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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...
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
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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 Best Aikido 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 something. 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 na
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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 collap
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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 st
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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. 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.
(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...
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,"
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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.
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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 al
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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!
05-29-2003 06:34 PM 
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...