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Sunday night.
Status: Tired and in the mood for a ramble.
A couple of weeks ago I brought an old friend of mine to the dojo to see if what he would think of it. I have a couple of friends that have been showing interest in coming and seeing where and what I train, but this one was the only one that actually did omething about it
I had warned him that it could be quite hard at first and he was up to the challenge.
It started out fine with us doing warmups, tenkans and rolls and my friend did what he could to keep up. He had problems with it of course, and one of the nidans was kind enough to act as an assistant trainer for him. Halfway into the warmup my friend began complaining about a cramp in his foot and sat the rest of the warmup out.
When we started doing techniques he did a few but then complained about the cramp agian and sat out for most of the class. I managed to lure him in for a technique or two, but he spent most of the time watching instead.
I am sorry that it turned out this way because I really don't believe that it was a cramp that kept him off the mat. Through the entire class he looked bewildered and frustrated that he couldn't do the techniques right. The sempai, myself and the others all did our best to convince him that he did fine for a first timer and that the beginners class was more difficult than usually because we were preparing for graduation but it didn't seem to work
I am almost certain that he felt ashamed that he couldn't
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Monday morning. (aka. payday)
Status: Still excited
This Saturday I was at that cross-dojo training I wrote about last time and it was fantastic! This was my first aikido 'seminar' ever and the whole experience was much more fun and productive than I had imagined.
We were a small group of about eight people from our dojo (Renshin Aikido Dojo in Copenhagen Denmark) and three from our sister dojo in Malmö, Sweden. Only three of us didn't have hakamas. As far as I remember we had the Sensei, who is a yondan, three nidan, a shodan a couple of 1-3 kyu students and finally myself (7th kyu) and two other low-kyu students from our own dojo. Our sister dojo brought their sensei, also a yondan, an ikkyu and a nikkyu student.
The seminar was to be held at a place called Tokai University Boarding School which is, as far as I understand, a boarding school for Japanese students. The students are very active judo practitioners and some of them also practices Kendo and Karate, so there were gis hanging to dry everywhere and the intercom interrupted now and again to announce something in Japanese I didn't quite understand . This all added to the Japanese feel of the place and set the mood from the start.
As we got there we were shown to their amazing sports facility and from there to the built-on dojo known as the Judo room. It was about a 100 tatami sized room with arching beams that supported the ceiling 6-7m above the floor. The room had three of its sides out towards t
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I didn't make it to Aikido practice this wednesday because I had forgotten a meeting at the university I had to attend Fortunately I have training tomorrow.
Kyokushinkai training yesterday was hard but I really felt like I learned something. We did the beginner katas required for our upcoming 10 kyu graduation March 3rd. After training I went over to a couple of good friends that lives nearby and we went out to a nearby club. Hence the 'hungover' part...
Tomorrow our Aikido dojo is going to visit another dojo a couple of hours drive away and train with them for a day. I am eager to see how they do things over there and meet some new people to train with.
Kyokushinkai practice today was hard. We did a lot of strength exercises and some basic kata. At the end the instructor made us do interval running until I was at the point of fainting. I need to improve my stamina.
I have Aikido practice tomorrow. I can't wait to see if I can do better this time.
Another weeks training is done and I am feeling stronger, slimmer and faster.
Tuesday was Kyokushinkai night and it was so so. Not too hard, or too easy just average.I wasn't in a terribly good mood and that affected my training to a higher degree than I had hoped.
Wednesday was Aikido night and I met some new students that have started training in my period of absence and they really kept me on my toes. Their technique and their intensity was awesome and they really made me feel like I was the new guy. They reminded me that consistency and perseverance really are paramount in Aikido. We did a lot of gyakuhanmi techniques and some kotegaishi, iriminage, kaitennage and some bokken work. After training I was completely exhausted and sore. I have to remember to stretch before and after training.
Thursday was karate again and training was amazing. The sempai made us do various strength and stamina enhancing exercises and spent a lot of time on stretching, something my sore inner thighs were grateful of. We did various punches, kicks, and blocks and although it wasn't easy by any measure, it was still a whole lot easier than Aikido.
It has been a very long time since my last entry so it is about time I share some of my experiences.
It will be obvious to anyone reading my previous entries, that I have not been nearly as consistent in my Aikido training as I should have been.
I have just recently begun training again after an 8 months period of total (physical) inactivity. I started studying English at the University of Copenhagen last August, and I have been spending all my time and energy there, abandoning most of the other activities in my life.
This choice has had an enormous effect on my body and general well-being. I have gained almost 20 pounds and my physique and condition was horrible.
I decided that I had to do something. Just as I was contemplating this, one of the sempai at my dojo wrote me an email asking me why I hadn't been there for so long. He gave me the push I needed and it was a great feeling being missed, although my conscience was bad because I had neglected my training for so long.
At the same time I had made arrangements for a trial lesson at a Kyokushinkai Karate Dojo and I was excited to try something different from Aikido. I got the idea long ago when I discovered that a lot of the sempai in my dojo had trained Karate earlier and benefited from that.
At first I was apprehensive about studying two martial arts at a time, but the contrast is invigorating! I found out that I had really missed some of the harder aspects of Aikido even though the
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Last Monday I finally had the time and opportunity to attend my first class in what seems like forever.
I have just begun studying physics and between that and my job, I haven't had much time to spend with my girlfriend, my friends or myself for that matter. And all these things, including Aikido has suffered.
I find myself lacking the energy and joy that I usually have no problem finding, and that is simply not acceptable.
After a lot of thought I have decided that something has to be done in order for me to start functioning again properly.
As a Danish citizen I have the priviledge of getting paid for studying, and this government scholarship is just about big enough to get the bills paid.
Because of this I have decided to prioritize, and the only thing I am willing to sacrifice is my job. This means that tomorrow is my last day on the job, and instead I will be concentrating on studying.
This is not the first time I have spent as a full-time student, so this is not entirely new for me, but I still feel a bit anxious about the outcome.
One thing I do know, on the other hand, is that this last week where I have taken a couple of days off, has been the best week this year. I have had more energy and I have been a lot happier and less frustrated. All the things I love, but usually cant find the time to do, I have done and the effect have been enormous.
So last Monday's class was great, even though I haven't felt as useless in a ver
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The grueling job interview I mentioned in the last entry paid off, so now I have a new job at one of Denmarks biggest newspapers! Yay!
But, because of a lot of (unpaid) courses, and cancelled Aikido classes, I haven't gotten the opportunity to train this month
A week ago or so, I was invited to a test screening (it's not in theatres in Denmark yet) of "The Last Samurai" and that didn't exactly make the waiting any easier
For those of you that haven't seen it, go see it...now! You wont regret it
I will just have to be patient until Monday where I can train again...
First of all, my sincerest apologies for not keeping my journal updated as I promised I would.
Yesterday was testing day and my first opportunity to test since I started about year ago. Usually there is testing every six months, but I had a 5 months break due to exams and an exchange students program.
In our dojo, we follow Nishio Sensei, and we use 10 kyu grades. But we can also receive more than one grade at a time.
Anyway, the 4 of us that were going to test had been training extra hard the last couple of weeks, and the sempai and instructors helped us by training basics. You could really feel the motivating factor of the test.
When it came to the testing, I was a bit nervous, but not as much as I had feared because earlier that day I went to a grueling jobinterview, so that took the edge off.
We started out by warming up, and doing tenkan, ukemi and shikko in a group. After that I was asked to do Ayhanmi Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo, Irimi nage, Shihonage and kotegaishi. Then I sat down and watched and relaxed while the others did a few techniques.
After a short break I was asked to do yakohanmi ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, shihonage and kotegaishi with tenkan and then free techniques both aihanmi and yakohanmi. As far as I remember I did nikkyo and sankyos.
Two of the others were asked to do ken tai ken, kaiten nage, and various jo and bokken techniques.
After we finished and a short waiting period we
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Todays entry is my first in some time, as I haven't really felt like posting.
Today's class was really good and I met a new guy and an old student that had been away for a couple of years.
Towards the end of the class, the sensei told us that there would be an informal graduation in two weeks, and that we were welcome to ask him after class if he believed we should try.
I asked him if I could try it, and he said that I should, as he believed I was ready. This was a real boost to my morale, but it also got me a bit nervous
I will try to attend all the classes I can up until graduation and give it all I got to try to better myself.
I never knew how motivating it could be to have a graduation to prepare for.
That's all for now, but I'll keep this journal updated in the time until graduation.
03-06-2005 06:30 PM 
. This all added to the Japanese feel of the place and set the mood from the start. 