Well this is now my fourth day at Shodokan Aikido Honbu in Osaka having arrived Sunday evening.
By the time we got to the Hotel on Sunday evening it was way to late to go to the Dojo which considering the travails of jet lag was just as well.
As an aside I highly recommend Hotel California in Shinsaibashi. Central, not so expensive, and not big (read good service). The rooms were very comfortable. I booked before I left via
http://www.japanhotel.net/
Because we (myself, wife and daughter) are staying three months we decided to get an apartment, that took about three days to arrange and through connections managed to avoid key money (can be up to six months rent) but not the real estate agent's commission (one months rent). I am told that perhaps we could have gotten a slightly better deal but I wanted to
get out of the hotel and as of now I have a two story apartment right in the center of the city. For info the total cost of rent, commission and
a fixed utility amount is 390,000 yen which they wanted in advance. The Japanese are paying me a relatively generous allowance while I am here so this is no problem. We also put my daughter in the Japanese school while we are here so she has a chance to bring her Japanese back up to scratch.
Monday night was my first Aikido session. At five o'clock I was dead on my feet mainly due to jet lag. I almost bailed however once warmed up I
was wide awake. I only went for the first two hour class (figured I better get some sleep) and then went for some sushi and beer. Slept like a baby and the effects of jet lag seem to have disappeared. Based on previous experience - exercise is a great way to recover your balance. My first impression of the class was that physically it was much easier than what I put my people through and what I remember from
before. Sure I was sweating like a pig but hey it was the humidity. Well, the three Aikido sessions so far, the moving around of suitcases,
the slightly different way of doing things (way more basic exercises, more randori, fewer techniques but more time per set), and the fact that I am student rather than teacher, culminated this morning we me lying paralyzed on my futon. I think the only thing I managed to do was whimper. Worse yet, as I slowly recovered my senses, the kendo practice from the school next door was making itself heard. I felt hate, real hate.
My body will adjust. The dojo was like returning home after a long trip. Kohei that I had nursed along have moved up the kyu grades and
the welcome was very warm by everybody. I missed these people.
Re: News from the Front
