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It has been a very long time since my last entry so it is about time I share some of my experiences.
It will be obvious to anyone reading my previous entries, that I have not been nearly as consistent in my Aikido training as I should have been.
I have just recently begun training again after an 8 months period of total (physical) inactivity. I started studying English at the University of Copenhagen last August, and I have been spending all my time and energy there, abandoning most of the other activities in my life.
This choice has had an enormous effect on my body and general well-being. I have gained almost 20 pounds and my physique and condition was horrible.
I decided that I had to do something. Just as I was contemplating this, one of the sempai at my dojo wrote me an email asking me why I hadn't been there for so long. He gave me the push I needed and it was a great feeling being missed, although my conscience was bad because I had neglected my training for so long.
At the same time I had made arrangements for a trial lesson at a Kyokushinkai Karate Dojo and I was excited to try something different from Aikido. I got the idea long ago when I discovered that a lot of the sempai in my dojo had trained Karate earlier and benefited from that.
At first I was apprehensive about studying two martial arts at a time, but the contrast is invigorating! I found out that I had really missed some of the harder aspects of Aikido even though the style we follow is thought to be one of the harder. Kyokushinkai Karate is, as far as I understand, related to Shotokan and is among the hardest schools. I have gotten a whole new understanding of Aikido by studying something that different. I have found that I really enjoy the almost militaristic karate drills (compared to Aikido), possibly because I am still very young (21 years old) and not as mature yet.
I urge all of you who haven't tried other martial arts to try it a couple of times at least; I have no doubt that it will make us better martial artists.
I will try to continue writing entries when I return from training from both Aikido and Karate. I hope that this is allowed here on aikiweb.com. If it is not, or if you find it is irrelevant, uninteresting, offends you, or in any way bothers you, please let me know and I will stop immediately.
01-18-2005 06:08 AM 