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<blogEntry id="3379">
	<title><![CDATA[Wow... Do I ever ache!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[All I can say is wow!
Michelle and I participated in our first practice last night!

Let me just clarify that, despite having experience in Martial Arts, I haven't practiced in quite some time...
Long enough to lose my tone and flexibility at any rate!
My arms feel like lead, my legs feel they have 10lb weights tied around them, my wrists were wrenched every which way and I feel [B]FANTASTIC![/B]

I kid you not! Nothing compares to the ache after a good training session. Those of you that are regular practitioners, you know what I mean and those of you that are new, you'll soon find out :D .
You'll grow to love that pain.

The session started like the others with the exception of me being on the mat, in a Gi and very, VERY nervous. We went along on a "not beginners" night as I like being thrown in at the deep end.
That's just my particular learning style, if you're not comfortable with it, don't do it.

I'm not going to name every technique we covered for 2 reasons;
1. There were a lot of them and,
2. I don't know the names of them all!

All I can tell you is we covered Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo and Shihonage.

As I said, last night was WAY above my level but I have well and truly caught the bug and so, I believe, has my beautiful wife-to-be!

I know you guys probably aren't too bothered because you don't know us that well but I just want it documented how proud I am of her for last night.
For someone to go into a non-beginners class and maintain her level of conviction throughout the whole class, I believe, is something to be very proud of. I kept glancing to her during the practice (when someone wasn't trying to forcibly remove my head from my body :D) and she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely and, thankfully, she seemed to be partnered with the higher grades who can be guaranteed to show control and discretion.

It shows that even a complete novice can go to a dojo and enjoy themselves and be made to feel welcome.

Did you get that newbies? There's [I]no[/I] reason not to go!
If you think you may enjoy AiKiDo, go and take a look!

I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to any and all members of Cambridge Aiki Dojo for making us feel welcome and we intend to be training with you for many years to come :D]]></body>
	<date>11-08-2008</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="3377">
	<title><![CDATA[The thought occurs...]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Having previous martial arts experience was a real boost for me when it came to choosing Aikido. I'd previously studied Wing Chun and Ninjutsu so I was already well aware that my passion lays with Martial Arts (second only to my beautiful fiancé - more about her later :D).

If you're reading this, you probably found AiKiWeb the same way I did;
Our friend Google! Never underestimate how useful Google can be.
A quick search for "Martial Arts in Cambridge" quickly turned up a link to the Cambridge AiKi Dojo. Magic says I!
Having bounced around their website reading, practically, everything I could get my hands on I decided that Aikido was what I wanted to do.

Now... My fiancé!
Her Martial Arts experience equates to slapping me if I misbehave and Jackie Chan films. Absolutely [B]nothing[/B].
However, with a little encouragement from me, coupled with her desire to learn some form of martial arts she agreed that she would accompany me on a test visit to my local dojo!

A day or so later I placed a call to the Sensei and sought his approval to come along and observe a training session. He, very kindly, allowed us to come along.

My first impressions of the dojo were fantastic.
Everyone observed proper etiquette, down to the smallest detail and we were greeted almost immediately by one of the Dan-ranks.
After a brief explanation why we were there he quickly arranged us some seating and simply requested that we keep the noise to a minimum. He then returned to setting out the mats that, I was fairly confident, would soon be gaining imprints of my face!

Then Sensei took to the mat. He was greeted by bowing, respect and a picture of O'Sensei Ueshiba, that he promptly bowed to himself.

I won't go too much into the next section as I expect the warm-up differs from dojo to dojo but it was conducted efficiently and quietly.
I appreciate this, having trained with guys that "hulked out", grunting and straining on the warm up. It's not pleasant to witness!

A short while later, after some gratuitous wrist-twisting, the practice turned to the 31step Jo-Kata.
"Brilliant!" I think to myself as the dojo is lead through the kata.

A while later and class was concluded.
I had a quick chat with the Sensei and the Dan-grade (I do know his name but I'm not posting it for his privacy) and we were invited back to observe / participate in the next session. At this point however neither of us was prepared, mentally or physically, to do so. The following session we attended and observed and the decision was made that we would, indeed, be studying there :D

We participate in our first practice session tonight!

I'll let you know how it goes!

:ai: :ki: :do:]]></body>
	<date>11-07-2008</date>
</blogEntry>


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