Did the unthinkable (my Aikido journey)

[TDWoj]

I admire you TD for going out and taking that class. I have always wanted to but have continued to procrastinate and never have taken the class. One of many "I wish I had done" things.

Thanks, Jules. Well, it took me six months after I moved downtown to screw up the courage to do it. The instructors keep telling me I've improved; I guess I'm just going to have to take their word for it!

One of them told me there are only two ways to fail in aikido: to quit or to die.

Well, I ain't dead yet....

 

[pantera]

One of them told me there are only two ways to fail in aikido: to quit or to die.

....

I agree with your instructor. You can't fail when you do your best and when you work with your heart and your soul. Actually, i'm sure it's what you do. So, you won't fail!
Beste wishes

 

[Aikilove]

You know a sure way to see how far you have come?
Allways look at the absolut beginners! See how they do rolls, Tai no henko, Ikkyu, shihonage. That´s it. A better confidency boost you´ll have to look hard for.

/J

 

[TDWoj]

thanks, guys.

We had a "beginner" on Tuesday that was whipping the rolls like he'd been doing it all his life.

Well, turns out he had. He was making even the experienced students look bad.

Most of the guys that I started out with (and they were all guys - no girls in the group that tried out the day I did!) are happily rolling away as if they'd been doing it since forever. I know the instructors are telling me I've improved, but I guess I'm just not seeing it. The hardest thing still for me, rolls aside, is just getting up from the mat. My legs are not getting any stronger and it's starting to worry me. I'm convinced the medication I'm taking to control my cholesterol is both preventing me from losing weight and causing ongoing muscle weakness, and my doctor refuses to take me off it and seek alternative treatment.

I want off this drug (not only for the betterment of my health and well-being, but also because it's bankrupting me - $75 a month is not an expense I had built into my budget when I moved into this apartment), but my understanding of the med is that now that I've been on it for a few months, my body chemistry has altered significantly, and I am going to have to take it for the rest of my life.

I can't change doctors, either; I'm stuck with this one, since we have a doctor shortage, most practices aren't taking new patients and you aren't really allowed to "shop" for doctors any more. I wanted to get a doctor at the wellness practice (that's the practice that makes sure the patient doesn't get sick - it's cheaper to keep people healthy than to treat them once they've become ill) but there's a waiting list 10 years long.

I am going to have to do some more research and find out if there's any way I can safely take myself off the drug. Then, I have some serious discussions with my doctor coming up. I absolutely hate taking toxic medications - I'd rather go with a natural cure (which doctors hate, of course).

In the meantime, I shall have to find some way of trying to strengthen the muscles in my legs so I can get up more easily.

 

[Aikilove]

Well I'm no doctor (actually I'm about to become one but in physics, not physiology ) but I wouldn't worry so much dropping the drug. Just as the body adapted to the drug it will adapt being off the drug. And this particular drug (lowering cholesterol) you might not need any more if you are training aikido regularely (and maybe even take power walks now and then). You said yourself that only the ukemi training made you sweat like **** right? The physiological reason for raised cholesterol (i.e. the bad one) level is because you metabolism are low. You don't burn the sugar and karbohydrates (and to some extent fat) that you put into you body. However, if you start some exercise that make increases your circulation and where you make use of most of your muscles over a long time (like 1 hour) regularely (like 2 to 3 times a week), you will within a few weeks marketedly raise your methabolism.

Just a thought.

/J

 

[Jules]

Thanks, Jules. Well, it took me six months after I moved downtown to screw up the courage to do it. The instructors keep telling me I've improved; I guess I'm just going to have to take their word for it!

One of them told me there are only two ways to fail in aikido: to quit or to die.

Well, I ain't dead yet....

I forgot to mention a certain phobia on why I never tried to learn martial arts....uh...make that two....getting punched and kicked.....and the big one...fear of falling. You have more guts than I do.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Dont' worry Jules..just close your eyes,we will wrap ya up in pillows & shove ya over

 

[Littledragon]

Well, unthinkable for me, lumpen old girl that I am.

Went to my first aikido class today.

OW!

Well, I haven't done a roll since 1974, so that was quite something. In fact, I was scared of doing it - which is why I did it.

I have fused vertebrae in my neck, bone spurs on my spine which keep me in pain every day of my life, and joints that have never been anything but stiff since I was six years old. I have not moved this body in any way, except to walk, in 30 years. I can't even kneel properly - my knees just don't bend that far.

But I rolled on command. I did spend a lot of time apologising for being so inept, which is something I have to stop doing. I felt sorry for the guys who had an unobstructed view of my wide load, and couldn't help feeling embarrassed and humiliated at how poorly I was doing - until I realised no one was making fun of me, they were doing everything they could to help me.

(A completely different experience from my last visit to a fitness club, where perfectly toned women and the men they were there to pick up were relentless with their smartass comments about my weight, my intelligence quotient - fat people are stupid, you see - and inability to do certain exercises.)

The instructor even told me I could sit cross-legged instead of kneeling because of my arthritis. But I was determined to do everything right, even if I did it half the speed of everyone else, and didn't care about suffering excruciating pain because of over-compensating for my physical limitations for so long.

But I did it. I did it! I DID it!

I was exhausted at the end of the stretching exercises - but I did them all. I'm terrified of falling - but I fell as required. I have not been able to get up from a kneeling position without assistance in nearly 10 years - but I did it tonight.

I did get one move right, and the satisfaction from getting just one thing right made all the rest worthwhile.

This body has still got some life left in it, yet.

I'm signing up!

-TD, exhausted, in pain, and completely exhilerated by the experience

You know TD I never took the time to congratulate you oon this amazing accomplishment and landmark in your life. It is fantastic that you have started Aikido. Stick with it and I wish the best of luck for you. It is fantastic that you are engaged in Martial Arts, it will teach you self defense, self discipline, it will enable you to control your mind, body, and spirit, it will benefit you mentally as well as physically. Again congratulations TD and keep up the good work. I remember my first Aikido class I could not do the rolls on our canvas tatami mats but ever since Jiu-Jitsu I am like a little monkey.

 

[TDWoj]

I forgot to mention a certain phobia on why I never tried to learn martial arts....uh...make that two....getting punched and kicked.....and the big one...fear of falling. You have more guts than I do.

There are no punches or kicks - at least, not that this stage (you want to learn the "street" version, you have to train for a very long time!), and me, I'm terrified of falling, as well - but I did it anyway. If you do it right, it doesn't hurt. That's why you learn to roll. It's not the fall that kills you - it's the sudden stop! <evil grin>

I've heard a story of how one older student, a woman, tripped over a hose while out in her garden, and instead of falling "splat" and maybe breaking a hip or an arm, she automatically went into a roll. Her neighbour came rushing over to see if she was all right, and there she was, getting up, none the worse for wear, but for a few grass stains.

Very practical day-to-day application, I thought.

My problem is one of flexibility. I can do a left shoulder roll better than a right shoulder roll because my right hip is the one that's in trouble and requiring chiropractic care at the moment. I can't, therefore, get my centre closer to the mat on that side. I'm hoping after six weeks' worth of treatment, there will be some improvement....

I am, at present, working on the backward roll, but it's hard - the big butt just doesn't want to finish "going over"!

 

[TDWoj]

Dont' worry Jules..just close your eyes,we will wrap ya up in pillows & shove ya over

Amos, Amos, Amos.... What do you think, Jules - shall we wrap Amos up in pillows and shove HIM over and see how he likes it?

When I get down to Phoenix, Mrs. Amos and I are indeed going to have a very, VERY long talk.....

 

[Amos Stevens]

She won't believe anything you say TD..and by then I will have all my posts edited

 

[Jules]

Sounds like a plan!!

Amos, Amos, Amos.... What do you think, Jules - shall we wrap Amos up in pillows and shove HIM over and see how he likes it?

When I get down to Phoenix, Mrs. Amos and I are indeed going to have a very, VERY long talk.....

LOL....You funny girl!! (Jules is tippy toeing up on Amos.....SHHHH!!!) WHAM!!!!

HEY Amos!!! Seeing any birdies yet!!!!....no?.....WHAM!.....Better? Oh...did I forget the pillows? hmmmm......sorry.

 

[TDWoj]

She won't believe anything you say TD..and by then I will have all my posts edited

Uh-huh... Good thing I kept screen shots of all of them, then.

 

[Amos Stevens]

ohhhhhhhh my head,...why wonder I have a headache. Assault,assault

 

[mikek7316]

TDWoj,

Congratulations on trying Aikido. You are brave to try something new, especially something you are even a little afraid of doing. I hope you find Aikido to be fun and good for your body and soul. You have a great attitude!

Mike

 

[Jules]

ohhhhhhhh my head,...why wonder I have a headache. Assault,assault

I would send you my cubs snowman to cool your headach....but Frosty is not feeling well either. It got too warm. It looks like he lost the karate match. SPLAT!
How are you TD? Is your lessons still going pretty well? I bet you are building up muscle tone.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Naw it wasn't the heat that did your frosty in Jules..it was my mighty ninja snowmen who snuck over there & cut off his head

 

[TDWoj]

Minor setback.

I didn't turn properly whilst uke and damaged my left elbow as a result, on Monday night. A sleepless night and my elbow was still hurting when I went to class yesterday, and I ended up not being able to do anything at all (not to mention having a sensei-sized bruise on my left arm as well as the damaged elbow). (I say sensei-sized because it was one of the instructors who gave it to me.)

I was in a terrible frame of mind last night, as well. I know why; I didn't have the satisfaction Monday night of going home having done some one little thing right (or nearly right). And then last night, I sat out most of it - I couldn't even practice ukemi because I couldn't put any weight on my left arm.

So when I left last night I was ready to quit. I mean, why put my body through all of this, for no return?

My instructor suggested I could help the pain in my elbow by doing this: having a double sink, I put cold water in one and hot in the other. I keep my elbow in the cold for 3 minutes, and then put the elbow into the warm for 30 seconds. Do this three times.

That, in addition to taking an Advil before bed (chiropractor's orders - my muscles are so bunched up that they are not repairing themselves while I sleep), and my elbow feels much better this morning. Still a little pain, but not as excruciating as it was yesterday. I'll do the treatment again tonight before bed, and hope that by tomorrow, it'll be back to normal, more or less.

Saturday and Sunday is the seminar with a visiting Sensei. I'm volunteering at it to fetch and carry, since I can't afford to attend and I'm nowhere near to being ready for actually participating, but it'll be fun to watch.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Sorry about your elbow TD...kiss kiss,pat pat Hope it gets better soon!

But don't quit! As long as you can crawl into class & you want to take lessons,then you have to hang in there

 

[Jules]

TD...be careful. Sorry to hear you got hurt. Maybe Amos will make you a little snowman to cheer you up. Amos touched mine...snowman slushie now!!! Don't let him touch YOUR arm.