I Must Be Doing Something Right...

Last night I had three people show up. The mother, her daughter, and Mark who hasn't been for two weeks. We went over wrist release number 3 and 4 with emphasis on not trying to make a move work, but making sure to get out of the way (an idea that seems to be difficult to convey with release number 4). After beating those two to death I showed them Gyakugamae-ate which they picked up surprisingly quickly. Everyone seemed to grasp the idea of blending with Uke's up and down motion pretty well. We did a few reps of that and I had some class time remaining so I briefly showed them Gedan Ate before doing some falling practice. Mark and Olivia were excited about falling and rolling, Oliva's mother...not so much. There are some fairly good pics of these moves here. After class Mark kept asking if I could teach on weekends and while I need to clear it with the activities coordinator, it would be nice to have another class :)

People Can Surprise You

Tonight at class we started with a little ukemi which Oliva, the little girl was ecstatic about but her mother dreaded. A few side and back falls later, I demonstrated a triangle roll and told them we'd get more into that at a later class. Honasu number 1 and 2 were the review of the night and then we got into the meat of class. Aigamae-Ate was the move of the night and I had to show Oliva's mom a dozen or so times until she got the turn down while Oliva herself stared off into space. Her mother kept suggesting Oliva pay attention while Oliva insisted she was. When I felt the mother had the gist of it, I told Oliva it was her turn. I attacked and she executed a near perfect Aigamae-Ate with the off balance spinning me almost in place. I even staggered back just a bit and she pseudo went into a Gedan-Ate-like motion. I was amazed, and so was the mother. It's a great feeling when everything seems to come together out of nowhere. I should have thought to get a video of them the first day to show them in a month or two. It's been difficult not having anyone experienced to demonstrate on, but thankfully with a little patience we're coming along fine.

A Little Comic Help

After Diamond's price hike (for those of you who don't know, Diamond distributes almost all comics in the US), and MUCH debate...we've decided to make our comic an online web comic. It will still be the length of a regular 22 page comic, it will be FREE, and it will be an ongoing regular series. I would like any suggestions from readers who know anything about running an actual website other than blogs for a little direction. I've been looking into wordpress, but would love any help that could be provided.

Night Number 2

Well two of my students came back which is a good thing. We went over the basics of falling and number 2 and 4 of Honasu. I think the teaching is coming along well since my students are asking questions that are related the to the releases instead of just random ones. It's exciting to see them learning and putting things together. To wrap up class we went over part of Tegatana to give them something to work on at home.

A Few More Details..

I quickly wrote the first entry about Tuesday's class and wanted to elaborate a little here. The daughter was a bit quiet and shy during class, the mother was surprised that everything seemed so defensive yet effective, and the guy was like I was when I first started taking Aikido. He would raise his hand and ask "What about this, What happens if I do that", ect. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Pat for having patience with me through the years. It's hard teaching a beginner's class without 1 other person to help demonstrate the moves on. I guess if I do things right then I won't have that problem later on because my current students will fill that void. There was one moment that was exceptionally great. Two of the students were having trouble with Honasu #1 and were accidentally getting Tori's hand on the inside instead of out. I didn't realize I was doing this until after I had done it, but I pulled a Pat mimicry. I walked up, said "Huh, that does look weird. Why don't you try thinking about your feet" even my posture changed while I was saying this and SOMEHOW it fixed everything. I took their minds off thinking about what to do with their hands, and their hands naturally did what they were supposed to do. I felt so wise and thought "this must be what Pat feels like all the time". Is that true Pat?

On a personal note (this has NOTHING to do with Aikido or the comic), I usually don't post things concerning my everyday life on this blog. It's just not what I meant it for, but the most extraordinary thing happened the other day. I was dating this girl I'd met up here, Jenn for about 3 weeks before we discovered there just wasn't any chemistry between us and 2 days after breaking up I met THE coolest chick on the planet. She's absolutely gorgeous and her idea of a good time is watching movies, playing video games, and listening to my ramblings about whatever. For those of you that know me (and my roommate said this after meeting her 5 minutes) she's like a sexy female clone of me. If she knew Aikido as well I'd marry her on the spot. Just thought I'd share that tidbit :)

3 Students Tonight!

So tonight I had not one, not two, but three students. I had the mother bring her 13 year old daughter to class and I think the mom came out happier. The whole class everyone was asking questions and there was electricity and excitement. We went over Honasu number 1 and 3 emphasizing moving your second foot under you after an initial step. I was talking about getting behind the arm and how that's the safest place when you're attached to someone. They asked what happened if you grabbed and you had the opposite arm and I was able to demonstrate a hip switch and everyone was impressed :)