You might be an Aikido addict if ....

Is Aikido addictive? I believe it is. I had many justifications for returning to Aikido after 16 years, but at the end of the day, I resumed studying it because it got in my blood back in the '80s and that was it -- hooked now and forever.

Of course, unless you overtrain, Aikido is not as harmful as say sex, drugs, or gambling. But it is an addiction nonetheless. And so, as a public service, and with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, here are some warning signs:

You might be an Aikido addict if .....

.... when Kali class is canceled, your first thought is to go to Aikido

.... when you go into a book store, you make a b-line of the martial arts section and flip through the Aikido books.

....you BUY an Aikido book, even though you already have more.

.... you make a point of doing so on vacation.

.... you start this thread on Aikiweb.

This should be fun

You might be an aikido addict if you and your friends think a group hug involves randori.

You might be an aikido addict if your wife holds your hand and you think how can I get ikkyu from here

You might be an aikido addict if you wear your hakama to work.

You might be an aikido addict if your hear someone say broken and you think they said bokken and break into kata.

You might be an aikido addict if you name your daughter Irimi, or your dog Oshitaoshi.

All for now
BK git r dun

You might be an aikido addict if....

After being concussed, you bounce right up, and sensei about has to wrestle you off the mat...

All the yudansha are sprawled on the floor after randori (not with you) and you're bouncing around like the proverbial aiki-ferret.

It's a struggle not to ikkyo or sankyo someone if their hands swing forward in front of you, or your hands swing forward while you're holding theirs.

You have 3 bokkens in your golf bag??

Casey Darwin wrote: You have 3 bokkens in your golf bag??

CLASSIC SYMPTOM!!

- if u dream to train from morning till night every day
- there are nearly 1000 portraits of O-Sensei in your bedroom
- every morning before breakfast u repeat 31 kata
- every night u are dreaming of recieving 10th dan

- If you reply to controversy with "Oh yeah, Grab my wrist!!!"
- See a big hall and make decide forward rolls would get you through it quicker.
- "Chew your food with your center" -- Gotta give Bozz props for this one..

you feel a itch to preform ikkyo when your daughter holds your hand ....
you drag as many friends as possible to the dojo so you can practice outside the dojo
you think a 7 hour training day is a GOOD idea
the ambulance crew know your name

...in a calander year you have more days in the dojo than you do at the office...

Sounds great!! Wish I could train that often!

Robert Jackson wrote: - - "Chew your food with your center" -- Gotta give Bozz props for this one..

DUDE! That was funny as hell! I still wanna ask Shihan about that one.

You find yourself "blending with and redirecting" your cat when it tries to jump onto your lap uninvited...

-Doug

P.S. Cats make great uke... especially if they're completely spoiled... they just go wherever you push them...

<edit>
Oh yeah, and if you can't sleep on nights where you didn't have class because you have too much excess energy

<end edit>

Heh --- this is a lot like a little thing I posted to my AikiBlog not that long ago (my Sensei's contribution follows). I've removed the dojo-specific references, however...
---

This came about when, on my break at work yesterday, I
looked down and realized that I was walking around
holding my wallet and water bottle like I was gripping
a bokken. :-P

You know you're a hardcore Aikidoka when:

- ...the Aikido dreams start.

- ...you find yourself with an irresistible urge to
bow every time you enter or exit a room.

- ...the smell of rancid sweat has become oddly
unnoticeable to you.

- ...you immediately stop what you're doing and sit
down whenever you hear someone clap their hands.

- ...you feel like doing Yonkyo anytime someone
reaches to give you a handshake.

- ...you no longer grip anything with your index
fingers.

- ...you wear athletic tape and/or Neoprene braces
so often, they're practically fashion accessories.

- You blurt out "Hai!" when you're asked to do something at home, or at work.

- You wonder how you would flip someone in an elevator.

- You don't just open a door -- you extend into it from your center.

- Missing practice makes you feel like a caged animal.

- A crowded sidewalk always means tai sabaki practice.

- You've tried doing mai ukemi down a hill -- or on cement.

- Sensei regularly slams the crap out of you.

- You actually want Sensei to slam the crap out of you.

Emma Mason wrote: the ambulance crew know your name

Hehehe...and here I just commented to my Sensei recently that the local hospital's Urgent Care triage has become a regular haunt of ours.

John Boswell wrote: DUDE! That was funny as hell! I still wanna ask Shihan about that one.

Yes it was one of the rare occasions that you said something funny

-- After being thrown with a powerful technique you jump up saying "Do it again, Do it again"

-- You tap out... after stubbing your toe.

-- During the office fire drill you look out your third floor window and wonder "Would ukemi work??"

--Instead of folding your hands when you're sitting, you hold your own wrist, being sure to use the little finger line.

--You meet an attractive person and your first throught is "Wouldn't they look nice taking ukemi?"

--You settle marital disputes via nikyo, sankyo and yonkyo. (Hey, it's fair--I'm higher ranked, he has a higher pain threshhold....)

Mary Kaye

Mary Kuhner wrote: --You meet an attractive person and your first throught is "Wouldn't they look nice taking ukemi?" Mary Kaye

Oh thank the gods Im not the only one .....
I too look at the hotties in night clubs and start thinking "I wonder what your face looks like twisted and contorted with pain?"
.....
oh right .... we're talking AIKIDO!????

...you eagerly wait for Halloween (or any other costume party) to wear your gi and hakama outside the dojo.

...you keep dreaming of Aikido (what do they mean? I have had them for months, at least 4 nights a week).

-U- (Another Aikido dreamer)

You're working as a paramedic and get called to a minor injury on a wrestling mat. You keep poking at the mats with your boot and wondering what the reaction would be if you did a high breakfall in the middle of a call

Ulises Garcia wrote: ....you keep dreaming of Aikido (what do they mean? I have had them for months, at least 4 nights a week). -U- (Another Aikido dreamer)

Hmmmm .... haven't had any dreams of Aikido, but have had people from the dojo appear.

I guess I really am hooked!

Thanksgiving rolls around and for some goofy reason your roommate asks you to name 5 things your thankful for and you answer Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Sankyo, Yonkyo, Gokyo.

1. When you see a strait wooden stick, such as a broken broom handle, you automatically refer to it as a jo.

2. When you sit down on the sofa, you first bend one knee up behind you.

3. You commonly walk in shikko at home or work to get from one place to another without standing up.

4. When waiting in line, you think about which techniques you would like to practice tommorow at the dojo.

5. You choose your job based on if it interferes with your training time.

6. In your spare time, you carve bokkens out of branches you find laying on the ground.

7. You have read just about all the information there is on the internet.

8. You think being thrown or pinned feels great.

9. You dream about being thrown or pinned.

10. You consider all of the above to be a good thing and a normal part of life.

>You hope for the next installment of the Street Fighter series to finally have an Aikido character (flowing Hakama and all), with the coolest Shihonages, Kotegaeshis and Kokyunages (ki-blasts optional).

>You have as much fun with Aikido3D now, as you did with Tekken 3 when it first came out (love to turn uke invisible in tantodori. The floating tanto looks cool!).

Hey! Did I just give away that I'm a gamer?



-U-

ohhhh i pray that i dont have sensei haunt my dreams ...... IS THERE NO END TO THIS MADNESS!!!!!

<not that sensei isnt a wonderful man ... and having him appear would be a true priviledge! (ok ... dun creeping!)

[quote/michael gallagher].... when Kali class is canceled, your first thought is to go to Aikido[/quote]

Happened last week when a date blew me out. Strange, actually felt happy about goin to aikido, and was a bit disappointed i couldn't have done both in the first place.