Screaming white belt newbie

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[PeaceHeather]

I admit, it sounds better if I say "screaming white belt newbie" as opposed to "hi, I'm new here, how are you..."

I just signed onto this forum two days ago, I think. My first aikido lesson EVER was about four hours ago. I will be sore tomorrow. I can do two forward rolls in a row, thumping my way through them... but if I do three I get very verrrrrry dizzy.

It's a good thing I knew about the spiritual/mental side of this art before getting into it -- I'm actively listening for all the voices in my head and trying to face them while I'm out there. Jeez, it took me four weeks to work up the nerve to step *onto* the mat in the first place...

(voices: as in, "jeez, you landed too rough again," "this sensei is GOING to lose patience with you if you don't shape up", "holy COW you're out of shape!!", and so on and so on... and also, "you can do this, you're just out of practice," "hey, that was better!", "sensei just said something really kind and it felt GOOD," etc.)

I've heard it said that aikido teaches you who you really are, on and off the mat. I'm seeing that it doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know -- that I push myself much harder than anyone else would -- but what it does do is really drive home those messages. You feel them in your body rather than just rationalizing them in your head.

This, showing up and doing forward rolls and turning around in little circles, is some of the hardest Work I've ever done. I was *so* scared to be there tonight, and I did it anyway, and I want to both celebrate my courage and cry over my fear. :blush: Has anyone else ever been there?

Peace,
Heather

[akiy]

Hi Heather,

Welcome to the AikiWeb Forums and welcome to aikido! I'm sure you'll find aikido both challenging and a joy. Thank you for your introduction.

-- Jun

[shihonage]

I find that the first 3 months are the period where one is most prone to giving up.
I sure almost did.

If you manage to stick with it for 3 months, you will find that the road gets less bumpy.
Instead of thinking "I can never learn to do this" regarding a certain movement, your mindset will change to "I may not be able to do this particular thing now, but I know I will eventually, because I already learned some things I thought I never would".

[PeaceHeather]

Thank you both for the welcome!

I tried to reply to Jun earlier, but hit a wrong button and lost my post... so I'll reiterate as best I can:

Challenge -- heh. Ohhhhh, yes. Already experiencing the "challenge" part of aikido.

Joy -- welllll.... I recently learned to drive a stick-shift (better late than never), and surprised my husband with my focus. I was *going* to *learn* how to *drive* this *car* if it was the *last* thing I *ever* *did*. :grr: He had never seen me so determined to do anything before.

Surprise, darling... :D

Anyway, right now it's kinda like that. I know it will be worth so much to me to learn these things; so even though, right now, I expect to be doing nothing *but* forward rolls for the NEXT TEN YEARS, I still am determined to learn them no matter what. My kidneys may never forgive me. :p

Thank you both!
Heather

[MaryKaye]

One thing I hadn't anticipated is that some of the things which were hard and scary and painful initially--forward rolls in particular--didn't just become easier, they turned out to be *fun*. Forward rolls from a good high-energy throw are great--they remind me of body-surfing or white-water rafting. And it still amazes me that I could learn to do this at my age and with my totally unathletic background. Took me a long time, but I did it.

(If you could do two rolls your first class, you have a five-month headstart on me! I was the despair of the dojo for about that long, and then finally learned how to roll literally in the ten minutes between 7:00 class and 8:00 class. We still don't understand how that happened. The people who came to both classes were flabbergasted.)

Mary Kaye

[Josh Bisker]

shucks, i thought this was going to be a post about someone making a "white belt newbie" scream on the mat.

welcome on in Heather! it's scary and intimidating and rough-n-tumble on top of all that, but it's darn fun too, and will give back to you as much as you put in. if i were to give any word of advice, i'd tell you to not be scared of getting to know people in the dojo - even (and especially) sensei! but good luck and have fun.

[PeaceHeather]

Mary -- I never said they were "good" rolls... :D and this morning I learned that it is, in fact, possible to have a stiff and sore butt without having stiff and sore legs. VERY weird -- usually I get those muscles sore when hiking of climbing a lot of stairs or something, so they all get sore together.

Josh -- I only make myself scream, and then only internally. I can't *believe* how loud those voices get... I mean, I've always had them speaking to me, I've always known they were there; I just never quite took the time to really pay attention to what they do when I'm not calm and meditative.

Our dojo is headed by Thomas Burdine-soke three nights a week, and by Matt-sensei and Phil-sensei on Wednesdays. (I don't know their last names, and anyway everyone else just calls them Matt-sensei and Phil-sensei, so...) All three of them feel "right"; balanced, laid back, with good senses of humor and a healthy dose of genuine encouragement. We won't discuss what a hottie Phil-sensei is. :blush:

Last night, Phil-sensei was working with me on rolls and saying, "of course you're going to get it wrong; everybody gets it wrong; there are whooooole lot more ways to do each and every one of these moves *wrong*, and you've got to go through them all in order to work your way toward doing it right."

I said, "so I'm *exploring*," and he just grinned and nodded. I proceeded to explore how dizzy I could get, but it's all good.

[John Boswell]

I've heard it said that aikido teaches you who you really are, on and off the mat. I'm seeing that it doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know --

There are a select few people who "know who they really are" and to go off looking for what you already know is only confusing. I did that some years ago, but found in the end I "knew" me after all. However, one thing aikido WILL do is refine and strengthen the You that you know and you'll end up better, stronger, more confident and sure of yourself in the end. Then those voices in your head will become more encouraging... as opposed to my voices which are numerous and annoying as all hell. :D

"You talking about me?"

"Sheeesh! I'm busy. Talk to ya later!"

Anyways... Good luck with your training! Don't worry too much about the scary stuff, just keep working at it and the skill and confidence will come in time. ;)

[PeaceHeather]

There are a select few people who "know who they really are" and to go off looking for what you already know is only confusing. I did that some years ago, but found in the end I "knew" me after all. However, one thing aikido WILL do is refine and strengthen the You that you know and you'll end up better, stronger, more confident and sure of yourself in the end.

Maybe it's too early to say who I really am. I've learned recently just how much I talk myself down, and one of my practices has been to learn a little self-compassion... which is easy enough to perform when you're concentrating on it, and not so easy when you're concentrating on rolling and on being *aware* of those voices.

So far, I've learned that I'm harder on myself than sensei is likely to ever be. :rolleyes: :)

Then those voices in your head will become more encouraging... as opposed to my voices which are numerous and annoying as all hell. :D

Pfft. I have one who only speaks in song lyrics. You ever get a song in your head, stop to listen, and realize that what you're singing to yourself is actually *relevant* to the situation in some way? Oy. :D

Anyways... Good luck with your training! Don't worry too much about the scary stuff, just keep working at it and the skill and confidence will come in time. ;)

Thanks so much, John! Next lesson is on Monday...
Heather

PS - can anyone tell me what these symbols all mean?
:circle: :square: :triangle:

[mrjam2jab]

I was scared my first time also...I went to the room and no body was there yet so I thought to myself, "oh, well, I tried." but on the way out I thought, "NO. I cant keep doing this" I am known for bailing before I start. and now after a few months of practice I am glad I didnt run away. I could certainly use an Aikido dictionary though...:-)

[cuguacuarana]

welcome, I'm fairly new here myself, and have only been doing aikido since the beginning of January. I get the voices too, but you just have to keep practicing and try and forget about them. Right? I think that I'm starting to forget about those unproductive voices little by little. More and more, I am just getting excited. Good luck!

[John Boswell]

Hey Heather,

The circle, triangle and square are symbols that you will find are very predominate in aikido.

You will find in certain organizations some (or a lot) of talk about "Ki." Whichever philosophy you subscribe to, if you will think of ki as the flow of physical energy... then associate that with those symbols, it will make some sense. Example:

Your basic stance in aikido is called "hanmi". Now, if you imagine yourself standing in a box, your feet will be in the two opposite corners of that box. (i.e. back right corner and upper left corner of the imaginary box. NOW... the o t h e r two corners are your weak points Start leaning in one of those directions and you'll find yourself falling over. Certain techniques will exploit those corners.

Hand movements will usually move in circular motions... hence the circle. It can be in just about any direction but there will be a cirlcle there.

Same thing with triangle: foot patterns will move in that fashion in the shape of a triangle.

Personally, I HIGHLY recommend the book "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere." There are a lot of good explainations and diagrams for aikido moves in there. Some people don't care for it, but I liked it and keep it handy when I'm reviewing tests coming up.

And again... this is one of those things that you'll come to see in time. Circles, Squares and Triangles are all throughout aikido techniques if you look for them. If they ( :circle: :square: :triangle: ) have any OTHER signifcance than this... it's new to me! (and that's entirely possible ;) )

Have a good day! :)

[PeaceHeather]

I get the voices too, but you just have to keep practicing and try and forget about them. Right? I think that I'm starting to forget about those unproductive voices little by little.

Actually... I've been working lately within a counseling system that guides you to listen to your voices with compassion, even the nasty ones. They're only trying to be helpful in the ways that they know how.

One of the wildest experiences is to sit down and listen to one of those guys rattling on about how "you'll never be good enough, you're a klutz", etc. etc. and to whisper to it softly, "Hey. Why do you keep saying that?"... and then to actually hear an answer! So often, my inner critic is either just parroting things I've heard since I was a kid, or else trying to convince me not to do something that I might fail at or be hurt by.

They're trying to protect me; I'm working to thank them.

Those parts of my personality work so hard -- so I try to thank them for that, and try to convince them to trust me, and to release their death-grip on my self-respect. When I do that, often those "voices" (for lack of a better term) will loosen up and free a tremendous amount of energy that I can use for healthy things instead. It's amazing.

Blend and harmonize, respond with compassion, redirect the energy to a better path... isn't that aikido?

:cool:

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

The circle, triangle and square are symbols that you will find are very predominate in aikido.


Ahhh, now I get it. I was wondering if there was something alchemical going on. ;) Which I'd be fine with... I've been working with "energy", ki, chi, call it what you wish, for several years now.

Thanks!

Heather

[shihonage]

Aikido and Dynamic Sphere, although having truly inspirational drawings, did nothing except confuse me.

It was NOT written in a way that is easy to comprehend.
Reading this book is like trying to read a physics manual - not the best way to aid in Aikido learning IMO.

As a means of secondary learning aid, watching an instructional video would be a lot more helpful, I think.

[Lan Powers]

Aikido And The Dynamic Sphere Has always seemed to be a point of controversy, it seems. :rolleyes:
Since it was the first book that gave step by step flow of techniques (although in fairly *physics* language) that I ever found, it gave me my first glimpse of this stuff.
I love it, personally.
Your mileage may vary though.
Oh yes, Thanks for joining in on the forums. Jun has made a great place here, and I think everyone would agree that this is a , I don't know, Lodestone? Haven? Just "regular stop?" Seems to mean more than that, but is hard to express well.
Welcome
Lan

[Noel]

Heather-

Just remember, when you are nage, there are very few 'wrong' techniques, just a whole boatload of ones that you aren't practicing at the moment :)

Also, don't get discouraged. We all were newbies once, too. We've just taken a few more steps down the path, that's all.

Good luck,
-Noel

[PeaceHeather]

Noel, Lan, thanks so much -- I'm a little concerned that I'm standing here trying to create a limelight to stand in, to get such welcoming attention and encouragement.

Lan, how about "waystation"? A place to rest as we walk our path, and refresh ourselves in the company of friends and friendly strangers, before continuing our journey.

Noel, thanks for that reminder. I think that aikido is the right place for me to be, right now, and odd little things keep happening in my surrounding life to help highlight that I've made a good decision.

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

So, lesson number two is tonight... the last one was on Wednesday, I was fine Thursday until I sat at my office chair for four hours straight, then I was *really* stiff. And on Friday I was moving like a cripple, and my husband kept shaking his head at me in disbelief. Miraculously, on Saturday all the pain was completely gone except for a couple little twinges.

So, um, is it inappropriate to keep posting things here in my "introduction" thread? I want to keep a record of the things I'm learning, but I don't want to annoy people either.

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

:confused: :eek: :hypno: :crazy: :yuck:

Lesson Number Two.
Monday, April 26, 04

On Sunday morning, I did something to my right hip that felt like a really bad muscle spasm. By late Sunday the pain was just a minor twinge and some stiffness, and today I didn't really notice anything.

UNTIL.

So we get on the mat, we bow in, we start by doing rolls around on the mat to get comfy in our space again, I do my first ever roll as part of the group -- and nearly scream in agony as my hip decides that now would be a good time for a repeat performance of... what*ever* happened yesterday. :hypno:

Matt-sensei insists that I didn't scream. The irony is that right up till that moment, I felt like I had done the best roll so far in my two whole lessons... :rolleyes: but as soon as I had pressure on my low back and hip, the pain started, and by the time I came up on my knees that was as far as I could go because my hip was SCREAMING at me. Soke hadn't seen this, and when he noticed my kneeling motionless on the mat, must have thought I was simply new and confused, because he said, "just do a somersault."

I yelped, "Can't."

"Are you all right?"

Another yelp, "No." Tears are rolling down my face at this point and I go from hardly being able to breathe, to panting in pain. I'm a foot from the wall and I can't crawl over to it to help myself stand up, so I kind of crabwalk on my hands, one knee, and one foot (I was kneeling in a little ball).

"Did you sprain your ankle?"

Third and final yelp, "Hip." You've noticed by now that I'm only responding in monosyllables.

**SIGH**

So I spend the first half of the class walking, stretching, yelping quietly, repeat until I feel like I can move that leg and put weight on it...

Physical: agony, fading to mere pain, fading by the end of the night to "I can walk but dear god don't ask me to do anything like a real ukemi." Along with "Yes, yes I *will* be making an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow."

Mental/emotional: agony, fading to shame and frustration, fading to embarrassment plus self-comfort (huh - yay me), followed by "I should go home, I can't do anything injured", followed by determination NOT to leave and the realization that I'm learning by watching... followed by no small amount of pride when I realize that I'm not only understanding the moves, I'm getting the principles, seeing possible variants before sensei points them out, and able to help the only other white-belt in class that night. And I got to do about three of the different moves and more or less grasp them. Yay me!

I'm very glad, and proud of myself, that I didn't drag my sore self home before class ended. I learned things.

Here endeth the description.
Heather

[Bronson]

...is it inappropriate to keep posting things here in my "introduction" thread? I want to keep a record of the things I'm learning, but I don't want to annoy people either.

If you're worried about "annoying people" (though you shouldn't be) you could start an AikiWeb Journal (http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/journal.php).

Bronson

[PeaceHeather]

Hmm. Cool. I hadn't seen the "New Journal" button... duh. *grin*

Do journals get feedback as threads do? I've been really encouraged by hearing back from folks after I ramble on.

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

Good news! Injury located, diagnosed, healed -- I *love* my chiropractor -- and on Monday I should be able to play again. Yay!

Usually, when my hip goes out, it's the ilius -- the wing of the pelvis -- that is out of alignment. This time, it was the sacrum -- the big, triangle shaped bone at the very base of the spine, that the wings come out from. Yeeouch.

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

Da Plan: May 3, 2004
Attend Monday dojo. Play in a limited capacity, no rolling.
Tuesday, see chiropractor just to make sure I really am all put back together again, since I'm still just a bit stiff and tender in the hip joint.
Wednesday, provided all goes well, try rolling again and see if I can do it without agony this time.

Fingers crossed,
Heather

[akiy]

Do journals get feedback as threads do?
Yes.

-- Jun

[PeaceHeather]

Last post in this thread... just to keep the continuity a bit before I switch to a journal.

1. Can't see chiropractor till Thursday, and dojo for me is Mon/Wed.

2. Soke is evil. I got clotheslined last night... mitigated by our dojo having the softest mats in town (they're at least two, three inches thick), but I still don't know how to backfall. I made a nice thudding sound. Also mitigated by the fact that ten seconds later he showed me how to not get clotheslined, and I succeeded in not going thud.

3. Apparently the Force is strong within me. We did lots of ki exercises last night, and I rocked... er, that is to say, I was showing my partner a thing or two, and he outranks me. Ki is my Friend. :cool:

Heather

[Bronson]

Hey Heather,

I'm going to be honest and forthright here and say that I've got a couple of Red Flags going up.

The first is that in your previous post you said that you got "clotheslined" by your sensei, without receiving instruction on proper ukemi beforehand. This to me is a HUGE no-no. Not to mention that he did it full well knowing that you are very new and still recovering from an injury DING DING DING FLAG FLAG.

The second point that grabs my attention is the whole "soke" thing mentioned by John and Ron in this thread (http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5490).

I hope you take this in the spirit in which it was intended. Please be careful out there. I've been sucked in by an instructor in the past claiming titles he didn't have. It turned out badly for everyone involved and I really would prefer others not have to go through what his students went through.

Best,

Bronson

[PeaceHeather]

Bronson,

I also have gotten sucked in by a pompous goofball before, and I did as much homework as I could before taking preliminary free lessons at this dojo. Apparently, this is a branch of aikido which he founded; there are a few dojos across the country that affiliate with him, refer to our dojo as the "hombu", and refer to him as "soke" insofar as it meaning "head of family".

Even so, I do plan to ask him what his motives were, the next time I see him.

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

Well, I asked. And now I've been more or less told that aikido isn't the art for me and that I should go elsewhere if I can't handle it.

Heather

[PhiGammaDawg]

im just curious...what is the name of the aikido you are doing, heather??
im just curious...Bronson was right...I agree with him. New peeps should be properly taught ukemi before being introduced *improperly* to the mat....
I almost injured myself doing this.

[Chris Li]

Well, I asked. And now I've been more or less told that aikido isn't the art for me and that I should go elsewhere if I can't handle it.

Heather

May be too late, but I assume that these are the folks you were talking about http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19321

If you're in Indianapolis you might try http://indianapolisaikikai.org/ , which is a legitimate ASU Aikido school, or Guy Haskell in Bloomington http://www.indiana.edu/~aikido/ . also a legitimate ASU dojo, and an old friend of mine.

Best,

Chris

[PeaceHeather]

I'm an hour north of Indy, and about two and a half from Bloomington.

I'm currently still regrouping mentally and trying to decide what to do next... but I have to say, I'm touched and grateful that you'd look out for me like this. *snif* Also, amused that a guy from Honolulu knows more about the dojos in my area than I do.

Heather

[Chris Li]

I'm an hour north of Indy, and about two and a half from Bloomington.

I'm currently still regrouping mentally and trying to decide what to do next... but I have to say, I'm touched and grateful that you'd look out for me like this. *snif* Also, amused that a guy from Honolulu knows more about the dojos in my area than I do.

Heather

No problem. I wasn't always from Honolulu, we moved here after Japan - but I went to college in Ohio, which is where I know those guys from.

Best,

Chris

[Robert Jackson]

I'm an hour north of Indy, and about two and a half from Bloomington.

I'm currently still regrouping mentally and trying to decide what to do next... but I have to say, I'm touched and grateful that you'd look out for me like this. *snif* Also, amused that a guy from Honolulu knows more about the dojos in my area than I do.

Heather

Well If the time slot is no problem I'd encourage you to keep it up but under a differnt dojo... Personally if I was asked to leave for asking a few questions, then I wouldn't hestitate to tell them where to stuff it :)

[Bronson]

Hi Heather...check your pm's

Bronson

[PeaceHeather]

Hi Bronson,
Did.
:cool:
Heather

[Nick Simpson]

Hey Heather, sorry to hear about your experiance but these people dont sound like good people to train with, Im sure you will find a better dojo with better instructors who care for their students needs properly :)

[DanielR]

Hi Heather,

There's an Aikido club at Purdue University (http://expert.ics.purdue.edu/~aikido/), in case this is any closer to where you are.

Best of luck.

[PeaceHeather]

Hey Nick.

I still don't think that they're on a money-trip... I hadn't yet paid my starting dues for membership... but I can't help but feel that there's a little of a "cult trip" going on. I don't want that to sound like they're into brainwashing or anything... but, you know, as rotten as I feel right now I can't let go of the notion that I have a right to ask questions, and a right to come to sensei with those questions.

Maybe I went about it the wrong way; maybe there was some mental test here that I'm just not able to pass; maybe I have ego issues. But I still can't accept "you have to learn to deal with it" as an acceptable answer here.

Heather

[PeaceHeather]

Daniel.. and everybody...

:D STOP, already!

You're the third person to take the time to help find me another dojo. Alla youse guys are about to make me cry, you're being so helpful, and I'm really, really touched. I truly am. I'm also posting from work and don't want to be all sniffly at my desk, so quit it. :)

Also, I'm employed at Purdue, so, uh, yeah... that one's plenty close to where I am. I've sent them an email, BUT... they're a student group, and it's currently finals week, so I don't yet know if they're meeting at all, or whether they will continue to meet over the summer. If those answers are "yes", then I'm going to check them out. If not, then I can wait till next semester if I have to.

Thanks again, everyone. You're all wonderful.
Heather

[Nick Simpson]

Forget about the money issue Heather, what alarms me is the mistreatment of a student with a week or two of training experiance and this instructors credentials. Basically, his true rank isnt accredited anywhere, this guy could be a tomiki first dan (worse he could be a complete sham or a kyu grade) and then set himself up as a soke with approvement from the council, been instantly promoted to tenth dan and all before the age of 62. There have only been a couple of tenth dans in aikido, most of them are awarded posthumously and were O'Sensei's direct students. This mans credentials are extremely suspect and his attitude is defiantely attrocious.

[PeaceHeather]

He says he held me on the way down to the mat so I wouldn't land hard. It's possible... I don't remember it, but I'm willing to say that it's definitely possible. But, well.

I feel bad, because I liked and trusted both his yudansha senseis, the visiting yudansha who studied there, and all the students on down to white belt. They seem like nice people who really "get it" as far as teaching and the non-competitive spirit. I want it to be extremely clear that I have no problem with any of them, and I won't accept anyone saying anything about the whole dojo. I've considered still training there, just on the one night of the week that he doesn't teach... I'm not all that concerned about ranking, after all.

Still. *shrug*
Heather

[PeaceHeather]

Learned a few things.

It's definitely the sensei, not his students. The whole friend-of-a-friend thing; when one of my friends learned that I was taking aikido there, he remembered words he'd had from one of his friends, that, in essence, this guy has an unpredictable mood, and over the years has seemed to deliberately try to drive specific individuals out of his dojo. No reason given, and some of these students had been there for years.

In any case, I've checked out the Purdue Aikido Club, and while I feel that these folks will do right by me, I still have misgivings. They have a lot harder mats, for one thing. :cool: But I explained my situation to the acting-sensei and a couple of senior students who asked, and they seemed very receptive and welcoming. So, we'll see.

It's interesting how much I'd gotten accustomed to what I was seeing in the other dojo, and how easy it is for me to make comparisons to this new one and say, "well, we didn't do it that way over here..." Everything from their bow-in ritual, belt system (everyone wears white), teaching style, it's all different! I hope it will be a good fit.

Cheers,
Heather

[stuartjvnorton]

Hopefully this new club works out for you Heather: it sounds like you've had a bit of a rough intro to aikido.
When you find the right place to train, you'll know it. It will just feel like home. :-)

[PeterR]

It takes a bit of time to find a good personal fit. I don't think anyone can be so lucky to find exactly what suits them first time off.

So Heather - explore a bit.

Personally I'm not too bothered with the clothesline. You weren't hurt, you learned something.
I'm not too bothered about the impatience with beginners questions either or more to the point I have been more bothered by one or two instances were a complete beginner began criticizing the way I instruct. I wasn't there, I don't know the dynamic of your conversation, but on one occasion I indicated the presence of the door (the infamous ardent beginner with a book story).

I am more than a little perturbed by the biography - soke and all. Ohba H. was first rate - legendary for attacking Ueshiba M. for real during a demo in Manchuria. However, as far as I know he didn't travel to the West and Burdine doesn't mention any trips to Japan much less any time training there. One would think that he'd be much more clear about that particular aspect if it was significant.

It really depends on what you want. If you want to exercise, learn a few things, hang out with like minded people, lineage is no big thing. However, do you really know where you will be going with this - is it possible that rank and recognition of that may become important - in that case lineage is a big thing.

[PeterR]

Whoops - I got threads confused - the e-budo one talks about his connections to Tomiki and Ohba. I think Tomiki only went to the US once as part of a tour of Japanese martial artists (mainly Judo).

Both the above were teachers of my teacher and were past directors of Shodokan Honbu where I train. A bit sensitive to their names being dropped.

[PeaceHeather]

You know, I do want to ask those questions. I've asked him who some of his teachers were, and he rattled of four Japanese names, but I've never heard or seen anything that details how long he trained with whomever, what ranks he attained, and so forth.

Of course, I can't ask him now; it's a little obvious. But his contact information is on the web in case anyone else wanted to investigate.

*shrug*
Heather

[PeaceHeather]

I'm back!

So, a little time off, a little mental re-grouping, a little realization that I was making aikido into my obsession du jour... a little time to let me back recover and for my butt muscles to decide to forgive for what I was putting them through... :D

So: actual introduction. I believe I left that part out last time I was here.... I'm 32, married, I live in my head, I look like I'm 20, I alternate between acting my apparent age and acting like an old soul, I speak Spanish and enjoy medieval reenactment, with a specialty in manuscript-style calligraphy and illumination.

http://www.the-sanctum.com/Scriptorium/Arrantxa.html

I have been a Hoosier my entire life except for a year as an exchange student, I live in a city of about 100,000 people but I'm still a small-town girl inside. I'm a semi-practicing pagan with Wiccan, Unitarian, and Buddhist flavors dominating. My challenges right now are mindfulness in my everyday life, and compassion towards myself.

I don't believe in merely working for a paycheck, which might explain why most of the jobs I've held have been lots of fun for minimal pay or benefits. :) Right now, I work for Purdue Convocations, a performing-arts presenter that is now entering its 102nd season; some people in my department are responsible for booking the acts, some are responsible for advertising and marketing them, some look for corporate sponsorships and individual donations. I make the performers happy, booking hotels, arranging catering backstage, picking them up at the airport, and whatever else they need. In other words, I schmooze with the famous, semi-famous, and infamous.

http://www.convocations.org

I had my first lesson at the Purdue Aikido Club last night. Immediate impressions:

My butt muscles have begun to fear that I don't actually like them. This isn't true, but they don't believe me right now, and have decided to return the favor my demonstrating that they don't like me, either. I walk OLD.

I can't roll for sh!t, but my tenkan sure feels pretty good. Dance steps. :cool:

The mats only LOOK like concrete blocks, they're actually much softer. Thank goodness.

Must get less bony wrists soon. ALL we were doing, aside from learning to roll, were tenkan and irimi exercises, and I have bruises working their way to the surface on my scrawny little arms. :rolleyes: :cool:

Bigger circles, bigger circles, bigger circles! My timid little brain creates timid little moves and weeny circles that collapse, and rolls that don't roll... among other things.

The better the uke, the more I learn. It's summer on campus right now, so class is ikkyu-sensei, Alex the Insane Russian, and three people who have never done aikido before. One of those is me. I feel almost knowledgeable in comparison, having had a whole two lessons before this. :cool: It's really encouraging, since I get to exercise my teacher muscles with each partner while still working my butt off to be a good uke in the way that they each require.

I'm hoping to keep my computer usage under control, so I don't know if I will post here as frequently as I did when I first joined, but it feels good to be back all the same.

Peace!
Heather

[giriasis]

Heather,

It's good to hear that your enjoying your new dojo. Keep at it and you'll learn to be less "bumpy". I promise it gets better.

[Bronson]

Glad to see you came back to the fold ;)

Good luck and train safe.

Bronson

p.s. niiiiiice scroll work :)

[PeaceHeather]

Anne Marie -- does "enjoy" cover that masochistic sense of pride one has when one feels the need to show off just how stiff and sore they are? I move like a ninety-year-old! My butt muscles HATE me! :D

Bronson -- thanks. It's good to have such a supporting community here online to listen to me gripe and moan. I'm sure my husband appreciates it too, since it means I'm not making him listen to all of it. And, PS, thanks again -- did you check out the Laurel Book? Physically all I really did was half the calligraphy, the gilding, and the bookbinding; outside of that, I organized all the artists, helped design and research, and laid out the structure. I'm unseemly proud of that thing.

Heather

[David_francis]

Hi everyone I'm David I have been doing aikido for a couple of months and I'm starting to feel the benefits. Sensei says I am making good progress and that my posture is good.
I wanted to start aikido mainly as I had never done this form of martial art before and because I am interested in japanese culture.
I did Kendo for a couple of months beforehand I enjoyed it but I had to quit as it was a half an hour trek to get there 2 times a week and I couldnt always get the transport.
After Kendo I wanted to try something like karate but there were no karate clubs in my area so I made a good decision and started Aikido. As soon as I stepped in and felt the friendly atmosphere, I knew it was for me.
I know how you feel heather whenever we take seiza my legs are in pain and when I stand up i have to hobble around a bit to get the feeling back. Sensei says that I should take cod liver oil tablets (no thanks yuck!) Also theres a 25% chance that my foot will lock up and send me hopping around the mat cursing like a madman.

[dan guthrie]

My left foot cramps up if I don't take Magnesium and warm up. Ask your doctor if any supplement would help.

[David_francis]

Thanks for that but I think its beginning to go away on its own as i become more flexible. Oh and Happy Birthday!