Category: aikido

I haven’t been writing that much about Aikido lately, but I’ve been going to class regularly. In fact, I just hit my 3 month mark. It is going pretty well. I feel like the techniques I’ll need to know for the 5th kyu are coming along pretty well.  At least well enough that in a few months I’ll be ready for 5th kyu. It is my understanding that it takes years to really, really master even the simple techniques, and I believe it. There are subtleties in Aikido techniques that you just can’t grasp quickly. And to actually use them in a flowing way, well, that is a long-term goal.

Last night was the first time I’ve been in a practice where we used weapons. We used the Jo last night — the wooden staff. Shiba Sensei began by teaching us how to do a proper attack with the weapon. Having never touched the Jo before, even this was not easy to get right, but I think I did OK. Then we moved into some techniques for disarming/throwing someone attacking with the Jo. Pretty cool stuff. I didn’t do too bad. A few times I actually felt like I hit the move really well — to where I could feel a little power in the throw without using a lot of muscle. The rest of the time, well, I got through the techniques, which I’m happy about. Like everything else, practice is required.

Before this session I wasn’t really that interested in the weapons techniques, but now I’m kind of excited about them. Looking forward to learning more.

This last weekend I attended my first Aikido seminar at Aikido of Dallas.

The weather was horrible as I drove down there Friday, after work. I arrived, got changed, and stretched out. Mike Abrams Sensei, from New York, gave that first class of the weekend. We did a lot of stuff I hadn’t done before, so it was a little confusing. However, it was good to get exposed to some new techniques, even if I didn’t totally get them. We did a cool version of Nikyo — one with the Nage sitting and Uke standing. Very cool. (more…)

The last couple of classes I and another relatively new student have practiced some of the basic Aikido techniques while the advanced students work on more advanced stuff. So I’ve gotten some addition practice with Shomenuchi Irminage, Shomenuchi Ikkyo (omote and uru), and Katatedori Kotegaishi.

At last night’s practice I got my first taste of Nikkyo, a wrist lock. Potentially very painful, haha! We did and exercise where we transitioned from Katatedori Nikkyo to Shihonage and finally to Iriminage. I also started learning to apply the Sankyo wrist twisting technique and pin. Cool.

Gonna try to remember some of the techniques we practiced last Saturday and make some notes. In general, I feel like I need clarification on the omote versions of these. Of course, I need tons of work on all of them. In particular, I have trouble with the first step of the omote versions – which foot to lead with. I guess it’ll all come with time.

Saturday we had a guest instructor, and I was lucky to get to practice a lot with our Sensei, who was very patient.

Suwari Waza — Shomenuchi Ikkyo — omote and ura.
Shomenuchi Ikkyo
Shomenuchi Iriminage
Katatetori Kotegaeshi – omote and ura: Need clarification on omote vs. ura versions.
Katatetori Shihonage – omote and ura: I am less clear on the omote version. Need to review the entry part.

Well, there’ll be no Aikido class over the Christmas/New Year week.

In the meantime, I’m going to make sure I do some good stretching every day, and continue improving my flexibility. Going to try to also do plenty of cardio and eat right. I’ll probably also ride my longboards a bit, and try to film some stuff from Bob’s Trick Tips.

OK, tonight I did tumbling. Shoulder rolls, to be specific. Aikidoists do probably the smoothest shoulder rolls I’ve ever seen, turning their bodies into wheels. Amazing and graceful.

I got some good instruction in proper shoulder roll technique and practiced them for about 30 minutes. Mine are not great, but they did improve with practice. I will get them much better.

Then we did some techniques — variations of the Shomenuchi Ikkyo technique — and I rolled out of the throws when it was my turn to be thrown. This is why smooth rolls are important. Doing bad ones is much more painful and exhausting.

The Shomenuchi Ikkyo variations included various ways of changing direction and throwing, based on your position in the technique and how much fight the opponent has in him. These moves really rely on position and technique, rather than strength. They involve using the Uke’s (the person being thrown) momentum rather than resisting it, keeping your balance while taking Uke’s away, and proper footwork. Really cool.

We also did a throw from the Ryokatatori (double lapel grab) position. Not sure what the full technique was called, but it was a nice throw.

For more advanced level tests, Aikidoists have to contend with multiple attackers. Last night our Sensei demonstrated some strategies for students working on this. Then we did some exercises in which 2 of us, in line, confronted an advanced student, over, and over. The idea was that the Nage (guy doing the throwing) was to move forward, meeting the attackers. The exercise was not intended to test individual techniques, but rather to train the aikidoists to move toward attackers, taking the initiative in the situation. At least that was my understanding of it.

At any rate, it was very tiring. Made me realize that I’m in really, really bad shape. While my flexibility is improving, my overall condition leaves much to be desired. I’m looking forward to improving my physical condition and agility, as well as learning the techiques and learning to fall properly.

I am, however, less sore than I was expecting.

It is really fascinating to finally be doing these techniques that I’ve been reading about for so long. Even the most outwardly simple techniques seem to contain subtleties that require years to truely master.

Oh yeah — I bought a gi tonight. No more practicing in sweats. yaaaaay!

Tonight is my second Aikido class. My body has recovered pretty well from Monday’s class. I’m still a bit sore, but its more from my new stretching regimen than anything. After being a skateboarder for 32 years, I have rock hard legs. Unfortunately, they aren’t very flexible. Even during highschool, when I wrestled for 3 years, they didn’t get all that limber. But…I can feel them getting better, and my hips too.

I’ve mentally reviewed the techniques we did Monday, and physically “stepped through” them a few times, trying to remember some of the more subtle points, and trying to do them correctly in my head — get rid of a couple of incorrect motions I was doing. I’ve found in both skateboarding and wrestling that such visualization can be helpful.

So far we haven’t done a lot of tumbling. The aikidoists are really good at doing various smooooooooth shoulder rolls. I feel like I will not be very smooth at first. On the other hand, I can fall really hard on concrete, get up, and keep skating — so I should be OK.

I have so much to learn. I wish I’d been able to stick with this 16 years ago, but things were so different then. Oh well, I’m here now, and that’s what counts.

So tonight is the my first night at Aikido of Plano. I observed a class last week, and decided to try it. I did Aikido for about a month, 16 years ago. At the time my work schedule and some other issues just didn’t allow me to continue. So now, older and in worse shape, I’m going to give it a whirl. I’ve never lost interest, but now it is very convenient. Hopefully skateboarding has helped preserve my physical condition. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to it, and looking forward to being a total beginner at something. I’m trying to empty my mind of preconceptions so I’ll be totally open to the teaching.

I’ll probably be really sore tomorrow.