Had my first class tonight.

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[sammywhip]

So tonight was my first class, and it was really awesome. I liked the fact that things are in depth and somewhat tricky to learn. It was certainly hard, my wrists are certainly sore, and my ankles a little bit. I felt bad a lot because being new and training with people who have been training for a while I definitely felt I was holding people back, but everyone was beyond nice about it.

All in all, it was an awesome experience, and Allegheny Aikido is an AWESOME place. I can't wait for Tuesday. So much to learn. So much. It's exciting!

If anyone has tips for continuing as a beginner feel free to give advice or PM me or whatever.

Sammy

[ninjaqutie]

Glad you had fun. Don't worry about feeling as if you are holding them back. You aren't. It is always nice to go back to basics. :)

[sammywhip]

Glad you had fun. Don't worry about feeling as if you are holding them back. You aren't. It is always nice to go back to basics. :)

The basics are complex! Haha.

[tim evans]

Sammy being a beginner myself the tip from me is patience your gonna have a lot of things thrown at you at one time your hamni,s tenkans,tenchi ect japanese phrases ect. and theres gonna be days you feel like you have two left feet and untrainible but keep pushing through you will be alright and good luck.TIM

[Linda Eskin]

Yep, what they said. :-) And congrats on your first class!

I'm a newbie myself. There have definitely been days when I could not get anything right (and I'm sure I'll have many more of those), and went home kicking myself. But the glimmers of comprehension are sweet, when they happen.

Everyone feels like they are holding the class back at times. Don't let it bother you. I'll be doing my first test (for 6 kyu) soon, and I was very happy to see a brand new person in class recently. It means lots of good review of the things I need to know. I'll bet some folks in your classes are grateful for you being there, too. :-)

[Darryl Cowens]

Congrats on your first class Sammy :)

I unfortunately just had a week off due to winter illness, and then going back to class last week I felt like my rolls were going backwards... but we had a really small class, so I got to have one on one time with two instructors, and it really was a really good class overall :) (aside from my frustrations over the rolls)

I even got asked to demonstrate a couple of techniques I had learnt, and explain the how and why ;)

[crbateman]

Best advice I can give you is to relax and enjoy the journey. You are not competing with your classmates, only with yourself. Be a little better tomorrow than you were today. Your classmates are there to help you. You will get your chance to do the same for others.

[David Maidment]

Sammy, don't worry about holding people back. As an 'intermediate' rank in the dojo, it feels nice to be asked to look after the newbies and teach them to roll or to go through the basics with them. It's like sensei trusts you enough to teach on their behalf (even if only the very basics).

And as stated before, training with a complete newbie helps refine your own understanding of those basics. Sometimes you can begin to take techniques for granted when you have experienced ukes who are a little too good at blending and flying through the air!

[Shadowfax]

Hey Sammy it was fun training with you last night. Don't worry about being the new kid in school. I've learned that more advanced students actually enjoy working with new people very much. Actually I was quite happy for the refresher on basics. See ya Tuesday!

[GMaroda]

Damn, I missed a newbie! I knew I should have dragged my ass to class!

Hope to see you around soon, Sammy! Glad you had fun!

[Shadowfax]

Hahaha Greg I wondered where you were last night. We did Kokyonage and I needed someone to clothesline....since you were not there I had to be content to do it the right way. :p

[GMaroda]

Well, I had be driving all over Gord's green earth (Gord makes it himself in his shed out back) and was feeling pretty tired.

I'm sorry you were forced to not slam your tricep into my throat. ;)

[Shadowfax]

Haha! Actually I'm kinda glad I think maybe I finally am getting the idea. Its a lot more fun when it goes right than when it goes horribly wrong and Greg goes splat on the mat... although I have to say its kinda funny when you go splat....you do it with such style. :)

[sammywhip]

Damn, I missed a newbie! I knew I should have dragged my ass to class!

Hope to see you around soon, Sammy! Glad you had fun!

Yeah man! See you guys Tuesday!

[GMaroda]

Haha! Actually I'm kinda glad I think maybe I finally am getting the idea. Its a lot more fun when it goes right than when it goes horribly wrong and Greg goes splat on the mat... although I have to say its kinda funny when you go splat....you do it with such style. :)

Thank you, Cherie! I've had lots of practice at going splat.

And Sammy, I'll see you Tuesday. No more slacking off for me. I'm afraid Garth or Tara Sensei might see this and get cross! :D

[Shadowfax]

Oh goody I get to play with one of my favorite Ukes. Yes we definitely want to keep Garth and Tara happy.

Sammy just keep coming to class. It won't make much sense for a while but the fun part is figuring out how it works. Garth said many many times to me... "its your job to be confused." Like all of my jobs I do that one very well. ;)

When I first heard of Aikido I was listening to the horse trainer talk about using the idea of intent with horseback riding. Thinking about what you want to happen instead of trying to make it happen, and somehow it just does. I've tried it, it works. And he would say his clients would look at him and ask... "come on is it really that easy?" And he'd look at us and say," yes.. it really is that easy." And you know what? He was right! :D The hard part is allowing it to happen and not thinking so much about it.

[Mark Freeman]

I felt bad a lot because being new and training with people who have been training for a while I definitely felt I was holding people back, but everyone was beyond nice about it.

Hi Sammy,

no need to feel bad, training with brand new students is excellent practice for more experienced, practitioners, there are benefits for both. For the more experienced it reminds them what it was like when they first stepped on the mat. Hopefully they will be instructed to be particularly gentle, which in essence will help with the sensitivity needed to become really profficient in our art. They also will hopefully become aware of the difficulties for both mind and body faced by the newbie when learning this complex/simple art. One day they may be in a position to teach themselves and new students are the lifeblood of any decent dojo, so any decent teacher needs to be fully versed in the challenges they face.
My advice to any new student is relax, don't try to remember everything, enjoy the journey, it could turn out to be a very long one!;)

regards,

Mark

[ninjaqutie]

Also just keep this in mind: keep training and remember you are getting better every time you train... even if you feel like you aren't. Six months or so from now (maybe sooner or later) another new person will come along. You will be able to look back and have that moment where you know exactly what they are thinking and going through and the new person will be able to show you just how far you have come.

A couple weeks ago we had some new people join. I have only been training for about 6 months. I hadn't really thought I was doing much better until I saw them. It was then that I realized that my awkwardness was wearing away and that I was a bit more refined then I was before. :D

[Shadowfax]

Last night I was reading over my Aikido diary back from the beginning in late May. Its really cool to look back at it and see just how much progress I have made in so short a time.

[Lyle Bogin]

I'm sure you'll be a full fledged instructor to those who come after you in just a matter of weeks ;)

[GMaroda]

Well Sammy, I'm not feeling too hot and probably won't be to class until a doctor checks me out. I hope your second day goes great!

And just remember, it's ALWAYS confusing. It's just that different things get confusing at different times. ;)

[Shadowfax]

aww Greg I hope you feel better. We missed you. Had a total blast with Kote Gaeshi.

Sammy I'm sorry I didn't get to work with you tonight. Nice energy in the dojo tonight. You got a good taste of how Tara's classes tend to go. :D

[sammywhip]

Tonight was fun. It's really hard to feel whether I'm doing the kotegaeshi correctly, but I guess the fall is a good sign. Lol.

[lbb]

Tonight was fun. It's really hard to feel whether I'm doing the kotegaeshi correctly

I'd be very surprised if you were after two classes. Let go of the expectation that you'll be doing anything correctly for some time to come, and just focus on doing the best you can.

[sammywhip]

I'd be very surprised if you were after two classes. Let go of the expectation that you'll be doing anything correctly for some time to come, and just focus on doing the best you can.

I think I can do that. :)

[GMaroda]

aww Greg I hope you feel better. We missed you. Had a total blast with Kote Gaeshi.

Sammy I'm sorry I didn't get to work with you tonight. Nice energy in the dojo tonight. You got a good taste of how Tara's classes tend to go. :D

Oh, a Tara class. I'm REALLY glad I didn't go. I don't think I'd have been able to keep the energy up past warm-ups. :D

Kotegaeshi is one of my favorites. And Sammy, listen to the others' advice. Don't worry so much about "correct". One thing at a time. You'll have classes where you make the same mistake as last class and others were you get that part right and another part wrong! There's just a lot going on and it takes a good bit of repetition to get body memory down.

Once I get the body memory of most of the techniques down, I'll let you know how that feels. I'm guessing 30 years. :p

[Shadowfax]

LOL Greg yep she had us sweating and breathing hard very quickly.

Sammy I swear most days nothing seems to go right then every so often I get the tiny glimpse of what it is like when it does... then it's gone again. What keeps me coming back besides trying to figure out the puzzle is just how great I always feel at the end of a class. No matter how lousy I may have felt before it. The last few classes I have noticed a marked reluctance to leave when second hour is over. Either that or it's because I just can't move anymore. :p

[Darryl Cowens]

Well, 4th class and 5 weeks in, (7th if you count the other classes I had at other clubs) I wrote out a cheque tonight, so I guess that officially makes me part of the community... :D

[Shadowfax]

Good for you Darryl. You have to share your experiences with us. :)