Finally

I was unsure where to post this.

I recently went through what I refer to as a "dark period". The school year after I got my 1st dan I was a freshman in highschool. Of course I was bogged down with homework and daily practices with my lacrosse team. As much as I wanted to I couldn't make it to my bi-weekly training of aikido. Finally, my schedual has cleared up and tonight will be my first night back. I fear I will be a bit rusty coming back. I was also absent from this site as I rarely spent time on any computer. The worse part of this is, a friend of mine from the dojo was awarded his 1st dan, and I was unable to make it to his testing. I felt bad and asked one of my sensei's to pass on a congratulations to him, but I've no way of knowing if he got it.

Again, I fear I will be rusty. I did practice bokken/jo/tanto katas with the weapons I own.

This is probably my first post in 8-12 months.

Fairmont West Virginia huh? Nice place. Hope you had a nice vacation from aikido and welcome back. Feeling like a beginner is a good thing!

I'm sure you'll be fine. Most stuff in my life that I've worked extensively on then taken a break from always turned out okie. You feel a little awkward at first, but then the muscle memories returns and you rebound.

If it makes you feel better, college is more stressful than high school ever was... *nervously looks around*

Hi Connor,

Fairmont? Where do you train? One of our Albo Kali Silat schools is located in Fairmont, and they also have an Aikido dojo.

Train well,

Mickey

In my old style, I went away to college as a brown belt and was only able to train in the summer. I always went back feeling rusty and wanting to prove that I didn't get lazy or forget anything. I was never told that I looked bad when I went back and I felt that I blended back in quite quickly. You will be a little hesitant or rusty for bit, but you will be amazed at how much your body remembers. I obviously didn't go up in rank too quick with only 3 months of training a year, but I enjoyed it when I did train. Good luck!

I just got back and I remembered almost everything. Of course tying the hakama was an issue but what can you do?

Michael Gelum wrote: Hi Connor, Fairmont? Where do you train? One of our Albo Kali Silat schools is located in Fairmont, and they also have an Aikido dojo. Train well, Mickey

I train at the chisinkan dojo