|
|
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
|
05-30-2007, 06:14 PM
|
#1
|
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 7
Offline
|
Off nights - is it just me?
Today is the day after my off night! I dont mean taking the night off, i mean i totally didnt get anything last night.
Basics that I know how to do, just weren't happening last night... im hoping that others have this too. I couldnt believe that i forgot simple moves like omote and ura ( i kept doing ura when i was suppose to do omote )
At least i knew what nikkyo was, that was my saving grace!
I know my tenkans suck, but last night i learned because my hamstrings are too tight, i cant do a proper tenkan, the way my sensei wants me too. He wants me to stretch my leg back more, yet i cant or else ill pull a muscle.
I guess in retrospect I did learn some things last night, I learned on my off nights, i am not there both mentally and physically.
Here is hoping that thurs night will bring a better training session.
|
|
|
|
05-30-2007, 07:39 PM
|
#2
|
Dojo: Jiki Shin Kan Utrecht
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 562
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
I don't know how long you've been training, but in my experience you'll always keep having off nights every now and then. Last year I had a bit of an off year... Better learn to enjoy them.
kvaak
Pauliina
|
|
|
|
05-30-2007, 09:05 PM
|
#3
|
Location: Left Coast
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 4,339
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Its TOTALLY normal.
Sometimes for reasons....never discovered.
Often, because there is a normal disconnect/time lag between body and mind in terms of integrating stuff.
In terms of hamstrings, there may be chronic imbalances between your quads and hamstrings causing your pelvis to be pulled and worsening the hamstrings tightness, or it may come from tight Achilles tendons and plantar issues - you may want to check with a PT or athletic trainer or myofascial therapist.
|
Janet Rosen
http://www.zanshinart.com
"peace will enter when hate is gone"--percy mayfield
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 12:46 AM
|
#4
|
Dojo: Aikido of ME
Location: Maine
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 61
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Most definitely. They aren't fun but they are certainly good for humility, and I sometimes wonder if I'm not learning on a different level by being so confused I can't think.
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 03:15 AM
|
#5
|
Dojo: Kiburn, London, UK
Location: London
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 899
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Sorry Jeremy, but it's just you! The rest of us gods of aikido inhabiting aikiweb do not have "off nights", that is merely a justification for the weak and dilettante and you should scourge yourself mercilessly for even daring to have a less than perfect training.
The true student of aikido has off weeks, off months, even off years or decades! Due to this typical myopic Western obsession with short periods of time such as a single night we see the increasing signs of a declining dojo culture in aikido with obsessive hakama folding on a worrying increase and even reports of coloured lineage charts being passed between kyu grades after training.
Just remember, what would KP do (assuming your user name is a reference, and yes I am rather sad to recognize it)
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 05:04 AM
|
#6
|
Dojo: Ren Shin Kan
Location: Birmingham
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 362
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
To paraphrase the late great Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson
"We all play bum notes but the trick is not letteing the audience hear them"
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 05:05 AM
|
#7
|
Location: Orlando, FL
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,502
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
You aren't going to knock one out of the park every single night. Nobody is that good. But it is good that you attempt to gain from it by trying to figure out what it was that brought it about. Not in an obsessive way, but in a constructive one. It could be any of a million different things, maybe the same one every time, or maybe a different one each time. You may find that the more you practice, in a relaxed yet focused manner, the less often this will happen. But it will still happen from time to time, so don't be too hard on yourself. As for the hamstrings, work out some stretching exercises for before and after practice, and your flexibility will improve. Relax. Reach. Empty. Fill. Breathe. Train. Enjoy.
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 06:08 AM
|
#8
|
Dojo: Midleton Aikido Club
Location: County Cork,
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 11
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Jeremy, you need to relax and realise to err is human....it is from our mistakes that we learn...is sounds like your sensei wants you to do things that you recognise you cannot, Aiki is about blending with yourself as well as your Uke....
Smile and think happy thoughts...good luck training tonight..let us know how you got on!
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 06:34 AM
|
#9
|
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 82
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Off-Nights???
You're looking at things the wrong way round. Nobody has off-nights - we all have very rare ON Nights when things go right.
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 06:50 AM
|
#10
|
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,214
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Quote:
David Chalk wrote:
Off-Nights???
You're looking at things the wrong way round. Nobody has off-nights - we all have very rare ON Nights when things go right.
|
I like that.
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 06:58 AM
|
#11
|
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,214
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Quote:
Ian Hurst wrote:
Due to this typical myopic Western obsession with short periods of time such as a single night we see the increasing signs of a declining dojo culture in aikido with obsessive hakama folding on a worrying increase and even reports of coloured lineage charts being passed between kyu grades after training.
|
Ha-ha.
I think you are right Ian.
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 09:53 AM
|
#12
|
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 34
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Quote:
Ian Hurst wrote:
coloured lineage charts being passed between kyu grades after training.
|
What exactly is that!? Just curious. Is it showing the lineage from O'sensei all the way down to the kyu grades in the dojo? Sounds really weird.
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 10:25 AM
|
#13
|
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 7
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
thanks for all the comments, they are great. I especially had a good chuckle from Ian, that really made me laugh out loud.
From now on im going to look at the nights im doing things well as the rarity!
Since I have only been in it for 3 months, i still have lots to learn, so its all good!!!!
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 03:39 PM
|
#14
|
Dojo: Aikido of Petaluma, Petaluma,CA
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 834
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
its the nights that everythng makes crystal clear sense that worry me!
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 03:56 PM
|
#15
|
Dojo: Iwae Dojo
Location: Boulder Creek, CA
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 568
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Quote:
Jo Adell wrote:
its the nights that everythng makes crystal clear sense that worry me!
|
Why is that, or is this purely jest?
Those nights are typically (for me) remarkable milestones of learning and awareness when my understanding and ability are well matched.
I haven't had one of those in ages.
Regards,
|
Tarik Ghbeish
Jiyūshin-ryū AikiBudō - Iwae Dojo
MASAKATSU AGATSU -- "The true victory of self-mastery."
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 05:25 PM
|
#16
|
Dojo: Aikido of Petaluma, Petaluma,CA
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 834
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Its partially true and partially jest.
Unfortunately I'm not well right now and rather brain dead so I really can't elaborate any further!
|
|
|
|
05-31-2007, 06:14 PM
|
#17
|
Dojo: Castle Rock Aikido
Location: Denver, CO
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 62
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Quote:
Since I have only been in it for 3 months, i still have lots to learn, so its all good!!!!
|
Man!!! 3 months! sheesh 3 months in I was still very unsure of my footwork let alone omote and ura. AND I kept apologizing every time I threw someone on the ground REALLY. NO JOKE.
Plus, I am a little like Jo, I get a little wary/on edge/cautious if everything goes perfect. Mostly because I don't want to assume that I have it "perfected." I kind of remind myself to take mental notes on WHY everything is sync-ing up so well. That way I have my observations built up. Not really out of fear of screwing up but knowing how a technique feels in my body instead of how X Sensei or Y Sensei describes it to me. Also, so that I am not so hard on myself when that "bad day" happens... if I assume I got it then have a bad day I tend to get tough on myself, unnecessarily.
Lastly, I find "bad days" a little enlightening. I try to reflect on what my brain was focusing on instead of aikido. I learned a lot about my daily habits from this.
Enjoy!
|
|
|
|
06-01-2007, 09:05 AM
|
#18
|
Location: greece
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 56
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Quote:
Jeremy Cassidy wrote:
Today is the day after my off night! I dont mean taking the night off, i mean i totally didnt get anything last night.
Basics that I know how to do, just weren't happening last night... im hoping that others have this too. I couldnt believe that i forgot simple moves like omote and ura ( i kept doing ura when i was suppose to do omote )
At least i knew what nikkyo was, that was my saving grace!
I know my tenkans suck, but last night i learned because my hamstrings are too tight, i cant do a proper tenkan, the way my sensei wants me too. He wants me to stretch my leg back more, yet i cant or else ill pull a muscle.
I guess in retrospect I did learn some things last night, I learned on my off nights, i am not there both mentally and physically.
Here is hoping that thurs night will bring a better training session.
|
Do not worry
I hear this all the time by other people in the dojo.
I even feel sometimes that I was really crap
I guess everyone is allowed to be, or feel he was crap,
once, or twice or, lots and lots of times
hehe
|
Τὰ πάντα ῥεῖ , What Flows, Is.
|
|
|
06-01-2007, 10:11 AM
|
#19
|
Dojo: Shindai Aikikai
Location: Orlando
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 153
Offline
|
Re: Off nights - is it just me?
Everyone has their off days! I had one about 3 weeks ago, I felt like I couldn't do anything right! I kept hitting my head doing foward rolls! I am actually good at those too!
|
"The mind is everything. What you think you become." - Siddhattha Gotama Buddha
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:24 AM.
|
vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
|
|