Trip Back Home

Well as Pat posted, me and Bryce showed up for Judo last Friday and got some good randori in. We also went over the off balance from deashi and why it's the first technique generally taught at the Kodokan. Saturday morning Vincent (an older Judo guy who used to come to class) showed up at Aikido much to my surprise. We did some crazy man randori which I've now done a few times with Beleek. After class on Saturday I did the first couple of Owaza with Bryce and a little randori with Vincent. If nothing else it reminded me how important getting in shape can be. I just hope I'm progressing, it's a little hard to get a straight answer from Pat sometimes. It's frustrating sometimes being the highest ranked person and knowing you've still got so much to learn, especially before teaching others. I feel like I'm in a rut. If I had the space I could just do more randori and get used to moving at full force, or if I had a teacher I could access a little guidance on how to maximize the small space I have. I was planning on going to the Aikikai Aikido place in Oviedo but with a few problems in shop lately, I can't leave on the single day they teach. Whoever came up with the saying "when the student is ready the master will appear" was full of it.

Posturing

The other night me and Andy were going over Nijusan and ukemi (falling) practice. After realizing we don't do enough falling and moving on to Nijusan, Beleek came down to take some pics of us for my blog (which I may or may not show). I was glancing at one in particular and noticed I was slumping during practice. I have a small hunch in my shoulders that I never noticed before. Now I'm thinking about getting a new bed. Anywho the point of this post is I want to urge everyone to get someone to photo them during practice when they're relaxed. See how your posture looks, REALLY looks, not what you think it looks like. The results might surprise you.