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<blogEntries>
<blogEntry id="211">
	<title><![CDATA[Finally!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Finally!  I had to miss three classes!  Arg!

So, I had my wisdom teeth out two Wednesdays ago...so instead of getting to go to class on Tuesday, they wanted me to work since I had to have the rest of the week off for recovery...  So there go two...and then this week they had me work on Tuesday again (for some odd reason)...today I had off but they called and asked if I could come in.  I said no.

And I was glad I did.  Class was fun tonight.

Did some riokata dori kokyuho to start with...I personally think that one's boring, but it's still useful.  But then I fell with my heel under my tail bone and that hurt the rest of class.

We did shomenuchi sankyo kokyuho (I guess that's how you'd say it) next...I worked with Sam...that was a whole bunch of fun, because we both got it quickly and started going at a good pace.  Amazingly, after two weeks of nothing aikido beyond some stretches and reading [i]Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere[/i] (which is a great book), I was going awesome rolls and breakfalls tonight!  I'm not sore from them, for once!  (Well, left shoulder is a bit sore, from the end of class...but up until then...)

Did some jo stuff tonight.  It was interesting, but I still prefer bokken.

At the end of weapons class we did kokyudosa again...I worked with Josh and he said he wanted to try to get out of my pin...so I said be my guest.  He got out of the first one, but when he tried to wriggle away, I managed to get a sort of arm bar on him where I was on top of his arm doing a sankyo to his hand.  :D  It was fun.

We tried it again and he managed to get his hand to my face so if anyone was keeping score I guess he gets points for a gouge...but I pushed him down and had my back to him with both of his hands in front of me while I bent his fingers all the wrong ways until he slapped (with his foot).  Sure, a little out of the ordinary...and probably wouldn't be appreciated in some dojos, but I'm glad we can mess around sometimes...sensei was laughing, anyway.  "I said kokyudosa, not aikijujitsu!"

It's funny how good of a stress reliever aikido is...

Hmm...

Well, I have my usualy Tuesday and Thursday off next week, so until then, I guess.

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>08-14-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="189">
	<title><![CDATA[Test Dummy.]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[What is it with my internet connection never working after class?  Anyway, here's Thursday's entry...

At least that's what my body's saying I was tonight.  :D  I took ukemi for sensei on our three of our four techniques we went over first hour...one being shomenuchi iriminage...heavy on the nage.  Ouch.

Weapons class was fun tonight.  We had someone drop in who had taken aikido earlier and he practiced with us.  Did some cool bokken stuff...where you shomen, then both tenkan, then do one knee strike and then tsuki, but the defender sidesteps and is left with the opening.

Did some jo stuff, then did ushiro kotegaeshi with a tanto.  I worked with the visitor guy (another John)...I could tell he had done it before a bit.  But, at the end of each one when I was uke he kept stabbing me...  Not that it hurt, but rather that I don't think that would be the thing to do...  Oh well...I'll just stick with a disarm.

Yeah, so...anyway...  I'll just go swing my bokken at some air or something.

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>07-26-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="174">
	<title><![CDATA[Ow.]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[(Typed last night...internet was down)

Ow.  I hurt my shoulder today.  Ow.  I was helping my sis with rolls and I tried to see what she was doing, so I imitated her and ended up trying to forcefully plant my left shoulder in the mat.  Doesn't feel like it'll hurt for very long...maybe a few days.  But it hurts now.

Didn't have class last Tuesday; due to the hurricane, the malls were closed...had some trailer homes damaged around the area and two dead...but not as bad as they feared last week.

Weapons class went well today.  Did bokken stuff and tanto stuff.  I did 40 squats (don't remember the name for it) and John said that was good for the first time we'd practiced it.

Yeah, this is kind of short, but I had to work this morning, because the morning guy had a hangover and didn't show...so that wore me out.  I'm going to have to get it together when college starts, or I'll be a zombie 24/7.

Meh, whatever.  Did some kotegaeshi today...always fun.  Going for the shower now, bro just got out.

Until Tuesday...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>07-18-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="169">
	<title><![CDATA[Oncoming cold + aikido = dizziness]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Well, I'm catching the cold that my brother has.  Wasn't too bad tonight, but I had a headache, so I skipped tenchi nage.

Well, first off...something FINALLY clicked with my rolls...  Not sure what it was...either holding my arm higher over my head...curling up tighter...or pushing off harder.  Whatever it was, it works!

Normally I'm sick of rolls after only twice around the mats...but tonight while they were doing tenchi nage, sensei said I could work on rolls (at my request), so I did rolls almost non stop for twenty minutes (had to stop to let my inner ear settle down a few times).  Anyway, I was pumped about that, so I did it until I couldn't stand up upon finishing the roll from the dizzieness.

Weapons class was tonight, after our "normal" class...  We did ikkyo, nikyo, and sankyo with the jo and then some kind of freestyle bokken time for about ten minutes (continued after class).  Jo is cool, but bokken is just...I dunno...it's just plain cool.  The stance(s), the movements...the grace (no, not mine...sensei's heh :)).  I think I, too, am in love with the sword.

Well, sore from all my rolling...even with my slight improvements, I still managed to hurl myself against the floor too hard a few times.  Meh...no pain, no gain...practice makes better.

Anyway...we also did ryotedori gote gaeshi tonight...one of my favorites.  Worked with Josh...he likes bending elbows the wrong way.  Ouch.  Punk.  Heh.  Well, I gave what I got.

So, until Tuesday...now that I got a bokken and jo and my sis has a bokken, I can practice that stuff at home without needing mats to keep me from killing myself.

~Veers

[edit]I had "two handed grab one hand grab"...heh...was sleepy, I guess.  Fixed now.[/edit] ]]></body>
	<date>07-10-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="161">
	<title><![CDATA[Elbow pins!  Fun!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Well, I slacked off a bit on TUesday...but I had a friend spending the night after class, so I had to entertain my guest.  That class went well.

Before class I was asking sensei about kaiten nage...we had worked on doing it from shomen uchi on TUesday...and I was trying to remember how to do it from morote dori, but couldn't.  So he helped jog my memory by throwing me into the mat a few times.  :D

Today was great...  I did tenchi nage with Sam...we got going really fast, to where he would just barely grab me before hitting the ground.  Sensei was watching and smiling...

We did a version of irimi nage...but I can't remember which one...kind of hazy...hmm...

At the end of our normal class, we worked on an elbow pin.  That one was really cool!  I felt like sensei was about to rip my arm out of socket a few times.  I worked on that one with Sam, and we were trying different escapes (not many worked!) and stuff.  That was sweet.  After class, a guy from the karate class asked me to show it to him, so I happily pinned him.  He thought it was cool.

Worked with the jo tonight.  Actually...we didn't have enough to go around...so I ended up doing most of the solo stuff with a bokken.  :D  Hey, it's the form that's important, not the fact that if it had been a real sword I wouldn't be typing this now.

The jo was really neat, though I think I like the bokken better.  John (who teaches the weapons section) prefers bokken while sensei prefers jo, so we're going to see a good mix, I predict; which suits me.

Need to get myself a jo...I guess my view of it now is that if jo kata will take a year at minimum to learn, I'd better get started!  :)

Well, I'm a bit sore...threw myself off the end of a jo too hard a couple times...  I need a shower.  I'm thirsty, still...and I need to brush my teeth.  So, I'll end this and go take care of the above.  Until Tuesday...have a happy Independence Day...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>07-03-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="158">
	<title><![CDATA[First weapons class/my expectations of myself...]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Well, I enjoyed tonight.

We FINALLY got to do tsuki kote gaeshi :)  Not very fluid, but, hey, that was the first time I actually got to practice catching a punch.  Could have done that a lot longer.

Weapons class was cool.  John taught it.  We did ikkyo and nikyo with bokken (after killing my knees with squats).

I enjoyed ikkyo and nikyo...though I wasn't very good at them...  John said it's a good thing I don't live in feudal Japan...  :(

We did shomen uchi bokken dori kokyo nage.  That one was fun.  I worked with Josh (by this time, Jeremy's sunburned back was hurting so he had to take a break).  Then we did shomen uchi bokken dori shiho nage... that was way cool, too.

We worked on one thing where you smack the tip of their bokken aside and lung for their throat...and then when they tried it on you, you'd go under their swat and sidestep to get inside their bokken.  Worked with Josh again on that one.

We finished up with shihogi (I think, anyway), with two attackers.  Enjoyed that one, too.  I'd like to see it done with more attackers (but we hardly have enough people who know what they're doing to do that).

Had my first near injury today.  During ryokatadori kokyonage with sensei (remember my rolls form the right side?  That is, they are horrible?  Yeah...) it was alright for the first one when I rolled on the left side, but when he threw me on the right side, I messed up my roll (before I hit the mat) so I almost did a handstand...  And then I did it again...and again...

Three times and sensei told me to slow down (and he slowed down, too) and after that it was better.  Maybe I just had to warm up or something, but it was really lame...

I feel pretty bad about it...  Why can I roll on the left arm, but not the right?  It's driving me crazy.  Most of the time I can tell what I'm doing wrong and work on it...but not with the roll!  Sometimes I collapse my arm, I know that much, and I try to keep it out there, but it tends to stiffen.  Arg!  I'm gonig to stop thinking about it so I don't get worked up :D

Anyway...going to go look for a bokken and jo next week, if not this weekend.  I'm worn out from tonight...and extra hour can make a big difference!  Until Tuesday, then...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>06-26-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="154">
	<title><![CDATA[Two in one]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Two classes in one entry, that is.  My internet died after class last Thursday and I didn't think to write about last week until now.  Can't even remember everything we did last Thursday.  I know it was review, though.

One thing I do remember (because I loved it so much) was kata dori nikyo.  Oh, man, that was so much fun!  Enter, cut down on upturned elbow, tenkan, nikyo.  I did it with John and he was showing me some ways to get out of the pin (though he knew how to keep me in one).  I could have done that one all night.  Well, until John demonstrated a different way to hold the arm (yeah, on me) and he pushed a bit too hard and my shoulder was sore the rest of class.

Anyway, today the judo class ran overtime, so sis and I did some jo practice in the back while waiting.

We started with ai hanmi irimi nage...that was was interesting.  I don't think I did very well on it.  I think I was too stiff.

Next we did morote dori ikkyo.  I worked with Sam...and his elbows have about a 5 degree lienience with the bend.  That is, his elbow will not bend unless you bend it "straight".  It's weird...and it made it hard to bend his arm up so I could get the necessary leverage.

Still, the times I got it, it felt great and worked great!  Sam was good at it, too, so he was doing some mat cleaning with me.

Then we did two where you cross step and make like shiho nage, but then you stop, turn, and enter behind, pulling them over.  I worked with Jeremy, and he kept flopping around so I had to keep showing him how to do it, so I don't think he got to practice it much.

Ah well...No mishaps in kokyudosa today...except I was watching sensei show Jeremy some other suwariwaza behind my sister, so I caughter her by surprise with the one where you turn one palm up and grab their wrist and then cut down on the side of their hand (is that a version of kote-gaeshi?  Little help here?).  Heh, she said now we're even for the slap, though I wasn't even thinking of that when I did the technique.

As for the other two in this one, we're starting weapons class next week (an extra hour Thursday nights...so, again, two in one).  I can't wait.  I'll probably go look for a bokken and jo this weekend.

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>06-24-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="150">
	<title><![CDATA[Kokyu slap!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Back to "normal" tonight.

First we did something that I can't remember the name for.  From katatedori you cross step in, then take a step forward and diagonal and turn your wrist over, so they loose their grip.  Pretty cool.

Did shihonage second, for about twenty minutes, it seemed.  I like doing something a bunch like that, it lets me try stuff and see what works and what doesn't.  As in catching Josh's gi sleeve in my face doesn't work, but I found that after you finish the movement (same hand, same foot thing), if you keep a hold on the wrist and pull back it really throws uke farther, almost like a kotegaeshi.

Worked on iriminage from mortedori.  That was sweet.  Gravity is my friend.  I paired off with my sister for that one and she was really getting into it.  Fun fun fun.  My hip hurts.

Anyway, getting to the title of the entry...during kokyudosa at the end, I paired off with my sister again, and so we're going along, la de da, up, over, pin, up, over, pin, etc.  Next thing I know she comes up but not high enough so when she started coming over to unbalance me, my hand slipped off her wrist and she slapped me in the face.  I went with it (was still holding her other arm) and she started laughing hysterically.

I demonstrated to sensei what she did and he started cracking up, too.  :]

Weapons class is going to start in 9 days (two Thursdays from today) and I'm pumped about that.  Just the small bit of bokken and jo kata we did at the seminar was enough to get me hooked.

Well, until Thursday...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>06-17-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="148">
	<title><![CDATA[Kato Sensei Seminar]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Well, this won't be very long...

Just got back from the two day seminar with Kato Sensei.  Four hours yesterday and two today.  It was great.

For those of you who remember my story of how I got into aikido, I watched Kato's seminar last year and met Joel, who's now our sensei.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun!  Got to do what John said was some pretty advanced stuff...some of it was hard enough for me to believe that.  Kote Gaeshi was awesome...and when I did it with John as nage, he showed me how to do the hardfall from/for it.

We did tenchi-, irimi-, koshi-, shiho-, and kaiten-nage, all kinds of ikkyo, nikyo, and sankyo pins (sankyo hurts!)...information overload!  But, like pretty much anything, being introduced to something makes it a hundred times easier to do next time.

Also I got to work with the bokken and jo for my first time.  Kumitachi and kumijo was really cool...and watching Kato sensei do jokata while the rest of us white belts stood around and watched was cool, too. :]

My sister loved the bokken work and was good at it, but she kept tripping up on the jo stuff.  I think I did decent except on the 5th teaching of jumijo, where you go back on the same side...I kept going on the wrong side and messing it up.  Anyway *shrug* we're starting weapons in a week, so I'll be able to practice some more before working on it at home.

I have pictures, too, which I'll put up when I unload my camera.  It was great.  I'm sore.  Mom wants me to do something with the cars for her.  Zzzzzzzz....

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>06-15-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="141">
	<title><![CDATA[Kyokyu-ho galore]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[^Did I spell that right?  Can't remember...  Anyway, it's just about all we did.  I got to be sensei's uke again tonight.  Fun and riggerous, as usual.

I'm worn out from tonight...

On one waza I did with sensei with morote dori where you step back, irimi, then scoop your hand under their arms and throw them diagonaly.  Hurt my elbow, once, because I held on too long.  I know from watching videos that you're supposed to do a hard side breakfall when on the recieving end of that, but I couldn't figure out how do to them...

I think I got it twice on accident and did one roll and a few backfalls and on the last time I landed on my stomach...that hurt...a lot.

Anyway, besides being too knocked around to remember all we did right now (oh, did some tenkan practice at the end, too), turns out that I think I actually can go to the seminar here two weekends from now with Kato Sensei!  That=sweet.

Anyway, I'm off to a shower and reasonable bed time...have to work next Thursday because someone's graduating and I've gotta work for him.  So, until the seminar...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>06-03-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="132">
	<title><![CDATA[:[]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[No class on Tuesday because the city's water system is messed up, so the mall was closed.

Today I had college orientation until about 6:15...then went to eat and we were going to a graduation of several friends of ours, but mom didn't know where it was (we figured it was at the school, out of town...but it was downtown on the other end of town) so by the time we ate it was 7:00, aka, when it was starting.  We would have been 30+ minutes late, anyway, so we just came home.  Bro and sis had already gone, so I didn't follow (too full of food anyway).

Man, that stinks...no aikido for a whole week!...I guess I can make it up by reading my aikido book or something...

Pah, whatever...I'm pretty sure I'll make next class...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-29-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="129">
	<title><![CDATA[Lots of new stuff]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[My internet decided to be retarted last night...again...

Anyway, another good sized class last night.

We did three new techniques and kokyho with and without a slight turn...(redirection, more accurately).

I got really worn out last night.  We ran twenty five minutes late, so I'm sure that had something to do with it.  Also, though I can't read the clock without my glasses on, I think we did (temple strike) irimi nage for about 30 minutes...and switching from uke to nage every two times keeps you on your toes...and back.

I found out why we practice on mats...heh.  I was doing irimi nage with Chuck and twice (yes, twice) he dropped me close to the edge of the mat and when I slapped on my backwards fall, my fingers slapped the hard floor.  Ouch!  Probably the two-inch height difference had something to do with the pain...as in, if the hard floor were level with the mat I doubt it would have hurt as much.  But still...we had to take a break while I massaged the acidic ache out of my hand.

The one I liked best that we did last night was from katate dori you step to the side 45* and overextend yourself to push them over and use your other hand (if you need/want to) to sweep their foot out from under them.  I liked the omote version better...it was fun with the tenkan, because I found it pretty easy to make it flow as one movement.

Saturday classes may start next week.  My family is going to Tennessee this week to visit my grandma in the hospital, but I've got to stay home and work.  Anyway, that means they'll miss Tuesday's class.  But I won't, so until then...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-23-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="125">
	<title><![CDATA[Sore back...]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Chuck brought another friend today, but John wasn't there.  Makes seven students tonight.

I got a book today with my Barnes and Noble gift card I got for graduation.  Got [i]Best Aikido[/i] by Kisshomaru and Moriteru Ueshiba.  Since we're going by the book (literally), sensei said that was a good one to get, since it will help with my still bad knowledge of terminology.

Started off with katate dori [i]something[/i].  Not sure what it was...where you pull your hand down to break uke's balance and then make a big circle putting your arm under their chin to drop them.  Since John wasn't there, I demonstrated with sensei.  Fun as usual.

It's funny how I can see peoples personalities when we're practicing...  My sister, for example, seems afraid to hold on at times, and afriad to fall quite often.  So, I go slower with her.  With Chuck...well, if my sister is limp, he reminds me of a hawthorn bush...angly and stubborn.  And if my sister is limp, then Jeremy is a jellyfish minus the stingers.  I did some throwing with him (just a katate dori tenkan nage or something) and he flailed around until I told him to stay a bit more firm.  He was then able to throw me without having to use his other hand to push me.  Anyway, enough judgmentalness...besides, it's good to train with different people...it wouldn't be any fun if everyone responded the same way.

We also worked on some two-handed grab to the gi stuff using the same movements from the first waza.  That was fun, though I had this nagging sense of doing it wrong.  Well, that happens every time I do something for the first time, so that didn't come as a surprise, really.

Ended class with some kokyuho from sitting.  Got do to that with my sister...it's one of her favorite things to do.  She wanted me to try holding her there a bit longer to see if she could get out of it.  I did, but she didn't quite.  But it was fun.  After class Josh and I did our usual shomen-ushi irimi-nage and shomen-uchi ikkyo.

Man, I'm still dizzy from all my rolling around.  Did more than usual tonight.  Well, got another graduation to go to on Thursday...so unless we start a third class on Saturdays this week, I'll be back on Tuesday.  Time for a shower!

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-20-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="122">
	<title><![CDATA[Some rambling and MY Matrix thoughts]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Timing sure is important.  In everything!  Seems like yesterday my timing was off on everything, but I'm still alive, so I reckon it wasn't that terrible.

Yesterday was my last day of highschool.  I fell kind of...well, empty.  It feels like I imagine it would feel like if I quit my job or lost internet access or something else I'm used to.

Right now I'm working on my graduation speech for Sunday.  Actually, it's not really a speech...it's several haiku...in English, of course.  Doing one for each of my teachers, one for my grandparents, one for my parents, one about college, one about writing stories over the summer, and I'm not sure what else to write about right now.  Got to think of something, though, or mom'll kill me.

Last night dad threw an early surprise 25th anniversary party for mom.  He disguised it as birthday dinner for my sister, so mom never saw it coming.  We had some friends of theirs come, so we had a good crowd of 23 at the party room of Water Street.  Then we surprised my sister by presenting her her first present...tickets to Matrix II, 22:30 showing.

Now, for MY Matrix thoughts...

Okay, first off I've got to say the rally/dance/sex scene was enough to keep me from going back to the theater to see it again.  Pointless.  Utterly useless.

On the bright side...oooh, the car chases...the car chases!  I must say two eighteen-wheelers colliding at 80+ MPH in slow motion was one of the coolest things I've seen lately.  The accordian-ish collapsing, the bolts popping out...perfect.

(pardon my acting like a gas molecule)

Neo+pole=awesome.  I was getting tired of all the Mr. Smiths, but then he jerks the pole out of the ground and my intrest was revived.  

It's funny how I've spent the last two weeks debating free will, choice, and fate on another forum...and then I go see the Matrix and BAM there it is again.  I couldn't help but wonder what my debate opponents thought of it; where I agreed and disagreed.

So, is it merely (ha, yeah, "merely" ) a cycle, or is it some kind of matrix inside of a matrix?  I think it's the former, but that's quite open to debate until the next movie comes out.

As for the other fighting, I liked the smaller fights...the one-on-ones and the three-on-ones and stuff.  Morpheous' fight with the agent on top of the semi was cool, though he looked like he was going to hurt himself with the katana...  And what was he thinking when he stabbed it into the top of the truck?! (not the side)  You NEVER stick your weapon in something you can't get it out of easilly (aka, wood, walls, trucks).  Pah, oh well.

Okay, well, that's enough...need to finish my graduation presentation.

Until next after class,

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-16-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="116">
	<title><![CDATA[Wow, short class...]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Or so it seemed.  (Computer was off last night...again, so I'm doing this now instead).

We started off with rolls and chiko.  Watching Jeremy rolling around during chiko made me want to stop and help him, but I let sensei, since he was alredy over there.  Jeremy doesn't have a gi yet, so his knees get all red doing it in shorts, heh.

We did some shomen uchi ikkyo...that was fun.  I did it with Chuck and we got going pretty quick.

Chuck is kind of funny...When he swings me around and I go down, I don't flop (because sensei told me not to flop), I slide like I'm sliding to a base in baseball or softball and I exhale.  Somehow those two sounds combined makes him think he's hurting me, and he kept freezing up and asking if I was alright, to which I'd chuckle and tell him yes, pin me, please.

He said he actually got to use something the other day when a friend of his got drunk and was lunging at him for some reason.  He said he got beside him and held him off balance until he calmed down.  Hmm...

Class sure seemed short last night.  Got to do some morotidori...thing...where you take their hand over your head and then bring it down like you would swing a sword.  That one was cool, too, except it was hard doing it with my sister because she's shorter than me.

Josh and I worked on shomenuchi iriminage after class some more.  We went real fast and it felt...right, I guess.  Really, he came, I spun, he floundered.  We tried variations on footwork...different hanmi stances and entering with different feet.  Some worked, some didn't.  I accidentally whipped his eye with my gi sleeve, so we stopped.

No class Thursday...I think they're cleaning the dojo, or something.  We'll see.  Anyway, that works out, because I have my last day of classes Thursday, it's my sister's birthday, my grandparents are coming down from Tennessee, and Matrix II is coming out.

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-14-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="109">
	<title><![CDATA[Another day, another class...(not that that's a ba]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Mmm, couldn't resist stopping for a milkshake on the way home...

Well, bro and sis were at a birthday party, so it was me, Josh, Chuck, Jeremy (Josh's brother), John, and sensei...  Stretched to warm up (that is what stretching is for, last time I checked).

I'm strangely worn out today.

I had my tetnus (sp?) shot today, so my shoulder is a bit sore.  Didn't slow me down, though...stretching got it into shape for rolls etc.

Kato Sensei, who I met last summer, will be coming to Houston and then down here to Corpus, but, alas, I will be gone the week he's here to a camp!  Maybe I can work out going to Houston to train with him there, instead...because I can't miss camp (already paid  200 for it).  Hmmm...  Well, it's not like I'll be ready for testing, anyway.

We did some more shomenuchi irimi nage tonight.  :D  I was doing it with Josh and I kept throwing him quite hard (by my judgement), but he almost split my lip twice from not circling enough, so I guess we were even.  Well, maybe not, because I ended up with my knee in his chest after he tried tripping me.  Hehehe...

Maybe I was trying too hard to be cautious, or something, because after rolling around the mat twice, I was sore and dizzy...the dizzy is usual, but the sore is not.  I need to relax.  John told me I'm too high-strung when we were doing irimi nage and he asked how much caffine I'd had, so I told him I'd had one sip of my mom's coke and he said he'd be scared to see me after a whole one.

Well, until Tuesday...and remember, don't think!

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-08-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="105">
	<title><![CDATA[Shomenuchi iriminage]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[(My computer was off last night and I didn't feel like turning it back on...)

Chuck brought a friend to class...bringing our total up to 8, including sensei.

Hmm...anyway, I had loads of fun with shomen uchi irimi nage last night...  I did it with Chuck and somehow (not sure how) I had the footwork down after only about four trys and one question to John.  Neither Chuck nor I know how to breakfall really, so I wasn't going very fast, but we did pick up some speed...that was fun.

We did katadori something with the gi...where you sidestep, scoop their wrist, and try to stick their elbow in their ear, then do a wrist pin.  That one was cool, too, once sensei showed me what I was doing wrong on the footwork...you have to slide with both feet, not just one, otherwise you can't take uke off balance.

Didn't do any rolls in class, officially, but I did some after class (despite my brother's nagging to leave) for fun and practice...  Still improving, but I'm still feeling a lot of preasure on my back as I roll...something I'm not sure what to think about.

Well, anyway, breakfast is ready and school awaits...until Thursday...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-07-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="98">
	<title><![CDATA[New guy.]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Currently listening to: Moondance by Nightwish
Current mood: Pumped

Well, had to work last Tuesday, so had to skip class...just a mix up with my manager...she said it won't happen again.
:]

Anyway, today was my first class with my bro and sis there.  Josh had a ROTC function out of town.  John was absent.  A new guy named Chuck came today.  He said he had watched the BJJ class and wanted to try aikido.  He does cheerleading, and it was amazing to see him watch sensei do something once and he'd have it down in mind, if not body.

He was really good at balancing, too.  He did a bit of a sloppy irimi nage, but, hey, who doesn't on their first try?  :]  I still bungle mine every other try, it seems.

My rolls are now to the point where they're a fun, not fearful experience.  Warmed up doing some rolls before we started...did some faster ones and then did a few lame breakfalls.  After class I did some more after working on irimi nage with sis some more.

When I did irimi nage with my brother (sensei had me working with him and sis) he kept trying to do a jujitsu style leg sweep, so after pointing that out didn't work, I held on to his gi the next time to show him he wasn't ballanced...  Okay, so that wasn't the nicest way to explain it (pulling him over), but it worked...he slid past me the next time.

Phew, sensei does a sweet irimi nage..."alright, Jonathan, your turn for a roller coaster ride," to be exact...when we were showing Chuck.  "More control, Jonathan," was the next thing out of his mouth, as I sloppily took the fall...wasn't really ready for it, but I got it the next time.

At the end of class I did (what's the name?  The suwariwaza where you just go up and tip them over?  Anyway...hmm, I need a book on this stuff...) I was with Chuck and I showed him "my variant" after showing him a few times the "right" way to do it...("my variant" being actually "John's variant" where instead of holding the arm on the ground, you end with the elbow on your knee, so you can push down).
So, I was showing him, and he kept coming up up on both feet...so after letting him try that, we did it again and I pulled him over me and got away...I think I came on a little too soon, because sensei put me back with sis...but, maybe he just wanted to show him, since I've already shown sis how to do it at home.

Hmm, quite a type-up I've got there...well, I guess the journal entry has some ratio with the quality of class?  Whatever...  :]

Until Tuesday...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>05-01-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="90">
	<title><![CDATA[Don't think!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[John: "Just do it!"
Me: "Stop thinking."
John: "Free your mind."
Me: "There is no spoon." (laugh)

Me throws John.

John: "That felt better."
Me: "I leaned over too far."
John: "Again."

John shomens.

Me almost throws John.

John: (at same time as Me) "Don't come down."
Me: (at same time as John) "I came down."

John drops Me when I should have been dropping him.

John: "Ready?"
Me: "Yeah."
John: "Sure?"
Me:" Yeah."

Me takes hanmi stance.

John bends over to catch his breath.

John lightning-shomens at Me.

I come up too late and manage a block.

Me: "Too late."
John: "Again."
Me: "Yeah."
John: "Be ready for it."
Me: "Yeah."

John looks over at sensei and Josh.

Me does not.

John lightning-shomens Me again.

Me does one half of the technique and stops.

John: "Follow through."
Me: "Don't think." (nodding)
John: "Again."

Me takes hanmi stance.

John shomens.

Me goes wrong way.

Me: "Oops."
John: "That won't work on the street.  'Er, hold on, man, I went the wrong way.' "
Me: "Whatever." (laugh)
John: "Wharever, yeah.  (laugh)  Again."

John shomens.

Me parries, tenkans.

Me: "No, no tenkan!"
John: "No."

Etc.
______________________________________________
Okay, well, I'm getting there!  And that didn't even touch on my back-falls...a mix between a crumble, a slap, and a roll...  Hehe, I'm trying to do too many things at once...

Need to just roll or just slap, not both.  John tried doing one and almost hurt himself...it's one of those arts only newbies are good at...and one I hope I soon unlearn!

Forward rolls are getting better, still...John made me try a hard fall by holding onto my wrist.  I did a sideways hardfall.  Landed right and it didn't hurt, but I swept my legs out too far, instead of going up.

Still a bit dizzy from doing backwards rolls after class...scuffed my head too hard a few times.

Well, brother and sister are starting next week...so that's cool!

Until Tuesday,

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>04-24-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="88">
	<title><![CDATA[Ah, two hours, two new techniques]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[I'm worn out tonight...

Started off with stretches, as usual.  Then did some co-op stretches.

We did a lot of the waza where you katate dori and then tenkan and just toss them forward...did that for about twenty minutes striaght.  That was fun...we sped it up gradually...sensei was throwing me fast.

Something clicked on my forward rolls tonight...I could feel some improvement in my left-led rolls, and my right-led rolls actually didn't hurt today!  That's good!  Okay, so, pain out of the way, now I need to work on form.

I think one thing was that I wasn't getting my elbow up high enough, so I was landing on my upper arm instead of rolling off my forearm.  Now I need to keep my head in farther.

My back rolls got a bit better, too...I think because I was actually giving myself some momentum, and not fearing the roll.

I'm still thinking too much, though...I pause a lot to make sure I'm going the right direction.  John said stop thinking, but I've gotta think until I get it down better.

Told sensei about what John said about hitting my feet with the jo...he thought that was funny.

I'm gonna go shower and eat a snack and go to bed...looking forward to Thursday!

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>04-22-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="86">
	<title><![CDATA[Oh, my knees!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Okay, it's official...shikko hurts the untrained knees!  I'll be stiff tomorrow, I  bet.

Worked on my rolls some more today.  Still having trouble with the right hand leading, and my backwards rolls are a mess...I keep tripping myself and falling on my butt :]

Sensei was out of town, so John taught...formal but a bit more talkative, which is good for me, so I can ask questions.

We worked on suwari waza with shomen uchi, doing different pins.  I got confused with which one to do, because we did two variants (with two directions each) so...

Guess the hignlight was when we were practicing getting out of the way of a punch...on irimi you step in and then pivot and swing the foot around to be behind them, but on this, all you do is pivot on your heels and bring your hand down to deflect the blow, so you're basically behind them, but not in a position to throw uke.

Anyway, so we're doing this, and I kept doing tenkan on accident.  I guess it was just wanting to pivot and get all the way out of the way of the punch...  So John goes, "there's a jo in the back...I'll go get it and whack your ankles if you tenkan again."

I got it right the next time.  Then we tried something else and I did it again, so he stood behind me and said he'd kick me if I turned again...I didn't.  I'm thinking too hard about it...but I'm sure that's natural, since I'm new...

Rome wasn't built in a day, aikido wasn't developed in a day, and I can't expect to learn it in that ammount of time, either!

Another waza we practiced was instead of deflecting the ski and clotheslining them, you grab the wrist and put your arm palm-up under their arm, then step forwards and roll them off you, leading with your hip.  That was easier than deflecting, but I'd bet at faster speed, it'd be harder.

Well, until next Tuesday...guess I'll have to keep doing rolls at home...hmm, whatever...

~Veers ]]></body>
	<date>04-17-2003</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="85">
	<title><![CDATA[First entry, fourth class]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Well, this will have to be short, due to it almost being my bedtime.

Wow, I don't think I've had this much fun in a long time!  Forgive any typos/spelling stuffs...my head's a bit tippy from my poor hard falls.

Only three of us again today...sensei, Josh, and me.  Josh got his gi today and showed up a bit late because of that.

We started off with some rolls to warm up...as "usual."  I can see improvment in my rolls, but I still have a real hard time with rolling with right foot forward.  Left is easier, for some reason.  My back rolls are still weird...I guess.  Didn't hurt myself, at least.  :]

Then we did some knee-walking...that was fun :]  Gotta work on keeping my feet together, but I didn't have much trouble keep my balance...though I got going too fast and almost tipped myself over when I switched to the other mats.

My sister still wants to join the class...we'll have to talk mom into letting her...mom doesn't like the idea of her being the only girl in the class.

Can't remember the name of it, but the little warm up where you stand in hanmi and push both hands out from your hips...yeah, that one...  Anyway, we did one throw with ryote dori where you just use that exercise to push them over...  fun stuff.

I really need to learn some more of the vocabulary...got onegi shimas and domo arigato down before I started, but all the waza names are confusing...though I do know what shomen uchi is!

Okay...my eyes are starting to cross...that means too much staring at the screen...  Until next time!  (Actually, I guess that wasn't all that short, after all?)

~Veers

[EDIT]Yeah, I was out of it last night...that was my fourth class, not fifth![/EDIT] ]]></body>
	<date>04-15-2003</date>
</blogEntry>


</blogEntries>