This week we practiced outside on the sloping driveway, and that always adds a new element to our training.
We started with walking, then tried it with an object in one hand (to simulate a knife). That always seems to change your awareness during the kata. We talked about how when using a knife, it's best to not put any of your body (hand, arm, etc) between your knife and your opponent.
Next we worked on Releases. We camped out on #3, then practiced moving from release 3 to junana 10, then to junana 12, and back again. Lastly, we worked in junana 3 & 4 to the rotation.
Pat showed me an extremely cool entry into a modified gedanate (junana 4) from release 3 that used more of the elbow and upper arm to create a structure. Pat talked about how it could be kind of a "structure game" in which we're not trying to out-muscle each other, but build a structure that makes the technique more stable and effortless. This particular modification reminded me a lot of the "fire" element Nick spoke about in this video discussing 5 conceptual "elements" that are possibly found in aikido.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
It's Been Too Long.....Again
I'm trying to get back in the habit of blogging my training logs so here goes:
Saturday we began with walking and releases, then moved on to Junana 1-17. There are some days I feel like putting my yellow belt back on, and this was one of them. Junana 1 through about 10 felt pretty unsuccessful to me. 11 felt a little better, but 12 was the pits. On a positive note, numbers 16 and 17 might have felt better than they ever have before. We practiced "trickle-down aiki-nomics" on number 4, and that felt a lot better to me. Felt more controlled, and kinder to uke. We also added an ouchigari footsweep to number 16 when it wouldn't quite "go", and that was fun and effective.
We talked about the fine lines between effortlessness, efficiency, and effectiveness. That's a balance I'll be trying to find for a long time to come.
Saturday we began with walking and releases, then moved on to Junana 1-17. There are some days I feel like putting my yellow belt back on, and this was one of them. Junana 1 through about 10 felt pretty unsuccessful to me. 11 felt a little better, but 12 was the pits. On a positive note, numbers 16 and 17 might have felt better than they ever have before. We practiced "trickle-down aiki-nomics" on number 4, and that felt a lot better to me. Felt more controlled, and kinder to uke. We also added an ouchigari footsweep to number 16 when it wouldn't quite "go", and that was fun and effective.
We talked about the fine lines between effortlessness, efficiency, and effectiveness. That's a balance I'll be trying to find for a long time to come.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
It's Been Too Long
It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog, and figured I better log in soon lest I forget my password.
Just a quick update, since it's pretty late and this time change is kicking my rear:
Todd
Just a quick update, since it's pretty late and this time change is kicking my rear:
- I'm still training with Pat, and making more of an effort this year to be more consistent. It's been a challenge so far, but I'm determined to train more.
- Kazoku Dojo is on hold for the time being, as my only student moved to North Carolina.
- I don't expect to ramp the blog back up full force right away, as I'm studying for a network certification (CCENT). I plan to test for it on April 6 (22 days!), and I'm trying to get in 3-4 hours of study a night until then. After that, I have a Microsoft cert I have to get this year, so that will keep me busy too. I do plan on being better about at least posting my training logs though.
Todd
Monday, September 12, 2011
Kazoku, 9/12/11
Just me and Michael again. We started with tegatana (He'd done his ukemi practice before I arrived), and this time went through the entire thing.
I intended to work on Releases 1-4, and briefly introduce 5, but we ended up looking at 6 and 7 as well. Some very cool body-drop stuff kept turning up in Release 7 that I don't recall noticing before. In retrospect, it's been there all along, but for whatever reason, it revealed itself more tonight.
We uchikomi'd the heck out of Junana #1, then did several reps completing the throw. By the time we got to Junana #2, we only had time left for a handful of uchikomi reps. For some reason, my #2 was lackluster tonight. Them's the breaks sometimes!
I intended to work on Releases 1-4, and briefly introduce 5, but we ended up looking at 6 and 7 as well. Some very cool body-drop stuff kept turning up in Release 7 that I don't recall noticing before. In retrospect, it's been there all along, but for whatever reason, it revealed itself more tonight.
We uchikomi'd the heck out of Junana #1, then did several reps completing the throw. By the time we got to Junana #2, we only had time left for a handful of uchikomi reps. For some reason, my #2 was lackluster tonight. Them's the breaks sometimes!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Kazoku, 8/30/11
Just one student again last night: Michael.
We were pressed for time so we skipped ukemi. We reviewed what we've learned so far in the walking kata, and added the first two turns.
We did an extended review of releases 1 & 2, then introduced 3 & 4. Pat showed me a tweak that I think helped Michael keep that unbendable arm in release 1. His #2's felt pretty good and natural. We focused on synchronizing footfalls and letting uke determine where and how you step after the initial evasion. We also talked about having a relaxed arm (as tori), but not one that's completely turned off.....one that yields and fits and blends with uke, but also redirects his energy. Being directed, and directing. Welcome to the wonderful, frustrating, amazing, dichotomy that is aikido, haha! He picked up releases 3 & 4 just fine.
Next we had an extended review of Junana #1 (shomen ate), then I introduced Junana #2 (aigamae ate). We talked about how the evasion/off-balance for #2 shows up a lot from here on out. Michael's "#2 off-balance" was quite nice and effective. He seemed to get it very well, and almost threw me a couple of times with the off-balance alone. We worked on the "kata version" as well as Pat's "hiding around the corner" version. I did a quick intro to junana #3 (gyakugamae ate) just to demonstrate its relationship to #2. Something he can keep in mind as he practices is to wait for uke's reactionary step(s) to do the throw. I still have trouble "waiting on uke" as well, particularly on #15 - it's an easy thing in a lot of these techniques to jump ahead of and rush.
With the little bit of time left, our Cool Ninja Technique of the Day was Junana #10 (waki gatame) as the ura waza (countering technique) to Junana #1, and we cooled down with a little light randori.
Another great class!
We were pressed for time so we skipped ukemi. We reviewed what we've learned so far in the walking kata, and added the first two turns.
We did an extended review of releases 1 & 2, then introduced 3 & 4. Pat showed me a tweak that I think helped Michael keep that unbendable arm in release 1. His #2's felt pretty good and natural. We focused on synchronizing footfalls and letting uke determine where and how you step after the initial evasion. We also talked about having a relaxed arm (as tori), but not one that's completely turned off.....one that yields and fits and blends with uke, but also redirects his energy. Being directed, and directing. Welcome to the wonderful, frustrating, amazing, dichotomy that is aikido, haha! He picked up releases 3 & 4 just fine.
Next we had an extended review of Junana #1 (shomen ate), then I introduced Junana #2 (aigamae ate). We talked about how the evasion/off-balance for #2 shows up a lot from here on out. Michael's "#2 off-balance" was quite nice and effective. He seemed to get it very well, and almost threw me a couple of times with the off-balance alone. We worked on the "kata version" as well as Pat's "hiding around the corner" version. I did a quick intro to junana #3 (gyakugamae ate) just to demonstrate its relationship to #2. Something he can keep in mind as he practices is to wait for uke's reactionary step(s) to do the throw. I still have trouble "waiting on uke" as well, particularly on #15 - it's an easy thing in a lot of these techniques to jump ahead of and rush.
With the little bit of time left, our Cool Ninja Technique of the Day was Junana #10 (waki gatame) as the ura waza (countering technique) to Junana #1, and we cooled down with a little light randori.
Another great class!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Kazoku, 8/25/11
Last night was the second class for our little group. Littler, even - only one student this time: Michael.
We started with ukemi (back falls), and Michael said he felt better about them this week than last week. He was eager to learn forward rolls, which I attempted to teach, and he picked it up much faster than I did when I was starting out.
We reviewed the first 3 parts of tegatana (walking kata) and added the next 4 (the pushes). Focus was on staying on the balls of the feet and moving our arms effeciently (not trying to pick an arm up when our body was dropping).
Next we reviewed Release 1, and ended up spending most of the class on it. I felt like we got a lot of good work in on this release. Really productive reps. It was a challenge for him to do the release without bending his arm too much to get into position, but there was a ton of stuff he was getting very right (synchronizing footwork, footwork timing, off balance, etc). And we all have things to work on in the releases, so he can join the club, haha! Some of the reps went a little haywire, but he was good at doing something (as opposed to freezing up), and usually it was enough - it got him off the line and made me unbalanced enough to have to take another step.
We discussed how some schools adhere more closely to the kata forms in order to internalize the principles, and others are less bound by the kata and primarily observe the principles (we're more in the latter category). We talked about not getting so focused on the kata that we forget what we're doing is getting out of the way and getting hands up; we try not to get the kata before the horse (sorry, I couldn't resist, and if said in a certain way, is a lot funnier than reading it).
For the last part of the class, we worked on release 2 as an option when release 1 won't go.
In the spirit of Pat, we ended with a couple "cool ninja techniques of the day". My ninja-ness being modest at best, I showed him a neat kote hineri from someone putting a hand on your shoulder, as well as something I can't remember the name of (uke grabs lapel or pushes, you feed that energy back to him in the form of a push or a strike or an eye rake - just giving him something to think about while you take possession of the hand he gave you to control his wrist and destroy his posture).
I was more aware of my time management - which is to say I noted how much time I spent on different things. I felt more prepared and more orgnaized, but there's still lots of room for improvement.
We started with ukemi (back falls), and Michael said he felt better about them this week than last week. He was eager to learn forward rolls, which I attempted to teach, and he picked it up much faster than I did when I was starting out.
We reviewed the first 3 parts of tegatana (walking kata) and added the next 4 (the pushes). Focus was on staying on the balls of the feet and moving our arms effeciently (not trying to pick an arm up when our body was dropping).
Next we reviewed Release 1, and ended up spending most of the class on it. I felt like we got a lot of good work in on this release. Really productive reps. It was a challenge for him to do the release without bending his arm too much to get into position, but there was a ton of stuff he was getting very right (synchronizing footwork, footwork timing, off balance, etc). And we all have things to work on in the releases, so he can join the club, haha! Some of the reps went a little haywire, but he was good at doing something (as opposed to freezing up), and usually it was enough - it got him off the line and made me unbalanced enough to have to take another step.
We discussed how some schools adhere more closely to the kata forms in order to internalize the principles, and others are less bound by the kata and primarily observe the principles (we're more in the latter category). We talked about not getting so focused on the kata that we forget what we're doing is getting out of the way and getting hands up; we try not to get the kata before the horse (sorry, I couldn't resist, and if said in a certain way, is a lot funnier than reading it).
For the last part of the class, we worked on release 2 as an option when release 1 won't go.
In the spirit of Pat, we ended with a couple "cool ninja techniques of the day". My ninja-ness being modest at best, I showed him a neat kote hineri from someone putting a hand on your shoulder, as well as something I can't remember the name of (uke grabs lapel or pushes, you feed that energy back to him in the form of a push or a strike or an eye rake - just giving him something to think about while you take possession of the hand he gave you to control his wrist and destroy his posture).
I was more aware of my time management - which is to say I noted how much time I spent on different things. I felt more prepared and more orgnaized, but there's still lots of room for improvement.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Kazoku!
For the past few months, I’ve been working on getting an aikido class together that I could teach locally (My teacher is 75 miles away). Well, it didn’t pan out exactly like I originally thought it might, but last Thursday, I did teach my first aikido class. It’s a milestone I’m pretty excited about. I’ll be keeping track of training logs here for that class too. We’re calling our group “Kazoku Dojo” – “kazoku” means “family” in Japanese.
Students for the night were Michael, Melissa, and Kim. 2 of the 3 were being exposed to aikido for the very first time, so we began with simple back falls, concentrating on sitting-more-than-falling, and tucking our chins to make sure our heads didn’t hit the mat. Then a brief introduction to forward rolls from a kneeling position.
After a short explanation of what kata is (solo and paired), we went over the first 3 sections of our walking kata. We focused on “dropping” into the step rather than “shifting our weight east in order to travel west”. We also focused on bringing the “following foot” along without dawdling.
We then practiced using those same steps to evade an incoming zombie-arm attack. Just to demonstrate the idea of getting-out-of-the-way. We moved from that into the “aiki brush-off” concept that Pat teaches, which led nicely into Junana #1 (Shomen ate).
We ended the class with Release #1, and a little bit of Release #2, with a focus on synchronizing with uke's steps and finding the right timing to seperate and create distance.
Somewhere in all of that we talked about the how and why of “same-hand-same-foot”.
I’m thrilled about the prospect of teaching, and acutely aware of my insufficiency to do so. But it’s all part of learning, right? I do need to learn to organize the class time better….we have class again tonight, so we’ll see how I manage!
Students for the night were Michael, Melissa, and Kim. 2 of the 3 were being exposed to aikido for the very first time, so we began with simple back falls, concentrating on sitting-more-than-falling, and tucking our chins to make sure our heads didn’t hit the mat. Then a brief introduction to forward rolls from a kneeling position.
After a short explanation of what kata is (solo and paired), we went over the first 3 sections of our walking kata. We focused on “dropping” into the step rather than “shifting our weight east in order to travel west”. We also focused on bringing the “following foot” along without dawdling.
We then practiced using those same steps to evade an incoming zombie-arm attack. Just to demonstrate the idea of getting-out-of-the-way. We moved from that into the “aiki brush-off” concept that Pat teaches, which led nicely into Junana #1 (Shomen ate).
We ended the class with Release #1, and a little bit of Release #2, with a focus on synchronizing with uke's steps and finding the right timing to seperate and create distance.
Somewhere in all of that we talked about the how and why of “same-hand-same-foot”.
I’m thrilled about the prospect of teaching, and acutely aware of my insufficiency to do so. But it’s all part of learning, right? I do need to learn to organize the class time better….we have class again tonight, so we’ll see how I manage!
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