Did the unthinkable (my Aikido journey)

[TDWoj]

Yesterday's class was the last by the guest instructor. It was horribly hot and for some reason, my ankles kept collapsing under me, so I didn't find it a very satisfying class. I was trying to go into a forward roll out of a throw, but I'm just not there yet.

For sure I'm going to have to get knee pads, though. At least until I lose a few more pounds.

 

[Amos Stevens]

I would think you could wear padding under your Gi..knee pads,elbow pads,butt pad,nose pad...hmm they might notice that one

 

[TDWoj]

Bloody HELL. I've gone and injured that same muscle I tore in February - this time, from bad ukemi technique. And I don't have the money to go and get the necessary massage therapy, either.

One of the senior students is an accupuncture and accupressure practitioner and he gave me a ten-minute session after class, which took away the worst of the pain. I don't think I've torn it again; it's just bruised, probably because it still has some scar tissue from when I tore it before. It's been bothering me for a while - just a dull ache, not the breath-taking pain I experienced when I first injured it, so I didn't think it was really as damaged as it turned out to be.

Two bad falls, and I was out for the rest of the class.

I've gone two Sundays in a row to free practice, and each time worked at least a half an hour on ukemi practice. My free standing falls are getting better (though the right side, where the injury is, is still weak); I just can't seem to translate that yet into falling from a throw, at least from the forward position. I suspect it's because my right arm keeps collapsing. I have to consciously think about what I'm doing when I fall, still, and sometimes that's just not possible.

I'll be missing the next two free practices, but then I'll be going to every one until my test. I still have to work on my techniques; they're still a bit sloppy. Oh, and shikko, as well. Still having trouble with that - I can't keep my balance, and my arms tend to fly around all over the place.

P.S. I've lost 34 pounds now. It's helped; now, if I can just get more flexible, I could get closer to the ground and not fall wrong and keep reinujuring the same spot. Grrr!

 

[Amos Stevens]

Sorry to hear that you're hurt TD How about full body padding under the GI?

Take care-soak in the tub but don't drown!

 

[TDWoj]

Thanks, Amos. I'll scrape up the $40 from somewhere and try and get an appointment this week. The magic accupressure treatment is starting to wear off...

Oh, and I forgot to mention - one of my instructors at the dojo was teaching English in Japan for a while, and in looking around for a dojo to continue his aikido training, took lessons at the Tenshin dojo, run by the sister of the erstwhile Mrs. Seagal, Miyako Fujitani.

He tells me, though, that the way they run aikido in Japan is completely different than the way they run aikido in North America. Pit a Japanese shodan against a North American one, and the North American one will be more advanced. "Shodan" in Japan really does mean "beginner" and all they need to know to achieve the rank of shodan is just the basics in both ukemi and techniques (pretty much what I'm taking as my first test, and not much more). But it still takes 10 years of study before one is even considered a "beginner"....

 

[Aikilove]

Yep! Just to show that "real sensei" never equates with "only japanese" that some on this board has been posting!!! Since way back in the 50's and 60's when aikido began to spread to Europe and US the general testin requirement within the Europeen (at least) groups were much higher than the same in Japan. Not everywere mind you but, at most places.
One has to consider however that it is possible for someone to train 2000 hours a year or more! by being ushi deshi and become very profficient in aikido within two years! Of course this should be taken into consideration.
Still I don't think one should generalize anything, but if one had to then I would say that people in Europe and US that are serious more times than the japanese take their aikido training more serious than the latter! (and therefore more often gets better at it to!!

/J

 

[TDWoj]

One of the people who attended the February seminar, for example, studied aikido in Japan for a year. But that's all he did - day in, day out, six to eight hours a day. It was almost like being in boarding school. And his technique was so effortless - I've nicknamed him "Obi Wan" because he manages to do his ukemi without, apparently, even touching the mat!

I asked those who attended the seminar with O-Sensei's grandson in British Columbia what the style direct from Japan was like. They all said the same thing - it was a lot gentler, a lot softer than what we've been learning here so far. I'm under the impression that those here who are seeking "the real Japanese style" of aikido are under the misapprehension that it's the rough, street-fighting style of Steven Seagal. It isn't. Well, Yoshinkan is, like what ad_adrian is taking. That's closer to what Steven does, I think, than what I'm doing (aikikai).

Aikikai is still prettly painful from the uke's point of view, though....

-TD, nursing shoulders sore from being overstretched during pins

 

[tenshinaikidoka]

I think the "style" of Aikido is just a different approach from different orginazations. Seagal Shihans orginazation (Tenshin) tendsto be very painful, smaller circular movements and much more direct, and then there are others who have large circular movements and less direct movements. Yoshinkan in my opinion, is more similar to Daito Ryu, which is pretty cool. And I am sorry to hear of your injury TD, hope you get better soon.

 

[TDWoj]

Well, one of my instructors, as I mentioned upstream, did train at the Tenshin dojo in Japan with the sister of Miyako Fujitani, and you're right - I notice there's a difference stylistically between him and the other instructors. He's very into small, tight circles and an economy of movement "No extra steps, T...!" is something I've been hearing a lot of lately, from him. "Move closer, T....!" "Don't stop moving, T....!" "Be dynamic, T....!" "Stop thinking, T....!"

I get to the end of one of his classes, and I'm completely drained (of course, it doesn't help that it's been mercilessly hot and humid here for weeks on end, and we have to stop and drink water about every 10 minutes, or drop from dehydration).

 

[Aikilove]

Well I'm of to US (and NYC) now for 10 days, do I will drop in and train at New York Aikikai (Yamada, Sugano, Donovan Waits etc) a couple of times.

/J

 

[TDWoj]

Well, Yamada is coming here in October for a seminar (I think at the Japanese Community Cultural Centre, so where I'm going to find the money for that, I do not know). A couple of my instructors are being tested at the end of the seminar for their 2nd dan. I can't wait to watch! Apparently, it's difficult for our North American ears to catch what Yamada is saying, so being tested by him can get interesting!

 

[TDWoj]

We had a 2nd kyu teaching last night and we did some interesting things, especially in ukemi.

For the first time, though, a technique was demo'd that I flat out refused to do because I was terrified.

It was the first step in learning to breakfall. What you did was, first you took a partner. The partner then knelt on the floor and scrunched himself into a little "bump" - arms tucked in, knees drawn up, head down, back straight. Then, the person practicing the technique put their left hand on the partner's right shoulder, their right hand on the partners left shoulder, leaned across the partners back across their left arm, sort of "molding" oneself to the partner's back, and then you were supposed to slide off the partner's side down onto the mat.

I couldn't do it. I simply couldn't do it. I was paralysed with fear. I was terrified I was going to wreck my shoulders (which have been pretty sore now for a week, and I can't figure out why), or wreck my back, or squash my poor partner from my massiveness (I still have mumble,mumble pounds to lose), or do myself an injury just from my own weight landing on the mat. I just couldn't do it.

It's the first time I failed to try something, and I think I've lost the respect of at least a couple of people there. But I just couldn't do it. It was so bizarre.

A couple of other things that came up, though, during the ukemi demos that made some sense to me, and that's the thing about when the head goes down, the back leg comes up. That made a lot of sense to me, so I was giving it a try. Of course, the left side was just fine, the right side... that right hip and right ankle are just so stiff and so weak, I just don't know what I'm going to do.

Anyway, I'm taking a break from training, hoping that the soreness in my shoulders goes away, and I'll start again the week after next, hopefully refreshed from the break.

 

[ad_adrian]

i dont quite know what technique your tryingto explain tj woj...but once ur not sore...or only a little sore do it...u'll be glad u did
sometimes u just have to jump into things

 

[TDWoj]

Well, it's essentially doing a forward (actually a forward sideways) roll - my yoko kaitan - that eventually becomes a breakfall. Only it's practicing it over top of another person instead of trying it right away on the mat. Presumably, to get one used to getting down far enough so that the breakfall happens low, not high.

That's the theory; I'm not trying it, at least not yet. I haven't even got my forward rolls functioning yet, although doing them on the left side seems to be coming along.

Anyway, I think my poor battered body could use a break. I noticed after missing a few days of class from when I had to work at the convention, I actually improved in some areas. So, I think I'll just enjoy myself this week (hopefully, I won't have to come back early to attend to a job I just sent to the printers'), relax, read books, write stories, and not think about all the horrible things I will be coming back to!

 

[Aikilove]

It might look and sound terrible to do but it is actually one of the safest and more comfortable ways to train break falls. Why? Because by placing your lower arm on the side of your crouched over partner, your body forces itself into the correct possition for the breakfall.

/J

 

[TDWoj]

Oh, I know that - intellectually. It's just my gut telling me this is scary, scary, scary... and right now, my inner chicken rules.

Our sensei is just back from a Buddhist retreat. I tremble every time she goes away to a Buddhist retreat, because when she gets back, she really, REALLY ratchets up the pace to "killingly fast" in class. I'll be interested in chatting with the black belts later on this week and see how much squeaking THEY'll were doing after the black belt class tonight....

For example - she had us line up on opposite sides of the dojo. On the command "1, 2", one side did ukemi, left and right, then on "3, 4" the other side did ukemi, left and right. But it was done fast, fast, fast, and poor little slow poke me... well. I almost got run over by the "3, 4" group a few times.

A few - including me - kind of fell by the wayside. It wasn't just being out of breath - all those rolls at that speed made me dizzy! And, stupid me, I forgot to eat before class, so my blood sugar was too low (stupid Type 2 diabetes), not to mention Mr. Migraine had also come for a visit, AND my shoulder with the repetitive strain injury (from working on the computer) was giving me some grief.

Not exactly in top form, tonight.

While I'm not a senior student by any means, I'm finding that I'm going to have to teach myself patience when I'm working with newbies. First, resist the impulse to teach - which I (mostly) did tonight, except for warning my newbie partner about two things: one, because I was shorter than he, for shihonage, he was going to have to kneel down, and the other, when it was his turn to fall, to tuck his ear into his elbow or else he was going to get hurt. I did NOT, for example, tell him about keeping my hand in front of his eyes, and I was very nice about not pulling him down when his hands went too far back over his head (ahem).

However, I do find it difficult to work with new students, especially guys, because they're still thinking the techniques need to be done with full strength. As a consequence, I get injured - either massive bruises on my arms, or they yank my shoulders six ways from Sunday during a pin when I've expressly told them I am not as flexible as others there.

Tuesdays, the instructor during warm-ups has given us a new kind of stretch to do, which we do with partners. I cannot believe this, but after doing this stretch exactly twice in two weeks, I can now reach the toes on my left foot when we stretch in sitting position, legs wide - previously, there was at least 4 inches between the tips of my fingers and my toes. I couldn't believe my eyes!

Which is why I've decided to postpone taking my acting classes until November - the class in November is on Thursdays, but the class in September is on Tuesdays, and I don't want to miss any Tuesdays!

So, there is progress. I also find that the more weight I lose, the easier ukemi becomes. I think, though, it will be at least another year of practice before I can do forward ukemi from a throw. I'm encouraged, because one of the older students, who turned 62 this year and started aikido in her fifties, said it was three years before she could do forward ukemi from a throw. So I think there's hope for me, eventually!

Three weeks until my test! Yikes!

 

[ad_adrian]

congratulatoins for finally deciding to do your test tdwoj...at the end of it u'll be glad u did it

 

[TDWoj]

If I can last to the day of the test without doing myself any more injuries, inside or outside the class....

 

[tenshinaikidoka]

Testing is important, as it represents progress to yourself and it is an achievement and something to look forward to. I am happy that you are testing and remember if you were not ready, Sensei would not let you test. You will do fine, and make sure to let us know howit turns out.

 

[TDWoj]

Class today.

So we were doing ukemi practice today, and Sensei came up beside me just as I was doing a standing forward roll on the right side - my weak side. Not quite sure what happened, but I managed to do it correctly, and then I hear, "Oh, wow! That was great!" and then realised Sensei meant me!

Still can't do backward rolls, though.

And then - will wonders never cease - we were doing an excercise requiring a forward roll, and I managed to do one, one-armed (i.e. not putting down the other arm for support), correctly, and without crash-landing. In other words, I FINALLY did ukemi from a throw.

Whee!

Of course, it was my left side, which is stronger. Tried it on the right and went kerplunk. Ow. Managed to do it twice more on the left, at least, so that was something!

I might actually pass this test... no, wait. Don't say that. I'll jinx it somehow, I just know I will!

One thing I'm doing, though, that I find hard to stop is "teaching" when I'm with a newbie. A newbie today objected strenuously to me "teaching", so I asked him if he wanted another partner, and snagged one of the senior students for him. I didn't get mad or upset - which, for me, is a kind of personal, spiritual growth. He apologised to me after class, and I told him that I wasn't offended, and that it probably would be better if he worked with someone more senior than I.

Sliding down the spiritual scale a bit, I have to confess I was relieved - this guy still has it in his head that aikido is about strength and overpowering your partner, and this being still very newly hatched this pasttime for me, I find it difficult to practice techniques with a guy who WILL NOT RELAX. I have a hard enough time trying to relax, myself, so that I don't do myself any injuries. On the other hand, I'm terrified of injuring this guy because he insists on keeping his arm and elbow absolutely rigid, and when you're doing shihonage, that is not a good idea, either for uke or nage.

We didn't really have enough experienced people in class today, though; I'm hoping this is just the last gasp of summer holidays for most, and we'll be back to having the usual numbers of senior students in September.

Oh, my. Two more weeks to the test.

-TD, hyperventilating

 

[ad_adrian]

i know you will pass ur test tdwoj

 

[TDWoj]

Thanks, adrian. How are you doing in your aikido class?