Beginners Help Please

Hello all, I'm new to this forum, and to Aikido. I'm about a month into my training and I love it so far. But because of family issues I have to slow down on my training until about June...I was wondering if there was any "Out of Dojo" practice that I could be doing to help me in my Aikido Training. I practice my rolls daily, and I got them down pretty well, IMO. But is there anything else I could be practicing?

The rowing exercise.

You can also use your family members for practice and slam them into furniture but I would not recommend it.

Welcome to the forum and to aikido David.

I'd agree with shihonage that the rowing exercise is a good one to practice and I'd add any of your dojo's warm up exercises that you can remember.

You can also use your family members for practice

"Here, grab my wrist." Ah, the call of the new aikido practitioner

again, welcome

Bronson

Originally posted by DavidM ...But because of family issues I have to slow down on my training until about June...I was wondering if there was any "Out of Dojo" practice that I could be doing to help me in my Aikido Training. ... But is there anything else I could be practicing?

There's a lot you can do at home. There is your movement practice - tenkan and irimi, breathing exercises and ken and jo katas and suburi that you could practice

Also as a boxer does shadow boxing, you could practice your techniques with an imaginary uke. You need to visualise the proper positioning and movement to do this. Its not as easy as it sounds cos it takes a lot of concentration and focus.

Hope this helps.

All the best and happy training

I'm also a rookie and I can confirm what have been written .

Keep practicing your movement ! You may be mistaken for a crazy guy , who have a really odd tic , but it'll become more familiar to move as on the mat .

About the way you can use your family, I don't think there's an issue... Find a friend, convert him/her and "let's rock !!" (perhaps, I should stop playing too much video games )...

Anyway, I don't think you should practice with a virtual partner . You're already taken mad , you wouldn't like being told you need some girlfriends, would you ?

I'd agree with the exercises, and the imaginary uke... just one word of warning: you can ingrain a fair number of incorrect movements this way if you are not already doing those exercises and techniques approximately correctly... on those rare occasions you make it to the dojo between now and when you can get back to full time, make sure someone checks what you've been practicing. This depends mostly on if 'unitl June' means one week, or five.

As he said, he's a one-monthed beginner. So, I'm not sure he learned many "tips" correctly . I keep telling he would only train on his movements & falls.
As you say, if he pratices on techniques he haven't done properly (even once), it could be worse.
And I can see "good" Aïkidoists who move as with a game leg . Don't you think so ?

I recommend trying to stand still (something I have trouble with). There is a lot of reading you can do on this exercise. Once you learn about what aikido masters have to say about standing still, tai chi/kung fu/chi gung masters have also written about it (and teach it) in detail if you are curious.

Standing in a state of balance and relaxation is quite an experience.

Ki Breathing maybe? I think it's quite a good challenge for a beginner. (I know it is for me at least)

http://unofficial.ki-society.org/Breath.html

He told he couldn't pratice until June.
So, maybe your pieces of advice are a little tricky to "understand" in such a short time ...
But, they ARE good tips for further studies !

Practising rolls is already a very good thing. As other have said, you can do anything your doing during the warm-up: breath exercise, strectching, etc... By the way, stretching, even if not specific to aikido, are crucial since beginners tends to be somewaht stiff... The sooner and faster you gain flexibility the better...

You can also try to find a book about aikido. Not on the techniques but more on the history, philosophy, etiquette, nomenclature, etc... It will help you understand why you do (or don't do) some things when you return to the dojo... Learning the nomenclature is also a very useful step...

Thanks peoples for all the help. My wife already thinks I'm a little wacky wen I'm practicing my movements and turns. But as far as the Ken and Jo katas...well I haven't gotten to that yet. But that's a lot for the kind hospitality

Originally posted by ca ...and the imaginary uke... just one word of warning: you can ingrain a fair number of incorrect movements this way if you are not already doing those exercises and techniques approximately correctly... on those rare occasions you make it to the dojo between now and when you can get back to full time, make sure someone checks what you've been practicing.

Absolutely, thank you for pointing that out

If you want to repeat some of the exercises that you have practice in warmups for classes, that would be the way to go.

If you have some movements that relate to jo, and bokken movements as they relate to hand to hand ... that would be even better!

If you practice new movements that have not been explained, or give a basis for context in Aikido, I wouldn't go there. There is nothing so difficult as breaking bad habits, or exercises learned with out a basis of factual experience.

You can however practice the eternal good posture while working, moving and everyday chores.

You can review and practice those things you have already done in class with jo or bokken, and work them into your computer time while thinking, downloading or roaming about the house in your daily chores.

Simple movements as Tenkan, or irimi around the corner of a chair, or table are just as valuable as training with a partner ... it ingrains the movement into your subconscious so you don't spend your time thinking how to do them, you just do.

Reviewing information already covered, in either books or videos, which I sometimes do while I go online, is an excellent teaching reference to both terminology and upcoming techniques the teacher may add as your training progresses.

The most difficult part of training, I think, is keeping the back and legs limber when seated for periods of time. You might want to find some little exercises that keep your legs stretching throughout the day and allign your back, neck, and shoulders. If you have all evening classes, it really helps to not be all kinked up and tired from not stretching when seated for long periods.

As far as the rowing exercise ... If it has been explained to you what the purpose is, why it is done in that method, and what you are looking for, then I would go ahead and practice.

If not, a rowing machine has more benefits than not for this exercise ... my personal experience from actual rowing of different types of boats over the years, no disrespect for Aikido teachers thoughts on this matter.

If nothing else, a phone call to your teacher or talk with classmates who have experienced Aikido for a longer period about some of the exercises and things you want to do while at home. Most teachers are more than glad to help with reccommendations.