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Old 10-13-2002, 05:10 AM   #5
mike lee
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 646
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Grr! never say die!

Quote:
My instructor drilled etiquette and discipline into us. Once we had reached a level where we were performing a technique with a good understanding of the mechanics and started to speed it up, though he never verbalized it, he expected you to work through pain and exhaustion, as long as you remained conscious of your level of safety. You attacked whole-heartedly, were thrown, and got right up and attacked again, with no lag in between -- no stopping to fix your gi; if you were rounding the mat in shikko, and you began to breathe heavy and feel your quads killing you, you KEPT GOING; no uncommitted, crappy attacks; talking was kept to a minimum, and if you did talk, it was while you were throwing or being thrown. This kept a fairly high intense level of practice, which I absolutely loved, though I am not at all a disciplined person, and the constant movement was very tough on my out-of-shape body. Still, I worked through it, and am all the better for it.
This is great! This is just the way aikido should be done. Unfortunately, the conditions are not always there. So, what can we do? Maybe try to re-create the conditions. How? That's up to you -- But here's one suggestion.

If the regular practice is too low an intensity, try to arrange a brief, but intense after-practice session of about 20 to 30 minutes with a few of the gung-ho people. With three to six (or so) people you can play a fun little game called follow the leader. The top-ranked guy gets in the middle of the mat and the others line up and attack. When he goes through all of the people, the next guy does the same waza -- usually some kind of kokyu-nage; fast-paced -- go, go, go; breath, breath, breath; aerobic. Work, work, work.

After everyone gets a turn, the leader changes the waza. Watch, learn, go, go, go.

Don't give up the dream.
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