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Go Back   AikiWeb Aikido Forums > AikiWeb AikiBlogs > Seeking Zanshin: Blood, Sweat, Tears & Aikikai

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Seeking Zanshin: Blood, Sweat, Tears & Aikikai Blog Tools Rating: Rate This Blog
Creation Date: 02-24-2005 10:53 PM
jducusin
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One small gal + a dojo full of big guys = tons o' fun
Blog Info
Status: Public
Entries: 270 (Private: 12)
Comments: 195
Views: 824,372

One of your Favorites! In General Yonkyu (and 2004) - A retrospective Entry Tools Rate This Entry
  #158 New 01-06-2005 01:02 PM
Since this is nearly two months overdue, I figure that I may as well, in addition, combine my usual stats tally with some insights from the past year.

Things learned since Gokkyu...

About movement and the art:

- To let my body do most of the thinking and to trust that it will both react accordingly and "feel" technique instinctively out of habit, necessity and its own memory.
I guess it comes down to the whole "mind of no-mind" thing. There's no need to over-think technique step-by-step while I'm doing it, just feel it out and my body will do the rest.

- To try to make a habit of feeling the flow of uke's energy and momentum and try to maintain good timing with this.

- When in doubt, squatting low typically solves a lot of leading and balance/stability issues for me.

About me:

- That I can relax pretty well under pressure

- That I can focus in the midst of a great deal of stress and fatigue

- That I really love to push myself beyond my physical and mental limits (but haven't I always known this?)

About...stuff:

- That Koshinage can be conquered

- That truly, the guys at NWA are like brothers to me

- That blood stains are a b*tch to clean out of white cotton.

Things (of many) that I'm working on improving in the coming year:

- strengthening my grip

- making my ushiro ukemi consistently round, fast, and such that my knee never touches at all (on the way to standing up)

- applying my friend's gymnastics tips so as to get my dive rolls both higher and longer

---

(And because a reminder is always useful...)
From the last tally:

"From the very beginning, I've been trying to pay very close attention to detail. Every nuance of Sensei's moves is deliberate, and I need to continue catching the patterns in his movements. Slowly, I feel as though I am piecing together a very intricate puzzle bit by bit...

So what have I learned so far?

- To listen to my body. That if a technique feels awkward or I feel even slightly off balance, I'm doing something incorrectly and need to make an adjustment.

- To have faith in myself. I can get carried away by feelings of self-doubt, and I keep forgetting that inherently, my body knows how to move (as alluded to above) and what to do if I just listen to it.

- To breathe. I mean, really breathe --- to pay attention to my breathing, which is not only relaxing, but gets me completely centred and focused in the moment.

- That it's not about perfection --- it's about who and where I am right now. And that in itself is pretty darn awesome. I always keep looking back, thinking, "it could have been so much better" --- and really, it always could be. But you know what? It's a long haul, but it *will* only get better. (Thanks Carolynne!)"

---

Stats/Little Milestones as of 11/13/04 (* - denotes change since last tally at Gokkyu):

Training w/current dojo since - January 8, 2003

*Number of classes - 341

*Number of days extra training on the weekend - 9

*Number of seminars attended - 3

*Number of other dojos visited while travelling - 4

*Number of classes at other dojos as visitor - 4

*Total number of hours training - approx. 682

*Number of journal entries - 143

*Number of hours of remedial massage - 5.5

*Number of visits to the physiotherapist - 1

*Number of neoprene joint braces accumulated - 3

*Number of weapons broken - 1

*Number of fat, bloody lips (received from Sensei's atemi) - at least 2-3...

*Total number of joint sprains (ankles, big toe, wrist) - 5

*Number of rolls of athletic tape consumed - 2

*Number of Salonpas patches consumed - approx. 10

*Number of pounds of Epsom Salts used to soak in hot baths - 4

*Number of patches sewn and other repairs to dogi - 5

Number of times my massive Yonkyo bruises freaked someone out - 2

Number of bloody noses - 1.0

*Largest number of diveroll ukes successfully cleared - 2

Number of other females who joined the dojo briefly and left - 3 *sniff* :0(
Views: 2476



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