Johndo- John's path to understanding

This is WAY overdue

2010-06-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

So the experiment failed...mostly due to lack of planning on how to actually load the videos on my part. For that, I apologize. I moved my mats over to mine and Andy's new apartment and we went over Honasu a few times. I don't know why, but this time I felt like doing Honasu over Nijusan, which almost never happens. Andy was going over the 2nd wrist release and mentioned that Pat had been showing him that you can either drop down uke in the hole (for more info go to www.mokurendojo.com), or that you can swing around like a door opening. I remembered something Bryce told me about a key to Judo being able to keep a little bit of tension to lead and follow with, but that slightest bit of tension needing always be there. I tried applying that to Honasu, especially number two, and to my surprise, it made all the difference for me in the world. Instead of dropping in the hole, I gave a LITTLE bit of tension then eased off and as uke came forward I re-established the tension after uke was SLIGHTLY more off-balance. I really need to get a camera. Typing this out doesn't do justice to what I'm trying to say.

Videos

2010-04-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

ok, our NEW SITE on BLOGSPOT makes it easier to post videos. The first video is up, and the rest will be tonight. We did not in face practice today due to trying to fix the videos from day one, lol. So to make up for it, tomorrow will be two hours and we'll probably do two hours the next day as well. Follow the new site, we're going to make a post at the wordpress one to redirect people there.

There's more

2010-04-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we had our first hour of practice and recorded it...only we're having trouble posting it. It's an avi and even compressing it into an mp4 it'll take over 4 hours to post to any site. We're going to try posting it from the University to get day one up there. Does anyone have any suggestions for an easy way to get the video up there efficiently that we could do daily?

To anyone who checks here anymore

2010-03-31T23:58:00.000-07:00

So me and Andy have started a new project now that he's up here in Washington state with me. It's called the JAproject. The idea is me and Andy will be practicing for at least one hour every day on two for a year and filming it. We will post a video of one hour every day (and two hours if we miss a day) on this new site. I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback from ANYONE interested.

Last Class

2009-10-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've been putting off writing about my last class because it was pretty straightforward. We went over Tegatana with a notepad and pen to make SURE the steps were understood, then went over Honasu again and again until class was over. The last class was fairly short.
Something happened after class that warrants at least a mention. I was talking with a friend of mine about how his Aikido training was going and he commented lately he has no one to do it with. My natural response is "Oh, well train someone then you have a partner." My friend then told me he doesn't think he has what it takes to actually TEACH Aikido.
I think there are a lot of common misconceptions about teaching. I know I had quite a few in Orlando when I started teaching Rob. First off, you can't expect to teach everything. You can only teach what you do know. Tell your prospective student that, straight off the bat. I don't know know everything, but what I'm sure of, I'll tell you. When you're not sure of something, tell them that too. This is my interpretation of what happens, but only what I think. I've noticed over the past year that my interpretation of something when I explain it to Pat isn't always the same as his, but they both could be "correct" based on what we feel is happening.
After getting over that barrier, remember that teaching someone else something teaches you too, maybe even more than they learn from you. In Aikido (and again, this is just what I think), you learn the moves from your teacher so you can copy them when they may or may not feel natural at first. Then, they feel natural and you just start doing them, likely forgetting HOW you're doing them in the process. It doesn't end there. When you teach someone, you re-learn HOW you're doing what you're doing so you can show it to someone else, and by re-analyzing your own technique you discover things. I noticed that when I do Gyakugamae ate (the link is the closest pic I could find), I used to spread my arms farther and farther apart. I initially thought that at a certain point it became an arm thing. I noticed when I started teaching Rob, I don't do that anymore. When my arm comes across Uke's face, I turn my hips and rise and fall with my whole body. Sort of a Gedan ate feel. I never would have known I started doing that unless I taught someone else.
In learning new things about your Aikido you also start applying those ideas to different techniques. I prefer doing Mae Otoshi like Gedan Ate only with my foot in front of Uke and using my body push to continue Uke's rise. Sort of like the guy in the Mae Otoshi link, only closer.
Another advantage is by teaching Aikido to someone who doesn't know it, you get to really practice honasu (the wrist releases) with someone who has not idea what it is supposed to look like, so their resistance is genuine. They won't move for you, so you REALLY get a look at where the holes are in your technique. In making them softer, you have to get softer first.
All I'm trying to say in all this, and I WISH I could find the article in that book on my list at the bottom of my page called "Black Belt Korean Karate", is that teaching is not just a part of learning. I've learned SO much from it I think it should be mandatory to teach at least a few classes upon getting an Ikkyu or Shodan rank. It improves your techniques, makes you think in detail about what you're ACTUALLY doing, and if forces patience on you. Also, there's no reward in the world like when a student just "gets it" one day and starts doing Aikido on their own and you pointed the way.

Next to Last Class

2009-09-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Next Tuesday will be my final class at the YMCA in Bremerton, Wa. Since I'm down to one student, I decided this week I would use the class time to go through Tegatana, Honasu, then Junana once. Junana would (I thought) give her a peek at what she would be learning as her training progressed. A few observations I noticed were, I do Sumi-Otoshi much better the Junana way instead of the Nijusan way and I need to work on that. Gedan ate went well, but when we got to Mai Otoshi (I think I spelled that right), I could not remember exactly how to do it. I thought for a second and tried Gedan Ate and intentionally missed the timing and caught Uke on the rise coming forward and an interesting thing happened. Usually when I do get Mai Otoshi I have a feeling of almost catching the back of the elbow and it's a toss or continuation of that forward movement. While the catching Uke going upward and getting that forward feeling, I caught Uke just above the elbow and it felt like the throw, or point affected I should say, was Uke's shoulder. Is that right? Is that still Mai Otoshi?

It's Been Two Weeks

2009-09-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

So as far as last week's post (I know you're on the edge of your seat), I arrived at class and there was a sign on the front door that simply said "Closed for maintenance. Will open tomorrow." Inside I could see electrical wires hanging from the ceiling...nice of them to let me know they'd be closed, yes?
This week, my one student returned and we only have 2 more classes left together. I wanted to go over a few lessons such as, notice your surroundings. We went through the first 4 wrist releases standing near a wall. It took a few minutes, but hip switches developed and number 1 and 3 worked especially well using those, and the "lost releases".
Some concerns were expressed over release number 3 and 4. She, like almost everyone, enjoys doing number 1 and 3 because they FEEL like they have an end. I explained that neither do 1 and 3, and we practiced what happens after the 3rd step of 1 and 3. In other words, what if Uke keeps going? That moved nicely into a Junana lesson, most notably oshi taoish and ude gaeshi. I was requested to go over that a few more times next class, so my lesson plan is just that....more wrist releases chaining into Junana
After 2 weeks when I move, I don't know how much Aikido I'll be doing. I hear Western Washington University has a Judo club, so I'll look into that. The interesting thing I read about their Judo club is that for randori it's open to anyone who does any wrestling, grappling, or throwing art. There's also a group that just focuses on kata and not competition Judo, and that sounds great to me.

For Pat...

2009-08-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was going to post how the past two classes have actually felt more like work than a class, where I've been teaching the same stuff and haven't really seen anything myself. I WAS going to post that, but I did remember something that happened last class where I was going over what we call "the stupid drill" which is going from kote-gaeshi to kote-hineri and back again and I felt something weird. Class was ending and I was feeling sick so I didn't want to explore it then, but I made a mental note of exactly what was happening and decided to further speculate on it later. This morning when deciding to post that I hadn't learned anything new or seen anything, I figured it out.

I know this next part is going to make a lot of people nod their heads (and by a lot, I mean my one reader) and say "well duh!" but it's something that just never really occurred to me and I'd like to voice it. First off, when I do kote-gaeshi, I feel like I'm locking Uke's hip when I do it right. I get the wrist to a point where I control the elbow, then the elbow to a point where it shortens one of Uke's legs, at least that's how it feels to me. With kote-hineri I feel like I control the wrist, then elbow, then the shoulder.

Ok, now that the preliminary explanation of how I feel Uke responding to the two is out of the way, onto the speculative part. When doing the drill, I've usually had trouble transitioning from kote-gaeshi into hineri. What I was doing is when Uke pushes out of kote-gaeshi and I switch hands as uke's arm straightens, I'd extend uke just a little to set the wrist and elbow close to the same time as the arm comes back up. What I noticed is, I don't have to. If I feel the wrist, then elbow, then shoulder/hip locking up as I set it, I can work back down in reverse order during the switch. When Uke pushes out of kote-gaeshi I lose the hip feeling but I have the elbow. As the arm straightens I lose the elbow but I still have the wrist and that is what I've been neglecting. If instead of stretching the arm as I switch hands, I just focus on the continual rotation of the wrist, I lock it down in the opposite direction, which gives me more than enough tension to follow it up through the elbow then to the shoulder. I haven't had a chance to apply it yet, but I just KNOW my kote-hineri has improved a lot just from realizing this, this morning.

There you go Pat, an epiphany, all stemming from a post initially intended to being centered around me feeling like I haven't learned anything the last two classes. I suppose I still have a lot to learn about learning things :P

Ok, ok...so I haven't posted in a while...

2009-08-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

There have been complaints from certain people (Sarah Jane) that I haven't update in a while. The reason being that there isn't really anything to report. I've had a single student the past two classes and with me leaving for Bellingham in a month, there's only so much to teach in each class. We've been going over the Aiki-brush off and tegatana almost exclusively. The wrist releases were the subject of the last 20 minutes of this past Tuesday's class. Updated!

A Week Ago at Pat's

2009-08-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

This post is one week overdue but I've been doing a lot of traveling. Last week at Pat's I got to meet his new group of students, and we went over a few familiar exercises, mainly waki-gatamae to kote gaeshi and back again. It was extremely hot in the dojo, but there were two new things I learned that I found really interesting. With the eighth wrist release, I always interpreted it as Uke grabbing Tori's wrist then pulling it across his body causing the turning motion. At Pat's well there was almost no resistance from anyone on any wrist releases, but from what I gathered Pat was doing, Uke grabbed Tori's wrist but didn't change anything, Tori just does the turning motion with no prompting. I always thought Uke determined where Tori went, but it felt more like Tori determined where Uke went after Uke grabbed. The most interesting thing though was Gendan ate. I learned in Washington that the timing issue of performing it while moving behind the arm could be fixed by actually stopping your motion for one step making Uke "catch up" and putting him in a perfect position for Gedan ate. Pat had a twist on this where Tori tosses Uke's arm over behind him which twists Uke slowing him down. The end result is Tori and Uke in sync with each other and facing each other and Tori could just push Uke backwards. It's an odd feel. Wish I had a camera to get some footage of it. Maybe later :)

Surprises and Speeches

2009-07-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just before class I received an e-mail from the YMCA saying "Congratulations on keeping 2-3 regular students. We were going to cancel your class this month but decided not to since you've had regulars." Thanks for telling me you were thinking about suddenly dropping my class! It went on to say "We'll decide at the end of August based on your numbers whether to continue to give you that time slot." I replied with the reminder that I'll be gone two weeks in August. Will I still have a Tuesday night class when I return? Who knows?
As I did have a class last night though, here's what went down. We went over Tegatana (the walking kata) then number 1 through 4 of honasu (the wrist releases). My newest student decided to show off a few things after work the day after her first class with me. This inevitably led to questions like "when someone grabs you like this what do you do?" Then came the classic "well what about after someone has your wrist and has planted their feet and they're a lot stronger than you...what then?" After a movement exercise she seemed happier about the situation.
Class ended with a story of my first day of Aikdo which I'm SURE I've posted at least once before and won't bore everyone with again. I know, I can almost see the look of surprise in everyone's faces.."You're NOT telling a story?!" I think that just shows me growing as a teacher. I now am learning when NOT to bore my readers.

Homeward Bound

2009-07-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Well I'm teaching class tonight, but Saturday I'll be heading back to Mississippi with SJ for a week then to Texas for a week. What does this mean? It means We'll be at Pat's for next Tuesday's class. That's right Pat, I return bearing your Ki. What Aikido will I do in Texas? Probably none, but classes resume when I return to Washington. I'm excited to (hopefully) be doing a little Judo as well. As usual, if you're reading this Pat...can you e-mail me directions so I don't call Bryce like I always end up doing? :)

New Student Craze!

2009-07-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well Tuesday night, Marina did not show up, but my new student (this being her 3rd class) did. I'm terrible with names, so forgive me. I also had a woman who was looking for a late night self defense class show up, and a college student who took Kung Fu and was looking to supplement it also show up. 3 new students, no demonstrations, no idea what Aikido is (except for my 3rd class chick who had a vague idea). Everyone being new put everyone at ease though. I guess they were expecting an academy of black belts to start pouring in, but when that didn't happen all the tension was gone. We briefly went through tegatana (the basic walking kata) then into the first 4 wrist releases. I explained how Tori (the defender) is not trying to make Uke (the attacker) let go of his/her wrist, but is "releasing" the tension that builds from someone grabbing you. After just a few repetitions, they all seemed to get it and the older woman even said "I don't even use my arms, I'm moving you with my body" and I did all I could to hold back what would have been a ridiculous grin in favor of the stoic wizened old master "Mmmm" with nod look. The woman wants to return and take the class with her son, but I think Aikido in a relaxed easy environment isn't the workout the Kung Fu chick was looking for. It was nice to have another chance at a class with totally new people and THIS time be able to explain things in a clear, direct manner. Also, anyone who knows me will be happy to know, I did NOT give more than 1 speech this class, lasting less than 5 minutes.

And now a Confession...

2009-07-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've felt bad about this so I'll publicly apologize for it. Before SJ went to Midland, I had used her as a guinea pig now and then for some Aikido ideas or for working something out. She'd asked me what I was doing then I'd explain (at length) what it was...she doesn't ask anymore, lol. When she said she was going to an Aikikai affiliated place (I'm part of the Fugakukai), I warned her that Aikido is Aikido, but there may be some slight cosmetic/flavor differences. In my past experiences, the people who happened to be Aikikai were a bit elitist. When I first started Aikido I was anxious to learn everything I can and compare notes, etc. Each time I ran into someone who was less than friendly, the HAPPENED to be from the Aikikai. I'm definitely not saying everyone or even the majority are like that, those were just my initial experiences and unfortunately I warned SJ she might run into that. I say unfortunately because when she did have a slight bad experience instead of saying "I'm sorry" I said "I told you so". I thought myself better than doing something like that, but I did. All I did was perpetuate a stereotype of different styles or schools of the same martial art having some kind of animosity towards each other, and despite what I said, I don't. It has made me cautious, but I don't hold any lingering grudges or anything. I disrespected what I was taught, and hurt SJ's feelings in the process and I publicly apologize to her and to the Aikikai and anyone it I may have inadvertently offended with this post

Falling Behind

2009-07-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

It's been brought to my attention by one of my (two) readers that I haven't posted anything in a while. The reason being, because I haven't gone over anything other than the first four wrist releases the past few classes, and that's what I'll be going over tonight as well. There is one thing I would like to mention however. Recently Sarah Jane has attended an Aikido class in Midland, TX. She was expecting to go to a beginner's class (because they advertised they had one), only to find out after she was there and after she paid, that there was no longer a beginner class offered. All classes were condensed into one adult's class, which can be off-putting. She said she seemed a little lost and no one offered up any direction unless she specifically asked for it, and during some move, the instructor who was teaching laughed at her. Now this was completely innocent as the instructor was I'm sure reminiscing about a time when he first started and struggled with something as we all do, but little seemingly harmless gestures can be disconcerting to new students. There were one or two times I can remember where Pat chuckled and I felt inept at whatever we were going over at the time, even though I know that was not his intention. We as instructors need to remember to be concious of how unnerving it can be for someone new to a class and remember how awkward it was for some of us when we first started.

Interesting Challenges

2009-06-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a new student. She had a form of muscular distrophy with made her hands oddly shaped and she had trouble manipulating her wrists. It provided interesting challenges in showing her honasu. We worked on foot movement and honasu works relatively well even without manipulating the wrists. It's more than enough to keep Tori safe with proper movement and judging of mai. More next week

The Magic of Tokui Waza

2009-06-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Last night we discovered my student's tokui waza. Tokui waza isn't necessarily your favorite technique (it can be), but it is your best technique. The one that for some reason your body type, size, and subconscious just gets and you can do it consistently. Marina's is kote hineri. She's the only person I know who has trouble with kote gaeshi but can hit kote hineri almost anywhere. My wrists are sore for the first time in a while. At the end of class we did a little free form movement exercise and she got a beautiful kote hineri like motion from just above my wrist on the forearm. It always surprises me exactly what techniques turn out to be people's tokui waza. For me, it was the one I had the MOST trouble with at first, Gedan ate, until Bryce did it to me at random a hundred times a day. Rob had a really good off balance which almost always resulted in ushiro ate. I don't get a chance to practice with Andy enough to know his tokui waza, and I think every move Pat does is his tokui waza. Anyone feel like sharing their best technique here?

Last Night's Class

2009-06-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about the things I learned in the brief time I had with Sensei Crist during my visit in Florida. I was going to go over the concept of irimi and tenkan (entering into, and pivoting away from) techniques...but no one showed up. Instead I picked up the 20 or so mats from the previous class and just went over kata by myself for a few hours. It reminded me of the first Aikido class I ever had with Pat. When I showed up, Pat was alone doing Jo (short staff) excercises back and forth across the floor. I remembered thinking "I wonder how many classes he's here by himself going over things alone" and thinking "I bet he's here every class even if he is alone". Although, picking up the previous Hapkido class of 20's things by yourself is no fun at all.

Another Honorable Mention

2009-06-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

Sensei Charles Crist passed away recently. A link for his site and to find out more about who he was in under my links section on the right. Although I only met him in person once, he had a profound impact on my Aikido. He would talk about making sure your Aikido was practical and the subtle differences that occur when you do a technique at full speed. I spoke with him while he was in the hospital and was able to tell him how much I enjoyed the brief time I was able to have with. I mentioned I wish I had more to say and that it's strange I felt a kinship with someone I only met once before. He simply said "You don't have to say anything at all. It's Zen that way."

David Carradine Dies Today

2009-06-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

David Carradine, star of the tv series "Kung Fu" died today. You can find the details elsewhere, but I thought it deserved a post.

Why Do We Train

2009-06-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

This has been a question asked time and again on Pat's blog among many others. Every time I came across one of these posts I would think to myself something along the lines of "to be better" or "because it's fun, duh" but lately I'm wondering if there's something more. I've wanted to learn martial arts (and Aikido specifically) from an early age. I wanted to learn so I could teach and spread Aikido to everyone I knew. Up until lately I've trained so I can be a better teacher, or at least so I thought. Last night while walking home from class I was thinking about it, and that's not why I train. Even when I don't have anyone to show anything to, I'm doing Tegatana or even Nijusan against an invisible Uke just to keep doing it. Playing the saxophone is fun to me, but I don't play anymore, so why Aikido? How come when I was on firewatch in bootcamp I'd shuffle step all the way up the deck, then all the way back? Why would I practice my collar chokes on my unsuspecting bunk mate, or take extra time to go to the gym to practice grappling? I don't plan on competing or looking for glory. Pat once talked about an exercise to get to the core of something where you keep questioning something over and over until you get to where you don't have an answer anymore. For instance, I want pizza, why? I want pizza because I'm hungry and I like pizza. Why do I like pizza specifically? I enjoy the bread, cheese and sauce due to taste, and because it's filling making me less hungry less often. Why pizza now and not a hamburger? I want a pizza just because I feel like pizza...that's all. If I apply the same thing to why I practice Aikido...I don't make it much farther than that. I could say it's for self defense, but that's not true. How often are people nowadays really in a situation they can not run or walk away from or avoid? I could say it's for exercise, but that's not true. I'm definitely out of shape :) I could say a lot of things, but I don't have an answer other than there are days when I'm excited going to class and days when I dread it. Either way, when I physically step onto the mat I cease being anxious, or sad, or anything. I just feel....like doing Aikido. I'm looking for an answer deeper than that, but I don't have one at the moment. What are some of the core reasons any of you train?

Kote-Gaeshi and Kote-Hineri

2009-06-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight in class we went over an exercise in moving from Kote-Gaeshi to Kote-Hineri and back again. This is affectionately known as the "stupid drill" partly due to endless repetition of it, and partly due to it becoming stupidly easy after only a few cycles of it. My two students who show up regularly have been showing remarkable progress and I have to admit I'm extremely happy to see that everything's coming together. They did the first 8 wrist releases without me having to remind them the order or how they went, and they picked up on the "stupid drill" more quickly than anything else I've shown then. I wanted to show them how these fit into Nijusan and while attempting Kote Gaeshi, Marina stepped oddly, or I moved, or something weird happened and she transitioned smoothly into Kote Hineri instead without realizing she'd done it until after it was set.

Teaching Methods

2009-05-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I had one observer and one participant in class. Both of them learn in very different ways and I tend to custom tailor my teaching as best as I can to whoever I'm teaching. After class the observer made a few observations (they've never done Aikido before) and remarked that they hoped if I taught them that I'd do it in a different manor. I would teach differently, but my initial thoughts were "If I'm teaching, I'll teach how I want" but it got me thinking. The methods we use to teach represent to others what the art is. If we use a lot of mysticism, then that's what the martial art is perceived to be and if we over simplify or over complicate a move, then the art is super easy or too hard. My question is, should a teacher of a martial art modify his teaching based on the student's feedback/criticism? I had students at first only want to see the advanced stuff so that obviously doesn't work. When I began at the Y, I had a student ONLY want to do a wrist release until it was perfect (in her mind) before moving on to the next thing, but Aikido is organic and needs to blend and chain together so that didn't work. However, if I become rigid in my teaching methods it might drive pupils away. What are some experiences any of you have had with any of this? I'm sure there have been teaching challenges for you Pat :)

Situations We Aren't Prepared For

2009-05-14T06:59:00.001-07:00

It was pointed out to me that I didn't make a post this week other than links to my previous ones. Well when making my Posts to Ponder section I reread a lot of old stories. This one stood out more than the others. I still think about that guy today and what happened to him. Take a second to read the link and the responses. I only had two students show up this Tuesday and they were starting to play around, so I took a moment to relate that story and how situations like that can happen. I wanted to relay that story so that they're aware that there are situations that can come up that your training just doesn't cover, since we train in SELF defense. After relaying the story one of them asked "so..what do we do if that happens?" and all I could say is "I teach Aikido so you can protect yourself. I can't tell you how to use your training for anything else." I talked about how some responses were along the lines of "I'd jump in" and others were "what good would it do me to jump in and get hurt too" and that they were all correct. I think it really gave them something to think about and the rest of the class was a lot more productive. I'd really like anyone reading this post to comment on here how they would react to that situation today. Anyone who's already replied before, do you still feel the same way? Would you do anything differently now?

Posts to Ponder Section

2009-05-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

At Pat's behest, I made a few labels so my readers can look over some of my older posts that deal less with the technical aspects of Aikido or Judo, but are just entertaining or thought provoking for me. I'm going back over the older ones and putting updated comments as I look back over my old musings. Also, my Einstein quote I found but did not see my John Adams quote. Therefore, here it is:
“I must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, natural history and naval architecture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, tapestry, and porcelain.”

Question about blogspot

2009-05-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

I've looked around and could not find a way to make a separate archive for certain posts. A way to organize them into "Posts about this" and "Posts about that". Does anyone know how to do that?

On a Related Note...

2009-05-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about my last post and it reminded me of something. Continuing on that train of though concerning perception, there's a point where you need to question what you're looking for when you train. There's a common time, usually after yellow or green belt where the student knows enough to be confident in their abilities, but not enough experience to keep from getting over-confident. They start getting over confident and are sure they have a firm grasp of understanding what's happening as they continue to train. This can be a serious problem should their abilities get tested and the outcome not turn out as they expected. I'm no exception to this. When I was in the Marine Corps a lifetime ago, there used to be a class on grappling in one of the schools I attended. Everyone learns basic movements in boot camp from the Marine Corps Martial Arts program (MCMAP). Well I was sure I had an edge thanks to my Judo training (I think I was a green belt at the time). So I'm watching people and thinking to myself "Oh, that guy's weak on his back, that guy obviously doesn't know what he's doing" etc. When it comes my turn to grapple I can win the matches against people who'd never done any of this before, but the guys who were high school wrestlers, or significantly larger than me were wiping the floor with me. I had it in my head that my training must've failed me, or that it just didn't work outside of the rules structure of Judo matches themselves. There was a week long break in our training and I took that opportunity to return home for a few days, then the grappling class would resume for the next 2 weeks after I came back. So I show up at Pat's dojo, and start yelling at Pat, saying things like "this training doesn't work against wrestlers, I haven't learned anything" and so on. Pat patiently listens to me then says "well, let's do some randori and see if we can't figure it out" and promptly beats me mercilessly for an hour. After I was exhausted he simply said "You've forgotten your basics. You're not shrimping and you keep trying to make moves work." I went back and beat everyone in class including the instructor. I've told this story before, but there's another part of it I didn't emphasize the past time or two. When I went back, it wasn't my perception of techniques that changed. It was my immediate goals I altered. I didn't want to be the "best" anymore, I just wanted to be better than what I was. The only thoughts going through my head when actually grappling were "ok, here I am, now what?" I wasn't trying to get an armbar or a choke, I just concentrated on what WAS, and things just happened. I started trying not to lose instead of trying to win. My opponents would get so caught up in trying to beat me that they in turn would put themselves in a position where they might as well have taken my hands and just placed them around their neck. The point is, should you reach a point in your training where your training comes into question and you feel like you fail, think about what you were trying to achieve in the first place.

Probabilities

2009-05-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

Last night one of my students made a comment about using Aikido against an attacker with a knife and how you'd be safe as long as you used Aikido. When I commented "well, you'd be safe-ER" I got some questioning looks. In Aikido we train to prevail and increase our odds of safely getting out of a confrontation. We're never 100% sure we'll be fine, and that's especially true when someone has something lethal, like a knife. Even untrained, someone with a knife has a VERY good chance of cutting and/or stabbing you. We try to lessen their chances and increase our own by training in avoidance, having a good understanding of mai, and maintaining balance. I could see the disillusionment setting in. In martial arts we get this idea of being invincible due to getting a sort of tunnel vision thanks to training. We think "well this works in class and I can do this" but somehow this translates into our brains as "this works and as long as I do this I can never be hurt". I'm not saying confidence isn't good to have, I'm just saying that we need to think about our goals. If our goal is to "take this knife away from this guy and walk away without a scratch" that's a hard goal to meet. Now if it's something closer to "I want to survive this" or "I want to get away" that's something much more attainable and realistic. This is also why I keep telling students not to try to make a specific move work. When you do that, you have a habit to foget about everything else you can do also. This post came out sounding more pessimistic than I'd hoped but hopefully I've explained myself well enough to get my ideas across to you guys.

Ideas and Movement

2009-04-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight in class some of my students were having trouble making the turn in honasu number 6. I mentioned that whatever is going through your mind while doing the technique will affect how you do it. Personally, when I do the turn I think about projecting out with my arm and the turn comes naturally. We played around with doing number 6 that way, then tried thinking about just our feet, then tried making a wide arc with the arms. The results were very different in each attempt. We moved back to tegatana from there doing the first few movements over a few times trying to see how different our bodies moved depending on what was going through our noggin at the time.

What is Aikido

2009-04-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight in class I was asked at two different times by two different people "what is Aikido?" and I didn't have a satisfactory answer. Not satisfactory to me I should say. A little history lesson (and please correct me if I'm wrong): When O'Sensei was passing away, his son and the head teacher of the Hombu dojo at the time, Koichi Tohei had different ideas of what Aikido was or should be. Tohei thought Aikido was more a breathing meditative excercise and required less physical practise. Ueshiba (O'Sensei's son) wanted to carry on the teachings of his father in the same way he was taught. Until tonight I thought Tohei was crazy taking the emphasis of movement out of Aikido. While I still disagree with that generally, I think I understand the idea better. Allow me to elaborate: Aikido has always been there for my good days and bad days. Whether it was raining, or flooding, or a drought, or hot, or cold...the dojo was always there. We still dressed in our gi's, the mats were still blue, the sweat still came, the movements still came. The Aikido I do, is the same martial art my teacher learned in college, that his teacher's teacher learned decades ago, the same my kids will learn one day. It's a timeless tangible thing that makes me forget for the duration of class any problems I might have had that day, or worries of things I need to do after class. That itself is the greatest asset Aikido has been in my life. The odds are I'll never get into a gang fight against guys carrying chains and knives, or use it against the bully quarterback and end up with the cheerleader like in a Hollywood movie. I'll use my falling practise when I slip on ice or trip over a coffee table corner, but I'll use the stillness and calming effect it has on me every class I teach or attend. That aspect of Aikido, the stillness, is just as important to me as any throw or joint-lock. I think THAT is was Tohei wanted to capture and focus on exclusively and I don't think it's a fruitless endeavor. That's also the hardest concept to get across to people. I don't like describing Aikido without including that part. That is partly what Aikido is to me, but how to do explain THAT part to other people?

Tough on the Teacher

2009-04-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Class wasn't as good as it has been lately. It wasn't especially bad tonight, we went over Honasu number 6 and tegatana. It's just getting difficult to keep things interesting doing the same moves over and over.

Many Students

2009-04-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had 6 students! It was great. I was able to observe and give advice with my most senior student directing the other 5. The only problem I've run into is a guy who's shown up from the Hapkido class. It's not really a problem, just different ideas about confrontations. He's constantly questioning how things in Aikido could work with someone striking you. I pointed out that we start from outside Mai and are in almost constant motion whereas in Hapkido (from what I've seen) they start in a fighting stance almost elbow-width apart and root their feet instead of moving their bodies. I love questions, but don't like repeating myself every class on the same thing. It just reinforces my idea that every martial artist has a root martial art and everything else they learn, they may really like, but it only serves to supplement the main one.

Comic Update

2009-03-31T21:43:00.000-07:00

For any of you interested, I haven't mentioned the comic in a while. It's still coming along. We're getting it lettered this week and next week it gets submitted for publishing. The art is being done by Zack Finfrock. Here's a sample of the first page for your viewing glory. That's right...it's a purse snatcher. Who can stop such a diabolical fiend?

Too much at a time

2009-03-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

So anyone who's met me knows I tend to ramble. Not such a great thing when trying to teach new students. I'll over-explain something or get excited over a question and go on and on about whatever. Well I came up with a great idea to show the correlation between honasu and nijusaan by doing wrist release number 5 and should Tori also spin, it can become Ushiro ate. I was excited at the prospect but my students just said "that's great, but can we just work more on honasu until we get it down pat?" Well you gotta give the fans what they want. Next week, all honasu, all the time.

Delayed Post

2009-03-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

This should have been yesterday but I've started a new job and have been getting up super early. After class last night, I came home and crashed, thus no post till now. Last night we went over hanasu 5-8. I had a Hapkido student from the class in front of mine stay to see what Aikido was all about and he picked up the wrist and arm movements relatively fast. The stance for Hapkido they use is wide so his movements were a bit flat footed and slow, but for his first day he picked up everything pretty rapidly. While my other two students reviewed wrist releases 5 and 6, I went over a few basics with the new guy and showed how each release can chain into another. I did have a nice moment where we were going over release number 8 and Uke (the attacker) turned with me which ended up in us facing each other with Uke still holding onto my wrist. I continued the motion and it turned into something similar to release number 3 with me getting behind the arm. I had the class play around with going 2-3 steps beyond the end of the release just to see where it ended up. I can't wait for next week.

A Class of Two

2009-03-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's not unusual for me to only have two students in my class, but last night Olivia (the 13 year old) didn't show up. Her mother said she was feeling ill so she came by herself. I'm only a Shodan so I can't rank my students (not until Nidan as I understand it), but I wanted to make sure they know what they're supposed to when it would be time for them to rank test if I could rank them. In order for that to happen, they'd need to know Tegatana and Honasu when approaching 30 hours of class time. They're only at about 10 hours thus far. There still seems to be a lot of confusion over the order of wrist releases so last night I decided I'd go over numbers 1-4 a few times until everyone felt more comfortable with them. Later we tried an excercise where uke and tori keep going a few steps after the release. There were questions of "what next?" so I showed them how even after the release has been performed, wherever uke goes, tori would still be safe. Overall it went really well. I think they're finally understanding that the point of the releases (at least as I see it) is not to get Uke to release your wrist, it's to release the tension generated.

Ushiro ate

2009-03-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had four people in class, which was very nice. My circle we usually make at the start of class, actually looked more like a circle instead of my usual triangle. We briefly went over the 8 wrist releases (honasu) and the walking kata (tegatana). After a quick explanation and run-through, we moved into Ushiro ate. Ushiro ate is the first move I learned when coming into Aikido and when done right, it FEELS like Aikido...it's almost as if the person doesn't feel you doing anything at all. I was told my new student who was a student of Tae Kwon Do when youger, will be back next week. At the end of class I even had enough people to do a multi-person SLOW randori session where one defender gently brushes off each attacker. All in all, a great class after an otherwise bad day. I also wanted to say, that's my favorite thing about Aikido. No matter how bad a day you've had otherwise, all your problems are left at the door of the dojo (or in my case YMCA dance studio entrance), and all there is during that special time IS Aikido. I love being in the moment and feel better after class, every class.

A few cool tricks

2009-03-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight in class we went over Honasu (the wrist releases) number 5. My plan was to do number 6 as well but we got caught up in the turning motion of number 5. Afterward, I was asked "What happens if you're against a wall or something" which lead into the "lost releases". Class ran a little short due to me going over Tegatana (the walking kata) a few times and emphasizing how different your movements are in Aikido when you change how you think about something. Next week I plan on doing Ushiro ate and a few movement games. The only area that really needs improvement that I can see is that my two students seem to not want to move their feet. They'll lean as far as they can before taking a step when Uke, and wait until Uke is RIGHT next to them before moving when Tori. Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?

I Must Be Doing Something Right...

2009-02-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-17T13:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

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..

2009-02-05T01:26:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-02-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

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 :)

A Slight Delimma...

2009-01-28T01:06:00.000-08:00

So I had another night where no new students showed up but I did have a note waiting for me when I got there tonight. A mother left a note asking if I would consider teaching Aikido to her 13 year old daughter. Most of you are probably saying "so?" well here's the problem...the Fugakukai doesn't teach Aikido to those under 16 years of age. Normally I'd just say "sorry, I'm not allowed to teach your daughter", but if I don't get a regular student each night I won't have a class anymore. If I DO teach her daughter I can't rank her or even have a higher ranked member rank her (and parents generally want to see progress for their children in the material form, namely belt colors). Also, I have no idea how I'd teach Aikido to a 13 year old. I could do the wrist releases and flowing excercises but I certainly couldn't do kote gaeshi or kote hineri. I could really use some suggestions soon. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. Oddly enough, 13 is the age I realized I wanted to study Aikido and close to the target age range I'd like to start teaching anyway. Kids at 13 seem to absorb things like a sponge and have pretty good control of their appendages at that age. Any advice would be most welcome...ANY

When it Rains it Pours

2009-01-22T02:16:00.000-08:00

Ok this post isn't about Aikido or the comic. I just had one long night where I almost didn't make it back home and felt like posting about it. First off let me say I live just across the water from Seattle in a little town called Bremerton. Taking the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle is free, but it costs almost 7 bucks to take the ferry from Seattle back to Bremerton. Well I forgot to take my debit card with me when I went in to Seattle tonight. I had it out of my wallet and just forgot to put it back in. When I got to the terminal I felt a little embarrassed and asked the teller if I could pay with a check. She said of course as long as it's a state check. I just had starter checks but the bank address (in Washington) was printed on it and the teller said that'd be fine as long as I had my license...which I did. Unfortunately I haven't gotten a Washington state license yet so the teller said they just couldn't take it. My last resort was to collect call my roommate and ask for a few bucks. His cell phone doesn't accept collect calls. The only other number I could remember was my mom's land line. All this took place about 10:30 and the last ferry leaves at 12:50. My mom offered to call and give them her credit card number to buy one, but that's against their policy. The ONLY thing they could do was tell me to tell her to buy a ticket online and give them the confirmation number. So I call mom back and tell her what to do, and head back to the teller. Turns out they don't need the confirmation number, they need the barcode number off the pdf file. We have to wait 30 mins before all this goes through...and I should mention my mom only has a dial up connection where she lives. So we get the e-mail at about MIDNIGHT and the file is corrupt. The teller says all she can do is tell me to tell her that she needs to buy another one and ask for a refund tomorrow as all help lines are closed. The teller then tells me that I should've thought of that before forgetting my card to which I replied "Thank you, that was very helpful" in as sincere a voice as I could muster. Well then I get a call from my roommate. He looked at his phone, called my mom who explained everything and gave him the payphone number to call me back. I tell him he can drive to the ferry right next to our apartment and buy a ticket in person and they can let me on here. A solution the teller gave me an hour ago only she forgot to mention all the terminals are closed over in Bremerton. She does say that he can drive 30 miles to Bainbridge and get one there...as long as he gets there before 12:50. At this point it's 12:30 and I'm starting to think that I might be sleeping outside as the teller informs me I'll have to leave at 1am. So I have no money on me, no place to go, and it's FREEZING outside. Out of nowhere mom calls back and says my little sister was able to ungarble a little bit of that pdf file and get the barcode number. I write it all down and give it to the teller who gives me a ticket to BAINBRIDGE! It's now 12:45 and I tell her I wanted a ticket to Bremerton. The lady tells me I need to get a refund and exchange it. I ask who I can return it to and she says it's her. So talking with this wonderful public servant for 5 more minutes I BARELY catch the ferry and made it back. Just thought I'd share that with everyone. God bless and remember to always have a little cash in case of emergency

2009-01-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

My roommate was good enough to come with me tonight to make sure I had someone to teach. We went over my original lesson plan I've had for 2 weeks. We did Honasu release number 1, 3, 5, and 7. I emphasized getting behind the arm and moving as Uke passes mai. We talked about the parallels between the MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) and Aikido. Rigney's picking it up relatively quickly, and hopefully he'll be back next week.

When the student is ready...

2009-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

The rest of that quote is "then the master will appear". I received an e-mail a week ago saying that there were two students that were going to show up tonight and an e-mail yesterday saying something came up, they'd come next week. The subject of the original e-mail said "When the student is ready"...so I started thinking. No one showed up to class tonight. My question is, what happens to the master? I used to think that the saying meant that when a student is serious he'll be able to find a master with commitment to looking. Now I'm thinking it's because there are no serious students that it'll be easy to find a master because they're not in seclusion...they're just bored waiting around for a student. Let's substitute "teacher" for "master". I'm by NO means even close to a master. Still, I want to teach, but I can't without someone to learn.

Update on the Comic

2009-01-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

Apparently I have 1 person reading my blog who used to be an illustrator/cartoonist/designer. Mark Cook over at Oldman's blog. So since I have a new update concerning my project I thought I'd let you guys in on it. Me and Rob have FINALLY commissioned our artist, Zack, to start on the first few pages so we can submit them to a publisher. We have a very favorable shot with 1 publisher and we're really excited. I don't want to say who yet, in case it doesn't work out. More news soon so stay tuned...same bat time...same bat channel...

First Class!!!

2009-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here's what all my adoring fans have been waiting for. My first class was...empty. WHERE are all my fans? To be honest I wasn't really expecting anyone to show up for the first class anyway. The poster I put in a previous post was not even put up until this afternoon. How are all the Seattlites (or Bremertonians) supposed to show up if their local YMCA hasn't informed them? Oh well, there's always next week...unless no one shows up a few more times.
There was one interesting thing that happened though before class however. After I arrive at the YMCA about half an hour before my class, a guy at the desk named Mark introduces himself to me and asks if I'm the new Aikido instructor. I say yes and he asks if I know where I'm teaching the class. I tell him it's upstairs and he asks me to follow him. I start trailing behind him as he's walking and remind him that the Hapkido class runs until 8:15, when my class begins. He asked if I knew Vern (the Kung Fu instructor) and I explain I've only met Vern once. We go down this hallway that ends in a door I've never seen before. Mark opens the door and steps aside. I go with Mark right behind me to see we're on a racketball court with no windows, just a blank square room with hardwood floors and the door closes making this ominous sound. I turn around to see Mark dropping his keys and squaring his body to mine. He starts talking about how he used to teach MMA and has taken Jeet Kun Do and how him and Vern spar from time to time because they used to be in competitions together. I'm thinking "great, my first day and some guy who works here is about to take a swing at me". Mark keeps talking and I say "That's interesting" as I put down my gi and take off my jacket maintaining a non-threatening posture but never giving him my back. Mark squares his posture to me and I relax my arms and shift my weight to the balls of my feet. I keep going through my head saying "Just step out of the way, throw your arms up. Just step out of the way, throw your arms up and ask what the hell he's doing. Just fall out of the way and put your arms between you and him". Mark finally stops his competition stories and how the YMCA here doesn't want an MMA class because it promotes violence and says "So teach me some Aikido" and his arms are partly raised and he's definitely in a fighting stance. I respond "Ok, my class starts at 8:15 upstairs." Mark who's been sizing me up, all of a sudden completely changes his posture to this relaxed, weight on his heels, hand in his pockets posture and says in a calm voice "Oh, I can't make it tonight. I have to work at the front desk from 8:15 till close. Show me something real quick". WHEW! I would have bet anything he was about to jump me and all of sudden just didn't. So I showed him the first wrist release explaining how Aikido is more about evasion and protecting yourself, not hurting the other guy. Mark listened and seems to really grasp everything I said. At about 8:10 he says "Ok, I'll try to switch shifts or something and make it to one of your classes. You'd better get going or you'll be late." Not what I had in mind for a first day, but it was interesting.

Poster Credit

2009-01-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

This class poster was brought to you by a guy in Singapore. Here's a link to his deviant art page. As a side note, after going through orientation at the Y up here and seeing all the other martial arts and self defense class posters, maybe I should do a flashy one. The Kung Fu guy has two, one of him in this flowing white frog button shirt in a crouching position, and one of him in robes weilding two tai chi swords. The Hapkido guy has a shiny glossy black one of someone being thrown with something that looks suspiciously like kote gaeshi. Maybe I should get something more like this!!

Class Poster

2009-01-05T00:17:00.001-08:00

Here's the poster for the class I came up with

Classes start Tuesday

2009-01-04T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Aikido classes start this Tuesday and I'm excited. The only problem I see thus far, is that the class time will only be 45 minutes long. How am I supposed to get in ukemi (falling practice), Tegatana (the walking kata), and my long speeches all within 45 mins. All that PLUS new material? Talk about condensing my vast Aikido knowledge! In all seriousness I would appreciate any ideas. I really want to get the basics done every class.

Poster Help!

2008-12-31T15:58:00.000-08:00

The folks at the YMCA want me to make a quick poster and description for the Aikido class and I'm shamelessly enlisting anyone reading for help. I have a couple of ideas for a brief description. As for images I was thinking of something like these...

Classes Begin Soon!

2008-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

Status Update: I'm in the final stages of getting my class ready at the YMCA. As soon as my Shodan certificate gets here and I can show it to the activities director, I can begin on the 6th. It looks like I'll be teaching each Tuesday and maybe on weekends. My class is only going to be 45 minutes long (which I was hoping for an entire hour), but I'll take what I can get :)

Christmas Gifts

2008-12-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

Warning: Explicit Content!

So my roommate is married and his wife has a kid from her previous marriage. They were talking about what to get her son for Christmas and my roommate Rigney suggested getting him a BB gun and his wife freaked out and talked about how unsafe they were. This sparked a conversation about all the dangerous toys we grew up with that would never fly by today's standards. It reminded me of this....

After the demo class...

2008-12-19T01:58:00.000-08:00

Well the director at the YMCA here wants to schedule a time for me to teach regular classes. There's only one catch though. The director at the YMCA is insisting on seeing a certificate showing that I am eligible to teach Aikido. The reason this is a problem, is because in our organization everyone upon reaching Shodan is expected to start shifting focus on teaching as part of your on-going training. Now granted, most people don't start teaching at Shodan. Nevertheless, I want to so I can have a good amount of practice partners and to ensure that I train regularly. I've told the activities coordinator on at least 4 occasions that there is no certificate but I can provide references from at least two highly ranked instructors, both with many years of experience under their belts. Today, I received an e-mail asking me when I can come by with a teaching certificate. The kung fu instructor there has explained that he had one and as far as the YMCA is concerned one martial art is the same as another. It's more than a little frustrating.

Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling

2008-12-13T23:15:00.000-08:00

It's snowing here! I heard it snowed in Mississippi too, but not like this. It's been forever since I've seen nice thick snow that sticks and holds its for. I love the Christmas season! Pictures to follow.

First class

2008-12-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

After initially getting to the YMCA I ran into the Kung Fu instructor and a few other people waiting outside the main office for the activities coordinator. I was told there would be 6 people in my evaluation class but after the coordinator came out, and actually getting to the room, I had two students (including the coordinator) plus the Kung Fu instructor who decided to observe. Things could've gone better as I had a lesson plan that went out the window after we got stuck on the first wrist release. It was difficult getting the idea of not resisting across. If someone pushes you, don't push back, just walk back a step. The reason it was difficult was due to Janice (the activities coordinator) being hyper and stiff due to working out a lot. She had a hard time relaxing and moving slowly. The other person, Rhonda picked up things relatively quickly. Class was only half an hour since Rhonda had to leave. Afterwards the Kung Fu instructor said he had no questions, except where my certificate showing I'm qualified to be an instructor was. I called Pat to make sure, but we don't have teaching certificates. Black belts are expected to teach as part of their training according to Karl's website. I told them I had a couple of people who could vouch for me, but they seemed to want a piece of paper as proof. I'm supposed to chat Monday to work out a schedule as to when I can start.

Class on Friday

2008-12-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

Friday is my mock class at the YMCA, I'll post afterwards

Lack of responses

2008-11-29T01:31:00.000-08:00

Ok I want a comment or two on my last post. Learning another way of doing Aigamae ate blew my mind. I've been thinking about that simple adjustment for days and no one's said anything about it. Pat, you've said you've been thinking of a response and you've posted twice since then so I know you must have something. Andy, you've been doing it the same way I have, what are your thoughts? COMMUNICATE

Aikido in Poulsbo

2008-11-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

I'll keep this brief because I want to make a video clip or two to demonstrate the cool stuff I learned. First off, everyone at the class was super friendly and cool. It never ceases to amaze me how family-like the Fugakukai always feels. It doesn't matter what part of the country or who it is, everyone always welcomes you with open arms and I couldn't dream of wanting it any other way. Ok that being said, there were a few differences (as there always are) between what I've been doing, and how they do things up north. Let me say different is not synonymous with bad, different is good. We had lots of space so instead of starting at Ma ai, we started 12-15 ft apart and I got to experience uke crossing into ma ai, which is something I haven't worked on in a while. Also, we did all the techniques left handed as well as right, which is also something I haven't done in a while and I'm glad to get the full thing now. Aigamae ate and gedan ate are the meat of what I want to talk about. Aigamae ate as we've been working on it at Pat's (second part of the video) started with the off balance, then a clock-wise turn as you drop out of the way behind the arm and then the hand to the face. The way we do it up here is still with the off balance then a counter clock-wise turn (kind of like in Owaza) which puts Uke right into Tori's hand. The thing to notice is the different directions of the spin after the off-balance. Gedan ate would probably be easier with the video clip but basically the only difference in how I did it at Pat's and how it's done here is the timing. At Pat's we seen to push through uke, and here there's a spot where we rise with uke but don't continue to step around behind him which causes uke to step into tori and it puts tori right into position where all he has to do is drop his weight. I know the video is not gedan ate, but gyaku gamae ate, it's just that it's the closest video I could find to demonstrate. The point I wanted to make is how Karl about 7 secs in doesn't continue around, but rises and uke just ends up where he needs to be. The SAME thing can happen with gedan ate you're just a little lower and rising up uke's body and he just falls into place. Comments? Oh and if you're reading this Pat, I invented this new way of doing things. Karl just copied me and put videos online (don't say anything Sensei Sheehy, let me have this).

Mock Class at the YMCA

2008-11-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

After talking about the differences between Hapkido and Aikido (and a LOT of reassurance that I won't be teaching a religion in the class), I have an Aikido class I'm teaching in December. I'd appreciate ANY pointers anyone could give, especially during the first class that will be a mock class for the employees at the Y before teaching members.

Feeling like a white belt again

2008-11-18T20:53:00.001-08:00

So I went to this Hapkido class tonight and the first thing the instructor asks me is "Have you taken any other martial arts before?" I say "Well I just received my Shodan in Aikido" and he gives me this stern look and says "Well this is HAPkido". I say "yes sir, I'm just here to participate" after that the rest of the class was smooth. I use the word smooth liberally. I can't kick high, or do a middle knuckle punch, or a spinning kick well at all. I was making so many errors I felt like the first day I ever took a martial arts class. Not to mention that the first hour of class was running in place, then push-ups, then dive bombers, ect. I'm not lazy (well too lazy) but I was ready to start doing some real techniques, then came ukemi (falling). That was the only part I felt I did well in, although I got some quizzical looks with the way I fell (one knee up, the other leg out). Nevertheless, my rolls were smooth :). I was told a few times that I was too quiet when I rolled back to my feet, that I should slap hard and say "HAI!" as my shoulders rolled over the mat. I've been working towards being quiet for a while now. The beginning wrist releases are completely different, although the way they grip (not using the index finger) was the same. I noticed most movements were same hand, same foot too. My initial impression of Hapkido and Aikido is like two distant cousins meeting for the first time. They have the same family tree if you go back far enough, and a few of the same genetic quirks...but for the most part, they're pretty different.

When the YMCA comes a calling

2008-11-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

So while looking for a job I received a call from the YMCA about my application. I'd put that I was a Shodan in Aikido and they asked me if I'd be interested in teaching a class a week for them. I told them I couldn't rank anyone and that I wasn't willing to teach children. One of the staff there in charge of hiring has a husband that used to take Aikido which is why they called. They gave me a free pass to attend a Tuesday and Thursday class to determine if the Aikido I'd be teaching is different from their current Hapkido class. If all goes well I'd teach a mock class for the YMCA staff and then be teaching a regular class if they think it would be a nice fit. Oddly enough, I'd be teaching to earn enough money so I could attend the classes in Poulsbo. Who ever heard of a teacher teaching so he could become a student?

Holiday Best Wishes

2008-11-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

I was going to put a clip of Steve Martin playing banjo up, but instead here's a picture of him playing, and a message for Thanksgiving. I know it says Christmas, but its theme and core of the message is universal.

Banjo music...and it's Jazz!

2008-11-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

I'm still getting people asking me why I want to learn Jazz on the banjo. I've come across a couple of examples of songs I really liked. I'll post 3 of them here. The 1st two are by a guy named Eddy Davis playing by himself. Keep in mind he wasn't in any studio, just playing by himself in the living room. The last is by Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, a current group that does a Jazz and Bluegrass mix. Enjoy....

Job Hunting

2008-11-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well I've been looking around Bremerton for work, at least until school starts. While putting an application at the YMCA, I noticed there are two martial arts classes. One of which is Kung Fu by a 6th degree black belt, the other is Hapkido taught by a shodan. If I do start working there, I might attend a class or two. Other than the applications, I've been practicing my banjo and trying to write another issue. It sucks that now that I have all this time to write, I don't feel like it anymore.

Aiki Buddy Gathering Photos

2008-11-12T14:03:00.001-08:00

Here's a group shot from the Aiki Buddy Gathering of 08. There are many more photos on facebook if anyone's interested. From left to right starting from the top the participants were: Dr. Usher, Andy, Patrick, Pat, ME, Chops, and I can't remember the name of Dr. Usher's student on the bottom right (sorry dude).

Quick Post about the comic...

2008-11-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

It's come to my attention that I was so excited posting photos on, and talking about my comic that I never told anyone what it was about. It's the story of a man who can clone himself but only a limited amount of times. Also, each clone has his own personality and agenda. Although he's a super hero, the story revolves more around the relationship between the main character and his clones who act more like his younger brothers.

Settling In

2008-11-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a week, I've put in a resume in a couple of places and had my first banjo lesson. It's really pretty up here (and a little rainy). I've been to a museum or two and gotten the tourist stuff out of my system. I've been considering building a puppet of myself (due to influences at the puppet and marionette museum/children's theater). I was planning on going to the Aikido club here this Tuesday but they're closed due to Veteran's Day. Thus far it's been a good experience. I'm apparently going to two Thanksgiving dinners and Beleek is supposed to be visiting just after Christmas. Just a quick look into what's going on with me :)

MCMAP

2008-11-06T09:47:00.001-08:00

Recently me and my roommate have been playing around with MCMAP (Marine Corps Maritial Arts Program) changes. It's very different than what they taught when I went through. They've taken out one or two useless strikes, like their implementation of the ridge hand. They've also added a few wrist throws. Rigney was showing me a throw that was sort of like kote-gaeshi except it's a hand grab and with the other hand "Tori" twists the elbow. A lot of the throws are ridiculously easy to stop by straightening your arm but I am glad to see they're trying. Also while in Aikido our style is to step off the line then disengage, theirs is to step into Uke on the line and engage and control. Not suprising, but I was suprised at how well Pat's "rolling the ball" technique kept Rigney off me while we had a little friendly randori. I just side stepped and brushed him off me repeatedly for a few mins till he gave up.

About the Pictures

2008-11-03T02:59:00.000-08:00

Pat's wife Elise took many MANY pictures during the course of the week. SO many in fact, that she didn't have time to edit out the ones that didn't look well. She said she'd mail me a disc with my test pics on it. In the meantime here's a pic or two wearing my HUGE belt. I feel like a little kid who put on dad's oversized shirt trying to pass myself off as an adult.

Shodan Test

2008-11-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? This morning I woke up and I couldn't breathe at all out of my nose and was sore as could be from yesterday. I took a hot shower to break up some of the congestion and later realized I was running a fever. It would not have been bad at all except that it's one of those fevers that just suck the strength right out of you. We had a morning Aikido class at 9am and the rank test demonstrations were at 2:30. I started stretching around 1 and working out with Patrick (my uke for my test and I was his uke for his). We drilled through the kata a few times and I was soooo tired. At the actual test though, I pushed through it and fell fine for Patrick and felt energized. I definitely wasn't at my "A" game today but passed my test anyway. My favorite part was during a demonstration of Nijusan (the 23) I either stepped awkward, or didn't get the right push from Patrick, well SOMETHING happened that changed our relationship while we were moving and it ended in a cool throw that happened just by me following the motion. It was very Aiki like. Andy tested for his Ikkyu rank and I think his Nijusan demonstration went better than mine. The highlight of the day was when Pat was shaking my hand and said "here, I've got something for you" and gave me HIS black belt. It's WAY too large for me, but full of his Ki to be sure :) I was flabbergasted and didn't know what to say. I was quite honored and still am a little taken aback from it. Pat's wife Elise Parker took pictures of the days events and as soon as she's done burning cd's of it I can post them here. She took over 1000 photos though so you'll get the highlights. If you'd like to see the WHOLE thing, check out my facebook page. Shortly after class all my energy left me again and I need it back soon. I move for Washington (state) in 2 days and will continue my Aikido education with Thomas Sheehey. It feels weird being a Shodan (and I know everyone says that) but I guess I thought I'd be the first to have some epiphany after putting the belt on. Maybe next rank :)

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

The rest of the Aiki Buddies are getting here tonight so the two day seminar can commence. Don't hate me, but with the scheduling of when they're getting here and when Pat's rugrats are going trick or treating, I can't put up pictures until tomorrow...because there won't be any until then. I'll post something though, even if I have to take pics on my phone and post them that way. My shodan test is Saturday (tomorrow) as well and all should go well on it. More info to follow...

Aiki Buddy Gathering update

2008-10-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Taking my Shodan test on Saturday. Lots of Nijusan practise with Patrick and for those of you who keep asking (one in particulair) I will put up pics tomorrow night. The throws are getting easier and I'm confident I'll pass my test with flying colors.

First Day at Week Mokuren

2008-10-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well the first day of training went well. We had two Aikido classes and a Judo class. Pat's showing us general motions to improve our overall demo for rank tests at the end of the week. I'm learning lot, but man I'm sore. I have no idea how but I ended up with mat burn on my eyelid so it stings when I blink and a swollen hand. First days are always full of surprises. Me and Andy are sleeping out in the dojo. I would say it's cold, but I brought a feather comforter so I've actually been sweating at night. We played with the kids a few hours yesterday as well and I can't say which is more exhausting, 5-6 hours of martial arts training or 2-3 hours of kid play time.

Going to Aikido Week

2008-10-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Pat's today so there will be no posting for a week, but anyone reading my blog should be used to that by now :) Originally the plan was for me to test for my Shodan this week, hopefully nothing's changed. If all goes well, by the end of the week I'll be a black belt in Fugakukai Aikido and on my way to Seattle, WA to live with a close friend in one fell swoop. Wish me luck. I'll post as soon as I get to Washington for an update of what happened at Pat's Aiki Buddy Gathering. Andy will also be there, so be sure to check out Pat's and Andy's blogs too to get the whole story.

An update from home

2008-10-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Since expanding my blog to my weekly (or bi-weekly with how often I've been posting) activites, I thought I could let everyone in on what's been going on since getting back to Mississippi. It's been a whirlwind of fishing, riding four-wheelers, gambling on the coast, eating home cooked meals, and helping my uncle repair leaf blowers and weed wackers (his at-home buisness). On the not so great side, I finally had "the talk" with Beleek, the girl I was seeing in Orlando. I knew we couldn't realistically keep a relationship going cross country, it's just a subject I was hoping to avoid for, I dunno, a year or so. It's the Aikido in me, avoid or redirect, never confront :) Anyway in other news, our comic artist in LA has been having trouble with his moving arrangements so the comic pages won't be started till Nov 1st, much to the detriment of my many fan. I did however solve my car problem. That uncle I mentioned also has a hobby or repairing old cars and he's got a 1965 ford mustang that just needs a little more work and he only wants what he put into it to get it fixed, so I've got quite the road trip ahead of me in a few months going cross country. Next week is Pat's Aiki Buddy gathering and I'm supposed to be tested for my shodan. Wish me luck everyone...I'll need it :) I will say one thing has come STARKLY into view this week. I have some wonderful friends. I don't think I tell them enough how much better my life is with them in it. If while reading this anyone just instantly pops to mind and you say to yourself "Yeah, my life would've turned out differently if ___ and I never met", take the time to let them know.

A week and a half to go

2008-09-30T06:18:00.003-07:00

I've gotten most of my stuff packed and sent off getting ready for Oct. 11th. That's when I head back home for a couple of weeks, go to Pat's Aiki Buddy Gathering and then head out for Washington. In the meantime I think we've finally hammered out the details of what our comic book character "Multi-Task" will look like. Here's Zack's latest artistic interpretation of me and Rob's vision :) I have to say it's really strange having an idea
3 months ago, putting it on paper and having someone take your
idea one more step farther. We've also gotten our hands on a letterer named Jeff Powell. He's done work for X-men and daredevil among others.

Martial Arts basics...and cooking

2008-09-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

Aikithoughts (the link is on the right for the over-all blog) has a wonderful post up comparing martial arts to cooking. Please take the time to check it out. Here's the link.

Comic update

2008-09-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Me and Rob got back from Tampa. It's weird seeing an artist actually draw a character you were just bs-ing about not 6 months ago. Now the project has a life of its own with a mostly completed character, script for a first issue, an artist, writers, inker, colorist, and letterer. We plan on pitching it in a few months once the first issue is completely done. Check out the Multi-Task link on the side to get a better idea. Many thanks to Zack by the way for helping me and Rob with artistic direction. I'll keep everyone posted as more develops (and maybe a preview page or two) so stay tuned...same bat time...same bat channel.

Packing up

2008-09-11T12:56:00.001-07:00

Well I'll be moving soon. I'm heading to Bremerton, WA (right outside Seattle) to continue my education. I've already found a new Aikido place just a few miles away...which will be a nice change from being an hour and a half away, one-way, from a place to study. I'll also be learning jazz banjo. I know it seems silly but I've always wanted to learn banjo...even though oddly enough I don't really like bluegrass. Before the move though, I'll be going to Pat's for his (now annual) Aiki-Buddies Gathering. My blog will change from occasional updates about my limited practice times, to a more comprehensive understanding of Aikido, my schooling, Judo, Banjo-do, and whatever else I feel like. Since I'll be home for most of October and the beginning of November, I probably won't post during October. The latest news is this Friday me and Rob (a friend of mine I met while working at my current comic shop), are going to Tampa to talk to an artist who worked freelance on Atomic Robo, to do some work for us on a comic we're writing. More on that later. Wish me luck.

Still here...

2008-08-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

Just reminding everyone I'm still looking at my blog. I just don't really have anything interesting to report lately. I've been doing Aikido with Rob on and off, and I'm learning more helping him be an uke than I ever did as a Tori. I'm definitely getting a better sense of why certain moves work. For instance, the other night I was trying to show him gyakugamae ate but I kept instinctively doing ushiro ate. Now maybe I was doing something completely wrong, but from examining it with Rob I think I know why I was doing ushiro ate. After getting the initial off-balance to the side, Rob was compensating and keeping his back straight with little to no downward motion so I kept slipping behind him and catching the shoulders. Now anyone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, but going through the 17 or 23, we move from one off balance to another to demonstrate how to move with uke if uke does "x". So uke determines what happens to him, we just move with him until he commits to falling a certain way. In that line of thought, I couldn't do gyakugamae ate no matter how much I wanted to, but I could do ushiro ate all day :) Anyone have any thoughts on how to teach someone completely new to Aikido how to get off balanced a certain way to demonstrate a certain move?

Some Stand-up observations

2008-07-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Me and Beau went down to the garage for the first time since our last stand up randori session. Last time I was attempting Pat's advice of rolling the ball and it was working, but only for separating us in a tight space. So we ended up outside of striking distance and went right back into it. I was talking about it with Bryce last night and he was saying from his personal experience (and only his personal experience) that if you're in an enclosed space then attacking works, but not necessarily attacking Uke's face or body. What he meant was, waiting for a strike to be thrown then attacking your opponent's wrist or elbow or shoulder to off balance him (while keeping your posture) and just keeping him off balance. I tried that today and while I initially took a few shots to the face and maybe a black eye, in the end that strategy worked pretty well. I was catching Beau's elbow with a hand or sometimes his shoulder which would make him stumble and I just kept that up. It usually ended up with him falling and latching on to me causing me to fall with him then we transitioned into some groundwork...which is always fun :)

Grappling with Beau

2008-07-07T19:47:00.001-07:00

Beau is a friend of mine from high school I went into the Marine Corps with and later became a roommate to me and Andy. Beau has always hated grappling of any kind be it Judo, wrestling, or MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program). He has always said that two men rolling around together was just homosexual but the other night admitted that he's just never been good at it but wanted to get better. Me and Andy have been trying to get into Judo for the longest time so we'd have another buddy to practice with, so I was ecstatic to give him a hand in learning a few positions. We've been doing the hold down cycle and giving a few reps specifically with kesa and kata gatame along with Mune gatame. After a few randori sessions I figured out Beau's only problem is when he would find himself in a position unfamiliar to him, he would freak out and waste all his energy flailing around instead of a controlled attempt at escape. So I started putting him in holds and when he would start flailing I'd set it a little tighter and tell him to calm down and look for a place to shrimp or bridge (or both). After just a week he's doing fantastic. He's giving a lot of energy in short bursts and if it doesn't work he's switching tactics almost immediately. At this rate he'll be throwing me around before I leave in a few months :)

Happy Holidays

2008-07-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

-Albert Einstein

Happy 4th of July Everyone

Close Quarters

2008-07-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

First off, thanks again for so many replies to my previous post. I confess I watch UFC matches from time to time because every so often you see some guy do something extraordinary in a circumstance where he's losing and suddenly he comes out on top. 99% of the time it's on the ground and the guy "losing" is remaining calm. I see people who are mounted get punched and turtle up while the guy on top beats on them until the ref stops it and tonight me and my roommate Beau wanted to test that. I've got a couple of pairs of grappling gloves and I let Beau get in the mount and told him to swing away and see if I could stop him. We later switched to where I had him in guard and same situation. Admittedly Beau is just learning about grappling but I could stop him from punching me without him landing a solid blow 8 out of 10 times from each position. The other 2 times he'd hit me once before I'd grab the arm or reverse the position or figure a way out of it. It's incredibly hard to punch someone when they buck you or throw their hands in that middle space between you and them while you're trying to hit them. Afterwards I wanted to work on my avoiding being punched while standing up. I tried Pat's Aiki brush-off several times and it worked most times. What I had problems with was that given we were in my garage on my mats, which are about 8' x 8', it's hard to stay out of ma ai. When contact is made, I noticed I could jump in and close the space, but that doesn't feel Aikido-like, but moving away doesn't do anything but free him up to swing again. I can't seem to get any solid off-balance while moving around in small spaces. Suggestions?

Social Responsibilites and Martial Arts

2008-06-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

I know not too many people read my blog but I'd really like a response from each person that does on this one. Tonight I saw an overweight guy run out of a bar being chased by 3 athletic looking guys all carrying a plastic cup of beer. The 3 guys chased him to right in front of my comic shop and knocked him to the pavement and he was almost hit by a car. At first me and the people in the shop all thought it was just 4 guys screwing around outside the bar, as is common during Friday nights...until the guy being chased was punched in the face and hit his head on the pavement. He was unconscious while the 3 athletic guys kicked him while trying to not spill their beer. I ran out of the shop to try to stop them before things got worse but they left before I was out the door. Everything happened really fast and by the time I'd run up to the guy (only 30 feet or so away) there were 5 guys around him also from the bar yelling at him and slapping him in the head trying to wake him up. I'm sure his nose was already broken and he possibly had a concussion so I told everyone to get back and had one guy call for an ambulance and sat with the guy in case whoever came back and to make sure things didn't get worse for him. Apparently he'd gotten drunk and said some things to the 3 guys who knocked him out. When I walked back into the shop my assistant manager asked me why I went out there since it was none of my business. That brings me to my point. Do we only learn martial arts to defend our own person, or people who can defend themselves have the obligation to defend others? Now I have no idea who this guy was or what he said, but it seems to me 3 guys beating up one drunk guy doesn't seem right no matter what he said...much less kicking him after he's unconscious and already hit his head on the pavement. Also who slaps someone in the head repeatedly after he'd just been knocked out? That guy claimed to be a lifeguard and deal with that sort of thing all the time.I just really wanted everyone else's thoughts please. In case anyone was wondering, the guy who was beat up came to before the ambulance arrived and thanked me for making sure he wasn't in worse condition when he woke up...until he tried to get in his car to drive home and I wouldn't let him. He'd been drinking and just regained consciousness, but thankfully a friend of his took his keys and drove him home. Whoever he is I'm sure he'll think about how much he drinks or at least what he says next time.

Ukemi, ukemi, and more ukemi

2008-06-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

After talking with Bryce about my upcoming Shodan test in a few months, he suggested I get back into falling practice. Bryce suggested 30-50 side falls a day to get back into the swing of things. I started with 35 on each side making sure to properly get up by pushing up my hips so there's no strain on my knees. After the side falls (which I know 35 on each side should be nothing but I've been really lazy about it and now I suffer for it), I do 10-20 forward rolls and a few reps of tegatana.

Woodhinge and Shodan

2008-06-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why Pat called his last event in fall Woodhinge but nevertheless....the title stands. I definitely plan on attending before my move in November and Pat's invited me and Andy to stay at his place the week before for some extra training. If all goes well, Andy will receive his Ikkyu and I'll get my Shodan (first degree black belt)! To top things off, Rigney (my old friend I'll be moving in with up near Seattle loves to grapple, so hopefully I can brush up on some Judo too :)
'

Moving this Winter

2008-06-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

Me and Rob have been practicing every Friday as usual on Honasu and Nijusan. Just wanted everyone to know I'm still practicing. Now for a personal story....and this has nothing to do with Aikido but I was so blown away by the events of the past few days I felt like sharing. Me and my girlfriend of 2 years broke up a few months ago and recently got back together before I realized she had no idea who I really was. I'm talking about little things, couldn't name any music I like, or activities I like (other than Aikido), favorite color, foods I like, my hopes and dreams. She got defensive and asked me the same things and I could name all of them. It's weird to find out the person you were in love with doesn't know you at all, so we broke up again. That was two days ago and today I receive a call from a friend of mine who I was in the Corps with that I haven't heard from in almost 2 years. Apparently he's now stationed where I used to be, right outside of Seattle. I loved it up there and he offered to let me live with him while I go back to college...rent free :) I'm not an overly religious man, but I do have my convictions and wanted to remark on those mysterious ways people hear about but usually never cite....this is one of them. I lost the only thing tying me here and two days later was given a great opportunity to better my situation. Plus I'll be 15 mins from Paulsbo which is where another Fugakukai dojo that teaches Aikido is located. It'll be nice to not have to drive an hour and 45 mins to go to class.

I Tend to Forget

2008-05-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting or prolonging my posts...especially lately. There's not a whole lot to say, me and Rob have been going over the walking kata (Tegatana) and Honasu every Friday for almost 2 hours like clock work. It still amazes me how you never feel you're getting better at Aikido until you work with someone less experienced. I recently went back to Mississippi for my little sister's graduation and stopped by Pat's for my usual visit. Although we were only going over variations on Honasu, I felt I did better than I was expecting to. I even noticed a very rare instance Pat looking surprised. In extremely good news I should be getting a car soon which means I can FINALLY start going to Vero Beach Aikido. My plan is to have my Shodan by the end of the year.

Stupid Drill With Rob

2008-04-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks during my Aikido class, me and Rob have been going over the "stupid drill" It's a series of movements transitioning between kote gaeshi and kote hineri, and occasionally kote mawashi. It's a repetitive but necessary drill. The better you get at it, the less you have to think about doing it, hence the name. We've also been doing the Nijusan chains to help Rob develop that ability to follow where you feel your opponent taking you instead of just trying to predict it.

Free Jujitsu Class...

2008-04-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well I walked to where I work and changed over for the Jujitsu class being held next door. I arrived at 11:45 and the class was supposed to start at 12. There must've been 60 people in a space made for 30 or so. Apparently the instructor asked several of the members from the other locations around Orlando (they're a chain) to come to the first day of class. I've never seen so many gi's of different colors and patterns and patches before. Blue tops with black pants, or white pants with black tops and blue belts. Purple ones, ones with 20 or so patches on them, it was like a carnival :) and I felt a bit out of place considering I was the only guy weighing less that 190lbs and looking like I don't go to the gym religiously. That being said, the place is laid out more like a gym than a dojo anyway, there were heavy bags in the corner and a ring for MMA practice. After a light warm-up of 50 jumping jacks, some squats, push-ups, lunges, and lots of stretching class began and I got to know a lot of the guys. There was Ralph, the big former football player/wrestler with wrists as big as my fist, and Rachel the tom-boyish girl who wanted to learn to beat up her brothers. Everyone was really nice and respectful during class (and overly macho outside of it), but I guess that's part of the atmosphere. I learned as much if not more watching people do groundwork after class than what I learned during class...but we'll get to that. The first move shown was more of a self defense maneuver as it involved two people stand with one grabbing the other's hair. The defender is supposed to grab the attacker's wrist and push upwards stretching the attacker's arm out and move around to a waki-gatame position. I was used to just walking away with the arm until uke (the attacker) falls to the ground and taps out, but in class they had us fall straight to the ground with the arm-bar and roll on top of uke crushing his/her shoulder. It was an interesting experience. While working on most of my partners, Rachel is freakishly double (or triple if that's possible) jointed where her arm can extend abnormally farther back than it should when the elbow's bent. The technique still works, but it took some getting used to seeing the person's arm bent about 10 degrees farther back than it would on anyone else. We went over the guillotine, the triangle choke, the crucifix (MMA guys and UFC fans will know these advanced techniques) and I was surprised they had the beginners doing these on their first day. There was no rolling or shrimping, but I think they're just showing what people could eventually learn to do well in order to get everyone to come back. After class I was watching everyone doing randori and it seemed that not many people like to get into any side control position. It was acrobatic in how they threw their legs over to get a seemingly impossible arm-bar from their current position. The hardest thing for me to get was the terminology. They would say exactly what you should do to make something happen (move your feet 3 steps this way while keeping your legs straight and your shoulder on his head) but didn't really say the principle of what was happening. I luckily had a former judo guy to say "oh all he's saying is, keep your weight on uke's head while you circle around" and I would say "ah ha" and suddenly be able to do it. Also the differences between the "do" and "jitsu" mentality is very apparent. I had a wrist lock at one point and the instructor asked "now what are you going to do" and I said "well I have control, I'm going to let (whoever it was I was working with) up" and the instructor said "well they didn't tap, you might not have the submission" and I said "I could have it if I squeezed, but I've stopped them from being able to hurt me and that's all I care about". I know he was just making sure I was doing the technique right, it's just after it happened it hit me how much that "keep someone from hurting you" instead of "hurt someone who's trying to hurt you" mentality has stuck with me. Thanks Pat.

Getting Ready for Jujitsu

2008-04-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well me and Rob have been neglecting our Ukemi so we're going to do plenty of falling tonight at practice. After an extensive warm-up I think we'll do the hold down cycle a few times so I can knock off the cob webs before the free Jujitsu class tomorrow. I plan on evaluating it and seeing if I want to join. It's also a place where a ton of MMA guys go so I'll have plenty of bodies to practice my groundwork on. I just need to make sure my transitions stay smooth. From what I've seen, Jujitsu guys seem to spend a lot of time in guard and mount but I hardly ever see any time spent in mune gatame or kesa gatame.

Honasu and Crazy-Man Randori

2008-03-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

Me and Rob finished Honasu and did a dozen repetitions of the initial movements then we moved into the first chain. After flowing back and forth a few times, I talked about Pat's "Rolling the Ball" exercise and did a little crazy man randori. In this exercise, uke attacks tori's face (at a safe speed) and attempts to maintain eye contact and attacks with either hand any time uke gets an opportunity to. After off-balancing me a few times while backing away, Rob got the hang of it and we did a few movements of Nijusan, mainly waki-gatame and kote gaeshi.

Tegakana and Nijusan with Rob

2008-03-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last night me and Rob did tegatana about 5 times then moved into Honasu. We had plenty of time so we did all 8 wrist releases. After beating those to death and exploring what happens if Uke changes his direction, we went into Nijusan....and that's when we hit Gedanate. I know a lot of people have problems showing this in kata so I did what I always do. I explained to Rob I can only show him what I know, and what I know is that Gedanate feels linear to me and I can only demonstrate it in a linear fashion i.e. Junanna. So after making Rob suffer through ramblings of me talking about the rise and fall of the body and what can be done with it, he got to practice Gedantate (the "look at your watch" push) and got one really good push with it. Couldn't do it again for the rest of the night and I explained that sometimes that's how Aikido is during practice. You get one really good move but can't seem to re-enact it. We'll try again next class.

First Night With My New Student

2008-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well after work Rob came over for his first night of Aikido. I over-explained everything like I do with all new students. I just wish I could unload all the knowledge I've gained into their minds in one night. I always forget how long it took me to absorb what little I have :) We started with Tegatana (the walking kata) and moved into ukemi (falling techniques). We did some backrolls and a few triangle rolls. I think once Rob gets comfortable with rolling over in a circle he'll do well at them. We spent most of the night doing the first wrist release from Honasu and Shomenate (the first attack from Nijusan [or Junanna whichever you do]).

New Uke

2008-03-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well I was relaying my falling experiment and class with Sensei Crist and how I want to try attending but also how I'd like some extra practice to Rob, a fellow worker. He graciously offered to learn Aikido from me if I'd be willing to teach him (which gives me a steady partner). I love introducing Aikido to people who haven't been exposed to it before. Hopefully I'll be competent enough and he'll be willing enough to stick with it.