O'Sensei memorial class

Class tonight was HUGE. Probably about 50ish people on the mat. I thought we had a pretty decent sized mat until tonight. HEH. It was really difficult to take ukemi.
Before we began, we sat in seiza for 5 minutes and then Sensei had us stand for a moment of silence to remember O'Sensei. Very peaceful.

Started out with a backstretch exercise with a new 5th kyu.
He seemed a little unfocused, but he was also helping his daughter and the kids who attended tonight (On a sidenote, it's so cool watching the little kids practice, and Sensei is wonderful with the children ) Usually the kids don't practice with the adults, but tonight was an exception for obvious reasons. I'm glad Sensei included them in class.

Katatetori kotegaeshi (ura)
W/Bob. Never practiced with him before, so it was neat. He is usually in class on Tuesdays and some weekends. I was having a really hard time with the tenkan and getting him around me. No Sensei Intervention due to the size of the class, so I muddled through. There has to be a way to bring uke around without muscling through it, but I still haven't figured that out yet. Maybe I'll ask Scott Sensei Thursday when we have a smaller class.

Katatetori ikkyo (omote & ura)
W/a girl who's name escapes me.. (arg! I've practiced with her many times. I am terrible with names) Nothing major to note except ikkyo is making more sense. I tried to keep in mind Steve's pointers from Sunday. Didn't have to think too terribly much about it.

Katatetori shihonage (omote & ura)
W/ a girl MUCH shorter than me.. yet again. I tried really hard to sink down as opposed to stretching her arm out over my head, but it's really hard...especially with my knees. Perhaps it's good for me to practice with people so much smaller than me. She also made me really think more on my entry, entering more at an angle instead of my usual direct entry (which does NOT get uke off balance. O_o)

Sensei then had us practice throws in lines (whee!) We had about six groups, and as usual I gravitated to the smaller group. Roberto (yudansha), two newbies (2-3 classes), one guy with a little more experience than me and a guy who I'd guess to be 4th or 3rd kyu. That was fun! My rolling has improved a little. I didn't injure myself in any way at least, so that's progress. Huzzah! My throwing left a little to be desired, but it always does. The ikkyo throw came much easier tonight. One of the new guys was having a HARD time with the forward rolls. Sensei had to come over and help him several times and then finally told us to stop and let him roll out on his own. All he needs is a few of Scott Sensei's classes, and he should be rolling in no time. O_o
Other new guy did pretty good, and I think he got through class with minimal frustration. Nice guy, but he seemed frustrated this weekend.

Suwari Waza Ikkyo (omote & ura)
W/Oscar. (same guy who said he wanted to practice with me last Thursday.--I made it a point to find him tonight) Much easier today than this weekend. I think it get's easier the more we practice. Much less pain in the knees and ankles.
He really helped me understand movement in suwari waza alot better. Very encouraging partner too. We didn't spend much time on it though before Sensei clapped and called for kokyudosa. He ended class about 30 minutes early, probably due to having so many people attend. Some of the senior students vacuumed the mat. There wasn't much to do in the way of cleanup for us newbies. lol

All in all it was a very relaxing class. After a very tough day at work, I needed it.

Liz