Stress relief..

So I missed class over the weekend. *grins sheepishly*
Tuesday was a good class. I almost thought about cornering Sensei to throw me a few times just to get the ukemi withdrawls out of my system.. lol

Bob Sensei taught.

Katatetori shihonage (backstretch/ukemi-- omote & ura)
W/Jerry. Somehow I think my shihonage improved. It wasn't as akward as it usually is. I asked my partner if I was wrenching his arm or pulling it in the wrong direction-- he said it felt fine. :)
Sensei interrupted a few times to ask us both if we were going to the dojo 4th of July party. lol

katatetori iriminage
W/Bob. We don't do katatetori iriminage very often, and I always find the opening difficult. Took me a few times to get my timing right. I still have a hard time breaking ukes grip on my wrist. Sensei corrected me on my entry, but I think I muddled through.

Katatetori kotegaeshi (ura)
Same partner... I remembered the class Ron taught a couple of weeks ago-- he'd spent a little time talking about doing a full tenkan in kotegaeshi-- he said many people only turn halfway, but according to Tohei Sensei, it should be a full tenkan. I noticed my partner abbreviating it a little... I didn't say anything, but he actually brought it up to me after a few rounds. We both worked on it, and it seemed to work much better.

Sensei shifted focus to kokyunage throwns after that.
katatetori//

kaittenage

nikkyo transitioning to a kokyunage (henka waza)

Good class. I was a little beat up afterwards though... I've got a huge bruise on my knee, another on my shin, a bruised knot on my thigh and a bruised arm. I went to work today and everyone was asking me who was beating me up... lol They still don't understand why I practice voluntarily. ^_^ If they only knew how much FUN it is. heh

Was a long day at work today... nearly 12 hours. I'm glad I'm off tomorrow. Dena is bringing the kiddos over, and we are gonna hang out. Class tomorrow night... should be a good, lazy day :)
Liz

A letter from my brother

My brother was in the initial invasion in Iraq, and he is preparing to return again at the end of the year. He posted this open letter to a forum, and he also emailed it to the family. I cannot express my feelings after reading this... I'm angry, sad, scared. My brother has always been invicible, and I have a hard time imagining him feeling this way. He has given much to his country, and I'm am proud of him. I just hope that these feelings and doubts he has will pass. Until then, I can only hope to support him from thousands of miles away.


From my heart. . .

I know death, he is a constant companion never leaving allways there,a dark cloud,a whisper in the dark places,he is no friend of mine, Is there some solace to be found? I doubt I will ever know, I've seen terrible things and will continue to see them everyday in my minds eye.

Who is my enemy? Well mine is fear and self doubt; I do not fear my own death though I fear my son growing up without a father to guide him and teach him the right way. I fear there is no hope for me. I want my son to have more then I had when I was growing up.

My way of learning has always been through pain and will always be that way. I sometimes hide my pain with anger, and that has played out and proved not useful. I can hear the whispers of fools who know nothing of death who have never seen a human die in terrible ways for their country. I hate them for their ignorance and arrogance.

What is truly sad is they don't know the agony of memory, a man without a heart does not feel pity for his fellow man--his friends or foes--he only knows his own pain and fears his own death. He is selfish and cruel and lonely and in the end will not know peace. A man who has a heart will feel guilt and pain at what he has seen or done and he will see others at peace but will not know peace himself. He will try to go on in the hope he never has to do those things again, never walking in the valley of death where even angels have no stay for the sword; and they who know peace will again ask him to walk that path until that man is used up and is no longer and all that is left is the memory and the black marble walls with names of the honored dead--There is no such reward, honor is a term used by the living to justify death and war and sorrow.

The time when I cared about my career is no longer, I only care about staying alive to raise my son and be a good husband. If you call the demons they will come that much is true, too many have died, too many are listed on their black stone--why? For what, money? oil? They who know only peace......?

What is sad is that I will continue to tread the dark paths, and will never give in to my own inner demons. I cannot, for what a soldier really fears is not death,or pain, it's having to watch another man die--friend or foe. IT is not about country or honor when good men die, it is about the guy next to you, your buddy, your friend. I can say that I believe most of them died trying to save their friends.

It is the fear that you get in your gut everytime you hesitate, When things are in slow motion and all that is around you is chaos and all you hear is the ring in your ears and the absence of rational thought, the pop wiz of rounds flying so close and you dont even care, it is only later that you feel this fear, you wake every night to it, you smell it when people BBQ. It is a reminder that death was so close and failure was even closer and the knowledge you will have to do it again. I was so confident and never felt like I was not up to the task but now that is not the case.

The only real casuaties of war are those who survive to remember

Yay for aikido!

After a long week with inventory, it was really nice to get back to the dojo. While warming up, Sensei sat down next Klara and I and asked how many hours we had. aha! I knew I couldn't evade the testing question indefinitely.
I told him I didn't honestly know how many hours I had. He grinned and said he'd be counting up my time, reminding me testing was in August. O_o

It was a fun class tonight.

Shomenuchi//

iriminage
W/New guy--Joshua. Probably his second week in class, but he seemed to pick up rather quickly. (from my limited perspective) I had to remind him a few times to "swing up!" so as not to clothesline me. O_o Sensei reminded him to keep me close on the tenkan. He watched in a little bemusement as my partner struggled with that. I didn't get any correction, though my iriminage is usually pretty scary...lol

kotegaeshi (ura)
Same partner. Him being larger than me made the tenkan difficult, but I'm still improving there, I think. The swing up and then pivot while cutting down was a little difficult as well. For some reason I couldn't get my timing right and really take his balance. I'd like to attribute part of that to fatigue, but I know better. hehe My partner had a hard time with the turnover and nikkyo pin. A couple of times he really wrenched my elbow. I caught Sensei watching us, and I gave him a pleading look "please come show him how to do this!" I couldn't explain it very well. Sensei watched a couple more times and then finally came over after I had tried my best to explain while face down on the mat. :) I think Sensei gets a kick out of me working with beginners. I'm still really unsure about offering much beyond where to step...etc...

kokyunage
again, same partner. Nage swings both arms up, pivots then steps back. The outside arm extends uke's arm out while the other acts as a lever underneath their arm. Slide forward the "pour out the cup of water"-- as Sensei likes to say.

Another kokyunage.
Same partner. Uke strikes and nage slides to the inside, atemi while cutting down on their forward arm then turn your hips sending uke into a forward roll.

Sensei then switched focus to jo waza. Yay for the jo! :)

katatetori jo waza//

Shihonage (omote/ura)
W/non-kyu. One of these days I'll get his name right. O_o For some reason, shihonage is so much easier with the jo. I actually like it! lol

Ikkyo (omote/ura)
Same partner. This was difficult with the jo. You have to make a transition with your grip on the jo to uke's arm that just feels akward. We both had a hard time.. no Sensei intervention there... grrr

nikkyo kokyunage. (FUN!)
Swing out while sliding off the line, cut down with the jo then unwind uke's arm, bringing them to stand. Swing up and then cut down into a forward roll. We actually managed this one pretty well. I had a hard time finding nikkyo, but it wasn't as akward as it is without the jo. hehe

Kokyudosa
W/new guy (4 classes) He was trying to muscle his way through kokyudosa, and I told him to relax.. lol I can't count the number of times I've been told that-- it seems rather funny that I'm saying it to other people now. :)

Sensei ended class about 20 minutes early. (we didn't break) All in all, good class.

Time to shower. :)
Liz

Remiss in posting.. :)

I've been so caught up at work with inventory preparation, that I failed to post Saturday and Sunday's classes.

It's pointless for me to try and remember what we did in class, so I'm going to skip it. Truthfully, Saturday and Sunday were tough classes. I stayed for second class Saturday, and first class Sunday was mostly advanced (eek!)

It seems though that suddenly Sensei expects me to stay for regular classes, and he has asked me on a few occasions why I don't stay and help with kid's classes.
Apparently Scott wasn't joking when he said with more practice comes more responsibility in the dojo. lol

In other news, I'm glad inventory is over with! Sunday night was a rack dive-- for those not familiar with Home Depot terminology, a rack dive is basically just what it sounds like. We spend an entire evening after close diving into the racks looking for lost merchandise. It's always a nasty job.

Monday all the DH's closed. Inventory started around 5 pm, but we were prepping all day. After inventory started, we had a massive amount of reports to work that were generated by RGIS, the inventory service. We all worked from about 2pm until 12:30 am with no lunch. grrr... long day.

Tuesday was basically spent working reports all morning on the salesfloor starting at 5am. We got out of there around 3 (which is early for an inventory day...huzzah)
I was a walking zombie by the time I got home and FINALLY got some sleep.

As it is I'm completely whiped out. I missed class last night, so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. Have to get my regular ukemi quota for the week. heheh

Liz

Class last night

I missed Tuesday as I wasn't feeling very well, so was having serious ukemi withdrawls.. ^_^

Bob Sensei Taught...

katatetori ai hanmi//

iriminage (backstretch/ukemi)
W/David...who seems to be getting more comfortable and confident in his training. We always have fun on the mat. Had some minor Sensei intervention for my partner's ukemi. He demonstrated a few times on me as well-- he told David that as nage, one has to throw the direction uke wants to fall, not force them into one particular direction.
I tried to keep that in mind too while practicing. Sensei watched us for a few minutes then left us to it.

Kotegaeshi (ura)
W/David. I've gotten much better with the tenkan when bringing uke in front of me.
David really made me find the right kotegaeshi though.. lol I gave him this funny look when I applied kotegaeshi and he stood there not moving a inch. He really made me work for it. ^_^
In return I helped him find the right nikkyo pin for me on the turnover. hehehe *evil grin* Sensei corrected his turnover.. For some reason I can never get the turnover to be as effortless as everyone else makes it seem, and Sensei has yet to correct me. I typically take what little pointers he gives my partners and try to apply them.


Katatetori//

Shihonage (omote & ura)
W/Mike. Just when shihonage starts making sense, I get tunnel vision... grrrrr
We practiced for a while and then suddenly I couldn't see very well. I got very disoriented and excused myself to sit on the edge of the mat. Sensei came over and asked Mike "did you hurt her? Did he hurt you?" I told him what happened and he made me lie down on the mat. I felt really silly, but I did feel better after lying down. Sensei made sure I wasn't injured, asked me "do you want me to kick him out of the dojo? I can do that you know?" LOL Mike told me after we took an early water break that Sensei is always trying to kick him out. hehehe

After break, I felt much better. Sensei switched focus to bokken practice. We did a four directional exercise then practiced in pairs--
W/Klara. In natural stance, one person swings down while the other blocks to one side. They swing down and you block to the othre side. Back and forth...etc...
We got into a pretty good rhythm with only one minor Sensei intervention. He said I wasn't gripping the bokken hard enough.
He started striking at me alot faster and harder than Klara was... lol I didn't have much time to worry about which direction to block-- I just didn't want to get hit in the head with Sensei's bokken O_o

Good class, though this is the second time in a couple of weeks I've gotten dizzy or disoriented. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my diet. Perhaps I am not taking in enough protein? I may have to incorporate more fish into my diet.
(sushi anyone? :))

aikido on 3 hours of sleep

UGH. I didn't want to get up this morning (what's new?)

Bob Sensei taught//

Same attack entire class--
shomenuchi, but starting statically from the initial swing up where you are in ai hanmi and your arms are meeting-- uke and nage pressing against each other.

iriminage (backstretch/ukemi)
W/Scott H. He gave me a lot of helpful pointers, and he also reminded me to give commited attacks. (we accidently did the entire shomenuchi attack)
He also told me I needed to be more assertive while drawing his head to my shoulder on the tenkan. He said "I'm attacking you, do with me what you will!" lol Apparently I was being too nice. ^_^

kotegaeshi (ura)
same partner..corrected my kotegaeshi, but only had to do it once. He also helped me a little with the nikkyo pin on the turnover. He said to draw his hand in tighter and to use my tekatana (hand blade) and place it on his elbow while bowing towards his head. He also noted my shoulder flexability on the nikkyo..heh. At first he was being very careful, but then he realized my shoulder is stubborn, so he gave up on that real quick. We got a little goofy on the mat when Bob Sensei walked by... forgot our place. He asked if it was his turn or mine. I told him not to rely on my homeschool math..heh

Shihonage (omote/ura)
W/katie. Only thing to note? My shihonage is AWFUL. I'm getting to the point where I cringe every time sensei demonstrates it. hehe At least iriminage has fallen to my second worst executed technique on the list. ;)

Ikkyo (omote/ura)
W/katie.

kokyudosa
W/katie.

Good class-- had to go straight to work though...ick.. I feel like a wet towel. I think I'll go shower now :)

Aiki-peer pressure :)

Class this morning was relatively small for a Saturday morning. Usually most of the women who practice come on the weekends, but today the only girls were myself, Klara and Bindi.

Scott B. Sensei taught first class...

Attack of the morning? Morotetori. For some reason, I love this attack. :)

Scott Sensei spent a little bit of time explaining the proper way to attack morotetori. He said that uke should imagine nage is holding a sword, so the attack should be off the line. (apparently, one wouldn't run head on into a sword-- go figure ^_^)

Morotetori//

shihonage (omote only--backstretch then ukemi)
W/Floriece (relative new guy) He struggled with his feet a little, but I think once he realized it was almost just like a katatetori shihonage, he did fine. Had to remind him to kick his leg back as uke on the omote.. *grins* I've NEVER forgotten to do that *ahems!* hehe

kotegaeshi (omote)
W/Klara. Nage slides in to face the same direction as uke while swinging up, cuts down and slides back, ending up in katatetori ai hanmi--from there slide to the outside of uke for kotegaeshi. It took us a while to get this coordinated, mainly because I wasn't grabbing the right hand on the cut down and uke didn't kick the right leg back. heh. Sensei helped us figure it out though :)

Morotetori nikkyo
W/5th kyu and 4th kyu guys. I love nikkyo..heh. My partners were in awe of my flexibility in the shoulder especially on the pin. *chuckles* Sensei came over to correct my partner's initial nikkyo (where you place uke's hand on the shoulder and scoop down with a bow) and he nikkyo'd me a few times on the same arm, while stopping (not losing the nikkyo..heh) to explain the proper technique.
He started laughing at me because I was down on one knee the entire time-- I don't think he realized he hadn't let me up! O_o (all this after he nikkyo'd his demo uke about 10 times on the same arm) He made his point though!

Morotetori kokyunage
Fun!

kokyudosa
W/4th kyu.

After first class, I was starting to leave, but Mark stopped me and said "you're staying, right?"

"I'm still nervous about Second class" *sheepish look*

"But we didn't get to practice together.. you need to stay." lol gotta love aiki-peer pressure. I gave in and stayed for second class.

Second class... Scott H. taught. (yay! I've really missed his Thursday night classes)
I was the junior of juniors. Was the only other girl on the mat along with yumiko (yudansha)

Sensei's running theme for the majority of class was Tai Sabaki-- an exercise in proper evasion, footwork, timing..etc..

Started out with 4th kyu and gaijinn.
Uke tries to grab nage in katatetori ai hanmi, nage leads uke around in a circle without letting uke actually make contact. We practiced this for a bit.

Tai sabaki kokyunage
W/Gaijinn

Tai Sabaki (and I have no idea what it's called. heh)
W/Skyy. Nage leads uke around in a circle then slides in behind uke like iriminage, grabs his head while sliding off the line and pushing uke behind him. (for lack of a better description.)We all struggled with this one. Sensei said this particular movement came from the time when samurai wore helmets. The attacker would come from behind, grab the samurai's chin strap and pull back, possibly snapping their neck. Ahhh what a beautiful technique :)

Afterwards, Sensei switched focus to the Jo. (hurray for weapons!)
We practiced proper shomen, yokomen and tsuki attacks. Afterwards, Sensei had us practice yokomen ukemi--side falls. He had everyone crouch down (like a frog-- I tried to supress a giggle-- FROG UKEMI! ^_^)
He said to keep one leg standing and straighten out the other leg, falling on your side and slapping the mat. We did this from the crouching and standing positions.
I knew it must have been leading to something, because we paired off and practiced the same tai sabaki movement from the beginning of class. Nage leading uke around with the jo in a full circle then basically catching uke's leg and sweeping it out from underneath them. O_O I didn't apply the froggy ukemi very well.

Also did a jo ikkyo-ish kokyunage.

Kokyudosa..
I still hadn't had a chance to practice with Mark, so we made a point to find each other. Better than nothing! heh

Was a good class--I'm glad I stayed. Oh, and since I have OT, I get to go in late.. I'll make it to class in the morning. Yay :)

Changes

disclaimer: Anything you read is just random BS. When I can't sort my thoughts out, I write. You've been warned.

***begin random streams of consciousness***
It's funny how life can change drastically in a very short period of time. When I met Jason, I was changing jobs, working 80 hours a week. I lived at home.
Around that same time, I met my best friend, Shaun. (who had been a friend for a long time prior to that through a group we both frequented that was dedicated to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--it was only through a series of insane events that led to us meeting in person and becoming the friends we are today)
I was losing weight--drastically. I had gone through a difficult stage in my life, and managed to gain alot of weight. By the time I finally met Jason, I was back to my old self.

I was taking tai chi, yoga..etc.. I eventually got my GED after putting it off for far too long. I got my drivers license, a vehicle, and suddenly I found myself with a boyfriend and more importantly-- FREEDOM.

I moved out after almost a year of dating to live with Jason. We were always broke, but it was good.
And then my brother decided he was tired of taking on all the responsibility, and he decided to join the army. In retrospect, it was the best decision he could have made for himself. He met his soon-to-be wife, and now they live in Germany with a beautiful son.

Jason was never very keen on my family, but he decided he'd rather live with my mother and myself than to be alone, so we moved into my brother's house. We basically assumed all his responsibilities.
That was 3 years ago. The strain on the relationship was apparently more than he could take, as was demonstrated this week. We've had problems on and off for more than a year now. I started gaining more weight. I tried the gym, but I hated it. I was overwhelmed, tired, etc...
I was eating unhealthy, I didn't do the things I love-- hiking, swimming, yoga. I slipped into a stage of suspended animation.

In February, I found aikido. I also started eating healthier--I went back to being a vegetarian. I found myself once again feeling good about myself.

I feel like I'm right back to where I started. I'm in shape, I've found something I love to do. I'm also broke. Hehe But I think it's going to be okay. I have no idea what direction my life is heading towards, but I think it can only get better.

***End random streams of consciousness***

Liz

Please be advised

...I cannot be held responsible for any spelling and/or grammatical errors in the following post. I'm completely exhausted, and should probably be asleep.

Class tonight..

Sensei was noticably absent-- as were all the typical instructors, yudansha...etc..
Apparently he met ron (brown belt) at class tonight but said he was sick, so Ron taught class tonight. I would wager he's not taught the adult class often-- if never at all, because he seemed a little nervous. I thought he did well though, considering the short notice.

To be brief, as I am pretty tired--

Quick stretch, forward and backwards rolls across the mat, shikko. Since Scott Sensei has not been teaching Thursday nights, we have not done much of the rolling practice, so I was happy Ron focused on that in the beginning.


katatetori//

ikkyo (omote/ura)
W/Klara

kotegaeshi
W/Charlie

iriminage
W/Steven

katatetori ai hanmi//

ikkyo (omote/ura)
W/4th kyu

iriminage
W/Don (sort of a newbie... practiced aikido and jiu jitsu about 15 years ago.)

shihonage (omote/ura-- was demo uke for this one.)
W/Oscar.

After break, Ron had us practice kokyunage throws. Whee! :)
W/Bill

Did three katatetori variations. (all omote/ura)
Swing out, extend uke's arm and use your arm as a jack underneath uke's then step forward and throw. Ura involed a slide in, pivot and step back.

Next was a simple step forward with palms up in front of you. Ura same as above. (was demo uke for this one too)

Next was an ikkyo version.

Finally we did a kaitenage variation. (for those of you actually keeping count, that's 4, not 3... see? I am tired!)

Overall, it was a fun class, mainly geared towards 5th kyu test requirements.
Ron seemed to explain things really well-- especially iriminage and kotegaeshi. It helped that he gave good pointers on how to be an effective uke.

Wish I could go into detail, but I'm shot.

Class Tuesday..

In light of recent events, aikido is probably what's going to help me maintain my sanity. :)

Bob Sensei taught.

Katatetori//

kokyunage backstretch/ukemi (omote)
W/Pete.

iriminage
W/Pete. My partner was an older gentleman, and he's pretty stiff, so this was pretty difficult. We did alright, but he caught his toe on his gi pants, causing him to take a fall mid-technique. Sensei came over and in good humor told me not to injure my partners.. heh

another kokyunage (omote & ura)
First w/David. slide in, facing same direction as uke then extend your arm across their chest and slide back. We didn't make it too far in this one, because David caught HIS toe on his gi pants and tripped. O_o Sensei came over, gave me what I like to call the "Sensei evil eye" and asked me why I kept trying to injure my uke's. *looks sheepish* David admitted to tripping himself, but I think Sensei must think I have bad gi karma!

David sat out, so I went to practice with brand newbie and Charlie.
The ura version was something like slide in, facing the same direction as uke, tenkan to get uke in front of you, swing out, atemi, step through under their arm then slide back a little and extend your arm across their shoulders while turning into uke.

Another kokyunage, sending uke into a forward roll. I started to pair up with Rita, also a brand newbie. After a few of us received a mini Sensei lecture this weekend on helping the new people as much as possible, I decided to give it a shot.
Sensei reminded me she didn't know how to forward roll, so with a warning to try not and kill her, he said to just practice forward rolls from a low crouching position.
Aida brought over the other new guy-- he didn't know forward rolls either. She went to practice with someone else. Sensei came back over and asked "you're going to help both of them?" I said I didn't mind, but I think I must have cast a wistful glance at a nearby pair practicing (unintentionally of course) but Sensei told me I could go practice, and he would help them with basic rolling-- with a bit of a grin.

Practiced with Aida and another guy. (grr can't remember his name) Nothing fancy...slide in, turn to face same direction as uke then sliding forward with your forward hand palm up, sending uke into a forward roll. We practiced for a while before Sensei clapped and *gasps* calls me up to take ukemi for him.
I've only been called up once before, and that was for Steve Sensei, Bob Sensei doesn't ever call up non-kyus. I gave him the "who me?" look, and he seemed to find that highly amusing. I was pleasantly surprised that he demonstrated another kokyunage throw. ^_^ it was fun being thrown across the mat by Sensei.

Let's see, after that he called for katatetori ai hanmi ikkyo. (omote & ura)
W/gaijinn, who asked me when I was testing. grrr :) Testing is probably another 1-2 months out. Focused on getting uke extended forward before stepping in while trying not to drop him on the mat. On ura, I tried to keep uke's arm in front of me while controlling the tenkan a little better.

After break we practiced a jo waza kokyunage throw.
Again w/Pete. I like the jo for techniques-- it really helps me keep my arms extended and move my entire body.

Good class-- I needed it. Class again tonight.

On a sidenote, my truck is all better! (it was in the shop for brake problems after 3 months of sitting in my driveway...lol)

Liz

5 years...

July 31st will be my 5 year anniversary with Jason. We've been through alot together, and I always knew we'd be okay. We'd watch everyone around us fighting, and we were happy that somehow we'd escaped that. Neither of us had ever been in a serious relationship prior to each other, and we both considered ourselves lucky to have escaped the typical heartaches associated with love.

Today, that ended. JUst like that. He left late last night and said he had to get out of the house for a bit.
I woke up at 5am to go to work, and he was still gone. I called his cell, and he told me he was at his parents, and he would be taking his things there.

I thought it was coming, but I was still utterly shocked. For months, we've slowly fallen apart, and there was nothing either of us could do to fix it. I knew that it was a matter of time... either I would end it, or he would.

I didn't honestly think it would happen so soon.

I just spent the last hour and a half talking to him-- the longest conversation we've had in months. There was no anger... no resentment... but we both finally realized we had alot of growing up to do.
I can honestly say this is the hardest conversation I've ever had. It would be easier if he hated me, or I hated him.

I don't know what would be worse... the two of us together and neither of us happy, or being apart and still caring about each other.
He said he loved me just now, and though we've decided to end our engagement, and even our relationship, it was the most sincere "I love you" that he has ever said.

Five years... wow, that's a long time...

Liz

not a morning person

But I managed to wake up this morning anyway and stagger to class.

Bob Sensei taught this morning.

Katatetori//

kokyunage (backstretch then ukemi)
W/5th kyu. I was so stiff this morning, that it was really hard to fall. I was also tired due to lack of sleep, so I was low energy.

Next Sensei demonstrated a technique (he didn't name it..grr) I've done it once before. Swing up and cut down, bringing uke's arm back like shihonage while the other arm swings up over and across uke's chest (irimi)- Sensei warned that you have to get your head out of the way and keep it close to the outside of uke's elbow so they can't elbow you in the face.
This was also really difficult with my partner, who was at least a foot shorter than me. O_o

katatetori ai hanmi//

iriminage
You know, there are two things I can do without in the morning-- suwari waza and iriminage. Not much to note except some real slacker waza on my part. My partner got correct for pulling his extended hand back to far. Sensei demonstrated it on me, and I was once again reminded how iriminage is *supposed* to feel.
It seemed to last forever, and by the time we were done my head was pounding.

kotegaeshi (ura)
Hurray for kotegaeshi and the turnover. LOL I probably let my part twist my arm a little too much in the nikkyo pin, but it felt so good to be laying on the cold mat. Sensei just took that to mean that my partner wasn't twisting my arm enough and said "twist more!" eek! :)

Shomenuchi//

ikkyo (omote & ura)
W/katie. One of my favorites to partner with. Not much to note except I was pretty worn out by this time. Thank goodness for 1 hour classes.

Kokyudosa
W/katie. I tried to keep in mind what Sensei said last class about keeping your heels together and really "stepping" into the throw instead of just sliding over.
One of the first times in a while that I've not been corrected by Bob Sensei in kokyudosa.

2nd class was 2nd kyu and up, so I couldn't stay. I don't know that I would have anyway. I was beat!
Time for a cold shower... maybe a nap? :)

Liz

dizzying class

Bob Sensei was sick tonight, so Charlie taught first class and Steve taught second.
Got there in time to stretch out. Was a large class for a Thursday, but I was the only woman O_o Ron asked me tonight how I liked having the dressing room to myself. heh

Class with Charlie...

katatetori//

kokyunage (omote--backstretch and then ukemi)
w/4th kyu. CHarlie Sensei reminded me that as uke, I should turn my head away as nage extends their arm across my chest, otherwise I could be hit in the chin.

kotegaeshi (ura)
Two ways. Either swinging up or down. Practiced with a psuedo new guy. He had practiced in our dojo a few years ago for a few months and returned. (actually had two people like that tonight... strange)
He was still trying to remember basic movements, but it wasn't like working with a complete beginner. We muddled through okay, and he was trying very hard. I didn't have the heart to tell him his gi pants were backwards. I hope one of the guys pointed it put in the dressing room. (will completely ignore the fact that I've done that once...luckily I caught it before class started...lol)

A technique I've never done before
W/a 3rd kyu. Slide in, facing same direction as uke, break the hand away then continue around to uke's back, grasp the shoulders and drop your weight as you slide off the line. This was fun :) Charlie Sensei said it was a great technique for randori.

iriminage
W/Steven.

Shomenuchi//

ikkyo
W/Ron. It's getting to the point where I can practice and not have to worry about my partner needing to guide my every movement. huzzah. :) Practicing with Ron is always helpful to me, because he gives me small reminders, but mostly likes to focus on practicing quietly. It's a far cry from practicing with our other brown-belt shihan. Ron is always very encouraging. I love his attitude towards training. You can always sense his focus in class. He's always a favorite as uke for Sensei. He really amazes me everytime I practice with him.

Yokomenuchi//

shihonage
W/Steve. He does everything he can to put beginners like me at ease, so he's usually a favorite for me anyway to partner with. For some reason tonight, I couldn't get the tenshin movement. We spent most of the time practicing that. He told me to imagine I was holding a bokken. (swing up-- swing down!) While moving into shihonage, the other hand is supposed to cut through nage-- so to speak. I struggled with this, but I think I got it.. sort of. Now if only I could figure out shihonage... LOL

Second class-- Steve Sensei.

katatetori//

kokyunage.
W/pseudo new guy again. Swing out, step through, pivot and cut down-- sending uke into a forward roll.

jujinage
W/David (newbie) I seem to always pair up w/less experience partners for this technique. LOL Steve Sensei said uke could either take a backroll, forward roll or breakfall, depending on uke's experience and comfort level. While helping out my partner, he demonstrated the various falls... on me O_o. "She can either fall back"
I tucked my leg and rolled back ala teenage mutant ninja turtles-- "she can forward roll" I went into a pretty decent forward roll :) "and if she really trusts me, she can breakfall.."
I looked at him like he was crazy when he didn't let go of my arm, but he insisted-- I took a pansy breakfall/roll out sideways thing.
"Apparently she's not ready to breakfall" *grins*

kaittenage
W/Charlie (mudansha charlie) It was fun to practice a big kid technique with a big kid...lol I said I felt like I was rolling strange for this one, but he said my rolls were very smooth. yay!

When Sensei clapped, I started to head back to other end of the mat. Sensei bowed to Charlie to demonstrate the next technique... or so I thought. He told Charlie, not you, Liz. O_o WHAT? ME? I'm not demo uke. *insert confuzzled look here*
He demonstrated katatetori nikkyo, with a tenkan to face the same direction as uke. Cut down a little then bring uke's arm to the shoulder for nikkyo. He demonstrated it several times, and I tried very hard to follow his lead and not become a blundering idiot on the mat. It was incredibly fun being demo uke though, it just surprised the heck out of me, especially since he skipped over several of the higher ranks. He was mainly using Ron and Charlie (yudansha) to demo.

After that, it seemed like my partner, Pete (5th kyu) was expecting me to guide him through the technique. I had to remind him he's done it alot more than me.

Was a really fun class. Kind of funny, but several of my dojomates who rarely talk to me were chit-chatting with me after class. Go figure. :)

Good times, but my mind is reeling. I know I missed some stuff, but I've got more than enough to think about for a few days. At least until Saturday.

Tired... bah!

Yeah, it's been a long day. We had an operations audit this morning, which I was unable to make it to due to vehicle situations. I closed tonight, and we didn't get the hell out of there until 1-ish. Yesterday was pretty much the same. Work 9-6, aikido from 6:45-9:00p then back to work until 12:30a.

We did a lot of katatetori attacks last night.

iriminage (direct entry)

shihonage

shihonage transitioning to kotegaeshi (according to Sensei, it was technically not henka waza as you don't actually to make it to shihonage-- instead you intentionally fail shihonage then slip into kotegaeshi)

ikkyo (as Sensei put it, fancy ikkyo-- Charlie said that was a very technical Sensei aikido term...lol)

sankyo (ouchie!)

Also did a fun ryotetori throw thingy (more technical terms-- brain ceasing to function due to lack of sleep)
Uke grabs nage who immediately slides then steps off the line, bringing their arms back like we do in the rowing exercise while dropping to one knee. This sends uke flying over nage into a nifty forward roll. WHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I loved it. :)

We did other stuff, but I can't remember all of class. I'm so bloody tired, I can't see the screen. For now it's bedtime.

Liz