Changes since you practiced Aikido

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[carloguevarra]

hi!

i would like to know what are the changes that you experienced since you practiced Aikido.

Me, i felt a little bit calm than my usual self, and a little responsible too!:ai: :ki: :do: ;)

[mike lee]

This topic's already been run.

[Fiona D]

Just a little request - sometimes topics come up that have already been aired at some time in the past. For the benefit of those of us who have started reading Aikiweb fairly recently, or are not too sure about the best ways of searching past forums, could people who know that a topic has already been aired (eg. Mike's comment below) point us toward the appropriate forum? Thanks a lot!

[Fiona D]

Oops - told you I wasn't an experienced user. Should say 'eg. Mike's comment ABOVE'. Sorry!

[Kelly Allen]

Just a little request - sometimes topics come up that have already been aired at some time in the past. For the benefit of those of us who have started reading Aikiweb fairly recently, or are not too sure about the best ways of searching past forums, could people who know that a topic has already been aired (eg. Mike's comment below) point us toward the appropriate forum? Thanks a lot!
Don't worry about what Mike says he can be a little too blunt some times. I have never seen this thread either.

I would say I am able to control how aggrevated I get at little annoying things. Like my wife says,"Don't sweat the little stuff". :grr: :mad: :rolleyes: :p :)

[Jim ashby]

Older. Fatter. Greyer. Happier.

Have fun.

[carloguevarra]

Sorry if the topic has been posted in the past, i'm just a new user.

[SeiserL]

While the topic may be old, it is a new one for you since you are new here and obviously filled with a lot of questions. Welcome.

I have studied Aikido only 8 years now. I am older, calmer, and move better.

Aikido, like any martial art, can be a tool for self development.

What changes were you hoping to make by training?

Until again,

Lynn

Until again,

Lynn

[carloguevarra]

well, i've been practicing for a year now and i know its a short span of time, but in relation to my daily life, i can say i'm more responsible, more confident, and it's a good exercise too!

[cindy perkins]

Humbler. It's amazing how hard I can work to retain so little. But joyful anyway. And my knees hurt. :)

[DanD]

After my first aikido practice, which was just before the weekend and after a long time of not training at all (!) , I was (physically sort of) broken, dizzy from over rolls and...sooooo happily ready for the weekend.

“This was a beginning of a beautiful friendship” :)

[DGLinden]

I've been at this so long I can't remember a time not doing it - or at least I can't remember how I felt that long ago; like 35 years or so.

I can't tell you what I would be like if I had not been doing it, but I can say that compared to every other man I know my age I am more active, stronger, more flexible, less likely to fall and break a hip, more alert, a better dancer and more interested in more things. However...

Every joint in my body hurts more often, gets stiffer quicker, loosens up slower, grinds like they're full of broken glass and gravel, and makes me more inclined to sleep later and eat heartier. Other than that..?

A bit of advice. Take fewer break falls, be less inclined to fight over who is stronger, faster, and a better uke. Who knows? Someday you might wake up and realize you are old and you just might want to use your body for something else. Be nice to yourself.

[erikmenzel]

Well, I used to be an old, ugly, fat, lazy, ill mannered SoB. But after I started Aikido I imideately turned into this young, superfit, goodlooking, loveable and active supermodel/sexgod/perfect-son-in-law. :D :D :D :D


Unfortunately I sometimes lie though :eek:

[DaveO]

Hello!

I originally wasn't going to post to this thread; I've only been doin Aikido for less than a year; but certain events in the past few hours have caused me to think about this.

On the surface, I would say that Aikido hasn't really changed me all that much; I'm not much more introspective; I'm still a very intense person; I like to throw myself full force into whatever I'm doing, for better or worse.

But now that I think about it; Aikido has changed me far more than I thought - I'm taking aikido!

I'd better explain:

Nine years ago; I was an Infantryman; section commander in charge of 9 men in an Assault Reconnaissance platoon. I was tough, fit, mean, nasty and loaded with self-confidence as only a 26-year-old NCO can be. I had survived three tours of duty; two in some of the hottest areas Canadian troops had seen since Korea. I had two notches on my rifle barrel.

That changed one April morning, during a regular qualification parachute jump. Briefly, my parachute fouled on landing; I hit the earth at (we estimated) over forty miles an hour. For the first few seconds before the pain came, my first reaction was panic - I knew from the snapping sounds and the ripping feeling my life as a soldier was over. I had enough to look down a bit at my knees; just enough to se the bone sticking out of them.

It took a total of nine operations to save my legs.

For the next few years; I pretty much lived the life of an almost-cripple. My career in the Army over; I took up my family's trade as a printer, a satisfying but boring job. I walked around on the presses like Frankenstein's monster; stiff-legged; using my hands to haul myself up stairs; etc. I learned how to walk all over again; using my ankles and hips to turn instead of leading with the knee as is normal.

I kept in shape (sort of) with long walks - up to 20 miles 3 times a week - and bending exercises that often left my crying with pain and frustration.

I tried taking up Karate again; I left after two months; my legs just weren't up to it no matter how much I tried to ignore it.

Then, I tried Aikido.

It was the dumbest reason you could imagine; I read a good S-F book called 'The Glass Helm' by Stephen Gould; in which the protagonist becomes, through technological means, a seventeen-year-old Doshu.

Anyway, I went for a class; skeptical as always. Two hours later I was hooked. Two weeks later, I did my first forward roll from standing - can you imagine? Someone who has to take a break while climbing stairs doing rolls? Do you have any idea what that feels like?

(Actually, it felt pretty bad; I came down on my head. I've gotten better since. Lol)

There have been no physiological changes; my knees are still as weak as ever. I can't sit seiza for very long; and it always hurts bad. Agura is worse; too much lateral strain. But I move much more freely now. I still use my knees as little as possible but now I use the other leg joints to best advantage; I glide, I don't hobble. I don't limp anymore. Aikido taught me how to look at movement as not one fixed way of doing things; i.e. the way I learned to walk as a baby; but as a serieos of options and possibilities. If this doesn't work, try this. Refine it this way. Practice this.

This kind of freedom is incredible; I owe it all to Aikido - if I hadn't walked into that class (and I almost didn't; it's up 3 flights of stairs), I'd still be wandering around looking like Lurch.

Thanx!

Dave

[ikkainogakusei]

Well, I used to be an old, ugly, fat, lazy, ill mannered SoB. But after I started Aikido I imideately turned into this young, superfit, goodlooking, loveable and active supermodel/sexgod/perfect-son-in-law. :D :D :D :D

Unfortunately I sometimes lie though :eek:
Erik, I'll make a note to try to find your latest post for a good laugh. :D :p :D

Thanks for that. :D :ai: :

[shadow]

im less afraid of things.

interested in more things.

and now i take life by the throat rather than it taking me by the throat.

[BC]

If you would like to determine if a topic has been addressed before, you could utilize the search function available at the top of the page. Just offering a suggestion.

[Creature_of_the_id]

was worth redoing the topic just to read Dave's story :)

its good to see aikido has done so much for you.

[Sven Groot]

I've only been doing Aikido for just over 5 months now, but already it has changed me.

I'm fitter than I was before (that's not a big achievement, considering how incredibly unfit I was before Aikido :rolleyes: ), a little more flexible (I can sit in seiza for about 5-10 minutes now on a good day (I do still have a lot of trouble getting up after that, though), when I just started I couldn't do it at all), and hopefully a little wiser.

The most important thing I've learned though is that a lot of the things I used to say I would never do aren't actually impossible.

For a very long time, I've been afraid of being up-side-down. I couldn't make somersaults, I never went into rollercosters with loopings, I've stated for years that I would never do a bungee jump... stuff like that.

After doing a lot of ukemi, I feel that up-side-down isn't all that bad. I can do somersaults again, and although I haven't had the opportunity, next time I come against a rollercoster with loops I'm definitely going to try.

There's probably more, but I'd likely only bore you :D

Just my 4c (inflation)