my aikido journey in aikido

[Aikilove]

TD: It might vary, but by your description of how your class seem to work I would say that a testing (examination) for a grade (e.g. 6th kyu) doesn't mean that you have to be able to do the teachniques for that grade as good as the instructor (although you should always strive to do so ) but just show that you know how to do the techniques good enough that you can practice them and understand them. Tai no henka (Tai no henko etc.), for example, we do from the first day to the day we die, just perfecting it constantly, polishing it. The instructer at the examination just want to see that you have progressed with this technique since last time [/b]you graded.
That's how all techniques are done and aikido for that matter. One show up and polish ones techniques over and over.

Someone who has trained for 6-12 month have in principle trained all basic techniques. The rest of the life is just polishing the same techniques more and more. (The astute reader might realize that it is more than technique that is being polished in the process!)
That's it.

Enjoy your aikido life!

/J

 

[TDWoj]

TD: ...

/J

Answering in my thread so I don't hijack ad_adrian's - gosh, I keep doing that, don't I? My apologies, ad_adrian.

 

[ad_adrian]

4th lesson today

my wrist is really sore one of my partners was being a jack ass and went really hard i told him he could of broken my wrist and he was like oh sorry...man those guys are annoying. but im slowly getting used to break falling rolling....and the basic stances...im nervous to when i have to join the main dojo with everyone else they do things i couldnt even imagine doing
Adrian

 

[TDWoj]

In my dojo, one's partner is supposed to go at your pace, not you at theirs. We always have more experienced students pair up with the less experienced students, and it's the responsibility of the more experienced student to take the beginner through the techniques slowly, carefully and respectfully. That's part of the spiritual side of aikido - respect and harmony; I can't say for sure, but it sounds to me like the lads in your dojo are there just for the rough stuff. Maybe because it's Yoshinkan, the street-fighting style - I guess what I'm learning, Aikikai, is what Steven disgustedly calls "the dance" - it requires partners to respect one another.

Believe me, Aikikai hurts just as much as Yoshinkan, especially when you're on the receiving end of nikyo or sankyo, or some of those nasty, arm-breaking pins.

 

[Aikilove]

No TD. Steven Seagal trains and teaches aikikia himself remember....
If I recall you yourself was exposed to less than gentle men in your dojo, right?

In rare cases there are dojo that have a strange "you are suppose to hurt" standard but that's realy rare regardless if it's Yoshinkan or Aikikai or anything else.

"Dance" I think SS refers to dojos where little is cared about application. They do exist but I would say most aikikai dojo do not "dance". (...and I don't realy think SS thinks so either!)

/J

 

[TDWoj]

No TD. Steven Seagal trains and teaches aikikia himself remember....
If I recall you yourself was exposed to less than gentle men in your dojo, right?

In rare cases there are dojo that have a strange "you are suppose to hurt" standard but that's realy rare regardless if it's Yoshinkan or Aikikai or anything else.

"Dance" I think SS refers to dojos where little is cared about application. They do exist but I would say most aikikai dojo do not "dance". (...and I don't realy think SS thinks so either!)

/J

The two guys in my dojo who aren't gentle are beginners, who think that the right way to do a technique is to do it fast right from the get-go. That's when others, like me, for instance, get hurt; and they don't realise they're not learning the technique properly, either. Other than those two, the more experienced students tend to go at the pace of their partners, not force the partner to go at their pace.

I mean, it's a lot of fun watching a couple of black belts zip through the techniques at lightening speed (even more fun when one of the black belts is an old guy of 65) when they're demo'ing for the students (even black belts want to have fun), but when they are teaching the techniques, everything is in slow motion until it's ingrained into the body memory.

I just don't want ad_adrian to get an injury that'll take him out of the game before he even gets started. If his partners are not going at his pace and being assholes about it, he's got every right to go to the sensei and tell him what's happening. If the sensei is a good one, he will talk to the whole class about the proper way to train with people at a different level from their own.

Sorry, ad_adrian - I've done it again.

-TD, thread hijacker

 

[ad_adrian]

no td you are right my sensei is a great one 6th dan. but its only the introductory course and the beggininers seperate from the normal class for the first month then we do what you do and mix the pro's with the amatures. its just that first month in the introductory course

 

[TDWoj]

Ah, so it's beginners being assholes? Well, that's happened in my dojo, too, as I mentioned.

Well, be careful, and if someone is being an asshole (or doesn't stop being an asshole when you ask them to), go to your sensei.

Because I've been on the injury list and haven't been able to do ukemi for the past couple of months, I've recently been asking my partners if they would prefer to train with someone else. Ever since our sensei gave the class a talking to (I wasn't there that day), no one has complained, and no one has switched, either.

 

[scotch.on.the.rocks]

What Seagal calls nancying around and ballet/belly dancing is actually what takes place in the school founded by Koichi Tohei - the so called Ki-Aikido.

 

[TDWoj]

What Seagal calls nancying around and ballet/belly dancing is actually what takes place in the school founded by Koichi Tohei - the so called Ki-Aikido.

So what do they do differently there from Yoshinkan and Aikikai? Just curious.

-TD, just when she thought she was getting the hang of irimi only to have been given another irimi technique that didn't quite work for her

 

[scotch.on.the.rocks]

Let me put it this way: aikido is both yin and yang, there's got to be a strong spirit and a soft body (that's why the jacket is white and the hakama is black) in Aikido at the same time, and that's what the Aikikai tries to hold on to. Now, Yoshinkan predominantly emphasises the yang element of it, which makes it so bleeding aggressive and blah blah, whereas Tohei Sensei only emphasised in his system the yin element, relaxation etc., which makes you "feel like dancing..." This is obviously a very simplistic approach, but it'll give you a hint.

 

[ad_adrian]

Yoshinkan aikido differs in several ways from the aikikai, but the most
important point is that the priniciples being taught are more or less the
same. It's like two different paths to the same spot. Yoshinkan tries to
teach aiki prinicples via kata-geiko {form training}, while many aikikai
dojos try to impart the same prinicples in a less structured way. I suggest
you watch and try several methods and decide what works best for you.

 

[ad_adrian]

aikido lesson 5..

after being sick for a week and missing out on 2 very important lessons in the introductory course i really had to step it up and i felt i was very behind every1 else. with only one more lesson of the introductory course for me it will be and is a great challenge once i start going with the rest of the class already i am so confused and have trouble keeping up with everyone else but they tell me its natural and eventually i will get used to it. another thing that has been bothering me is getting injuries from aikido...like BAD one's. i have heard plenty of stories from ppl who quit aikido because of their injury's i just pray that i do not end up like that

Adrian

 

[TDWoj]

When you're learning a new technique, your best bet is to go slow. The rules of etiquette in aikido are that you do the techniques at your pace - so if you want your uke to go slow so you learn the technique and don't injure yourself, you in turn have to go slow when you're uke. The speed of the attack dictates the speed of the defense.

Best way not to injure yourself - don't push your body faster than it can go (says the voice of experience). If you're not comfortable doing ukemi, tell your partner to be gentle in the early days of your learning curve. Come half an hour before class and put in some extra ukemi practice, making sure you have a senior student or an instructor watching what you do to make sure you do it safely and correctly. If you do it right, you don't injure yourself.

During the techniques, remember to breathe (another thing I'm always forgetting). Make sure you breathe in during the attack, and breathe out during the hold or the throw. And always make sure you are as close to nage as possible. Instinct makes you want to move away. Don't do it - guaranteed you'll sustain injuries. Snuggle up to nage whenever possible.

They keep telling us in my class that "gravity is your friend". Just make sure you're not coming down from a great height or gravity will take you out....

-TD, suffering from sore shoulders because she's STILL rolling like a cardboard box

 

[ad_adrian]

lesson 6....(which should be lesson 8)
last lesson of the introductory course... i bought my gi today....and did the last lesson of the introductory course....im trying to talk my brother into going....and taking the next introductory course.
it was a pretty easy lesson im just scared of joining the normal class i have no idea what they r doing....just doing the bassic lessons...let alone the general or advanced classes...having a 6th dan sensei has its uses....i met someone today who goes to a different dojo and his main instructor is a 3rd dan....to me as much as you can start off there....there isnt much places to go for more advanced things...he said they r all easy going and dont train very hard.....compared to my dojo thats a laugh...its very strict and it requires a lot of concentration.i'll be looking forward to tuesday
ADrian

 

[Amos Stevens]

Glad to hear it Adrian! Hope you're able to talk your brother into joining up

 

[ad_adrian]

lesson 7 (first time with main class)

it was an interesting lesson for me....much irritating in the fact that i did my gi up wrong and my pants kept falling down lol
but the real problem was my break fall's.....in the technique i keep hitting my head when im being thrown...occasionally i'll get it right but i really need to work on it....i am really enjoying aikido and am trying to go 4 times a week now.
Adrian

 

[Serena]

lesson 7 (first time with main class)

it was an interesting lesson for me....much irritating in the fact that i did my gi up wrong and my pants kept falling down lol
but the real problem was my break fall's.....in the technique i keep hitting my head when im being thrown...occasionally i'll get it right but i really need to work on it....i am really enjoying aikido and am trying to go 4 times a week now.
Adrian

So I'm guessing Lesson #8 has to do with how to keep your pants up?

Good for you for hanging in there, ad_adrian!
Good luck on trying to get there more often--but be careful about those head bangs, eh?

 

[TDWoj]

lesson 7 (first time with main class)

it was an interesting lesson for me....much irritating in the fact that i did my gi up wrong and my pants kept falling down lol
but the real problem was my break fall's.....in the technique i keep hitting my head when im being thrown...occasionally i'll get it right but i really need to work on it....i am really enjoying aikido and am trying to go 4 times a week now.
Adrian

Darn those drawstrings.... I find about halfway through class I didn't do them up tightly enough, and suddenly I'm tripping over my cuffs. Thankfully, they haven't flown off in mid-tumble... yet! (Yikes!)

I was watching someone demonstrate breakfalls in class the other day. Essentially, the way he was demonstrating it, a breakfall is just an abrupt version of the softer forward roll - the entry is the same, but you stop just short of rolling. That's why in my dojo they don't teach breakfalls until you're 4th kyu - that way, you don't injure yourself, because you already know how to land softly and safely.

Keep at it - as I mentioned earlier, if you can come to class a few minutes early, you can get in extra ukemi practice. The more you practice, the more it becomes second nature... (well, that's the theory, anyhow!)

 

[Amos Stevens]

haaaaaaaahhhhhaaaaa! Done in by the Gi