bits and pieces as you go along.
Every class I hope to take something away that "sticks". Sometimes it
feels like instead of progress I am backsliding in some respects, but
this can be an illusion. Of course, "progress" can also be an illusion.

One thing about loosening up is that it is completely counter to the
fight or flight response--adrenalin creates very quick, but very tense
responses to an attack. I imagine this is the natural state of human
reflexes. We need to train our responses to instead channel the energy
properly, remaining relaxed, attentive, and ready to accept the attack
properly.

Lens Cap Was Off At Least

2005-11-16T11:14:00.000-05:00

I was going to film this morning's class for our upcoming aikido video.
I had everything set up and ready to go, but I failed the test! After
you set it up, you need to push the little red button, or so they say.
So it was a dry run for next week. Still, assuming we were being taped
was kind of distracting until the end of class. Tomorrow night we have
a special class, as Sensei's friend Stan from MA is going to be in town,
as will Jason also. Matt will be the camera guy for this production.
Maybe I should mention the little red button. Ahem.

A good class. Occasionally I do something pretty well. My ukemi still
feels pretty goofy at times however. It is nice though to have Danny, a
brand new beginner, to give me perspective, as I generally consider
myself the new guy.

Long Time No Post!

2005-11-10T15:49:00.000-05:00

I was reminded today that occasionally people actually read this thing,
and I haven't posted in long time!

I haven't been to class since last Friday, and fortunately will have the
chance to go tonight, which should be much better than the AM classes
energy-wise. I actually went out for a run Monday, so I'm not a total
vegetable, but let's just say I'm not in my 20's anymore.

Memorable from this past week.. Josh taught both classes last Weds. and
Fri. AM. Sensei usually stops by during class. I often feel on the
spot when he looks on from the edge of the mat. Like: YOU ARE BEING
WATCHED! That kind of feeling. Then when he leaves I say to myself:
"Whew, OK I can screw up now." It's not as if he is intimidating, just
that my lack of confidence in my technique becomes tangible. If I feel
like I know exactly what I'm doing, my feeling is the same no matter who
is watching, but if I'm at all hesitant or unsure, there is an obvious
tension when I'm under the watchful eye.

At the end of class I practiced ju waza (any technique) from ryotetori
(two on two hand grab). It was fun working with Dan, but I didn't have
it together. We'll see how it goes tonight.

Bad Start, Good Finish

2005-10-19T11:19:00.000-04:00

This morning on the way to class I nearly got into an accident. What
the hell? I was not mentally alert, and began making a right turn on
red with the oncoming traffic making a left at the same time. It was a
struggle to get out of the house on time and I showed up to class 5
minutes late, which I hate. In fact, I almost thought about blowing it
off completely, but this being my only opportunity to practice this
week, I couldn't miss it.

Once I got on the mat, however, it was all better. Sensei started us
off slowly, as we had a new beginner (yay!), and it being 7AM I'm pretty
slow to begin with. I also like to hear the beginner explanations of
techniques, the underlying principles, as I have forgotten a lot of
these little details over the years.

I was fortunate to take ukemi (falling) for Sensei twice today, a treat
for me. By the end of class I was awake and felt good. This is how it
should be.

Then there was last Friday's class, weapons, which I have little
experience in, especially sword work. I had the feeling I was not quite
getting it, and it was a bit embarrassing. In morning class, you cannot
hide! There were only 3 of us. It is a challenge to be a beginner.

Kokyunage

2005-10-10T15:26:00.000-04:00

Last week Sensei asked us: why do we practice kokyunage? Kokyunage
refers to a group of techniques called "breath throws" or "ki throws".
They aren't practical techniques from a martial arts perspective, though
the principles of ki flow are universal and can be used in a practical
situation. To paraphrase his answer:

O Sensei (the founder of aikido) wasn't into technique at all. He was
beyond technique. One of the things he focused on was purification. So
you could say that when we practice kokyunage, we are "burning our
karma", as an exercise of purification. If we are already pure, we burn
others' karma.

From my perspective, any group of people working together form an
energy field, or more accurately, a set of interacting energy fields.
In aikido, we are constantly working together to bring our energy to a
place of harmony and peace.

Loosen Up Dude!

2005-09-30T11:43:00.000-04:00

At the end of class today I asked Sensei if it would be
counterproductive for me to practice hard-style kata. "For you, yes.
For most people it would be great, but for you... You really need to
loosen up." Guilty as charged! I have a lifetime of tension I'm
working with here. In hard-style martial arts, the process of striking
is tense-relax-tense: you launch a technique by first contracting the
appropriate muscles, then relax when the technique is en route, and
tense at the end to "pull" the technique, keeping yourself from
hyperextending an elbow or knee, and also in the case of partnerwork,
keeping yourself from hitting your partner. There are a few problems
associated with this approach. First of all, there is an inherent
difficulty in going from a tense state to a relaxed state. The tendency
is to never quite relax as fully as you could--there is too much tension
throughout the technique. Second, when tensing muscles to launch a
strike, the untrained (or not-quite-properly trained) body will tend to
tense all the muscles in the arm/leg, not only the ones necessary to
deliver the technique. The result here is that muscles are actually
working against each other, so much energy is wasted. Men are
especially prone to having too much tension. In the worst cases, it is
quite common to see a guy holding his breath throughout a kata, being
completely rigid in all movements, sweating profusely, and obviously not
generating external power while burning enough energy to light a small
village. It's pretty scary to watch.

So this is my history, and it will take a lot of effort to undo these
habits.

We spent this morning's class doing Qi Gong style exercises and movement
exercises derived from them. This is very useful to me, a missing piece
of my training so far.

Treat!

2005-09-28T16:27:00.000-04:00

Today I made it to 7AM class after last night's high fall practice
class, so I'm "on a roll" you could say (pun intended, ha ha).

Last night Andy went over high fall practice with us, something I really
need work on, and really something most of us need work on. First we
practiced with the cushy mat and then worked up the the tatami
("normal") mat. Next week, concrete! Not really, but you *know* there
must be some nutcases out there who practice falling on concrete,
because they can. The idea behind the high fall, or aerial fall, is
that you kind of do a cartwheel in midair. If you are cool, you somehow
make a cushioned contact with the mat, but if you are like me, you go
"splat"! So we practice going from splat to the sound of a pillow
falling on the floor--poof.

This morning was a real treat. We had the opportunity to practice with
shinai, a bamboo sword covered in leather. We went over the 8 suburi,
or individual practice techniques (kata pretty much), as taught by Chiba
Sensei. I was like a kid in a candy store. I do pretty well following
along, but don't ask me to remember what I just did.

Morphing Injury?

2005-09-26T10:09:00.000-04:00

Made it to Friday AM class last week. Sensei had Charlie teach for the
second half of class, after leading us through some nice AM ki
exercises. I really like starting the morning like this, kinda slow, as
that's more natural (for me anyway) than starting with a lot of heavy
"flying about" ukemi. One thing Charlie had us do is go through some
techniques without holding onto an arm, where normally we would,
focusing on more subtle control of our partner using I guess what I
would call a "ki connection".

My left shoulder continues to be in a bit of pain on and off. After
warming up it generally doesn't hurt at all, so while I'm concerned,
it's not going to keep me from practicing (yet). I kind of dread the
thought of taking a break from training. One interesting thing that
happened is that after class I felt that the tension in my shoulder had
translated into pain in my neck, sort of moving up the kinetic chain. I
spent the weekend "self-adjusting" (pop!) my neck as a result.

We made it to Josh's party this weekend. His house is really awesome,
built by his parents with a personal touch. I was surprised not to see
more aikido folks there.

Stay in Bed

2005-09-21T12:29:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to make it to today's AM class, but what I wanted and
what I needed were two different things. My body is still healing, sore
left shoulder and collarbone area, seems mostly muscular, as it
generally feels OK after I warm up. So I slept in and took a short soak
in the hot tub. Not a bad way to start the day.

Test!

2005-09-20T18:10:00.000-04:00

Last night I had the privilege of attending my first test at Open Sky,
fortunately only as a spectator. 5 people tested: Max--promoted to 5th
kyu, advanced from the youth ranks (purple belt) to go back to being a
white belt; Sarah--promoted to 4th kyu; Cayo and Dan--promoted to 3rd,
and a *surprise* test of Mike, who was "not supposed to test, but did
anyway", promoted to 1st kyu.

My personal test for the evening was sitting in seiza (kneeling) for the
duration of the test, which was approximately half an eternity as a
result. I think it was about a half hour in "real time", and no, I
didn't quite make it all the way through without taking a break on the
knees.

Alex kindly offered to video the test and preceding class, earning
herself an honorary membership on the video committee, though she
doesn't know this yet. (heh heh) After some thought and Jesse's
suggestion, I have decided to move ahead with developing a short demo
video using our existing footage and editing tools, taking up Mike's
offer to edit, and hopefully providing the soundtrack music myself. The
idea is to pitch a real production proposal to "real" video people locally.

My reaction after seeing the test was a mix of being impressed and being
a little bummed (though that's maybe too strong a word for it), because
I'm so far from being able to do these things, thinking of Mike's
performance in particular. It's sort of like seeing one of my guitar
heroes perform and realizing that I'll never be that good. The upside,
however, is that I started martial arts at a young enough age that I can
still make good progress, the only enemy being my aging body.

Iriminage

2005-09-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

If I had to pick one technique that is central to aikido, it would be
iriminage, or "entering technique". Today we spent a good amount of
time working on this. I sometimes don't look forward to falling for
this technique at 7AM class. It's one of the more demanding (read:
exhausting) techniques and I sometimes don't know how I'm going to fall
for it, as it varies depending on how you are thrown. Anyway, we
practiced several variations from tsuki (punch) and I learned a new one
from Andy.

I'm trying to find a good video clip illustrating iriminage, but doh!
Tough to do. I did find a slew of "aikiblogs" over at aikiweb.com!
I'll have to check them out. So um, anyone have any good links to video
clips?

I also had a good GET OFF THE LINE STUPID moment this morning.

Blogging in Public

2005-09-12T17:18:00.000-04:00

I just posted this url on a local forum, so hi everybody in netland!
Drop me a line if you like, or if you want to stop by the dojo sometime,
click on the link over there on the right...

Happy surfing,
david

The Vibe

2005-09-09T12:22:00.000-04:00

In many traditions there is the concept of direct transmission from
teacher to student, a type of learning that goes beyond anything like
book learning or verbal instruction. What gets transmitted is the inner
feeling of doing a technique, the underlying principle behind
everything. In aikido we are only 3 generations (depending on your
teacher) from the founder, who many consider one of the greatest martial
artists of all time. So, on a good day, if we are lucky and attentive,
we can receive the principles as transmitted from the big guy himself.

Today was a good day as 7AM classes go. I was well rested enough and
mentally present for class. It felt like a step forward.

A key comment from Jory today: I put forth too much effort in my
technique and I need to relax. The paradox of this is that it is most
visible when working with advanced students. When I'm most challenged
is when I am most likely to tense up.

Sarah and Dan were there this AM, both working toward their tests next week!

I'm still nursing my shoulder injury, but it is noticeably better today,
no doubt due to my attempt to not sleep on my left side. I was actually
debating whether I should keep practicing, or whether I should take a
couple of weeks off. I'm glad I stuck it out. The upside of being
injured is that I pay more attention to keeping myself safe--I don't try
anything too stupid.

Test Anxiety

2005-09-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

I have been realizing that I have a fair amount of "test anxiety"
regarding promotional exams. This is no doubt due to my difficulty
testing for shodan (in TSD) when I was young, a tale too long to tell
here. The scars are still there, though I like to think I'm stronger for
the experience. There is, I think, also an element of wanting to be a
"carefree" beginner for as long as I can hold onto that idea, sort of
avoiding the responsibility that comes along with knowing what I'm doing.

I remember when I was a young guitar student who never practiced much.
One cop out line I would use was: but I'm pretty good for a ___ year
old, right? I started playing when I was about 8 years old, so that line
served me well for a while. In 1987 I took a course called Guitar Craft
(www.guitarcraft.com), taught by a guy named Robert Fripp of King
Crimson fame. One thing I remembered him saying was that for many of us
it was quite a shock to realize that, yes, in fact we really are THAT
bad! Up until then we could sort of get by on our "licks", but having to
learn how to actually play, well, that's another story entirely. In GC
they have "levels" that you could say are akin to belt ranks in the
martial arts, though the requirements for each level are not clear to
me. So the first course is typically a Level 1 course, though now they
also have preparatory courses that are before Level 1. Level 3 courses
are (or were back then at any rate) 3 month residential courses, and
they have various projects and challenges beyond that. I have continued
playing "GC style" over the years, though I am again not practicing with
any regularity. GC courses will hopefully be in my future.

What does GC have to do with martial arts? The approach to learning is
similar you could say. There is the notion of "quality of attention"
that relates to how we play the guitar. One aphorism (Fripp is a
constant source of aphorisms) from Guitar Craft is: “How we hold our
pick (guitar plectrum) is how we live our lives”. I could rattle off a
bunch more similarities, but suffice it to say that I draw on my GC
experiences in my aikido training. As I said previously, when we perform
a technique, our entire history presents itself.

Anyway, my *all new* goal in practice is self-preservation. I'm still
nursing a shoulder injury, so I'm swearing off high falls and generally
trying to take it easy on myself. I am also trying to take a light
attitude toward practice, and this will help in and of itself.

Video Begins

2005-08-31T10:19:00.000-04:00

The Open Sky video team met for the first time last night. We will be
doing something exciting soon.

My "high fall" technique is, shall we say, cringe worthy. I was working
with Mike and I just couldn't keep myself from trying a high fall.
However, the hand breaking the fall is a tad too late, and this makes my
falls twice as hard as necessary. I'm determined to learn how to do
this properly, so apologies in advance to any who may have to watch me
in the meantime.

Andy showed me an extra-smooth shihonage. My tendency is to use way too
much force. The rule of thumb is to only use the amount of force
necessary and no more.

Feel the Burn!

2005-08-29T13:04:00.000-04:00

Made it to Katie's class yesterday, a nice informal class with just me
and John in attendance. One question that came up was: how do I react
to techniques such as yonkyo, where there is (potential) pain involved
in the application of the technique? Apparently I don't go with the
flow as much as perhaps I should. Why do I wait until I feel some
pain? Well, for some techniques in particular, like yonkyo, direct
pressure is applied to nerves in the wrist. I have had a lot of trouble
in the past with making sure I "get it", being sure that my technique is
effective, or conversely, that my partner's technique is effective.
With partners whose forearms are as thick as Popeye's, yonkyo is pretty
much impossible, for me at least. So, this is the history that presents
itself when I am receiving yonkyo.

The same could be said about some of my other ukemi. My reactions are
sometimes not as expected and sometimes just plain not quite right.
Another persistent habit--I tend to take an extra step forward when I am
uke for ikkyo and similar techniques. This too has some history behind
it. One convention in Korean styles is to have the same foot forward as
the hand that is extended (in a strike or block).

Basics

2005-08-25T10:14:00.000-04:00

Nice class Thursday night, focusing on basic movements pretty much. At
the end, a treat for me, doing kokyudosa with Sensei. It's sometimes a
bit of a dilemna working with him. I am sometimes not sure how much I
should challenge him with my attacks, as if moving all 150 lbs. of me is
a challenge. The goal, as I imagine it, is to provide appropriate
resistance. When working with a beginner, obviously the appropriate
resistance is very little, but when working with Sensei or sempai, the
equation is reversed. What is the appropriate level of resistance
then? My answer for today: do what I can to resist without becoming
uncentered, without being a spaz.

Just Digging Deeper

2005-08-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

I have been doing waaay too much "cubicle-waza". I am out of shape
again, conditioning wise. It seems I can handle classes toward the end
of the day--my energy is at least above "comatose" level, but when I
wake up a little after 6 and drag my ass to class at 7, having gotten to
bed at around midnight all week, I just can't fool my body into being on
top of my game. The other workout of sorts I have been getting this
week is pulling up the wet carpet padding in our basement, which is more
physically draining than invigorating.

Josh teaching today, yokomenuchi techniques, iriminage of course, and
others. Fortunately, he has some mercy and starts us off with just the
opening movements. Mike was there this AM, first I've seen him at this
hour. I think he has some of the best ukemi I have ever seen. Jory and
Jim also there. With Jim it seems we have the mutual understanding that
we aren't quite 20-something anymore. Actually everyone was pretty easy
on me today, but damn, I tired easily!

I might have to bag 7AM classes for a while. Maybe 8:30 AM Saturday
will be a more realistic hour, though I'm wincing at that possibility
too. Really what I need is to start running again.

Too Many Words

2005-08-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

When I get into "teaching mode" I seem to talk more than is necessary.
That's the impression I got from Sensei last night, though he did not
say it to me specifically. Few words are needed to teach what is really
vital. With words I can tell you where to put your foot and how to move
your hand, but I cannot really tell you the essence of the technique. I
can try, but it's a picture worth thousands of words--much easier just
to keep practicing.

I worked with Lucas last night, who is a beginner, on a variation of
iriminage (or is it kokyunage?). In hindsight, the best approach might
have been just to focus on the opening tenchin movement, drawing the
hands close to the hip, and then stop there.

The ongoing dilemna of how to fall for iriminage continues. I need to
take a step back and take an easy (easier) fall, not just turn my head
and try to take a high fall.

Everthing Hurts!

2005-08-12T12:49:00.000-04:00

Last night I guess you could say I "celebrated" my first injury since
returning to aikido. I pretty much landed on my left shoulder during a
fall, not exactly what I intended. According to the doc, nothing seems
to be broken (i.e. collarbone), so I'm just sore.

What sucks is that I was planning on making this weekend an big aikido
weekend, but if I can't roll, I can't practice very much. The upside is
that I can work on video camera stuff this evening for the forthcoming
Open Sky Aikido Media Extravaganza!

Ouch

2005-08-10T14:12:00.000-04:00

Last night we practiced a lot of what we call "high falls" (aka
breakfalls, hard falls). This was really fun, but I'm paying for it
today! One side-effect of a lot of ukemi (falling) practice is that I
slap the mat a lot, causing tremors in my hands after class, even
extending into the next day, as in today. It's possible some of this is
caffeine induced, but my arms both feel traumatized today. So the goal
is to make my falls "lighter", such that I make very little sound when
landing on the mat, because while a slap of the mat may absorb impact
from the rest of your body, your arms are taking the beating. One
clue: it seemed to work well to think of doing it like an aerial cartwheel.

AM Class

2005-08-05T13:39:00.000-04:00

Made it to 7AM class today, flying down the highway to make it in
time--not a good idea, but I zipped into the parking lot in the nick of
time.

Josh teaching, Andy and a new guy--Juri formerly of Peter Bernath's dojo
in FL, and me. Funny how learning happens for me in this class. The
instructor may direct me to do something differently, and I am doing
what I can to be the essence of perfection (ha ha), but my level of
presence is usually not very steady this early in the morning. So the
two questions here are: is my body acting as I intend? and, 2: what is
my intention?

Observation: whenever we practice a technique with another person, our
entire past presents itself as our technique. We establish patterns of
interaction with each other and that becomes part of our ongoing history
in the making. So it is interesting when someone new enters the
picture, someone whose style is in some ways very different from my
own. Juri, I would say, has something of a gruffness to his technique.
I wonder if this is due to his time spent in NY, but maybe also part of
his training in FL.

Recovery Wednesday

2005-08-03T14:31:00.000-04:00

Here at the office we call this "Mexican Wednesday", our weekly
excursion for Mex food. I could also call it "Recovery Wednesday",
being the day after my Tuesday evening classes. Not abnormally sore
today, but my arms are feeling the effects of jo practice.

A smallish class last night. In contrast to last week, mostly yudansha
were there. SteveL volunteered me as uke to demonstrate yokomenuchi
iriminage. I was not really warmed up yet, and my ukemi was a bit
clunky (clunkier than usual that is). I also noticed a tendency I have
to pause before attacking, as in: "Ready, go!" instead of just
immediately going for the target. This should be easy to fix. Also had
a good tip from Charlie on how to fall for iriminage--let my leg start
to go up as soon as nage makes contact. On many of these throws, the
"cool guys" seem to have their center of rotation somewhere around their
neck or upper chest region.

As you can tell from this post, I have decided to stop using initials
only to identify others--it just doesn't seem to matter as long as I'm
not giving out any real exciting information, Swiss bank account numbers
and such.

Technique-o-Death!

2005-07-29T11:53:00.000-04:00

Definition: Technique-o-Death refers to a technique done so poorly that
it could potentially cause death to anyone within a 2 mile radius.
Even gazing upon such a technique could mean instant death, possibly due
to uncontrollable laughter. (cue the "killer joke" Python sketch) It
can cause death by embarrassment to the practitioner if such a technique
is witnessed by Sensei. Such techniques are to be avoided!

So.. last night's ToD: shomenuchi kotogaeshi, or "wrist turn-out"
technique. This technique seems to show up in movies a lot, as it is
pretty basic and uke can fly across the mat if (s)he is thrown
properly. In this case, I was working with T last night, I felt too far
away from his center, I did not have control of him, and it just felt
crappy. What's worse, Sensei probably saw me do it. So that was
arguably the low point of practice. Fortunately, iriminage with M at
the end of class felt pretty good.

Interesting that there were no sempai in class last night of the
yudansha (black belt) variety. It's that vacation time of year. Other
than the ToD, a nice class. I have not been feeling 100% this week, so
I did not want to risk not making it to Friday 7AM class, or worse,
making it there partly asleep. My son C was nice enough to put up with
me dragging him along for the ride.

Sluggish

2005-07-27T15:26:00.000-04:00

Last night was my first night of practice in a week. I did manage to
get some jo practice in over the weekend, so I guess that counts for
something, but I felt a little less than awesome in class last night. I
could blame some of this on the oppressive heat--it seems to just zap my
energy, but my aerobic conditioning is also not what it could be. I
wanted to make it to 7AM class this morning also, but today was not a
mind over matter day. Sleep won out. I am determined to make it Friday
AM AND be awake for it. Being fully awake is the hard part, as I'm
rarely able to get to be early.

Worked with J on shomenuchi sankyo, one of those techniques I can sort
of do, just not "properly". Unsubtle is how I would describe my
technique here. It is difficult to figure out the correct angle at
which to bring down my partner. The way I was doing it he was not able
to take the fall cleanly--his shoulder was vulnerable. I asked him to
show me the correct angle, but he said he wasn't sure. Basically, this
means I have to feel it for myself. The correct angle for him is not
necessarily the same as it would be for me, as he is about a foot taller
than I am.

Jo practice seems to go well enough--I can make it look like I have an
idea what I'm doing. A asked me if I did "hard style" weapons
practice. "Not really" was my answer, but I guess that was a little bit
of a lie. Over the last 30 years I've had a smattering of weapons
practice, mostly bo katas, and an introduction to some other weapons
(escrima, chain, nunchaku, sai, shiruken, iai), but I have not committed
myself to regular weapons training until now. I guess I would say my
prior training was not enough to shake a stick at. (punchline, ha ha)

Last, but not least, I am attempting to put together a video production
committee. I have put up a sign on the message board, but as yet none
have taken the bait. I haven't started "campaigning" for victims yet,
so the only ones who would have seen it so far would be the few who
check the board.

basics

2005-07-18T22:50:00.000-04:00

Made it to the beginning aikido class last Friday, and forced my son C
to sit and watch, poor boy. He seemed to enjoy watching Dad get thrown
around.

These days beginner's classes are my favorites. I really need to go
back to school on the very basic elements. In fact, if my schedule were
more flexible I probably would go to mainly beginner's classes for
several months.

Learned more about kokyudosa, in particular how to extend into the
attack, forcing uke to commit, and then using the lower back to draw
energy upwards.

Back From Vac

2005-07-14T13:50:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was my first class since returning from vacation. Nice to be
back. S led a fairly laid back class compared with some I have
attended, a nice reintroduction after an absence. Jo class with A. I
apparently have a habit of working too close to my partner with jo
techniques. We worked through some cool partnerwork sequences. Jackie
Chan watch out!

Before class Sensei was working with J on a Tai Chi kata. To me it
looked very Chinese, Kung Fu-like, with more striking techniques than I
normally associate with TC. Sometimes after class I think about going
over some of my old kata, especially to make sure I don't forget them.
I so far haven't asked if it's OK to practice "old school" techniques in
the dojo. I feel it's something I need to do now and then, but it's not
clear if it's appropriate for practice on the mat.

Vacation Time!

2005-07-01T11:16:00.000-04:00

7AM class with JL today. I'm clearly in need of rest! Ran out of gas
at the end (again) during kaitenage. Per Sensei's suggestion, no
caffeine was involved, so I had to dig a little deeper, as he said.
Well, still digging.. No doubt, Friday AM is the worst time for me
energywise. I typically don't get more than 6 hours of sleep a night
during the week, so when Friday rolls around it's pretty sleepy. The
warrior got me out of bed and to class this morning, but the slacker
also showed up. Clearly, the solution here is to go on vacation! See
y'all in a week.

Posted a couple of aikido kids day camp fliers after class.

Recovery Day

2005-06-29T13:24:00.000-04:00

Last night was the first time I have worked out 2 nights in a row. A
bonus! The usual soreness today, but all parts appear to be still
functioning.

SB was visiting from up "nawth". I remembered him from the old days at
Valley Aikido. There are a few people I remember well from back then,
mostly other beginners I worked with a lot. For some reason I always
remember a joke told to me by a woman named Alysse. She was always one
to pass on a good pun (what constitutes "good" is an open question).

There was a hispanic woman who had twins. She named one of them Jose.
She named the other Hose-B.

Kokyudosa is this week's technique-o-death. Worked with SB and also
Sensei a bit. I was trying to move SB's elbows upward, but I was pretty
much out of gas. Everyone's technique is a little different, sometimes
a lot different. I tried to approach the technique as I learned the
night before with C, but nothing doing.

One feature of the last 2 classes has been Sensei throwing us all at the
end of class. Discussed this with R after class. We both want to be
thrown like the "big boys" (and girls), but it's pretty much the case
that we know enough to be dangerous, and we're stupid enough to injure
ourselves. I tried a high fall from shihonage and heard my shoulder
pop. Yep, that's probably not the way to do it!

This week marks the end of my first 6 months at the dojo. I'm getting
in better shape. The first couple weeks of class were pretty scary. A
few times my heart would start racing between techniques. At least I
seem to be past the phase where I could drop dead on the mat!

Beginners Classes are Supposed to be Easy!

2005-06-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

Last night I was reminded of the 10-year rule: no matter what I do, some things are just going to take 10 years. Especially when working with "giants", I reflexively want to muscle through techniques, which of course is a losing proposition. Kokyudosa with C was um, interesting, the terror of cluelessness!