Hi Chris. Yes everything flows from a relaxed natural posture. Your training diary is a useful tool - I'm impressed you've kept it so regularly. You can remember a lot about a lesson even from years ago with some trigger words. Cheers, Niall.

Hi Niall, thanks for the comments. I've kept a 'physical' training diary since day 1 (7 years ago now) every lesson and course is in there, i find it very useful to look back on and use it for revision. I've noticed posture & footwork are points at where we ( i'll add myself here) are missing & movement & timing. Last week Sensei made the comment that posture is our 'cake' and everything else (i.e. waza) is the icing..... I thought that was interesting. Best Wishes Always Chris

(continued) The point about letting students feel their mistakes and make their own progress is much more subtle and it will depend on the student as well as on the specific point. Some things lend themselves to self-analysis/discovery; others might never be noticed without a suggestion from the teacher. Question 2: yeah we've got to learn to see what the teacher really did, not what we think he/she did.

Great questions Chris. They show you're thinking about your aikido seriously. Your blog can function as a training diary. Question 1: as a teacher you don't want to let an incorrect habit go unremarked but you don't want to overload the student with too much information either. So one piece of advice is often enough for each technique, maybe sometimes two. And of course don't forget to ask your teacher for advice about teaching!