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Not to say I have good timing, but I thought I would share something from years learning Aikido in New York. The teacher was good, the senpai were good, in general the people to practice with were good, we could learn from those junior to us, etc.
But I have to mention one particular practice session where the technique was hanmi handachi ushiro waza, probably kokyu nage. After uke grabs the right hand with his or her right hand he or she then circles around to grab the left wrist of nage, who is still seated. Sorry about the awkward description, but I wanted people to be able to picture what is going on.
The nage was someone probably in her twenties as I was, had joined a few years after myself, and had progressed rapidly. Was good at ukemi, too. Myself, taller and not so naturally coordinated as she. I have hesitated telling this story before, because it might sound like sour grapes! Yes she was very good at Aikido but I did find one thing to correct, although I did it in a rather annoyed way at the time, although I usually didn't like to interrupt people, and I shouldn't have acted annoyed. But I think she was the first to act annoyed.... As I said I was rather young and immature, and she probably thought I was just trying to stop her technique.
She was trying to throw me before I had gone round from her right to her left and so was pulling on my arm before I had arrived.
I don't know if I derived any satisfaction from the thought "Gee, she's not perf
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A friend of mine and I were in noon class. We were getting over bronchitis, which I seemed to get frequently while living in New York City. I was a proofreader and would hop on the subway at the western end of Bryant Park in midtown and end up pretty close to the dojo on 18th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenue. Even though it ended up more than a one hour lunch hour, being a proofreader seemed to be justification for doing something totally different for a couple of hours to beat that midafternoon slump so many office workers feel. Oh, correction, class started at one p.m. not literally noon.
"Noon" class was less crowded and sometimes I could call it "easier" but that didn't mean we didn't get exellent teaching. Sometimes it was a tough class, and Sensei often threw whoever was there. But that day I guess I just wanted to blend into the woodwork. It turned out to be not such a good idea, although it was nice to practice while recuperating.... I thought. Sensei didn't throw me after that for many months I seemed to notice. Here's why, I think.
It was kaiten nage, and after the turn , when he threw he gave what I thought was an extra flourish is not the exact word I wanted but pretty close. But wait till you hear the explanation one of the senpais later gave me. All I saw at the time was that people were landing on their backs and my friend elbowed me and she and I kept our heads down as the feet progressed down the line stopped briefly near us th
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09-29-2012 02:28 PM 
