Kangeiko: day 1

Day one of kangeiko went really well, and despite the after effects of a long Saturday night, I felt pretty strong throughout the class. There was a really good turnout, with eight students and the two sensei.

Today was shihonage with R Sensei leading us through 9 different techniques:

katatemochi I & II
hanmi handachi katatemochi I & II
ryotemochi I & II
hanmi handachi ryotemochi I
yokomen uchi I & II

Finding the rhythm

It seems my entries are getting further and further apart. I guess this is for two reasons, the first being that as I get more experience in Aikido, there's less progress to report on. Secondly, my attendance as of late has been a bit spotty. I feel like I haven't gotten in to a good rhythm yet this year. I've been going to two or three classes a week, but haven't been everyday of the week since last year. So right now, my training seems a bit staccato. However, next week is kangeiko, winter training.

Kangeiko is a two-week training period during the coldest part of the year. Classes will be every weekday at 7am, and it's a bit of an accomplishment to attend all ten classes. There's also a summer equivalent, shochugeiko, during the hottest time of the year, and for anyone who has experienced a Japanese summer, you know this is quite the challenge. I went to every one of last year's shochugeiko classes and I'm aiming for a repeat performance this time around. Maybe then I can get back into the rhythm again.

Getting flippant with flips

Megumi and I have decided to improve our hiyaku ukemi (flying forward flips), so we've been doing a few flips this week after class. My right side flip is getting a little better, but I can't say I'm seeing any improvement yet on the left side. Then yesterday, we did a lot of hiyaku ukemi in class and of course, a few times I landed poorly and jarred my lower back. When I woke up before class today, I felt a bit sore. Not a good sign. Could it be that my form is actually getting worse?

Today we did a few different ikkajo nage and one kotegaeshi technique. R Sensei had us focusing on fluid movements, but I didn't feel very spry today. I was a bit slow and stiff, and halfway through the class, I felt like I was out of gas. Hopefully there's no flipping in tomorrow's class. My body needs a break.

Yonkajo bonanza

Tonight's class revolved around yonkajo. We had 6 students, 3 advanced students (black and brown belts) and 3 white belts, making a pretty good mix. Everyone seemed to be concentrating on training and there was a really good, focused vibe in the class. For techniques, we did suwariwaza yokomen uchi yonkajo osae, both ichi and ni. After that, we did katamochi yonkajo osae, ichi and ni.

And finally we did some nage (throws), the first being yokomen uchi yonkajo sokomen iriminage. This was a very different yonkajo, where after blocking the yokomen strike in ai-hanmi, shite pivots and moves the uke's striking arm down, circling into yonkajo. At this point, shite steps behind the uke into sokomen iriminage. My description doesn't do it justice, and it's very different from the yonkajo techniques I've done before. The final technique was a variation of this where instead of moving into iriminage, shite cross steps behind the uke and pulls the uke down from behind.

I really enjoy doing such a variety of techniques, but there were a few times tonight, where I feel just as I had an insight into the technique, we would move on to the next one. I guess that just makes one eager to do that technique again. I just hope that the same insight comes to mind the next time. Sometimes it feels like I spend a lot of time in class trying to remember what I've already forgot.

Right back to it

No fanfare or balloons, no whistles or dancing clowns, just some good basic Aikido for the first class of the year. We had five students and first quickly went through the kihon dosa and shumatsu dosa. Of course there was a bit of rust, but not quite as bad as I expected.

R Sensei then had us practice katate mochi shihonage ichi, then shomen uchi ikkajo osae ni. On the ikkajo technique, I discovered the importance of slightly rotating the blocking arm, like a subtle hiriki no yosei ichi, to move the uke's arm upward, making the movement into ikkajo much easier and more effective.