Category: aikido

OK, I passed my 4th kyu test today.

Aikido was good the other night. Got to work with the tanto (wooden knife). It’s always interesting to work with these techniques. Bare-handed there is room for mistakes, but when dealing with a weapon you must control the weapon or get stabbed (in real life, not at pratice). After practice I watched some clips of Tomiki Aikido tournemnts where they use a padded tanto and try to do techniques at full speed. Much harder. Of course, I think the missing element is atemi. During the contest, the guy with the knife can slash and stab, but the other guy doesn’t get to really use atemi. Things might look different if Nage slid in, avoiding the strike, and punched the attacher in the ribs real hard before doing the technique.

But I guess the point is this — in the street things are different.

Been cycling as much as possible. Have a nice 17-mile evening route that I do.

That is all.

Last night’s Aikido practice was really good, and a lot of fun too. Sensei had us work on some techniques with an emphasis on flowing through the technique rather than taking a step-by-step approach. He is also trying to teach us not to try to force techniques with strength, but rather take what the attacker gives us, redirect it, and use it.

Looking forward to tomorrow night’s practice.

After 5 months of rehabilitating my hurt knee, and a month back at Aikido practice, I’m happy to report to my millions of readers that this weekend I passed my 5th kyu test. That is the first test you take in aikido. It doesn’t mean I’m good, but it means I demonstrated a basic knowledge of the required techniques. I’m assuming that since Sensei passed me, I’m not too much of a spazmo. Really, I have no idea if my technique looks halfway good or not. But the important thing is making this mile stone — something I’ve wanted to accomplish for many years. 

I can say this. When I started Aikido, it was so alien. Now it is starting to make more sense to me. I can see why it takes years to get good, and lifetime to really start to understand. When I do good it really clicks — it is amazing. When working with Sensei or the advanced students, it is startling how much power and flow they can apply all the while seeming to exert little or no effort. Something to aim for.

Yesterday our dojo (Aikido of Plano) and Aikido of Dallas did an Aikido demonstration at the annual  Japanese Fall Festival (Aki Matsuri).  We started by showing the way a typical class is run, which allowed me and some of the other newer students to participate. We ran through 3 techniques. I was happy to find that I didn’t completely screw up. The mats were a little hard to move on, as they’d been heating up in the sun and were kind of sticky. But I think we did a good job.

After the “class” demonstration, some of the senior students had the chance to demonstrate some more advanced techniques. It is always great to see the really good Aikidoists practicing. Very smooth and powerful with dynamic throws. I shot a few pics for the bibliosk8.net gallery — click the image below of this very dynamic hip-throw to go to the gallery.

Next time we’re in Monterrey for a few days this might be a nice place to get in a training session for Aikido — http://www.aikidomty.com

There’s a video from this dojo in my VodPod links — down in the right-hand sidebar.

Looks like they are part of the Mexican Aikido organization, which is a member of the International Aikido Federation, with which we are affiliated via the United States Aikido Federation. So it looks like we are all part of the same overall organization.

Just a note on Aikido. I need to pay a lot more attention to my balance and posture. When I try to execute a technique fast, I often feel off balance — exactly the opposite of what should be happening. I think I need to practice the moves a little bit slower, but try to keep my flow and balance. Kind of like good skateboarding — flow and balance. Smooth. But when I do hit an Aikido technique pretty good, man, it feels good. Amazing actually.

At this point, I think it is hard to keep good posture because I’m thinking about so many other aspects of the techniques. But as I get better with the basic movements — the footwork, direction, grips, etc. — I think I’ll be able to fine tune my posture, and move more powerfully from my center.

 I suppose most aikidoists know about these books, but I’m going to say a few things about them anyway. These are “Best Aikido” parts one and two, by Moriteru Ueshiba, the current Doshu of Aikido. I purchased these books when I began Aikido, and they’ve been very helpful. Each contains many techniques, all with pretty good sequential photographs and some instructions to help guide you through the moves. 

Best Aikido: the Fundamentals covers “the fundamentals”. I think it covers everything that is on most 5th Kyu tests.  The Aikido Master Course: Best Aikido 2 covers some more advanced techniques, including some weapon taking. It also gets into responses to the Yokomenuchi (side strike to the head) attack, which we worked on this week and seem a little more difficult.

The author suggests that you use these as a reference — something to review after you practice a technique in class. I have done just that, and it has been helpful. These books contain all the basic moves, omote and ura versions and other variations. There have been many times I’ve worked on a technique at practice but still felt a little confused about it. These books have cleared up a lot of questions.

Just a short post.

I just realized this morning that a normal 1.5 hour Aikido practice isn’t making me sore anymore. I’m not sure, but I think that is progress.

Moriteru Ueshiba is the grandson of the founder or Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. He is the 3rd Doshu — essentially the worldwide leader or Aikido.

I found these video clips on YouTube.com. I’m going to try to find out where to purchase these.

Moriteru Ueshiba 1 
Moriteru Ueshiba 2
Moriteru Ueshiba 3

And here is Moriteru Ueshiba 20 years ago — very smooth!