Amos Stevens
New Member
Amos applauding...hang in there TD! If I can walk across frozen water-you can do anything you try your hand at!
(excuse me while I moan-oh the muscles)
(excuse me while I moan-oh the muscles)
Did the unthinkable (my Aikido journey)
- Thread starter TDWoj
- Start date
Ow.
Had another class in the fine art of folding, spindling and mutilating uke. My right arm is asking me today, "Why are you doing this? Don't you like me any more?"
I have, however, taken my first official tumble after being thrown! It wasn't elegant, but it was a roll, and I'm quite pleased about it.
Also, during ukemi, I think I did do a couple of forward rolls correctly. I even ended up on my knees, instead of sitting on my bottom!
I think I'm ready to start backward rolls... (sez TD with more bravado than confidence).
And as I mentioned to another student yesterday, who needs to take aerobics? The movements in aikido are very simple, and yet at the end of each set of moves practiced, I'm breathing like a suction pump.
I had a dream last night that I lost all the weight I needed to lose and was wearing hakama. Precognitive dream or wishful thinking? I'll let you know in seven years...
-TD, not exactly sure where this is going yet, but still having a lot of fun
Footnote: it's been years since I've been this happy. I'm doing something I really enjoy; it's a challenge and I'm rising to it - or at least, I hope I am. I'm meeting new people which I haven't done in years. I was wishing I had my violin so I could start playing again, or a keyboard or something musical. I think this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Better, I haven't told my father about it. I tell my father and I know it's all going to turn negative. So this is just for me.
Had another class in the fine art of folding, spindling and mutilating uke. My right arm is asking me today, "Why are you doing this? Don't you like me any more?"
I have, however, taken my first official tumble after being thrown! It wasn't elegant, but it was a roll, and I'm quite pleased about it.
Also, during ukemi, I think I did do a couple of forward rolls correctly. I even ended up on my knees, instead of sitting on my bottom!
I think I'm ready to start backward rolls... (sez TD with more bravado than confidence).
And as I mentioned to another student yesterday, who needs to take aerobics? The movements in aikido are very simple, and yet at the end of each set of moves practiced, I'm breathing like a suction pump.
I had a dream last night that I lost all the weight I needed to lose and was wearing hakama. Precognitive dream or wishful thinking? I'll let you know in seven years...
-TD, not exactly sure where this is going yet, but still having a lot of fun
Footnote: it's been years since I've been this happy. I'm doing something I really enjoy; it's a challenge and I'm rising to it - or at least, I hope I am. I'm meeting new people which I haven't done in years. I was wishing I had my violin so I could start playing again, or a keyboard or something musical. I think this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Better, I haven't told my father about it. I tell my father and I know it's all going to turn negative. So this is just for me.
Ok. I admit it I'm not quiet in the same league as you lot. I can't exactly start anything that involves being thrown around, i don't think the baby would like it too much and i'm not in the mood to have another early baby.
But, I did the unthinkable and stopped smoking. I've tried with those patch things before and not got anywhere with them. This time i just said right i'm going to quit and did it on my own, no suppliments or anything. 30 days without smoking.
Now, all i need is to get rid of this cough and i'll be fine.
But, I did the unthinkable and stopped smoking. I've tried with those patch things before and not got anywhere with them. This time i just said right i'm going to quit and did it on my own, no suppliments or anything. 30 days without smoking.
Now, all i need is to get rid of this cough and i'll be fine.
Good for you for stopping smoking, especially for the sake of the baby! I can tell you as the child of a woman who smoked while pregnant and afterward, the effects are lifelong. Constant ear infections, allergic to everything I breathe - it's not a lot of fun.
My father quit smoking when he was 70 years old. He, too, did it cold turkey, although he didn't do it for his health - he just didn't like paying $4 a pack for cigarettes! That was 20 years ago.
The cough, alas, won't go away for a while. It takes five years for your lungs to recover after you quit smoking. But every day without smoking will be better for you, so keep it up!
You can start martial arts after the baby's born.
My father quit smoking when he was 70 years old. He, too, did it cold turkey, although he didn't do it for his health - he just didn't like paying $4 a pack for cigarettes! That was 20 years ago.
The cough, alas, won't go away for a while. It takes five years for your lungs to recover after you quit smoking. But every day without smoking will be better for you, so keep it up!
You can start martial arts after the baby's born.
Amos Stevens
New Member
Hey TD..here's a comforting thought-you could have Little Dragon as your instructor who would make you practice barefoot out in the snow 
Littledragon
Above The Law
TDWoj said:
Aw why not TD.
Last night I was a little off my game. Note to self: do NOT go to the chiropractor right before class. I think the chiropractor unscrewed something and didn't tighten it back up before I left....
We're doing a lot of techniques that require knee walking, which I simply cannot do, so i sat out a good bit of the class last night. Probably just as well. My right hip, the bad one, was killing me last night. Usually I just work through the pain - been doing it all my life, what's a little more? - but this pain was killing. Also, stupid me, didn't eat and didn't drink water before class so I was a bit shaky anyway.
Chiropractor said my right hip has been giving me so much trouble because it isn't where it's supposed to be, it's rotated out of position, which is why I can no longer lift my right leg over my left even to put on a shoe or a sock. He's not even sure he can fix the problem (along with all of the other problems). Now that the Ontario government has de-listed chiropractic services from the services it will pay for, in part or in full, a visit to the chiropractor costs $35 per visit. At two visits per week for six weeks to see if treatment will help is a lot of money which I simply don't have. The doc said he'd reduce the fee to $20 per visit for this period, but it's still an outlay of $240 which I just don't have.
As a footnote, this subtle move towards the privatisation of health care is really starting to frighten me. With my medical problems there would be no way I could get private insurance, and I simply do not have the income to pay for visits to the doctor. The idea is, of course, that only the wealthy and the healthy should be covered by health care, demonising those of us who are sick or have physical problems through no fault of our own.
One way to ensure people don't use the expensive medical care for treating things like cancer and heart disease, is to provide the care to ensure wellness. It's less expensive to keep people healthy than it is to treat them for diseases. It's something the government has signally failed to acknowledge, hence the delisting of services specifically related to wellness.
Okay, rant over.
This is my year for "wellness" and I guess I'd better get back to work because getting healthy (and having fun doing it, as in aikido) is going to be expensive!
We're doing a lot of techniques that require knee walking, which I simply cannot do, so i sat out a good bit of the class last night. Probably just as well. My right hip, the bad one, was killing me last night. Usually I just work through the pain - been doing it all my life, what's a little more? - but this pain was killing. Also, stupid me, didn't eat and didn't drink water before class so I was a bit shaky anyway.
Chiropractor said my right hip has been giving me so much trouble because it isn't where it's supposed to be, it's rotated out of position, which is why I can no longer lift my right leg over my left even to put on a shoe or a sock. He's not even sure he can fix the problem (along with all of the other problems). Now that the Ontario government has de-listed chiropractic services from the services it will pay for, in part or in full, a visit to the chiropractor costs $35 per visit. At two visits per week for six weeks to see if treatment will help is a lot of money which I simply don't have. The doc said he'd reduce the fee to $20 per visit for this period, but it's still an outlay of $240 which I just don't have.
As a footnote, this subtle move towards the privatisation of health care is really starting to frighten me. With my medical problems there would be no way I could get private insurance, and I simply do not have the income to pay for visits to the doctor. The idea is, of course, that only the wealthy and the healthy should be covered by health care, demonising those of us who are sick or have physical problems through no fault of our own.
One way to ensure people don't use the expensive medical care for treating things like cancer and heart disease, is to provide the care to ensure wellness. It's less expensive to keep people healthy than it is to treat them for diseases. It's something the government has signally failed to acknowledge, hence the delisting of services specifically related to wellness.
Okay, rant over.
This is my year for "wellness" and I guess I'd better get back to work because getting healthy (and having fun doing it, as in aikido) is going to be expensive!
Amos Stevens
New Member
Well there is still hope TD..you still have enough oxygen to type this message with your finger or nose
First Tuesday is "freebie tryout" night for newcomers. Wasn't a big turnout amongst the dojo members, but we still outnumbered the newbies (by two!).
Gosh - was it only a month ago that I was one of "them"?
Anyway, we come to the end of class and the instructor spoke about how hard aikido actually was, and that it took a lot of practice and a lot of perserverance. He spoke about how he started out, and that there were a lot of people better than he, but he stuck it out while they fell by the wayside, and now, at age 65, he's going for his second-degree black belt. And then he said they used to but not any more recognize a "student of the month" and while this wasn't official he wanted to say that this month's student of the month was - me!
He said that in just one month I had come a very long way, and it was my perserverance more than anything that made me "student of the month".
At first, I didn't even realise he was talking about me!
I was absolutely gobsmacked.
I've never been recognized for working hard before. I mean, with me, it's always been the result, not the means of getting there, for which I got, if I was lucky, faint praise. Working hard without top results was never worthy of even being mentioned, in my house.
This is going to take some getting used to.
-TD, still gobsmacked
Gosh - was it only a month ago that I was one of "them"?
Anyway, we come to the end of class and the instructor spoke about how hard aikido actually was, and that it took a lot of practice and a lot of perserverance. He spoke about how he started out, and that there were a lot of people better than he, but he stuck it out while they fell by the wayside, and now, at age 65, he's going for his second-degree black belt. And then he said they used to but not any more recognize a "student of the month" and while this wasn't official he wanted to say that this month's student of the month was - me!
He said that in just one month I had come a very long way, and it was my perserverance more than anything that made me "student of the month".
At first, I didn't even realise he was talking about me!
I was absolutely gobsmacked.
I've never been recognized for working hard before. I mean, with me, it's always been the result, not the means of getting there, for which I got, if I was lucky, faint praise. Working hard without top results was never worthy of even being mentioned, in my house.
This is going to take some getting used to.
-TD, still gobsmacked
shihonage said:
Thanks, shihonage - I hope so! I wish the warm-up exercises would easier to do, though... for some reason, they seem to be getting harder! My legs protest the most, but I guess it's because I spend too much time sitting at my computer!
The weekend seminar is just a week away. I'm volunteering to do scut work, since I can't afford to attend (and I'm not ready for it anyhow) but my dojo's Sensei said, pay what I can and try the beginners/youth class anyway.
Yikes!
tenshinaikidoka
Martial Art Student
You better keep it up TD, sounds like you are doing wonderful, and we all knew it would only take a little while for things to fall into place for you. Again, the offer stand, any private instruction you need, let me know!!!!
shihonage
New Member
A thing that I noticed helps with warm-up exercises - try to conserve your energy. From the very start of the class, do them as if you're very tired and want your muscles to do the least amount of work. Cheat.
For example, with that sit-down-roll-up exercise, if you swing your feet in the air, and when approaching the kneeling point, put your arms forward, you can develop some "free" inertia which makes it easier to get up.
In other words, listen to your body, find the laziest ways to do things, and make the warmups to not feel like struggle. You have the rest of the class ahead of you to get tired of.
For example, with that sit-down-roll-up exercise, if you swing your feet in the air, and when approaching the kneeling point, put your arms forward, you can develop some "free" inertia which makes it easier to get up.
In other words, listen to your body, find the laziest ways to do things, and make the warmups to not feel like struggle. You have the rest of the class ahead of you to get tired of.
Amos Stevens
New Member
Hmm rolling like a cardboard box reminds me of the arcade ninja game Craig has here that we slice up with a sword Good thing I played the game before reading this,I might have hesitated picturing TD inside one :O
Good thing I played the game before reading this,I might have hesitated picturing TD inside one :O
Gee, thanks, Amos. 
One of these days I will come down Arizona way, and I will have a serious conversation with Mrs. Amos about your bloodthirsty proclivities, and perhaps she and I will demonstrate with a live subject - you - on why it isn't a good idea to play with sharp objects.
Ahem.
-TD, thinking she might take the weapons class after all
One of these days I will come down Arizona way, and I will have a serious conversation with Mrs. Amos about your bloodthirsty proclivities, and perhaps she and I will demonstrate with a live subject - you - on why it isn't a good idea to play with sharp objects.Ahem.
-TD, thinking she might take the weapons class after all