Did the unthinkable (my Aikido journey)

[shihonage]

"Long technique names" are but a trick. There are only this many basic techniques and basic attacks.

The number becomes much greater when you start to mesh them together in combinations. It can have a disorienting effect on people who don't know the trick.

Example of attack: katate tori (wrist grab)
Example of technique: shihonage (four-corner throw)

Full name: katate tori shihonage (four-corner throw from wrist grab)

When you add another attack to your vocabulary, such as "shomen uchi", there you go, now there's a "shomen uchi shihonage" , or "four-corner throw from an overhead strike". Etc etc...

 

[TDWoj]

I need a glossary....

 

[shihonage]

http://www.aikidofaq.com/dictionary/index.html

See the pop-down menu on top.

 

[TDWoj]

Thanks, shihonage!

Now, if my brain could only accept new information...

-TD, in the throes of a really vicious migraine today

 

[shihonage]

I am having an unexplainable headache as well. Only 7 mins before I leave for class... Bah... I say, bah.

 

[Aikilove]

General remidies for headaches:

• Always make sure you drink water regularely.
• If that doesn't help within a week - get your eyes checked. Could be you need (new) eye-wears.
• If your eyes are fine or you still have aches - see a doctor.

/J

 

[TDWoj]

Thanks, aikilove. I've seen my doctor repeatedly about these damned headaches, and she just shrugs her shoulders. I've had blinding migraines for most of my adult life. I know what triggers them, and there is nothing that will prevent them, although if I take a feverfew supplement regularly (which is very expensive which is why I stopped taking it) it helps with the severity, though not the frequency.

It's about "that time" again - I mean, the change of the seasons, usually during winter-to-spring and fall-to-winter. When that happens, I get clusters of headaches, as often as 2 per week, each lasting 2-3 days, for about 6 weeks, and there's not a damned thing I can do about them, except endure.

Phooey.

In other news, I'm actually getting worse with my ukemi, I'm not sure why. Yesterday we were doing moves that required a lot of backward rolls for uke, and I kept landing on my knee - hard - because I can't get my centre low enough not to. Or I just went kerplunk on my butt, which isn't good, either. I just don't know what to do to correct this. I know part of the problem is that I am not relaxed enough, but I don't know what to do to get more relaxed so I don't injure myself!

I guess getting frustrated about it is not exactly the right way to go about it, though...

 

[Aikilove]

Re: back rolls - Try this, if you don't already do it - As a warm up go down from sitting position where your right leg is tucked under you (top of foot against mat) and your left leg/foot is in front of you (sole down). Llike you are going to do a back roll, roll on the right side of your butt, side and back up to the neck area with the right leg (heel) still tucked. When you are at the turning point switch so that it's the left leg that is tucked and roll back on your left back, side and finaly your butt. At the turning point you may let both legs stretch out over you to gain momentum to go back up. You should end up in the same position as you started but with the other leg tucked under you.

By doing this you learn and teaches the body to do the correct movement without getting stressed about actually rolling over your neck. You also soften up the spine and back area which helps when you are rolling.

Do this a couple of minutes - Then proceed to go from standing - down on the right leg (top side of foot against mat) until you end up in the same position as before (i.e. sitting on your tucked leg) - from there do the exercise as described above - you should now sit but with the other leg tucked - stand up. Do this a couple of times and when you feel like it you take away the stops - so that you go from standing to standing without stop.

This will help you to go through and remember the movements without being stressed about the roll itself.

I do this as a warm up exercise when I teach class.

/J

 

[shihonage]

Every time I hear the term "relax" mentioned in Aikido, it pushes my buttons. Saying "relax" continuously to a beginner is like saying "Climb !" when there's no ladder. Relaxing by definition is closer to going limp and not focusion. I.e., take a vacation, relax in mineral water/grease, or something.

A more suitable term for Aikido would be "untense" if such word existed. Be untense. For example, when you feel tension in your arms, try to take that tension and distribute it evenly over your whole upper body, for starters. Instead of just having one tense point in your body.

I am a terrible jogger but I keep trying. I can't run more than 0.9 miles without completely running out of breath. When I started jogging I noticed that my legs would hurt like hell. The part between the foot and the knee in particular.
So I observed how other people jog and made some adjustments.

Now while jogging when I feel this tenseness, and my lower legs start to feel like one tight point of solidness, I try and un-tense that part and instead distribute the work it does over the entire length of my legs.

I don't jog often at all. There's no schedule. It is random and rare. Maybe once a month or even two months. But boy was I surprised 3 days ago when I (barely) jogged my usual 0.9 miles using this "untense" method the whole way, and woke up the next morning fully expecting my legs to hurt for the next 3 days.
NADA. NO PAIN. NOTHING.

Lesson learned: being un-tense allows a bigger part of the body to dissolve the impact, as well as involve the actual skeletal structure instead of needlessly bruising muscle.

 

[TDWoj]

Ouch.

I dislocated a rib a couple of weekends ago, and it's been a bit rough going to class. I decided it was in my best interests to continue going, since I know myself well enough that if I stopped going because if this injury, I wouldn't go back at all, ever.

Each lesson I test my capacity to do the work, and so far, I've had to beg off ukemi practice because I don't want to exacerbate the injury by pulling any more on the muscle around the dislocated rib. I do as much as I can in each class, and I'm finding that as long as I work slow and gentle for the time being (without falling), I'm not losing any of the other benefits received from the class.

(This week's discovery - I can now hold my hands palm up, almost completely flat and parallel to the floor, whereas before, they were angled at about 30 degress. Yippee!)

It's just my bad luck that the chiropractor chose to go on holiday this week...

Most of the students, especially the experienced ones, have been pretty patient. They understand that at my age, these micro-injuries are going to slow me down some, so they work with me.

However, a couple of the lads - newbies, starting around the same time as I did - have been expressing their displeasure with hostility and demanding that I go away. They think that the only practice worth doing is rough and fast. Trouble is, I've watched these two individuals work, and they don't do the techniques at all well, and sometimes, it looks like all they're interested in doing is bringing down uke, hard.

I made up my mind a while back that I was going to proceed at my own pace, and not let what others think is right for them should be imposed on me. I'm not a young woman (though not really that old) and I have limitations that I'm working through. Stiff joints; stiff back and neck muscles; and these small injuries that I'm experiencing are largely due to those as well as a body that hasn't moved much out of my office chair for 15 years (resulting in very bad posture and muscles now protesting because my posture is improving).

Still, I was really taken aback at the viciousness of this one fellow this evening when I explained that I had a dislocated rib, and that I would not be able to fall. "What the hell are you doing here if you can't do the techniques?" he barked out at me. I responded (with a lot less hostility than I might otherwise have done - for some reason, aikido class calms me down when my temper might otherwise get the better of me) that I could only take the technique so far and would he respect that. I thought he was going to stomp off to Sensei...

Still, I'm having doubts about going to the next class (Tuesday night). The other lad who wasn't happy about working with me while I had this problem will be there, and I don't want to be bitched at again, as if I were doing him some great personal disservice by asking him to respect this week's limitations.

-TD, wishing this stupid injury (and it was stupidly acquired) would heal up so she could get back into the business of rolling like a cardboard box again

 

[Aikilove]

TD - please go to class and if they still complain ask them to complain to the head instructor instead. Tell them that you will be around as long as you want to and as long as the head instructor wants to. So unless you hear otherwise directly from the head instructor, they might just as well shut up, keep their opinions to themselves and train.

But be nice about it. Don't be the one who escalate anything.

/J

 

[Purplelotus1]

Agree

TD I must say that those lads do have some hard lessons coming there way. I agree with Aikilove. Peace. Keep training.

 

[Jalu]

TD,

I see they are already realigning your body.

Go back to class and don't mind the clowns.
If they bother just ask them...Are you my Sensei?

 

[Lollipop]

TD, I don't know that much about it! But I would listen to Aikilove, Jalu and Purplelotus1!
You have come along way since you started and in your post you seem to be improving!
Don't let a couple of jerks keep you away from something you want!
Hang in there!

 

[TDWoj]

Thanks, everybody. Well, I did go to class tonight, and things are improving around the rib, so I'm thinking by next week, I'll be able to start ukemi practice again.

I mentioned to one of the more senior of the senior students (she's also the kids' instructor) about the comments, and she's going to pass it on to the dojo sensei, who will likely take a moment during one of the classes she teaches to explain about the relationship between students (namely, that they don't have the right to tell another student if they should or shouldn't be there because of an injury).

Continuing to go to class is very important to me even if I can't do everything. I've had so many benefits even if I can't do ukemi for the time being that I'm just happy to do whatever I can and push my limits when I feel physically ready to do so. I noticed this week, for example, that when I go down on one knee, I'm not crashing down onto it, I'm simply lowering myself and my knee gently comes down on the mat, whereas before I was crashing down on it because my legs and glutes weren't strong enough. I can also get up from a kneeling position now without assistance, even at the end of class.

I still have a long way to go, and I can't see myself being tested any time soon; but I figure slow and steady and I'll make it as far as I can (and I'm laying a private bet that I'll outlast those two who gave me a hard time this past week).

-TD, who still looks like the Michelin Man in her gi, but hopes that having lost 10 pounds (whee!) in the past month the trend will continue and maybe this gi will even fit her properly in a month or two

 

[shihonage]

That guy who bitched at you was out of line. Several years ago when i found myself tossing a less experienced uke around and giving him a hard time, Sensei came up to me and said "You do this not just for you - for him also". It got stuck in my mind.
This is what Aikido is. Aikido is not egotism, it is a balance of give and receive.

When one starts being picky about their partners, the entire point of the mental training that is a part of Aikido goes down the drain. Not to mention that one is locking themselves out of physical experience of practicing with that particular person (or an entire class of experiences, for example a smaller person avoiding bigger people or a big guy avoiding small people).

 

[TDWoj]

Thanks, Shihonage. It's also taken me a long time to stop apologising for being a slow learner, and beating myself up for not acquiring the skills as quickly as some of those who started with me, hence the little injuries I've been sustaining along the way.

I think some of us have forgotten the speech we received on the first day of class about harmony and balance and that we are there to learn from one another, regardless of level of competency, and that someone with a higher skill level can still learn from working with a beginner. Our instructors, for example, after giving the demonstration of a technique, always say "more experienced students pair with less experienced students" and that's the way it is - I have yet to see a more experienced student squawk about working with someone whose skill set is less than theirs, or someone like myself who has some physical limitations and a continuing round of small injuries.

I notice some students in practice, for example - they want to do everything fast fast fast. The trouble is, nine times out of ten, they're also doing it wrong wrong wrong.

One of the instructors has emphasized precision in footwork. For example, while everyone else is practicing ukemi and I can't with my bad rib, I'm off in a corner practicing footwork, because, next to ukemi, precise footwork is my next problem. I don't have good posture and even worse balance; so doing footwork is a good exercise for me. I was surprised, for example, how hard it is to do ten kan when there is no uke holding onto me. Since I started doing that, some of the techniques have become a lot easier to do.

But you're right about one thing; I did avoid working with that individual last night, and that's not good. I usually don't work much with him anyway because he's as much of a "less experienced" student as I am and so is usually paired up with a more experienced student, so it was more or less of a fluke that he and I got paired on Monday night. Last night we were working in lines instead of in pairs, so I chose the line where he wasn't. I won't let that happen again, at least, not on purpose.

I'm hoping it'll be not more than another week with this injury and I'll be able to go back to practicing ukemi. I was so close to doing a back roll....

 

[tenshinaikidoka]

Just out of curiousity, how long have these two other people been doing Aikido? And if it has not been for a very long period, why are they doing it so fast since they obviously have not grasped the technique?

One thing comes to mind about your situation TD, my father. He recently joined me in training and I have been working with him for some time to get him to not be so stiff/tense etc. He has been doing it since October of last year, but he still has problems with some things. So, being the good kid I am, I take him to my house and we train on off days. My point is, he constantly does things less than perfect, however he still keeps pluggin along. My advise to you is, keep at it, you will get better and forget what the two fast boys want to do, they want to do it fast and furious, but it sounds like they are also doing it dead wrong, and in a real confrontation, wrong will lead to misfortune (most likely on thier part).

Anyway, keep it up and keep your chin up, I am sure your doing fine. Also, if there are any problems, perhaps talking to your Sensei would work!!!!!!!!

 

[Amos Stevens]

Your fellow students are to be there to encourage & help each other. If they have a problem with another student then they should take it up with their Sensei not belittle or harrass others.

 

[tenshinaikidoka]

Exactly Amos!!! Don't get discouraged by otherss TD, they obviously have a little growing up to do anyway.

 

[TDWoj]

Just out of curiousity, how long have these two other people been doing Aikido? And if it has not been for a very long period, why are they doing it so fast since they obviously have not grasped the technique?

...

Anyway, keep it up and keep your chin up, I am sure your doing fine. Also, if there are any problems, perhaps talking to your Sensei would work!!!!!!!!

One fellow started about the same time I did, the other about a month later. They are doing better at ukemi than I even though they've attended fewer classes (I go about four times per week, they come twice per week), and tend to get really pissed when working with me even if I don't have an injury because I still have to go down "gently" until I get over my fear of injuring myself (I'm still too heavy, and my weight combined with my stiff joints and muscles is a recipe for serious injury - as in my dislocated rib, for example).

But as far as doing the techniques is concerned, they are more concerned with speed than precision, and I'm finding that it's the precision that gets the best results. Even when Sensei comes by to show them how to do it properly, they just don't get it. They will not slow down and practice the movements in slow motion, to get the feel of where their feet should be, their hips should be, their hands should be. It's fast and furious and if uke doesn't cooperate, uke should get lost.

I think it's great that you and your father are sharing this activity together. Good for him, and good for you, too! Last night's instructor started taking aikido when he was 54 years old, and he tells us he was just as stiff as, well, me when he started. He's 65 now, and about to take his 2nd dan test (delayed because of his shoulder injury). And taking her 1st kyu test is another lady who is 62 years old! And you and your father practicing together outside of class is great, too. On my non-class days I know I should do at least the warm-up exercises, but I can never remember what they are until we're in class!

On another subject, I have to say I am really enjoying myself taking aikido. I'm learning a lot about myself, that I can, for example, actually give myself a break and let myself proceed at my own pace (I was getting so frustrated before when I couldn't keep up and thought I should). I have had a lot of small improvements in my overall physical state, even though my right hip is still posing a problem. I've met (for the most part) a lot of really nice people who don't look at this as a competition but rather as a journey. This is so outside of what I'm used to that I finally feel like I'm someplace I can be myself.

 

[shihonage]

I was guilty of the same "fast fast fast" thing in the beginning. There was a lot of pent up aggression and demons in me that I was not aware of, and thus, did not know how to keep on a leash. Everything was a confrontation to me. I was trying to wrestle everyone as opposed to actually doing Aikido. Wrestling no workie with someone 100lbs heavier. Also, wrestling with other beginners can damage them. I was not even paying attention to that.

The worst part of it was, that some other guys were on about the same level of experience and maturity, and thus, when we trained together, we sort of... clashed. On several occasions it degenerated into full-blown wrestling matches.

On one occasion I was getting more and more worked up as I kept trying to force an ikkyo on a blackbelt and it clearly wasnt working, at which point he decided to point out my incorrect positioning by punching me in the diaphragm. At the time I did not understand the purpose, but later I understood. If I were in his place I'd punch me too. There was an expression of hatred on my face when I was doing it, as if I was doing this technique not WITH my partner, but ON all those people who hurt me earlier in life.
I'm proud to say that I no longer engage into interpersonal conflicts and get punched in the diaphragm... for 3 years now.

But, the people at your dojo are likely going through something similar. They will get out of it eventually but being paired up with people who "do not understand" something without getting homicidal on them is also a part of training.