Thread: getting harder
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Old 04-23-2010, 08:06 AM   #34
ruthmc
Dojo: Wokingham Aikido
Location: Reading, UK
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 393
United Kingdom
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Re: getting harder

Quote:
Anonymous User wrote: View Post
its such a weird feeling thinking about breathing, leg work, moving offline, keeping centre, taking uke's centre, posture... blah blah... i get so frustrated sometimes that even walking through things can seem imposible....
Hi there,

You are not more useless, you just have a far greater understanding of how much you have still to learn now than you did in your first few classes

The new student's journey

Stage 1: You learn how to move your arms and legs in vaguely the right direction in order to apply technique.

Stage 2: You learn how to do the above while keeping your own balance.

Stage 3: You learn to do the above while remembering to breathe.

Stage 4: You learn to do the above while avoiding getting overpowered by the attack.

Stage 5: You learn to do the above while remembering the name of the technique.

And so on.... taking uke's balance, maintaining your own centre, moving smoothly etc etc all come at later stages, and as you progress through them your understanding of just how all these elements come together to enable you to apply techniques increases, and you feel there's still so much to learn... This for me is partly why I think Aikido is so great - you never stop learning

After this first 'plateau' (or giant leap in understanding ) you will emerge with an improvement in your Aikido. You may not be personally aware of it (most of us are not) but ask your sensei for feedback on your progress and you will be surprised at how much better he/she thinks you are than during your first month at the dojo

Ruth
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