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More epiphanies that reveal why I'm an aikido junkie. This is a follow-up to List 1.
1. When my massages get too painful, I have to fight the instinct to tap out at the masseuse.
2. I have a tendency to open swinging bathroom doors with a kokyu-ho extension of my hand blades.
3. Sometimes I find myself practicing various aikido hand positions in my cube at work.
4. Long power outages at work make me want to do weapons suburi in the semi-abandoned parking lot.
5. I think about aikido: while working, while driving, and while sleeping.
6. Instead of counting sheep, I sometimes recite aikido techniques to sleep.
7. I've waken myself up from a dream of a break-fall by slapping the mattress.
8. I've thwacked my significant other and even myself in my sleep as my body executes some random technique on subconscious auto-drive.
9. When I'm at one end of a long hallway, I have the sudden urge to get to the other end by doing forward rolls.
10. I've taken to holding my kitchen knives the way I hold my bokken: distinctly with knuckles on top.
11. I've effortlessly (and accidentally) sliced clear through the plastic container of a yogurt drink bottle trying to cut through the plastic encasing. I blame bokken suburi #1.
12. I once used a shomenuchi strike at a store to keep a falling baking soda packet from konking me on the head. The packet ended up bouncing off my fingertips and landing in my shopping cart.
13. A coworker almost ran me o
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It wasn't the brightest idea. But it did make me think about the instincts that develop in us over time. I was in the cleaning supplies aisle at Target, looking for those pods of Arm & Hammer baking soda with the suction cup, designed to minimize odor in refrigerators. Lo and behold, the coveted items were stacked on the top-most shelf. I quickly analyzed the bottom shelf: too flimsy for me to stand on for an extra boost. The baking soda was stacked a bit further back from the shelf's edge: conveniently just out of my reach. I was like the prehistoric squirrel in Ice Age, eyeing the prized acorn. I don't know why I didn't walk the few steps to push the "Assistance" button at one of those stations scattered around the store. It was mainly laziness, but I'm not surprised if there was some stubborn pride mixed in there somewhere.
I decided to make a jump for it. I needed four packs and was able to snag the first three with said Michael Jordan technique. However, things went awry with the fourth packet, set even further back on the shelf. The first jump got it to slide further to the edge. The second jump was meant for me to grasp it in my hand, but I miscalculated, and the packet flew into the air, seeming to aim straight for my head on its way down. Out of sheer instinct, my hand shot up in a shomenuchi-like strike/block, snaking up the centerline of my vision and extending upwards to guard my head, just in time for the airborne packet to bounce off my fingertips and land s
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1. I plan my schedule around keiko instead of the other way around.
2. Martial arts books have replaced fine literature on my shelf.
3. When house-hunting, I first check the vertical clearance of the ceiling to see if it'll accommodate my jo katas.
4. I'm not heartbroken over not yet being able to afford furniture because, hey, more room for suburi practice.
5. I assess square footage of individual rooms by how many tatami mats will fit.
6. Mop handles and hiking sticks make me think of jo's.
7. I pass the lumber section of Home Depot and wonder which wood would make a good bokken.
8. Going gi shopping fuels me with endorphins that most other women get when stepping into Macy's.
9. I do laundry based on when I run out of fresh gi's.
10. I consider purchasing future car models based on whether the trunk will sufficiently accommodate my weapons bag.
11. I'm actually up at 8:00AM on a Saturday morning so that I can commute to weapons class.
12. I've avoided certain fast food chains for years, and suddenly I'm burning enough calories so that those McDonald's golden fries are looking very tempting.
13. I suck at sewing but would spend an entire morning hemming/altering/patching up my gi.
14. I've never folded any article of clothing with such meticulous care as I do my hakama, and I do this almost on a daily basis.
15. People look at me funny because I carry a litany of bruises on my forearms.
16. I've sprained and twisted mus
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08-13-2010 01:37 PM 
