I don’t write much about Aikido these days, though I’ve been practicing steadily for 6 years now. I guess I just don’t have a lot to write about, or rather, perhaps I don’t know how to properly convey what I’ve learned.

Anyway, Aikido is a long road. In the US Aikido Federation we don’t just hand out belts (or sell them). In mid-November I’ll be taking my test for 2nd Kyu. I feel pretty good about it. At this rate, assuming I have learned what I’m supposed to, I will be ready to take my Shodan test (1st degree black belt) when I am 52. And of course, then I’ll be starting over. They say that Shodan is a beginner’s belt. At that point, the aikidoist has enough of the basics to really start learning.

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.