The close of my first Aikido year

Well, that's it. I closed out my first year of Aikido with two hours of classes at Honbu Dojo today. I've really enjoyed training at Honbu this week and would like to continue attending class into next year. However, having all the explanations in Japanese is a little tough. I can catch a bit of it, but I really have to concentrate to understand. Instead, I get the gist and try to observe the sensei and copy their movements.

This year, I feel Aikido has become a regular part of my life. I really enjoy teaching my body to react and blend with someone else's energy. And that's really what Aikido had become for me, it's not the techniques or movements, but the awareness of another's energy, and knowing how to get control and direct that energy to where you want it to go.

So here's to another great year of training.

Osu!

The year ain't over yet

Even though my home dojo is closed for the year, there's other options in this Mecca of Aikido that is Tokyo. Last night Megumi and I went to a class at Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo. The class size was much smaller than I expected, 5 black belts, 1 brown, and 4 whites, including Megumi and myself. However, class was presided over by none other than Shioda Kancho himself. What a treat.

This was my second time going to Honbu Dojo, so due to this and the small class size I was able to relax a little and focus on Aikido. We did some rather difficult techniques, all aya mochi (grabbing shite's right hand with uke's right hand, or left with left). The techniques were aya mochi nikkajo osae I, both suwari and tachi waza (sitting and standing techniques). We also did aya mochi sokomen iriminage II and aya mochi yonkajo nage II. I don't feel like I really nailed any of them, but was able to get a general feel for all of them. Besides who ever actually understands a technique after practicing it for just one class?

I'd like to go back to train again before the end of the year, but their last class is on Sunday, so I'll have to be quick about it.

last morning class of the year

My first year of Aikido is winding down, with today being the last morning class of the year, and tomorrow evening's class being the last class of the year.

This morning I was the senior student, a rarity that I kind of enjoy. We did some ukemi (break falls) and then worked on katatemochi nikajo osae II. My partner was pretty green, so we went through the technique slowly. R Sensei pointed out that working with a fresh student gives us a chance to see a natural, untrained reaction to the techniques. If I were to do nikajo, or any other technique, to a random person, they wouldn't react like a trained uke would. It's good to keep that in mind in case Aikido is used in an off-the-mat situation. The important things seems to be to observe the uke, watch and feel how they're moving, and allow their reaction to dictate the direction of your technique.

Test day

As both Senseis mentioned after class, it was great to see some of the different levels during the tests. There were 6 people testing at 4 different levels, 9th kyu, 7th kyu, 4th kyu, and 1st kyu. There was a great vibe in the class and it was easy to see that everyone has been very dedicated to improving their Aikido.

On my test, there were things I felt I did well, and of course a myriad of points I need to improve on. This week, R Sensei said some things about kamae that really sunk in, and as a result, I felt I had a strong kamae throughout the test. I wasn't able to stay in kamae through all the waza (techniques), but at least I was starting from a strong kamae. My ukemi was much better than my last test, especially zenpo kaiten ukemi (forward flip). I've been able to slow down the roll to the point where I'm in control and my back leg is extended throughout the flip. The key for me has been to keep the leg I'm pushing off with on the ground longer, giving my back leg more time to get around.

What really frustrated me during the kihon dosa (basic movements) was that my right thigh muscle got so tired so quickly. By the time I got to the 4th kihon dosa, hiriki no yosei II, I had real trouble keeping my form and concentrating on the movement. In my opinion, the kihon dosa was the weakest part of my test.

The kihon waza (basic techniques) part of the test was fairly comfortable for me. I didn't try to think to much, and just let my body reflect the training I've been doing for the past month. The one hiccup was that my uke was changed at the last moment to someone I've trained with only once or twice since starting Aikido. Through no fault of his, I didn't blend as well as I could have. Other than that, I kept my focus and didn't make any major mistakes.

We have one more week of class before the New Years break. I can't believe it, three whole weeks without Aikido. I hope I don't get too soft...

Last day of test prep

Today's class was mostly test training for everyone. We have 6 people taking tests tomorrow, so R Sensei had us practice out techniques. However, for the first 15 minutes or so we did kihon dosa (basic movements), which was exactly what I wanted to do today. When we did kihon dosa practice yesterday, R Sensei gave me some really good pointers that I wanted to refine before the test. Some of the advice he gave was not starting the movement with the upper body, but with the legs and hips, and also to make sure I'm changing the elevation of my hips from one position to the next.

The uke for my test is a big guy, maybe 6'2" or so, and for some of the techniques this is great, like shihonage, but for sankajo, it's a pain. It's kind of hard to get the right grip on his hands, and today, my grip slipped off him a few times. I hope that doesn't happen during the test.

Me like this technique

Stumpy had us do lots of hiyaku ukemi (flying forward flip) today. Megumi was doing them for the first time, and I'm still not very good at them, so we did a little flipping practice before moving on to techniques.

First we did shomen uchi hijiate II, at least I think that's what it's called. Uke first does a shomen strike and shite blocks and pivots 180 degrees to uke's side, with uke's arm extended in front of shite. Shite then moves the arm behind the uke, swinging the uke around, and prepares for the hijiate (elbow throw). A tough techniques, but good for practicing hiyaku ukemi.

Next we did a great kokyu-ho technique. Roland called it katatemochi kokyu-ho hiji-osae II. It's a very simple technique, but seemed powerful. In ai-hanmi kamae, uke takes shite's left wrist and pushes. Shite's hand blends with the push, pivoting a little less than 180 degrees, with uke's arm in front of shite. Shite then uses an open right hand to roll uke's elbow away from the site's body, while dropping to the right knee. This forces uke forward, and hopefully into a flip. After doing it a few times, I felt more confident and threw Megumi quite hard a few times. What a great feeling it. This one's definitely going on my favorite's list. We did a few other techniques, but they were just anti-climatic after that one.

Helping out a senior

Some good practice with Saori this morning. Stumpy told us to practice my test techniques, but as I've mentioned before, I like to practice a larger variety of techniques than the 5 that are on my test. So while we did do the techniques on my test, we also mixed in some other techniques, like the opposite type, ichi (pulling) vs ni (pushing) techniques, as well as suwariwaza. I definitely screwed up most of the suwariwaza, but I figure it was good practice for Saori. She's going for her shodan (the 1st degree black belt) test at Honbu in a few weeks. I don't think she'll have any trouble passing, but honestly, what is my opinion worth, I just started training 6 months ago.

Everyone needs some time off

Well, It's been a little while since I've made an entry. In addition to missing a few classes, I haven't had the inclination to write anything. Mostly been doing a lot of test training on the 5 techniques for my next test, but honestly, only doing those techniques is a little dull. Today was a bit better though. David and I practiced a bunch of techniques I wasn't too familiar with, so I got to learn a few more techniques, filling in a few blanks on the way.

Less is more, more or less

Good energy in the dojo today. Four beginners showed up, three of which passed their 10th kyu test last Friday. I worked on my test techniques with Sao-chan, and Oxford worked with Drew.

My tenchinage felt good today. I just tried to recreate what I saw last week at Honbu, a big explosive movement and really moving the uke's hand out to the side and as low as I can get. I even got a nod of approval from Stumpy. I also made a little progress on my kokyu ho, but my shihonage felt really weak today. It may have been that my uke was really short, but I felt that in the position before the pivot, I didn't have control of the uke.

I was a little jealous of the beginners today. They learned tenchinage for the first time today, and guess I miss that feeling of seeing every technique for the first or second time, the newness of it all. I'll try to practice a greater variety of techniques while training, not just my test techniques.

Crash Test Dummy

It's strange being a teaching prop. As I was laying on the mat today, I noticed my reflection in the dojo mirror with my arm being used by The General to teach osae. However, as the bottom of the mirror is raised 5 or 6 inches off the floor, my arm was the only part of my body I could see. Because of this, I found it quite easy to dissociate myself from my arm. Then it no longer seemed like my arm. It's like my arm became dojo property, to be used for the education of others. Then I thought that the furtherance of another's education is an admirable aspiration for a simple arm.

1st trip to Honbu

I went to Hombu dojo (the head dojo for Yoshinkan Aikido) for the first time last night. As I was walking toward it, I couldn't really distinguish it from any of the surrounding office buildings, but then I heard the welcoming sound of mats being slapped, hard. Ah yes, this must be the place.

I was a bit nervous at first, intimidated by the class size (around 40), as well as the fact that I could only see two other white belts in the crowd of blacks and browns. I ended up partnered with one of the other white belts and while the techniques we did were a bit advanced, we were able to muddle through them. The techniques were ryotemochi nikajo osae II and ryotemochi tenchinage II. We also did suwariwaza for both techniques.

What I really enjoyed was the intensity at which everyone seemed to be training. It started from Ando Sensei and the strength of his techniques, which was reflected by the enthusiasm of his uke during his demonstration of the techniques. This energy served to encourage everyone else and made for a great atmosphere. I think a return trip is definitely in order.

Happy Halloween

To start the class, we did 15-20 minutes of kihon dosa (basic movements). My movements felt very jerky and not smooth at all. But that may have been a result of a lack of sleep. After kihon dosa, Drew and I did some techniques from his test, or at least we tried. He'll be testing for 2nd/3rd kyu, brown belt level, but he didn't really know the techniques. I wonder if the sensei will pass him if he's unsure on the techniques.

Are you ready for this

We did some basic jiyuwaza practice today, initially practicing pivoting, hiyaku ukemi, and then moving on to entering into techniques against a basic forward punch (not sure what the Yoshinkan name is for this strike). Right now I'm still thinking too much about my feet placement, when I need to concentrate on the uke and the fact that his fist is flying toward my body. Add to that a real lack of a working knowledge of the kihon waza (basic techniques). I'm not really too confident about jiyuwaza yet, and in truth it may be a bit early for me to be learning jiyuwaza, but it figure it can't really hurt.

Let's get back to it

This morning I felt a little off. I haven't been to class since last Friday morning, and even though it's only been four days, it feels like a long time. I felt I lost that "feeling" of Aikido, where you feel your movements are strong and economical. But despite this, Jason and I were able to work through a bunch of techniques at a pretty good pace. We did the techniques from my next test, as well as a bunch of techniques from dai ichi.

For the last fifteen minutes of class, we did shomen jiyuwaza (freestyle technique) practice. The two techniques I did were shihonage and ikkajo. We also did kotegaeshi, both left and right side. Oxford and I almost had our hand ripped off by The General doing hiyaku ukemi (flying forward flips) on the left side.

Bloody knees

Copious amounts of blood was spilled on the mat today, all of it mine. While doing shikko ho (knee walking), my almost healed blisters from last Saturday opened up and before I knew it, I had patches of blood on my dogi and spots of blood on left on the mat.

As soon as I noticed how bad the blood was, I asked The General if I could stop and he handed me a rag. I then cleaned the blood off the mat while the other students finished the shikko ho practice. There were a few strange looks from the other students, probably wondering why the hell I was bleeding.

I was thinking about going to class tonight, but I think I'll skip class for a few days and try to let my knees heal.
　

Just another day

I worked with Oxford on some dai ichi (first set) techniques. After getting through a handful of techniques, Big Drew showed up and Stumpy moved me over with the beginners so Oxford could work with Big Drew on his test techniques.

With the beginners, we worked on katatemochi sokumen iriminage. I tried to focus on the entry movement and locking the uke's arm as I move in. It didn't quite work as well as when Stumpy or The General do it, but I think I made some progress.

Woe is my knees

I had a couple of 2-person classes with The General over the weekend. It was really effective and I felt I improved my shihonage a lot on Friday night. Saturday night we did a lot of suwariwaza (kneeling techniques), and as a result, my knees got rubbed a bit raw. It's not pretty, but now I have a good excuse not to practice suwariwaza for a week.

I spent this morning's class practicing with Jason. He's a big guy, but I felt I was getting him to move around pretty well. I really noticed the shihonage work from last Friday and feel pretty in control on that technique. Next I'd like to work on the shomen iriminage more. When I did it this morning, it didn't feel strong at all.

Moving up the ladder

I trained with the beginner class today with The General teaching. There were 4 beginners, Jason (5th kyu) and then me. We did some kihon dosa, zenpo kaiten ukemi (forward rolls), shikko ho (walking on your knees), and three different techniques. It all amounted to a little bit of a workout.

The three techniques were katatemochi sokumen iriminage I, shomen uchi ikkajo osae I, and katatemochi nikajo osae II. A comment The General made was in the first movement of iriminage, don't pull your arm away from uke and pull their hand, but instead, lock the uke's elbow into their body by moving your arm with the pull and into the uke's hand. This takes away the uke's ability to resist when you raise your arms for the next movement.

Fixing the small things

Started off class today with kihon dosa (basic movements), with Stumpy giving some good pointers and refinements. I felt pretty clumsy this morning during shumatsu dosa and kept messing up the suriashi (sliding the feet along the mat).

After that worked on some 7th/8th kyu test techniques with Oxford. We did katatemochi shihonage I, yokomen uchi sankajo osae II, and suwariwaza ryote mochi kokyu ho I.

One great insight for the shihonage was a) hook the uke's wrist to keep it in place, don't try to lock it in place with power and b) during the pivot, of course use the hand on the uke's wrist to maintain contact with the "free" hand, but also push back toward the uke with that free hand. It's not necessary to extend the uke's arm out during th pivot as I previously thought.

For kokyu ho on the final movement, it seems it's ok to bend over a lot to get the uke to fall back.

Overall a good day with lots of minor corrections and hints to keep in mind for the future.

Taking on The General

Just me and The General last night, making for a very productive class. First we did some fluidity practice, then in the second half of class we practiced some techniques from my next test. We worked on ryotemochi tenchinage I and suwariwaza ryotemochi kokyuho I. Both are a bit tough with subtle movements, but I feel I understand kokyuho much better now.

Raggedy Andy

Sometimes, you have an Aikido lesson where you just feel like you're being thrown around like a rag doll. Today was one of those days.

In class, we did some basics first, tai no henko ichi (one of the basic forms) and some ukemi (falls). Then we did nikajo, second control, and to be specific, katatemochi nikajo osae II. In this technique, shite uses nikajo to spin the uke around by his wrist and pins him at the end. Not particularly difficult, but today I trained with The General. This caused me some discomfort.

Don't get me wrong, I like to train with intensity, and The General's training is always intense, but when we did a little hajime training, I felt, well, like a rag doll being manipulated by a particularly energetic toddler. Good times...

Jiyu-what?

The day I can execute techniques cleanly during jiyuwaza will be the day I consider myself competent at Aikido. Jiyuwaza is freestyle Aikido, where the uke (attacker or the person receiving the technique) is given a specific attack and the shite (defender or person executing the technique) reacts to the attack with their technique of choice, usually ending in a throw. The uke rolls out, gets up, and attacks again....and again....and again, until the Sensei calls "Yame!" (Stop!)

Today we did some basic jiyuwaza practice with shomen (forward) strikes. Initially we practiced pivoting, and then pivoting in response to a strike, going as far as the block and setting up the uke for a technique. This includes pivoting inside and outside the uke with either left or right foot forward, resulting in four different approaches. We then practiced ending with three different techniques, sankajo, nikajo, and shihonage.

All very interesting, but I can't execute techniques nearly automatic enough for jiyuwaza yet. Additionally, Stumpy said there are three ways to throw from sankajo. I know one, but what are the other two?

Ikkajo Jamboree

Today's class was divided into 2 groups, beginners and intermediate/advanced students. The beginners had their first nikajo class, and it looked like they were enjoying themselves. Nikajo is a difficult control, and the correct hand position is quite subtle. I still have trouble with it.

The other students, Sao-chan, Oxford, and Big Drew and I, worked on different ikkajo techniques from Sao-chan's shodan (1st degree blackbelt) test list. Some of them are quite difficult and unfamiliar to me, but I enjoyed practicing them. I'm just glad I'm not the one being tested on them.

Grab my shoulder, I dare you.

We practiced katamochi (shoulder grab) today. The techniques were katamochi ikkajo osae I, suwariwaza katamochi nikajo osae II, ushiro ryote katamochi sankajo osae I, and finally katamochi yonkajo osae I, respectively 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th control techniques. We had a good class size, six. Enough to keep it fresh, but not so many that the dojo felt crowded.

I still have trouble feeling whether or not I have yonkajo (4th control) effectively applied or not, but my uke was moving how I wanted him to, so it must have been somewhat effective. I'm also starting to really enjoy sankajo (3rd control). Once you lock the uke's wrist, you get so much control over him, it's great.

Oh yeah, and I passed the 9th kyu test on Saturday.

Lesson in Patience

Well, I had my test, or rather, my test had me. I went into class with a lot of confidence and mentally prepared, but throughout the class, I felt my concentration start to waver.

I did ok, but felt my form was a little sloppy and I wasn't as focused as I'd like to have been. The test was held at the end of class and while that gave me a chance to practice the forms a bit more, I don't think it helped me mentally. I tried to maintain my focus for a full hour before the test, but that just made it so I couldn't focus during the test.

My kamae (stance) didn't feel strong, and when I did my zenpo kaiten ukemi (forward rolls), I kept drifting off center. This kind of got into my head and I felt awkward for the rest of the test. I was able to relax a bit for the kihon waza (basic techniques) and felt I did alright on that section.

Results on Tuesday...

Next time I have a test, I need to remember not to psych myself up so much and wait until just before the test to sharpen my focus. As long as I put in the training to learn the forms, I can just relax and let my body move naturally, leaving my mind to focus on breathing and mantaining a strong kamae.

More test training

I came into the dojo today and it was empty. "Am I training alone today?" I thought. So I turned on the lights, and started to change, but soon enough, Sao-chan, Oxford, and the guest Black Belt arrived. I wasn't alone after all.

Like the title says, I did more test training today with Sao-chan. She's agreed to be my uke for the test, so it was good to have this opportunity to practice with her before the big event. I was able to get some good advice on the techniques as well as refine my kamae. Overall, a productive class.

I read one of Stumpy's blog entries yesterday and he talked about how important it is to have your own goals in mind while training. Up until now, I focused on what the sensei was trying to teach, and of course, it's important to work on that as well, but while the sensei is setting up a focus for the class as a whole, you can still be working on what you feel is an aspect of your Aikido that you want to improve. It can be something that was pointed out in a previous class, or just something you observed in someone else's Aikido.

I think it was last week as I watched Oxford doing a technique, an iriminage. I noticed how he was keeping his weight forward through the whole technique. When I noticed this, I thought that that's what I need to be doing. It's easy to get lazy and "sit back" during a technique, but keeping your weight forward keeps your momentum moving forward and help keeps the uke off balance. So that's my personal focus for now, to keep my weight, and thus the force of my technique, moving forward.

Test training

Big class today. The General brought some youngins, three kids about 16 years old I think. There was also three of the beginners, a guest black belt, along with the regular crew, 11 students in all, along with 2 sensei. Surprisingly though, the mat didn't feel crowded. Big Drew and I worked on test techniques. Stumpy didn't point out any major flaws, so I guess I generally get it. However, on kata mochi hijishime osae ichi, an elbow lock technique, I still feel my arm movements are awkward during the pivot. I need to make sure I'm holding the arm high against my chest and am standing upright after the pivot. A helpful pointer was to move the uke's hand across my chest on the pivot and don't push it down. I'll try to remember that during the test.

Training for 1st kyu

That's right everybody, I've already started training for 1st kyu. Pretty ambitious, don't you think.

No but actually, today we did 2 advanced techniques, both dai-san I think. The first was suwari waza shomen uchi kotegaeshi, both ichi and ni. I had practiced this technique last Friday night, so I wasn't completely lost, but it's still quite difficult. I haven't even really done much tachi waza kotegaeshi (standing forearm reversal), and suwari waza (sitting technique) just adds another level of difficulty.

The other technique was ushiro eri mochi ikkajo osae. This is another difficult technique and I was seeing it for the first time. We only did the ichi technique, but that was enough. It seems there's a bit of subtlety involved in order to get this technique to work. While uke's holding the back of the collar, shite must pivot under the arm in order to move into position for ikkajo, but while you move under the arm, you still must keep your kamae (as always, right?). Definitely need more practice on this one.

I've got my 9th kyu test at the end of the week, with four different techniques. I'm feeling ok about all four of them at this point. Still a few weak points I'd like to work out, but for the most part I think I'll be ok, at least good enough for 9th kyu criteria.

Back to basics

Well, my first class after vacation and was able to ease back in with a beginner's course class. I was actually the senior student today! Wow!

The General taught the class and had us do a little ab workout to start off, and then we practiced suri-ashi, sliding the feet along the mat when moving. A good aikidoka (Aikido practitioner) never picks his feet up off the mat.

We also practiced pivoting, which then moved us into shumatsu dosa. Shumatsu dosa are two movement patterns with many basic components used in other techniques. Truthfully, the class covered a lot of basics, but all the things covered are important for executing more advanced techniques.

Sankajo and Nikajo

I neglected to write an entry for last Saturday, so today you get two classes in one write up.

Saturday I trained with MG for an hour and a half doing just yokumen uchi sankajo osae 2.　It wasn't nearly as boring as it sounds though. Stumpy was teaching us, bouncing between us and a few students preparing for enbu. I'll tell you what, training with MG is demanding, but really enlightening. MG's a real practical guy when it comes to the techniques and he wants to make every technique work, and not just pretend to have it work. This means breaking the technique down and finding what's effective in each step. And of course he never executes the technique softly, kind of like a mini version of The General. But truthfully, that's the kind of training I really enjoy. So yeah, my wrists hurt but I learned a lot about that technique.

So in today's class Big Andrew, Frenchy and I did katatemochi nikajo osae 2. Frenchy did the beginner's course with me, but has missed quite a few classes, so we spent the time teaching her a few basic things, but everyone got some good training so I can't call it a wasted class. Tried to do nikajo on The General. マジ無理よ！

Dai Ichi

Today the brown belts and two white belts continued to train for the enbu while Lil' Cuba, Big Andrew and I went through the second half of the Dai Ichi techniques. Dai Ichi is the first set of techniques a student should learn, consisting of about 10 different forms. There's also Dai Ni and Dai San. The Ichi, Ni, and San techniques constitute all the techniques necessary for shodan.

This was my first time training with Big Andrew and I was happily surprised. Mostly because his level is somewhat close to mine, but his knowledge of the techniques is a bit better than me, but no so much that I felt like I was a hindrance to his training. Training with some of the browns can make you feel like you're just wasting their time.

As for Lil' Cuba, he walked into the changing room before class and asked if I was doing the beginner's course today.

"The beginner's course was yesterday." I said.

In a quiet voice he said, "Oh."

Poor little guy, he looked so sad.

Beginner's course

Today was the first day of a new beginner's course. There were 3 new students and they were being taught basics by The General. The rest of us broke up into pairs and worked on different techniques with Stumpy helping us in turns. I practiced two different nikajo techniques, katatemochi and katamochi, with a partner, and the other students worked on their enbu (demonstration) techniques. The All Japan Yoshinkan Aikido Enbu is on Saturday, the 15th and a bunch of the students are going to participate. Unfortunately I won't be able to go, I'll be on a beach in Bali at that time. So sad, I know.

One on One

Training one on one with The General is both good and bad. It's great if your doing a nage (throws), but if your practicing elbow locks, hijishime, like we did today, prepare to hurt. He trains and teaches hard. It's great encouragement to move properly as uke. And it also encourages you to try and do the technique with power when he's uke.

Today we practiced katamochi hijishime and ryotemotchi tenchinage. I started to feel pretty good about the hijishime, which is on my next test, but I need a lot more practice on the tenchinage. It's tough because the movements are quite subtle and both hands have to be in sync with each other and with the feet. Luckily this technique isn't on my next test, but will be on the 7th/8th kyu test.

So tomorrow is the first day of the beginner's course, should be interesting.

Trying out Aikikai

Today I went to an Aikikai lesson in Takadababa. The teaching style is a bit different from Roppongi Yoshinkan, but I'm not sure if it's because of the people leading the lesson or because it's Aikikai. There were a lot of experienced older Aikidoka, so finding good instruction wasn't a problem. However the focus, or goal was a bit unclear. There was a lot of standing around, unless you really pushed and found a partner willing to do the same. There's no focus on footwork, which seems a bit strange to me. Techniques start with footwork, don't they.

One thing I felt it did do well was trying to convey a feel for the whole movement. When there's no pausing during the technique, the execution feels a bit more natural. However, for a teaching environment, I felt there was a real lack of formality, something that Yoshinkan really gives. While I'm still learning Yoshinkan, I don't feel it's a good idea to mix the styles. There's a few differences that need to become natural before I would feel comfortable deviating into a different style.

Shochu-geiko: day 10

Finished!! Shochu-geiko is over. Not that it was real tough, but after 12 days straight of training, perhaps a few days of rest are in order.

Todays class was kokyunage. It seems to be the technique of turning your hand to blend with the uke's force and take their balance. It was pretty interesting, but all suwariwaza. My knees were complaining pretty loudly near the end.

Shochu-geiko: day 9

One more day of Shochu-geiko. Getting through it has been easier than I expected. Getting up at 5am every morning has become routine and I've been winning the battle at night by getting to bed by 11pm.

Today The General ran the class with kotegaeshi and tenchinage. I had a really tough time with hiyaku ukemi (flying flips) today. I still can't land correctly. I always end up landing either feet first, or flat on my lower back, and that hurts. My neck is also a bit stiff, so I guess I need to make sure it's tucked when flipping. I did have one or two flips near the end that weren't so bad. I think what I need to do is have someone throw me like 10 times in a row in order to get really good at it.

one...more...day...

Shochu-geiko: day 8

Wow, good day. I came into class feeling slow and lead-footed, and that feeling lasted past warm-ups and into the first few techniques. I eventually loosened up and by the end of class felt pretty good and was going through the new forms feeling pretty comfortable. We did hijishime and hijiate today at a pretty good pace, going through 5 or 6 techniques in the hour. The thing I found most difficult about these techniques was moving the arms into the correct position for the lock or throw.

Lil' Cuba came today, but spent he class training separately with The General while Stumpy ran the class. I feel bad that The General has to waste his time with him, but having a student train with him really slows things down. Overall, a good solution.

What's wrong with Lil Cuba? He moves very strangely and doesn't understand how Aikido works. Maybe he'll get better after some more training, but we'll see.

Shochu-geiko: day 7

Today was shomen iriminage. Generally it's a pretty basic technique, and seems like it'd be really useful in jiyuwaza. I felt my movements were fluid today, exect in suwariwaza. I think I need more practice pivoting in suwariwaza as well as shiko ho.

Shochu-geiko: day 6

Today was sokumen iriminage. Luckily we only had one suwariwaza, katate mochi sokumen iriminage(I). Today's class was taught by Stumpy and I had the chance to practice with The General a few times. Best of all I only had to pair with Lil' Cuba once, and on a very simple technique.

As far as the techniques themselves, I need to remember to enter deeper into the uke, hip-to-hip. Other than that I felt I did OK considering my unfamiliarity with the techniques.

Tomorrow is shomen iriminage. Should be fun.

What am I talking about?

This'll be an attempt to record my thoughts on my Aikido training at a Yoshinkan dojo here in Tokyo. I've now been practicing for 3 months and passed my first test to 10-kyu.

First I'll talk a little about my dojo. It's a small dojo in Roppongi with mostly foreigner students in addition to the two foreigner sensei (That's The General in the picture). But for that's enough explanation. I'm sure more details will come out as I write.

Last nights class was taught by Stumpy, and the students were S, D, and Lil' Cuba, in addition to myself. We did some flipping and basic jiyu-waza practice. I'm the one that requested the flipping practice because I still feel quite uncomfortable with it. I'd like to get to the point where I feel "graceful" when flipping (or being flipped). I think I'll have to go through lot of pain before that happens.

That's it for today. I've got a another class tonight, taught by The General, and I'm sure it'll be just the way I like it, intense.