Help.....

Hi,

New here.
I recently moved country and was divorced and a whole lot of other things happened in my life which lead me to stop training in Aikido!
I have found another place to train with a new feel and a new Sensei,but unfortunately I have given in to my demons..I feel like I cannot train anymore!

I cannot explain why? I have been doing a lot of soul searching and cannot find why?

I miss Aikido yet cannot get up and train?

I keep up with sword practice and meditate almost everyday.
I keep the movements and practice alone as much as I can yet still cannot get past the fear of going to the dojo and train properly with the other Aikidoka!

Thanks,needed to spill

Tiyler

To train again the answer is quite simple: just go to the dojo and do it.

If you look for problems to train, oh you will find them. Use the "aikido lemma": do, don't think.

At the moment you get in the tatami, you will forget (for a time, at least) your problems.

I went through a patch with a lot of personal problems, I stopped doing Aikido for about a fortnight, but it did not solve anything. In the end I made myself go back and train, and it wasn't as bad as I expected. Unless your problems are directly related to your dojo, just carry on man! ;-)

Depending on your personal belief system, this advice might be totally off the wall, so take it with a grain of salt--

Ritual purification can help in putting the past behind you and becoming able to do what you want. Some aikido traditions have their own methods, such as cold water misogi. Your meditation practice might also suggest something. Alternatively, you could brainstorm for what ritual elements would suggest closure, purification, and new beginnings to you. I definitely like water in some form for this purpose.

A mundane trick that sometimes works is to pay your dues in advance. Then you feel like you're wasting money if you don't go.

Another is to find an aikido buddy and go together. Peer pressure can have its good side.

This is not much help when you're just beginning to try to practice again, but one thing that has really helped me to continue is that I don't make a decision each class night whether to go or not. I work out if there are any classes I'll need to skip each week, and otherwise I just go, on autopilot, without thinking about it. My husband knows this and treats it as a given. (It's also a lot easier for him to keep track of my schedule if I'm consistent.) There's much less psychological wear and tear this way, I find.

Hope this helps,

Mary Kaye

Maybe it's because your other personality trains while you're sleeping.

Inertia? When something is at rest, it tends to stay at rest. When something is in motion, it tends to stay in motion. As creatures of habit, just go train for a while and see if the demons leave you. Sequentially, I tend to feel more like working out after a good session, not before it.

Now quit talking about and get back on the mat.

Aleksey S (shihonage) wrote: Maybe it's because your other personality trains while you're sleeping.

Yeah, that'll be it. And the first rule of Aikido Club is... I actually keep a copy of this book (Chuck Palahniuk, "Fight Club", for those who didn't get the reference) on my MA bookshelf, it seems correctly placed there, if only for its "alternate" approach to the philosophy of violence.

"Durden-san"

I think that the problem isn't in the Aikido.

It sounds like its off mat.

You are in a new place, with a different set of circumstances.

Just keep up the practice, that isn't hurting or hindering you.

The answer will come to you, and will be obvious in hindsight.

Aikido shimasu.

Jamie.

PS I have a copy of the bok, and the movie. enjoy them both.

HI All,

I just want to thank you all for the heart felt support,I actually never thought I would get any replies at all!

I know I am a little sad,but I do know this will pass and I will return to Aikido!

Thanks every one.

Remember,your not your ******* khakis!

Tiyler

When you do aikido, only think about the "now". Nothing before class, nothing after.

For me, training is a tiny vacation from my problems.

Keep training. I had a rough time in the summer with something similar, missed one session because I was in a murderous mood and thought I would injure myself or someone else. Keep training, its the way forward mate

Stop whingeing.

Do what you want.