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Old 08-03-2011, 09:28 AM   #2
MM
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,996
United_States
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Re: 5+ years with "IP/IT/IS"

Actually, it hasn't been 5 years yet. I met Dan in Oct of 2006. I wouldn't exactly call that a "training" session.

The next meeting was with Mike Sigman and Rob John and that was a training workshop. That was in Feb 2007.

I trained with Dan in Mar 2007. Workshops attended from Feb 2007 to the present.

With Rob John: 1
With Mike: 2
With Dan: 15

In 4 years and 5 months, I've had 17 seminars. An average of 3-4 per year.

Typically these are 2 day workshops. If we look at 8 hours per day, 2 days, we have 272 hours. Figure an average training week is 3 days at 2 hours a day for 6 hours. I've racked up about 45 training days over 4.5 years.

How far can one progress in that amount of time for Modern Aikido within those parameters? Would one even get past white belt?

I'm more stable now. The only person in aikido who can get me in a joint lock is Bill Gleason. I am getting better so that he has to work at it. I've played around with a judo person who outweighed me by 100 pounds and he couldn't throw me. It is much harder to get kuzushi on me.

But, since I stopped training aikido, I haven't actually had the chance to experience just how different I am. In that regard, I'd have to say I'm not really sure. Sorry. Would like to get together with you to talk and play around, but we're on different coasts. I've been thinking about going to a local judo or BJJ school to play just because, like you, I am curious.

As for the others ... if I remember correctly, none of them are at 5 years yet, either. Maybe 4-5 months shy.

The future? Getting better and better. I have progressed and I can tell I am progressing. It's only getting better. I look for the next few years to start generating Internal Power, spirals, kuzushi on contact, asagao, fure aiki, and elbow power.

Holding me back? Me. I just don't do the exercises enough. I don't put enough time into them. In the last 7 months, I haven't done hardly any training. I hate it, too. Then again, don't we all when we get like that.

Mark
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