Training

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[Joao]

Hi.. i created this post because i need to make some questions..

I've made like 5 trainings of aikido, and i've learn about .. 4 technics .. and we do a technic in a training and we dont repeat them so I can't remeber the 3 first technics i've learn, only the last because it was yesterday lol .. and i can't remember de names :S it's normal to learn so much technics? in the beggining?

Another quetion is .. i need to have more power in the arms i feel they are week .. i can't do well the tecnics to guys who bigger and stroger then me .. what can i do ?

How can i taing aikido at home ? I dont have to have a dojo lol .. what can i do ..?

There are any book that are good to read to learn more about aikido and the energy and that stuff i don't know much ..

I just want to train out of the dojo to because i only have 2 train in the week .. i live near to the beach and it's a good place to pratice ..

I hope you can help me

Thanks Joao

[Larry Cuvin]

Hi Joao,
I'm also a beginner with a little over two years of Aikido under me. I still get confused with the name of techniques, I have to stop and think about it once in a while. My suggestion is to not worry about it. I'm sure you will encounter the same techniques over and over again. Just relax and enjoy the training. One day, things will start to click and you'll get the hang of it.

With regards to power in the arms, in Ki Aikido (the style that I practice), power comes from moving in a natural way, keeping relaxed with proper posture and balance or in short, moving with mind and body coordination. Proper timing of the application of the technique is also important. I'm still learning all this.

As far as training at home, you can do your normal exercise, stretching, and you can also shadow box if you know the technique.

As far as books are concerned, I'm partial to ki aikido books by Tohei Sensei. Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere is a goo book. I'm just a beginner and the books that I know are limited. I'm sure folks here can give you good suggestions on books.

[Joao]

Larry Cuvin, thanks .. I will meditate i would love get more power .. lik ei feel i can't push my opponent if he is bigger and stronger then me .. a don't know what aikido style i pratice i will aks to my Sensei tommorow .. because there are books for diferent styles right?
The only thing i know is that my Sensei is always talking about the gravity center ..and a good fall is ensensial ..

Thanks
João

[Joao]

I think i train Aikikai .. because my sensei said he will put a picture of Morihei Ueshiba sensei in the dojo .. and the other styles have other Sensei's i don't the right terms .. O-Sensei i think ..

[Joao]

Hope you can help me :D

[mersey01]

Hi
As Larry says, just go with the natural movement of your body.
As for strength, excercise is essential as this will help with balance which is the key to performing all techniques.
The gravity center that you talk about is where all strength comes from - not from your arms or legs. As I understand it "moving from your center", as my sensei puts it, is as much about mental awareness and movement as it is about pyhsical movement of the limbs. Remember that you imagine ki travelling from your center down your arm or leg as oppose to using the muscles in your arm or leg.
I have not gone through any meditation to achieve this understanding and I have only come to this understanding after 12 years of practise.
I am sure that with meditation you willl find your own way with the guidance of your sensei.
Are you training for a long term commitment?
If so then don't worry bout the names of the techniques and the frequency at which you are shown each one, they will come to you over the length of your training (however long a short a period it might be).


Hope this helps.

Rob

[DaveS]

Okay, I'm even newbier that Larry with just a year and a half of training under my belt. But fwiw...
I've made like 5 trainings of aikido, and i've learn about .. 4 technics .. and we do a technic in a training and we dont repeat them so I can't remeber the 3 first technics i've learn, only the last because it was yesterday lol .. and i can't remember de names :S it's normal to learn so much technics? in the beggining?
I've very seldom remembered things the first time I've been shown them, and our classes often involve stuff that us noobs aren't really expected to remember. Teaching you a lot of stuff that only sinks in over a long time is something that a lot of martial arts teachers go for, I'd try to learn what you can and don't worry about it.
Another quetion is .. i need to have more power in the arms i feel they are week .. i can't do well the tecnics to guys who bigger and stroger then me .. what can i do ?
I've always been told that if I'm having to push hard, it's because my technique's bad, and rather than push harder I should look at pushing 'smarter', ie in the right direction at the right time. Trying to find a direction in which the other guy's big muscles can't be used to push back sometimes helps, although I normally need that pointing out to me... just asking the people you train with why the technique isn't working can help a lot.
How can i taing aikido at home ? I dont have to have a dojo lol .. what can i do ..?
There are probably more constructive things that people in your style can suggest, but I've been told to try to visualize techniques when I'm not doing anything else, to get them smoother when I come to do them in practice.
I hope you can help me
I hope some of that helped!

[Kevin Wilbanks]

By far the best at-home training is something you've seen ridiculed in the Pink Panther movies. It may seem like a joke, but hiring or otherwise bonding someone into service as a full-time surprise training partner is an age-old training aid guaranteed to raise your martial skills to the highest possible level in the shortest time. In western circles, this is known as employing a "surprise-attack deshi". The important thing is not to compromise in this training. You must instruct your deshi to spend every waking hour keeping you under surveillance, sneaking up on you, and attacking you, giving you no moment of peace in any situation, and never letting up from sincerely trying to maim or kill you no matter how urgently you order or beg him to stop.

The results can be spectacular. I hired a friend to do this in '96 and my martial arts skills were never sharper. Not only did I learn to fend off my partner most of the time but I prevented many assault attempts upon me and others around town that summer. In fact, Denver Police Department records show that I dispatched over 90 would-be assailants in the months from June through August, at various locations surrounding my apartment near the Capitol.

You would not believe the people that tried to attack me: seemingly ordinary shop clerks, homeless people, fellow passengers on the bus, senior citizens in the checkout line, other tenants in my building... the police made a special note of how vigilant I was in detecting violent outbursts from seemingly innocent people at the most unusual times. Shockingly, not a single other citizen was able to dispatch even one attacker in my neighborhood that summer. I kept the whole neighborhood safe! I also made quite a name for myself. Even my own mother and great uncle Dave learned a valuable lesson when they lurched at me right while I was blowing out the candles at my own birthday party!

Due to my cutting-edge training, aside from a few tragic, unavoidable fatalities, all the people who attacked me ended up in the hospital, their perspective on both Aikido in general and the sanctity of my personal space in particular immeasurably broadened. Meanwhile, I emerged unscathed. Although such staggering personal success often breeds arrogance, I remained supremely humble. I had truly become a great and formidable martial artist.

Although Uncle Dave is technically no threat to me now that he lives in a body cast, I feel proud of how emphatically he has promised never to attempt another unprovoked attack on me, and how he begs my forgiveness and pleads for me to treat him gently every time I visit. I strongly advise you to employ your own surprise-attack deshi. You'll see results you never dreamed were possible...

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

OK Kevin, back to the medication :-) I also somewhat surprised at the title of this thread, considering the category it was in, but the OP is not a native English speaker, so let's go easy!

To the OP: welcome to AW forums, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Jun is a good gatekeeper, so don't be afraid to post controversial thoughts if they occur to you (other will feast on them).

I can only think of some basic memory training techniques to help you, seeing as I don't know if you are near someone who can teach you ki development (I assume not, else you would be asking different questions).

One. look at the legs first, say for two demos of a techique. Then look at the arms in a further two demos. The instructor should be showing something about 4 times (each side twice) in a Western-style dojo. In fact, you should be seeing how s/he moves from the center, but without a lot more experience you won't get it. So try to get a feel for how the arms and legs coordinate in a technique. There is no need to look at uke. Since power comes from the ground (and from weight) look how the toes and feet and knees are aligned. Not wearing a hakama is a good thing for this learning.

Good luck!

[sullivanw]

For starters it seems like learning proper posture and how to fall well are very important... and learning how to really observe what is being demonstrated by the instructor... and showing up to train regularly! All else comes in time.
Well, at least those have been things that have been working for me. Good luck, and have fun!

-Will

[Nick Simpson]

my Sensei is always talking about the gravity center ..and a good fall is ensensial ..

Sounds like a good instructor.

Like people have said, 'strength' in aikido comes from correct movement, posture, timing, balance breaking, intent and technique. It's a lot of stuff to learn and can be quite daunting but just stick with it, take each class one at a time and try to honestly soak up what your instructor is telling you. Eventually after a little while it will start to stick and you wont feel so confused by all the techniques etc etc.

An excellent book is: Total Aikido: The Mastercourse by Gozo Shioda.

I cannot reccommend it enough. It's about the Yoshinkan style but its well written, full of excellent photographs and the lessons apply to most aikido eqaully. I also train in aikikai style and I got this book when I started, was totally invaluable to me.

Aikido Basics by Dang and Seiser is also great, especially for someone very new. It's got loads of tips on how to practise well, learn properly and conduct yourself in the dojo etc etc.

Angry White Pyjama's by Robert Twigger isnt an instructional book, it's a novel but is very funny and has a lot of insight into aikido. Just dont treat it as 100% true, he apparently took a lot of creative liberty with some people/events.

Just to help you out in the mean time, the 9 core techniques of Aikikai are generally:

Ikkyo: A sort of arm bar/elbow lock.
Nikkyo: A wrist lock.
Sankyo: A wrist lock.
Yonkyo: A pressure point on the forearm/joint lock.
Shihonage: Four Corner/Direction throw.
Kotegaeshi: Return the wrist throw.
Iriminage: Entering throw.
Kaitennage: Rotary throw.
Tenchinage: Heaven and Earth throw.

Hope that helps!

[Joao]

Hi,, thanks to everyone who anwser me i will try to apllyy what you said to me
Thanks
Ariagtô gozaimasu ( i think it's correct)