Saturday/Thurday Classes

I went to class Saturday (after serious debate) and I am so glad I did. Class had a real different flavor.
Paul Sensei taught (this is the first class he's taught that I've attended), and the class had a really interesting feel--though I can't put my finger on it. It was really refreshing.
I'm kicking myself for not writing about it over the weekend, because I honestly can't remember much of class.

One cool thing though was after the first class (beginner's) I was getting ready to leave. Bob Sensei came over to myself and my friend and said "why aren't you staying for the next class?"

"We have to work" In unison.

"Do you have time for the second class?"

I had to be honest "yes, but..."

"you should stay"

"I'm not cool enough for second class"

"I can certainly understand that" he said.

Okay, so my new rule is: I'll stay for the regular class if Sensei brings it up again. heh

I missed Tuesday's class due to working a little later than usual. *bummer* So tonight I was really stiff.
I pretty much felt like I hadn't been on the mat in ages (five days is alot) and just as akward as ever.
We practiced rolling as usual, knee-walking... and then to break it up, knee-walking while keeping the same knee forward OUCHIE! My legs are still aching.

I like Scott Sensei's classes because they are relatively predictable. There's always rolling practice, lots of warmup and always a backstretch exercise. He also seems to focus on one attack for the night. The attack for tonight was ryotetori.
I felt like a lumbering oaf tonight. It was once again a very small class 10 people total (including myself and Sensei)
The opening tonight that was giving me a hard time was from ryotetori: sliding in a little as you reach over with your back hand grabbing uke's hand while then stepping your forward foot to the corner (felt like a tenshin almost... heck, it may have been a tenshin. I'm terrible with terminology)

We did several of these transitioning to ikkyo, iriminage, kotagaeshi (very difficult!).. etc... According to Scott Sensei, if there's an opening for iriminage, there's an opening for kotagaeshi. Though from ryotetori and the above mentioned opening, kotagaeshi seemed a weird transition that even he was having problems with. It was almost impossible to do omote, so we just practiced ura.

We also practiced tenshinage (I love tenshinage) and another technique I've never seen. From Ryotetori, slide in while swinging up and over on the outside of uke's hand. Cut down. Step forward with your back leg while doing the same thing on the other side. Sliding in pinning uke's arm with yours. Both hands press down on uke's neck. From there spin, bringing uke with you. Then a nikkyo pin.

Crikey. So much tonight to digest. Once again I was Sensei target. I did not get through one technique without Sensei having to come over and help me. My poor partner for the kotagaeshi... O_o His arms and hands were very sore once Sensei was done showing me how to properly apply the technique.

I did gleam alot from tonight's class, even though so much eluded my comprehension-- especially with kotagaeshi. Sensei said I could either bring uke's hand down toward my center while making a fist, or extend out to the side, projecting it away from me. I've seen it both ways, but it never occurred to me when either one would be most effective. I guess it really depends on how much distance you get between yourself and uke. It's easier to bring it to the center when uke is closer than you'd like. (for me anyway)

My Mom came to watch class tonight. She wants to start too. Should be interesting

Liz

My tattoo

my new tattoo! Thanks to my friend Dena. It means Ki-- spirit or energy

Just having fun

I'm really tired, and I should be asleep. I need to get up early to go to my aikido class, but I am not inclined to sleep. go figure.

Last night's class was fun. Scott Sensei was unable to lead class, so he called one of the yudansha and asked him to lead. (Roberto)
Class had a really different feel, and his main goal was for everyone to just have fun. He demonstrated alot of different techniques, some I've never practiced before.
I got my first taste of jo waza. Shihonage with a jo...whee!

We practiced an aihanmi katatetori kokyunage into a forward roll, then to break it up we did it with the jo. That was fun. I actually practiced the jo version with the same guy who taught me to forward roll (Alfredo) :)

There was so much last night, that I really can't break it down like I usually do... needless to say it was neat. I'm not too scared of weekend classes now, because alot of the blackbelts who practice on the weekends have attended a few of the tues/thurs classes...I'm starting to feel more comfortable practicing with them.

Ah well, bedtime. Getting sleepy now.

Liz

Sensei in a huff

Got to class early tues night. I went to change and took my usual position next to my fellow newbie that befriended me from the beginning. Sensei followed shortly after, bowed in and proceeded to warm up-- angry. His face was bright red.
Crikey

I heard him call one of the yudansha over (shodan who's prepping for his nidan if I remember correctly--also an asst. instructor on occasions)

I wasn't *trying* to overhear their conversation, but Sensei was apparently asking him about an injury from a class over the weekend. I was warming up, doing my best not to overhear, but I couldn't help it (Sensei was not whispering)
The gist of the conversation was that the shodan had apparently injured someone in I *believe* was a nikkyo pin because his uke was resisting. Apparently, he cut down and forced the pin, possibly injuring uke's elbow. Also, the shodan had corrected someone and got out of line. I'm assuming there was some kind of complaint, because Sensei was getting more details from the shodan in question like he was not there.
I was doing my best to ignore them and focus on my stretching and breathing, but that's what I overheard. It felt odd to see Sensei in such a huff and to be addressing the issue on the mat prior to class with about 25 students present. Ah well, not my issue. Just a warning to stay on his good side! I'm glad I'm paranoid about safety, because that seems to be Sensei's breaking point.

After the LONG conversation, Sensei started class, and we immediately went into empty-handed techniques. No warm-up, stretching... nothing I've come to expect from our beginner's class. LOL I figured it was going to be a loooong class.

Class on Tuesday night is a blur. To keep it simple (and I hope I've got the names all correct-- I'm just trying to give a general idea of what I'm practicing. )

1) katatetori
slide in/pivot to corner looking same dir. as uke. (omote/ura)

2) katatetori nikkyo

3) almost like tenshinage but with one arm. (or at least that' what Sensei described it as)
katatetori
slide forward, twisting uke's arm out with forward arm. Extend other arm to push on uke's extended elbow as you step forward with your back foot.


4) yokomenuchi//tenshin:
-iriminage
-shihonage (omote/ura)

5) yokomenuchi//tenshin kotegaeshi and some sort of pin that escapes me.

6) Kokyuho
Random thoughts:
Tenshin finally makes a little sense to me. (we practiced that a lot during class.)

Sensei looked at my attempted yokomenuchi strike and told me I was doing shomenuchi (I really thought I was striking to the side of the head...lol) He told me to think of a Y as I attacked. Don't know if that worked, but my partner said "better"

While practicing shihonage, my partner told me to step back as uke in omote when nage steps through and pivots, makes the ukemi easier.

While practicing #3 listed above, my other partner reminded me to straighten my arms and not let them go limp-- common sense really, I didn't even realize I was bending my arm. Ah well. After that the technique worked much better.

I had a really hard time with nikkyo(standing up-- place ukes hand to your shoulder and scoop down a little with your elbow, bringing uke to one knee) I was paranoid about cutting down or applying the wrong amount of pressure.

We had a large class, even for a tuesday night when Bob Sensei teaches-- 25-30 students perhaps.
No break (possibly due to Sensei's frustration over the injury noted in my last post)

It seemed like a long class (it ran over a few minutes as well)
and I was exhausted afterwards. I slept about 14 hours when I came home. lol
happily, I'm more rested today, so hopefully I'll be in a better state to practice tonight

Liz

Class tonight

While it's fresh in my mind.
Small class tonight (the smallest I've been to so far-- only nine people including me-- all senior students) I liked it because, I got more one on one with some great senior students and Sensei. I was a bit of a sensei target tonight since I was the junior of juniors tonight.. LOL

We did a *lot* in class tonight. I felt like I was in some kind of time vaccuum. The class went really fast, but at the same time, it felt like we were practicing for days. It's amazing how you lose track of time and yet feel like you've spent hours practicing when you've only been training for an hour. (same goes for work, but I'm not thinking about work right now... I'm going to enjoy my aikido "high")

Scott Sensei started class off with our usual quiet time stretching and then our rolls across the mat and back-- forward and backward. After Bob Sensei's focus on rolling Tuesday, coupled with my practice at home, I was able to get over the mat without banging my head... albeit rathter slowly. Scott Sensei said "much better, you couldn't do that a couple of weeks ago"
He spent a little bit of time talking about ki extension. He told us to imagine we were rolling towards a horizon miles and miles away. Treat each roll like it's the first of mannnnyyyyy rolls. He said to extend our ki in that direction. I don't know if that helped me or not O_o I made it across the mat though. (last as usual)

Afterwards we practiced knee-walking, focusing on keeping your head from bobbing up and down. Crikey, that's hard.

Sensei then told us to take up bokkens, and we spent a good 20 minutes focused on the proper way to hold a bokken, ettiquette...etc.. We then practiced some attacking exercises. I can't remember what Sensei called them, but it was interesting and new. :)

Afterwards we practiced empty-handed techniques. Shihonage, iriminage, kotegaeshi.. my mind is very blurry after class, because it seemed like there was not a real theme for tonight. Sensei talked quite a bit about commited attacks. Giving nage an attack to work with. We practiced some tsuki attacks and a few different responses that allows an opening for multiple techniques. I had a hard time with the tsuki as nage. I could not seem to figure out where I was supposed to be going, and half the time ended up with uke's fist planted in my shoulder or chest. oops. :)

I got to try katatetori aihanmi kotegaeshi omote for the first time (so far I've only done ura) and that was interesting. It has a completely different feel.

The highlight of the night was practicing a tsuki iriminage with Sensei. He was nage first as he wanted to see my attack. He didn't find anything to correct (at least he didn't say anything anyway) with my attack. He gave me pointers on iriminage... holding uke's head close to your chest as you tenkan and maintaining your grip on their neck until you step through. It was *fun* being uke with Sensei, though when I practice with him, I really feel how broken up and inconsistent I am. I have a hard time just allowing the technique to flow. But then, noone is expecting me to be perfect. *sigh of utter relief*

I got several comments on how I was doing well considering my limited aikido training. Of course, I have a bad habit of appologizing to my partners when I misstep or have to try an opening three times before I get through the waza. O_o
One of my partners said I had very relaxed, open shoulders... a good thing he said. Funny, one minute I'm relaxed, the next I'm too tense. My brain seems to reel sometimes. I got midway through a kotagaeshi and completely went blank! I had to stop. I know I'm not expecting to remember everything, and certainly I'm not expected to perform at the same level as my seniors, but I feel so akward sometimes, and I wonder if my partners are counting the minutes until they can train with a "real" student... LOL My own insecurities-- I'll have to deal with them I suppose. That's part of aikido.

After class we cleaned up. I was almost the last person to leave. (I change pretty slow.. lol) Sensei asked how I was liking class.... I get asked that question everytime. I told him I felt like a complete klutz. At work I'm in "the zone" I know what I'm doing... when I step on the mat, I turn into a complete, uncoordinated mess. (at least it feels that way)

Ah well, I'm looking forward to Saturday and Sunday's classes. I want to go to both classes. Also, Sunday night my friend from the dojo wants to go to the Ft Worth dojo to practice (now that we aren't *complete* newbies) We'll see how that goes.

Liz

Tuesday's class

Tuesday's class: (late post :))

Bob Sensei spent a lot of time on ukemi as we had two new people and one guy who started before I did, but has only been to a few classes.
We spent a large portion of class practicing sitting rolls...forward and backward. I really enjoyed it, because I can't keep from hitting my head on the mat when rolling backwards (unless I'm thrown, of course) My brain gets in the way.

One nugget I took away from the rolling was feeling the mat roll across my back diagonally while also imagining you are pulling a rope as you roll back-- this seems to give you more momentum.

We practiced shomenuchi attacks last night. I was able to practice with two people I've never practiced with, so it was a lot of fun.

One guy I practiced with had very abrupt movements, but seemed to flow pretty well once he understood the techniques. He wasn't exactly sure what we were doing, as Sensei demonstrated a technique we haven't done before. (well, I haven't seen it, and most of the seniors in class hadn't seen it in a long time) It was a shomenuchi strike leading to a shihonage, but the opening on nage's side was somewhat difficult. As uke strike's nage slides in a little and raises the forward arm to meet it while simultaneously grabbing uke's attack arm with his free hand and sliding back, pulling uke's arm with it. (I'm not explaining this well, but oh well) From there nage steps in to do shihonage. We struggled with it for a while, trying to figure out footing when Sensei rescued us. It was alot of fun trying to work it out together. I am not used to being the one saying " I think it's a slide, not a step" or "didn't he do _____"?

Another guy (a brown belt I have practiced with before) seemed to break everything down mid-technique for me. While it was hard to get a *feel* for the movement, he made me really think about the actual mechanics of the waza.
We were practicing a shomenuchi iriminage. Sensei reminded me about my upward arm extension so as not to closeline uke, and he also told me to imagine I was dumping out a glass of water as I stepped through to drop uke. (so to speak)

Finally, I practiced with a lady who was very fluid. She had a very light, flowing technique. We practiced a shomenunchi kotegaeshi and then a pin that for some reason I can't name O_o My partner said I was doing very well for my first month in aikido training. huzzah!
Sensei told me to sink down and relax my shoulders in the pin and also to hold uke's arm closer to my body while turning towards her head.

All in all, three waza for the night and only three corrections from Sensei... it's a new record.

Afterwards we practiced kokyuho and bowed out for a break. When we came back to the mat, Sensei went through 6 different bokken kata. Yeah, all my feelings of complete blundering foolishness returned. Sensei loves to run through the kata really fast and then say "okay, let's try altogether"
After my having to stop midway through our attempt at 1-6 together he turned around and said "what, you haven't got this yet??"

I don't think I'll ever *get* this... and I think I'm okay with that for now.

Liz

Secret

We took Secret to a vet in Bridgeport yesterday. The estimate from the Dallas Surgical Center was around $2000. When we took him there, they said it would be around $550. They were really nice, and they have done surgery on Abbie and Nakita. (when we had them fixed) We never had any problems with Abbie and Nakita, so we left Secret with them, and they are doing the surgery this morning.

They are going to put an external contraption on his leg (rather Frankensteinish really) but much less invasive than the pins and plates they were originally talking about doing.

I feel a little bit better about the money situation, and it's a vet I trust.


Liz

Constantine

Amazing movie. Yup. Shaun and I went to see it tonight, and I must say I was very much impressed. (I had no idea it was based on a DC comic)

The concept of heaven, hell, demons and angels..etc.. has been visited over and over again by movie makers. Sometimes they manage to make a really deep, thought-provoking film (like Constantine, What Dreams May Come) and sometimes they make utter shit *coughshacksDogma!sputters*

I didn't think Keanu Reeves could one-up the Matrix trilogy, but I was wrong. (who would have thought he would be such an amazing actor after such utter crap like 'Bill and Ted' and that other 'really awful movie in the vinyard that I can't remember the name of because I blocked that horrible experience from my mind forever, amen')

I'd have some thought-provoking philosophical meanderings on the subject, except it's 2 am and I want to go to my aikido class in the morning. Still, good movie.

Liz

bumps and bruises

:::the tally:::

1) a major knot in the side of my neck, making it difficult for me to turn my head to the right.

2) a horrible cramp that keeps popping up on my back right thigh--similar to a charlie horse.

3) two identical bruises on my wrists from death-grip brown belt guy.

4) sore ankles from seiza

5) sore knees from seiza

6) mat burn on the top of my feet.... from seiza and ikkyo and knee-walking

7) bruise on my ribcage from tying my belt too tight. (I really need inner ties to keep the gi top together during class

Ahh well, it's worth it :)

Liz

The Sensei Curse

I got to the dojo about 45 minutes before class. Usually, whoever is teaching arrives about 15-20 til, but one of the other asst. instructors was already there-- Scott Sensei was running a little late. Got changed, and had a lot of time to stretch out. We had yet another new student tonight and another potential student who watched the class.

We practiced alot of rolling, forward and backward. (his classes always have a long warmup)
I was of course the last to make it across the room. Apparently my embarassment was obvious, because Scott Sensei said "it's okay to be the last one, it's not a race....and it's not always you" :)

What's funny is that I have a really hard time with the rolls starting out on one knee, but if I roll from a standing position, I really don't think about it. The more momentum I have, the easier it is. I won't even talk about how awful I am at backwards rolls during practice. (and yet if someone throws me, I can roll over my shoulder backwards without thinking about it O_o)

Practice consisted of a LOT of new techniques...new to me anyway. When I started to work on the back stretching exercise, I told my partner (a brown belt I haven't seen at the dojo yet) that I was still new and unsure about footing/technique--mainly as a courtesy, because I wanted him to be prepared for akward technique. He grabbed by arm with a bit of a death grip and said "just do what Sensei did"
Soooo I gave it my best shot, and surprisingly it felt right! My partner then corrected my footing... suddenly I felt off-balance. I said I felt my footing was still wrong, but he said it was right. A few minutes later, Scott Sensei walked over and corrected my footing again. I was right the first time. *sighs* I don't like correcting people who have been practicing for so long, but I found myself just a little frustrated that I *was* moving right, my partner corrects me, and sensei only saw my error. I've heard this call the "sensei curse" :)
Ah well, like he said, it's not a race or a competition, so no matter. Luckily, I am a patient person, and I really did enjoy working with him (even though my hand was purple due to the death grip on my wrist.)

Sensei demonstrated more techniques I had never seen, all starting with a katatetori or morotetori grab. I've been trying to find running themes in the class, but I usually come up short. I'm sure there's a method to sensei's madness, but I've yet to discover it. O_o Right now all the techniques still feel very random. I did manage to figure out the one theme for tonight--sliding in and turning to face the same direction as uke with your hands extended in front of you.

Towards the end of practice we did a throwing technique. We broke up into two groups with one person throwing in each group. We all took turns walking up and grabbing nage with a morotetori and being thrown forward into a forward roll. Whee!
One of the blackbelts in my group told me "just go slow... crouch down.... etc.." and would then stop the forward throw to let me roll. I muddled through... Finally, I told one of the students "just throw me" and I took a roll that for me was pretty good. After several throws, he said "very good!" I guess I was dubious, but he was adamant that I rolled well.

Woohoo! That was the highlight of the night.

New pain for the week: major cramp in my hamstring.

*sighs*

Couldn't take Secret to the vet this morning. I've got the money for the deposit, but that's going to leave us strapped for money all week, and I wouldn't be able to pay the balance of the surgery after it's complete. I feel awful.

Hopefully after Friday it won't be an issue. I've just already go bills piling up.. (I've put off paying some bills due to his current vet bills)
I find myself wondering why everytime I catch up, I fall behind. It can be very frustrating.

I wish I knew how to fix my cat without breaking myself financially.

Work the arms..work the arms!

Practice was fun as always tonight. Lots of soreness, but my knee didn't give me any trouble.

Started out with a katatetori aihanmi iriminage. For some reason I just couldn't get my body to work like it was supposed to. My partner was patient as always, but I had a really hard time keeping him close through the tenkan. Sensei had to come over several times during that technique to correct my arm extension, hip placement...etc...

Next up was katatetori aihanmi shihonage. More problems there- as I stepped in to pivot, bringing uke's hand up over mine, I had a hard time keeping my hands visisble. This had the unfortunate side-effect of causing me to be off balance with my hands up over and behind my head. "this isn't right, *I'm* not the one who's supposed to ukemi" :)

I had to practice the entry for omote about 15 times before I felt comfortable. Ura seemed a little bit easier...go figure. *shrugs* I seem to catch onto ura faster.

Also practiced katatetori aihanmi (notice a running theme?) kotegaeshi nikyo (I believe), and katatetori aihanmi ikkyo omote and ura.

I managed to get a few "yeah, that's it!"'S and "you really are catching on pretty quick", so I guess I wasn't as akward as I felt. (pidgeon on roller skates)
Truthfull, Sensei only corrected me a few times, and the rest of the night I was left to practice with senior students.

We did kokyuho and then bowed out for a break. When we got back on the mat, Sensei had us pull out the bokken. There were about 20-25 people there tonight, and we stood in a huge circle practicing our upward/downward swings. (strengthening exercise--huzzah) Sensei counted to ten and then each person counted to ten in the large circle, alternating between two-handed, right hand only, left hand only..etc... in increments of ten. We did that twice. O_O I thought my arms were going to fall off by the time we were done. *does some quick math* That makes about 400-500 repetitions. I was surprised though that after once around the circle I got another burst of energy, and it became easier to cut the bokken up, down...up, down.. up, down.... whew!

We also had two brand new students join class tonight. Suddenly I am not the *complete* newbie. :) We also had several more students I had never seen before.
At the end of class, Sensei also mentioned that he is planning a seminar at the dojo for the Dallas area dojos over a weekend in April. Sounds like fun! *making mental note to schedule that weekend off work*

No aikido tomorrow, so I'm going to take a long bath, whip out the tiger balm (that stuff is great!) and sleep in. Have to take Secret to the vet for his surgery tomorrow before work.

I'm going to sleep SO well tonight.

Liz