Class tonight:

After twisting my knee, I was a little unsure about going to class tonight. The thought of taking ukemi on that leg really scared me. Did some yoga after work, and decided to go. I figured that if I couldn't practice, I could at least watch--almost as good, eh?

Yeah, I couldn't just watch. Scott Sensei did a lot of warmups. I love his classes because we warmup for a long time, and he says almost nothing, so there is a really peaceful air in the dojo. After warmups, we started pairing up. First waza was a katatetori shihonage backstretch.(I hope I'm getting the names right) I was paired up with one of the yudansha who was at class Tuesday....yeah, he got a clear view of my little knee twist. Sooooo as we practiced, I was handled very carefully by everyone. I got so concerned about injuring myself that I couldn't concentrate on the techniques. I felt a little frustrated because I couldn't get anything right, and I felt like I was being treated like a child--maybe not intentionally, but they ARE very concerned about safety. (which is good--don't get me wrong)

I realized that the frustration was my own. I was setting the tone for the night. After doing a little shihonage and taking a few really sloppy falls, I began practicing with another student on a combination ikkyo/iriminage waza. (so much fun!)
As uke, I stopped being passive and began exerting force, giving nage something to work with. Next thing I knew I was falling and rolling backwards (which so far has been unsuccessful in practice) due to the force of the throw and I realized my knee didn't hurt at all! Breakthrough!

The whole tone of the night changed, and I found myself really enjoying the flow of the class and the techniques. I didn't even get nervous when Sensei came over to critique my iriminage. We did alot of new waza, and played around with a little improv.
Also got my first taste of a tanto tsuki kotegaeshi (sp?) technique. I love it when Sensei switches focus to weapons. It makes more sense now when someone says "Imagine you're holding the bokken"

After practice, Sensei invited me to practice kokyuho. I've done kokyuho several times now with different people, several senior students and one blackbelt, but the energy was different with Sensei. He let me get the feel of the "center" (I'm using my own feeling about the technique for lack of a better description... lol) , and I was able to connect the dots...so to speak.
It just felt better. During kokyuho, he told me to feel the technique extend through my fingers instead of trying to force it with my arms or elbows. Much easier.

I find myself really surprised at how easy it is to be uke when Sensei demonstrates a technique on me (I learn much better being uke first whenever we try something new)

It's like the difference between sumo and ballet. (suddenly getting this mental picture of a ballerina pulling off a graceful iriminage on a sumo wrestler in a hakama O_o)
Wow, even if I never learned to move like that, I would be content to be a professional uke for the remainder of my aikido experience...lol
(well, maybe not... but I can't imagine ever moving like that)

All in all the class was extremely rewarding, and I am glad I went. Oh, and my knee feels great! Can't wait until saturday.

Liz