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In General
Just for laughs
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#187
 08-30-2005 09:23 AM |
http://www.aikidoferret.com/
"Ferrets don't like knives," --- wise words from Itachi, the Aikido Ferret
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Views: 1014
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In General
Sempai Jamie & Reverse-Engineering Technique, Revi
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#186
08-25-2005 12:00 PM |
Well, folks come and go --- such is the way of dojos, they say. Sempai Jim has left for London, ON to do a Post-Doc internship for a year, my other Sempais have been away for most of the Summer and to top it all off (as I've alluded in a previous post) we've had quite a few new students join up lately.
As a result, I've been Sensei's demo uke a fair amount over the past few months for both the kids' and adult classes, which in itself is always an interesting experience. For one, all this extra "output" of energy has resulted in my losing weight (or so folks have noticed --- as I had not)...for those of you who have seen me, this can be a freakishly scary concept considering I'm practically a stick as it is. I'm also trying desperately to gain weight so as to finally be able to reach the minimum allowable weight at which one can donate blood. Though my "output" of energy has increased, my "input" in terms of meals hasn't very much so as we speak, I'm working to increase my caloric intake quite a bit.
I'm also wanting to start doing a bit of conditioning, particularly in the core area, as well as take some Wing Chun Kung Fu in order to supplement my Aikido abilities wherever possible --- but I'll have to save that for another journal entry.
Right now, I'm slowly settling into a Sempai role, which is strange and yet gratifying in the sense of being able to share one's experience and enthusiasm about Aikido with other women. It's not something I had much exposure
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Views: 941
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In General
Oh, for heaven's sake.
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#185
07-27-2005 09:32 AM |
After helping out with the kids', Sensei ran me through my test again during regular class. All I can say is, "what the hell is wrong with me?" I completely blank out on Shomenuchi Sankyo (!), for crying out loud! Sigh.
Once *that* fiasco was over, I got to work on the second version of Tsuki Koshinage (since I only knew how do the first, direct entry, version during the test run-through). And for the record, despite what Sensei seems to believe, I had NEVER learned the second version in class before AT ALL. So there. If he's mixing me up with Garry or Jim, don't even get me started. :-P
And about my Randori lately, a note to self:
Just...
Move faster.
Hit harder.
Aim lower.
...already! And for the love of Pete, you better come up with some better moves than the same old, same old. Sheesh!
Since there is no "Highly Dissatisfied with One's Technique" option under Mood, "Disgusted" will have to do.
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Views: 1045
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In General
Less talk, more practice
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#184
07-04-2005 12:01 PM |
...is exactly how I would describe my training these days.
Hmm --- I keep forgetting to mention that Sensei ran me through my Sankyu test when he got back from his little sabbatical...well, seeing as I was trying to wing most of it (hehe) --- particularly Ushiro Ryokatadori Ikkyo, it was high on the practice priority list. Trying to emulate the correct body positioning in relation to uke after the tenkan was quite frustrating, but I ended up getting the hang of it after dedicating a couple of nights specifically to this one technique (of which I also have to do Nikkyo, Sankyo, and Yonkyo for the test). Thank goodness it's not so much of a bane anymore! I thought I'd never learn it.
What is definitely a pain in the butt (instead of the nerve - Ha. Ha. ) is my blasted one-sided Yonkyo. It's strange because when I do it (dropping my weight down) on my left hand, it's pretty sharp --- but when I try it with my right (my dominant hand/arm) it's weak. My practice partners thus far have ascertained that for some reason, I hold their wrist slightly differently when attempting the latter pin. Sensei also believes that I bend my right wrist instead of keeping it straight. Go figure. The amusing thing is that Sensei complains about his apparently one-sided Kotegaeshi...no, Sensei, it's painful no matter which way you do it. :-P
The kids are still practicing with us earlier in the night, and I've been helping out with them for the most part. Practice/learning-wise,
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Views: 864
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In General
Jo in the Park
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#183
06-19-2005 06:03 PM |
After almost two weeks of non-stop rain, it was with a great deal of joy that we were able to finally do the weapons work in the park that we had been looking forward to for some time.
Though it was just me, Sempai Jeremy and Sensei, we had a good time of it --- working on all of the kata (13, 22, and 31-step) and some exchanges (the paired 13-step). At first, it took some time getting used to the (rather unexpected) disorientation that Jeremy and I seemed to experience --- forgetting steps and movements we had done plenty of times before while immersed in a completely new environment --- having to deal with all of the distractions you don't ever have in the dojo: the glare of the sun, the resistance of the wind, the different feel of the terrain. After a little bit of time, thankfully, we both got into the groove of things and performed more consistently. Naturally, the change in environment was no skin off Sensei's nose. 
We ended things by doing a bit of empty hand (non-falling) Randori with striking/countering exchanges and sticky-hand/pushing. Of course, without walls to worry about, this ranged all over the place.
All in all, a wonderful experience --- the cool breeze upon you beats any airconditioning in a stuffy dojo, bar none. I do hope we do more of this in future, particularly in different kinds of environments in order to become further acclimated to recalling technique, reacting instinctively and adapting to one's surroundings regardless of w
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Views: 764
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In General
Our Reign is Over
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#182
06-14-2005 09:12 AM |
Quote of the Day...
While teaching the kids ukemi and watching as Sempai Jeremy and newbie Dave run through their own ukemi drills: "So you always want to make sure that you stay nice and round, just like Jeremy and...Jeremy."
---
...Sensei's back tonight. I think we're all feeling pretty relieved about it, actually. It'll be good to get back to more of the usual training --- after two weeks of mild stuff, you can really feel it. It'll also be quite interesting after two weeks of seeing us all adapt and teach (in all our inept and idiosyncratic glory) to see how The Big Man in Charge does it.
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Views: 782
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In General
I almost forgot...
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#181
06-06-2005 02:28 PM |
Not only are kids super-observant, but they say the darndest things.
Christian raises his hand while Tim is demonstrating the opening to Tsuki Kotegaeshi.
"Um, Sensei...do we have to stick our finger out like that?"
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Views: 864
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In General
While the Sensei's away...
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#180
06-05-2005 02:02 PM |
...the kids will play. Or something like that.
Sensei's gone on a two week sabbatical of sorts and in an unprecedented move, we had three nine-year-old boys start training while he's been gone. So it's been "all hands on deck" so far --- though teaching responsibility was to be split between three Sempai, only two have shown up in the past week, and I ended up being called upon to help pick up the slack.
Needless to say, we've all had to do a fair amount of adapting, breaking basic techniques down into "easier to swallow portions", inventing Aiki-ish games, etc. --- so far over the past few days we've shown them/done:
- the old warm-up and stretches
- simple atemi and ukemi drills
- shikko
- tenkan drills
- katatedori shihonage, katatedori iriminage, ushiroryokata kokyunage (hanmi handachi waza)
- a modified randori where the object is for everyone else to be uke and try to grab the tails of nage's obi
- Jo striking drills
Though I was initially feeling a little apprehensive when asked by Sensei to help lead class while he was away (more insecure about my lack of qualifications, really --- since at the time it seemed that my Sempai would not be available), I certainly don't feel that way about teaching kids. Not only do I feel so much more at ease (having worked with kids so very much in a voluntary capacity for many years) but ever since they've started, my mind has been positively racing with tons of ideas for ways to teach them Aikido.
From speakin
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Views: 1236
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In General
It's only fun until...
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#179
05-18-2005 02:17 PM |
...someone loses an eye. Or so they say. I'm sure Sensei would probably concur as well. Capping off what was otherwise a good class last night, he got poked in the eye by Sascha's tanto during last night's Randori. It's situations like this during which we're pretty darn glad we take things slowly. Suffice it to say, we cut class a little short and I spent a few hours after class waiting with him in Urgent Care at the hospital --- he did the same for me not that long ago and I figured it was only good form to reciprocate; thankfully, it's not that bad --- they suspect a minor tear, but it's not the retina (whew!) and he's able to see out of it fine now (after initially seeing double for a while) so he's supposed to see an Opthamologist and take some antibiotics to stave off infection.
Looks like we're on a roll of some kind. Garry apparently broke his nose when he got elbowed in the face by the newbie during last Friday's class, so he'll be off the mats for the better part of a month to recover. And of course there's my lovely double rotator cuff/deltoid mishap that I've just started Physio for. This, coupled with a lot of folks being away for the Summer will undoubtedly mean smaller classes for the next couple of months.
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Been working more on Ushiro Ryotekubidori Shihonage and have been trying to get used to the more "static" version of it, after having been so used to the more dynamic, leading version. I'm beginning to wonder if my seeming-ease with th
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Views: 1073
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In General
The Gift
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#178
05-12-2005 09:30 AM |
Despite the injury (and others' advice to stop training for a while), I've continued going to class regularly and other than experiencing some soreness now and then, have no regrets about this decision. Though I'm taking certain techniques and some ukemi easy (that which would normally strain my shoulders), I've been finding the overall experience quite valuable in numerous ways.
To begin with, over the past few weeks, we've had a couple of visiting Yudansha as well as some newbies drop by and as I've written before, training with the latter has always helped to draw attention to fundamentals which one might not normally focus on. This hasn't changed in the least. I've found, however, that my own focus when training with the former has changed over time. It used to be that I would primarily view training with Yudansha as an opportunity to glean a broader perspective of different methods of performing technique; though I still find this valuable, lately, I've been more and more interested in those challenges that present themselves which are associated with that person's body-type --- namely, the opportunity to adapt to much larger ukes (as was the case with one particularly large, male Yudansha who visited in the recent past).
Most of all, I've more recently been finding myself forced (in a rather painful fashion) to really focus on (in those techniques which call for it) keeping my arms with my centreline --- in essence, using my hips for power instead of my ar
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Views: 1982
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