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Old 12-22-2010, 04:12 PM   #23
Lari Hammarberg
Dojo: Aikidoseura Asahi Lappeenranta Finland
Location: Imatra South Karelia
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 78
Finland
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Re: Hello, i'm a newbie here and i have questions.

Quote:
The stiffness obviously isn't desirable, but it is not uncommon. Try to move in a relaxed and fluid manner, and just keep gently reminding yourself of this every time you feel stiff.
Hello there Michael.

I think it's just because i was a bit nervous, this kind of thing seems to go hand in hand with all new and exciting stuff i do. (just like playing gigs. ) At the end of the class i was way more relaxed and warmed up.

Mainly my problem is that my back seems to freeze every time i do ukemi... (or try to, my back roll doesn't yet exist. )

About the fluid movement by the way, it seems that most of Aikido has to do with "natural" and "flowing" movements without un necessary force used by nage and so on.. When i was a kid, i used to do lot of running in forests, lake shores'(only on the stones, without touhing ground or water) and dodging trees etc. while jumping and running at full speed at the time. Then i was able to do that any time really relaxed and never hurt myself. I think it's that sort of fluid and naturally flowing movement which should be implemented when doing tehniques. Not the running itself, but all the legmovements and such.. I dont know if this is right, but all seems to be about natural flow of movement.

Quote:
As far as not having an idea about anything, that's really not bad. I continuously felt confused for most of my first two years, but I was making steady progress. As long as you are absorbing the teachings, I think being confused can be sort of beneficial.
Yea, i guess it's all normal. Guys at dojo said it was just like that to them too. And well, i'm eager to ask for help and guidance as you can notice. I think it's ok to not know a damn thing about anything, that's what senior student and sensei are for, these guys at least seem to be very helpful with just anything i want to know. Just like most people here.

Quote:
You wanted tips, so here you go. Keep a journal of what you did in class… techniques, experiences, thoughts, insights, that sort of thing. This is the one thing I regret not doing from the beginning.
Keep 'em coming, i dont know how to absorb all this info, but i'm hungry for more. And that's great idea about starting to keep journal. I'll do it.... I've never had journal about muh anything before.

Arigatou, Michael sensei and all the others. It feels nice to have this many teahers.
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