Holiday Party

Had a wonderful class last night. I base that on how sore and bruised I am the following day. Today I have purple bruises on my biceps and legs. I have deep red, superficial bruises on my wrists. We did nikkyo, which explains the bruises in my wrists, and some throwing techniques that required grabbing uke's upper arms, which explains the bruises on my biceps. The bruises on my legs are not so easy to explain.

When I was uke on a throwing technique, my partner said my calf hit his elbow. Now it feels like I have a big knot in my right calf. It will go away soon, I know. I also have a good-size lump on the outside of my left knee (about three inches across and one half inch high). I have no idea where that came from. So based on all my bruises and lumps, I would say it was a terrific class.

We went to a local restaurant after class - the same one we usually hit after testing. I guess there were about 12 to 15 people there. It was nice, but I didn't stay too long. I had a bowl of soup, and took my cue for a drink from our dojo cho. He had a brandy manhattan - which I'd never heard of before last night. I'd always had my manhattans with whiskey and vermouth, never brandy and vermouth. I have to say I really, really liked it.

The only part that made me shrug my shoulders is how the waitress brought out our orders. Instead of looking at us as a group and thinking we all wanted to eat at the same time, those of us who ordered soup or salads, got our orders first. Everyone else sat there watching us eat. It wasn't until we were finished that she brought out the rest of the food. I don't get the thinking behind that. Why would I want my bowl of soup before the people sitting on either side of me got their hamburgers. It makes no sense. I guess that's why I never took a job as a waiter.

So back to the dinner. One of the members, who went to Japan recently and is aware of all the proper dojo etiquette collected some money from the rest of us, and bought gifts for our chief instructor - two really nice bottle of sake and a gift certificate to a local sushi place - and a bottle of wine for our dojo cho. I'm really glad about the second one. I heard last night that some students got gifts for the dojo cho on their own. I've thought about that in the past, but never had a clue about what to get, or even if that was the proper thing to do. This is my third year at the dojo, so I've only let two years go by wondering what to do. Anyway, I'm glad we got him something.

Then it was Sensei's turn to give us something. Two years ago we got a towel of sorts that he got from Hombu Dojo. It's a thin cotton cloth to be accurate, with kanji on it. I was told it said something about Aikido, and Hombu, and 2010. As a sweat towel, it's worthless, but I still want to frame it and put it up - maybe in my classroom. For that, it's completely cool. This year's towel is blue and it's a real towel. On one end it says AIKIDO in English. On the other end it says Aikido in kanji. It's also terry cloth, so it works at a towel. I'm going to put this one in my dojo bag and use it. Sensei mentioned that he saw Yakota Sensei from Hombu Dojo with the exact same towel when he was at the Midwest Aikido Center seminar a couple months ago. I was at the seminar on Friday night, but I didn't see a towel. It was nice to get something though. I left early (about 10:45), but it was a nice night and I'm glad I went.

Relaxed

Another breakthrough of sorts at the dojo last night. We were doing techniques from Tai no Henko. We did shiho nage, a couple different kokyu nage throws, and some throws whose memory was beaten out of me last night, including some koshi nages which all led to break falls.

On the one hand, my break falls were all nice and light. On the other, as nage, my throws were all pretty good until I got to David, who is about 75 pounds heavier than me. He is also about nine inches taller. Between all that and my arthritis, I was happy that I did it as well as I did.

The real breakthrough was with the Tai no Henko. Our first kyu sensei and I were working together. He was hounding me to relax. I was doing Tai no Henko the way I thought is was supposed to be done. I was using my ki as I would doing the "unbendable arm" trick. He kept telling me again and again to relax. Finally, I sighed in exasperation, completely relaxed and did the technique then really settled down at the end. He let out this "Ah!" as he tried to keep connected with my wrist. "That felt totally different," he said. I will do it this way from now on.

This is just one more breakthrough in my Aikido. I've been astonished at how I've improved since the start of the summer. I am moving so much more effectively these days. My throws are, from my perspective, quite gentle, yet my ukes go flying. I'm afraid to think of what would happen if I used as much energy as some of the other people at the dojo. Changes are if I did, I might just mess everything up. Moving at this speed and this level of energy seems to work for me. I don't see the need to crank it up right now. Why mess with what's working for me?

More from the Dojo

Thursday I was working with a shodan from Los Angeles. He's working on a project in Milwaukee, and decided to join us for the month he's here. I guess he looked at the Aikido dojo in Milwaukee, but decided to join us, instead.

We were working on irimi nage from ushiro katate dori, using a tenshin step. We led uke around behind us and into the irimi nage. For two "passes" we let uke grab our second wrist, on the last two, we did not. What was both fun and surprising was how easily I was taking down my uke. As I went in to the final move of the irimi nage, my uke's legs just folded under him and he slid forward and collapsed on himself. I said to him that I was being gentle (since that's the way I always try to work), and that I wasn't trying to put him down hard. He smiled and told me not to worry, because whatever it was that I was doing, it was working.

I find this happening more and more at the dojo. I think that I'm doing a better job focusing my center, or "ki," I'm using my body more efficiently and effectively. I'm getting more done with less effort.

We also did a series of koshi nage, or hip throws on Thursday. Koshi nage seems such an integral part of Aikido, yet to me hip throws seem to come straight from judo. Perhaps they do. I'm not going to go down that road right now. The point is that we worked three of four different variations of koshi nage on Thursday, and I was getting my uke over my hip very effectively with little effort. It was good.

Today was the same. I worked with a brown belt who started when the dojo was in its earliest years - it's ten years old now. We were doing tenshi nage - the Heaven and Earth throw, both omote and ura. As long as I was driving my "heaven" hand upward I was taking him down like nothing. This was also good.

At the end of class today Sensei had us practicing for randori. Uke were to attack with a shomen uchi, or overhand strike, and nage had to evade the strike with a move to uke's open side. When it was my turn I could hear Sensei saying, "Nice, good work, very nice." I impressed them all. It's not that I was going for impressing others, but if you knew me, you'd know I never think too highly of myself for a variety of reasons. So it was wonderful to be recognized for doing well. I'm not the type to blow my own horn in public. This medium being the one exception, as I know that no one else reads this.

Finally, my student teacher's supervising teacher came to watch her in action. She, like so many others, wanted to see my class in action as they did their projects in Social Studies. To be clear, my student teacher is helping in this one class, and I am the one who brought them to this point in their learning. They were working in groups on their very first group presentations. At the end of the learning and working time, my class went to some special, and the three of us got a chance to talk. The supervising teacher said, although I am putting this into my own words, that she has seen between 60 and 80 classrooms and their teachers in action, and she has never seen project based learning (PBL) done as well as it was done in my class. Never. Then she went on to tell me that she is on the Wisconsin board of Phi Delta Kappa, the professional teachers organization, and she is going to nominate me for some sort of award they give out annually. I was not expecting that, but it felt good. It will be nice if it actually happens.

While I am not the type to sing my own praises, I won't turn my back when others do. It's encouraging to be recognized for doing well, no matter who is the student and who is the teacher.

Not Much. . .

... to write about today. I missed last because I was taking care of my children while my wife was in school. I was also tired. I know, though, that if I go I will enjoy myself, learn something, and I will no longer be tired. Why then, do I stay home? I need to get to the dojo more often.

Aikido Response Journal

Yes, this is what we have here; an Aikido response journal. I just decided that this morning. I was reviewing some earlier posts, and noticed that the "quick writes" that fill both my blogs are not subject to the formal writing process that I teach at school. I edit on the fly. Ideas that sound fine and fluent in my head read here as if they were written very quickly - and in most cases that is true. In other words, it reads like a first draft - or like a response journal. One way we can respond to something - anything - in the classroom is by writing our thoughts down in a composition book. The ideas there are sometimes shared, but never judged. It's a safe place to be free to write down ideas of any sort. I've always included a composition book on my classroom supply list, because I love their compact size and sturdy construction. It helps, too, that I/we can read from the "Amelia's Notebook" series, and these books mimic the size and look of a composition book. The students can make immediate connections, and Amelia's writing style and the way in which she illustrates her own writing gives the students lots of terrific ideas.

The phone rang last night at about 6:30. It was Carlos, our soon-to-be shodan (1st degree black belt). He asked if I was going to be at class last night, and did I have a key? "Yes," I said, proud of the fact that I was now being somewhat included in the Dojo's "inner circle." It isn't like the Inner Circle does anything special, it's more of an acknowledgement that I take my Aikido seriously enough that the instructors see that I will be a black belt one day. Considering it can take between five and ten years to become a black belt, one needs to be pretty serious to stick around for that length of time, and put in the effort to get there.

Last night's class was pretty rough for me. The weather has turned cold, and my aging body feels it. My joints are stiff, even if my muscles are relaxed. I am still stretching well, and improving my flexibility slowly and consistently. My joints are a different matter all together. We were working in the Iwama style of Aikido that Carlos has studied for most of his training "life." There were at least two techniques that could end in break falls. Of all the opportunities I had while uke, I managed one decent break fall. My joints kept me from doing any others. It was even difficult to get up from sitting seiza; my knees ached all night.

It's not that I love the Iwama style, but I do like learning these new techniques with Carlos. The Iwama techniques seem more directly connected to the weapon's techniques we study on most Saturdays. I like that there is such a clear connection. It especially helps that I love working with weapons, especially the bokken (wooden practice version of the Samurai's Katana). I also like that the Iwama techniques are mostly new to all of the students in the Dojo. Despite rank, we are all searching for what to do next, and working hard to maintain center. Iwama is, at our Dojo, the great equalizer. Black to white belt, we are reminded that we are all beginners all the time.

Non-Aikido Events

Our school district has a new reading adoption this year that includes a guided reading component. Having taught grades 3,4, and 5, our district, and the principals I've worked for have never required me to include guided reading in my classroom. The closest I've come was working at the high poverty school. There was an emphasis on centers, small reading groups, and testing; lots and lots of testing. The biggest problem I had was that the Reading Coordinator wanted all the teachers to stick to the teachers manual to the letter. I thought that was an astoundingly dumb idea. It left me no room to tailor to individual needs.

I am not at that school any more, but I am told by The District that I (all) have to do GR. So I am taking a class (good for one continuing ed credit), to understand guided reading as it relates to this program. Since both the reading adoption and the guided reading component are new to me, I am feeling overwhelmed. I have always used chapter books to teach reading, because I feel it is a far more authentic type of reading than opening up a basil and reading horrid stories. I know my grade level Standards & Benchmarks, and I study the list of reading skills I would be expected to teach were I to use the basil. I can teach any and all reading skills with the chapter books far better than with a basil. Chapter books also lead to much better classroom conversations.

I was discussing all this and more with my instructor who works at the district level now. Then we started to talk about my clasroom focus on Social Studies and how I unleash the creative side of my students with project based learning. I showed her my classroom web site, and the photos of last year's class' projects. She looked at me, waved her hand and said, "Oh, you don't need to be doing guided reading, you need to keep doing what you're doing." Then this gleam came to her eye, and she started talking to me about getting in contact with District-level people about what I'm doing, and how they need to know about me, and what a great resource I'd be to the District people who are trying to push project based learning.

I am not sure I need this sort of attention.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuh, or My First Seminar

I attended my first Aikido seminar last night. It is a three-day seminar at the Midwest Aikido Center, but I only went to the first evening. But even a single evening is a good start.

I was not even sure I was going to go. I'd been hearing about the seminar at our dojo for some weeks now. Our regular instructor is planning to go on Sunday (I think), and our chief instructor, who lives in Chicago, is attending all three days. I'd never been to a seminar before, so I was up in the air about going. At my rank, it's not required of me to go, although at my next rank, I'll be required to attend two seminars per year. So I thought, and thought. Seminars are a big deal. A famous person in the Aikido world always teaches. My attendance would demonstrate my conviction and dedication. On the other hand, it's about 100 miles of driving round trip. I've heard that there are parties after each class, and there's a lot of drinking that goes on, which I don't need when I have to drive 50 miles home, or worse, car pooling home with someone who has been drinking. I drink and enjoy it, but I'll be the first to admit I'm a lightweight in that department, and when I drink, it's usually at home so that I know there's not going to be any driving involved. Keeping it safe, you know? So I talked to Lu, who has been wonderfully supportive of my Aikido. She knows it's my only outlet that's truly mine, and the only place I have to go where I'm away from children and family. It's my only "me" time. She also realizes it's fantastically good for my health. So with all those considerations worked out, I mailed my release form and $45 check for Friday only to the MAC on Tuesday. Again, luck was with me.

Everyone from our dojo who has gone south to Chicago talks about the terrible traffic, and if you want to get to the MAC by 6:30, one needs to leave our home dojo by 3:00 at the latest in order to arrive on time. Our school's principal has been taking Fridays off to drive to Peoria, Illinois to care for her father, who, it seems, it nearing the end of his life. I took the opportunity to leave school ten minutes early. First, I had to drive home to drop off my little dear ones, the elder of the two was driving me crazy, as preteens are inclined to do. By the time I was ready to leave, it was nearly 3:30, but I was not worried.

I drove south on highway 31, a single-lane B road, versus I-94 which turns into a toll road once it gets into Illinois. "The I" - as they say in Wisconsin - has a higher speed limit, but taking it adds almost ten miles to my trip each way. In Gurnee, Illinois I switched to U.S. 41, which is two lanes in each direction, averages a 50 mph speed limit, but has stop lights. I'd stay on that until I got to the Edens Expressway, which goes south through Chicago. I was making good time.

By the time I got to the Edens it was only 4:30. I only had about 15 miles remaining, so I knew I'd get to the MAC with plenty of time to spare. I flipped the radio to a news station to get some traffic, and I heard that traffic on the Edens was unusually heavy; one hour, fifteen minutes from about where I was to downtown. Ouch. With light traffic, the trip would be about 30 minutes. It wasn't long before the traffic began to crawl

Since I'm familiar with the area, I decided to get off the Edens in Skokie, and take Lincoln Avenue through Chicago. It was a great call, because traffic was reasonably light, and Lincoln runs southeast through the city, and at its closest is only two blocks from the dojo. For all the moaning and groaning I'd heard from people who've driven to the MAC on a Friday, I made the trip with little to complain about. The MAC is situated in a typical city neighborhood, so there are plenty of walk-up apartment buildings up and down every street. I can see how parking would normally be a problem, but It wasn't for me. I found plenty of parking once I got there.

I got there at 5:30, a full hour before the seminar began. I took off my shoes at the door, put them on the self, and looked around for someone who might help me. I saw a woman I remembered seeing when I observed the children's class last April. She remembered me, too. I told her who I was and why I was there, and she replied that my check and registration form had only arrived that morning. Whew. Another stroke of luck. She went into the back room and brought it out front to show me. Once we both confirmed that I was who I said I was, I asked about the changing room, the bathroom, and the water fountain. She also suggested that I just "hang out" in the small common room on the far side of the mat area. As a reference, I would say that the MAC is about four times the size of our dojo. Big. Their mats are also some sort of plastic-like material, as opposed to our canvas. It's much easier on the feet, and no mat burns from friction.

After some time, others started to arrive. There were lots, and lots, and lots of men showing up with hakemas - the black pleated pants that indicates one of the black belt ranks. I started to feel a bit overwhelmed, and even a bit intimidated. The night before I pulled out my only white belt. Since we'd be working with one of the big shots from Japan, we use the more traditional belt system, which is black belt with hakema, brown belt, then white belts for all ranks below. I'm one step below brown belt, but I had to dress like a beginner. I didn't mind, though. I didn't want anyone at the MAC expecting too much from me. I wasn't sure what to expect from myself.

Then I started seeing some people I knew. We occasionally have people from MAC come to our dojo to teach classes. I saw one guy named Steve, a black belt, who, in what I've learned is good Aikido tradition, walked in to the common room, and started unpacking a 12-pack of beer into the refrigerator. As he was doing this, I looked into the fridge as well, and saw that it was packed with beer with a few soft drinks thrown in for good measure. At least I had someone there who I could ask my questions and didn't have to worry about being overly formal. Speaking of, I took it upon myself to make sure I went overboard with my etiquette and formality. As they say, you can't ever bow too many times at a dojo. I made sure if nothing else, I would give my back muscles a good workout. I knew people would recognize me as not being from MAC, and would ask me where I was from. I wanted to represent our dojo well.

About 6:00 I made my way into the men's changing room and got dressed. It wasn't long before I was on the mat stretching out. I was surrounded by lots of men and women in hakemas, but some of the guys I saw dressing that I thought were black belts were wearing white belts just like me. That helped me relax a bit, so I did my stretching in earnest. It wasn't long before the mat started to get crowded. I would say there were at least 50 students on the mat. Then suddenly I saw our chief instructor walk in the door. Finally, there was someone I knew from my own dojo. I breathed a small sigh of relief. I walked over to him about the same time he saw me, I bowed (being formal), then he stuck out his hand. We shook. He said how great it was to see methere, and how important it was that I start attending seminars. He asked if I'd seen anyone else from our dojo, and I said no, but the traffic was bad, and people might show up late.

Soon the seminar began, and we lined up. We bowed in. Our teacher was from the main Aikido dojo in Japan. He is noted for being incredibly fast, intense, and strong. He had to be at least my age. I was wowed watching him move with his uke (attackers). Fortunately, and I was told it was because it was the first night, he was working at a level that I could almost keep up with, which was nice. There were a few drawbacks, though. One I had expected, and another I had not.

First, I'd attended a summer Aikido camp two years ago, and I was familiar with how these men work as teachers. They speak in Japanese, and their interpreters do their best to relate what the Sensei said. Same now as then, I had a very hard time understanding, or even hearing the translator. It seemed that no matter where I sat, the translator had her back to me. That was difficult enough. Then there was the actual Aikido itself. In our dojo, our instructors demonstrate one technique at a time with what is very typically two or four variations. We get used to this quickly, as the variations follow the same pattern: left and right, with both sides having a "step in" and a "step around" move. Both the "in" and "around" moves are mirror image, left and right. It's not that hard to catch on. Our teacher last night, however, demonstrated anywhere between six and eight variations every time he taught. It was a challenge to figure out what exactly it was that we were supposed to be practicing. Sometimes he would demonstrate a bunch, and then people would just pick one and go with it.

Fortunately, when the teaching began, our chief instructor sat right next to me - on purpose, I think. He and I started the seminar together, which helped me feel not so overwhelmed. That was great. I think that maybe he also sent a message to the other black belts on the mat, because soon after, when the teacher called everyone together, I noticed that one of the black belts came over and sat right next to me. That was a clear indication that he wanted to work with me next, since upper ranks choose their practice partners first.

When our teacher was done demonstrating, the black belt turned to me and said, "Onegaishimas," or, "let's practice." I returned the 'onegaishimas' and we began. He was a great guy. Right away he noticed that I was tense. "Relax," he said, "You're among friends." Nice to hear, but I was still nervous about being there. I relaxed as much as I could. The teacher clapped and called us together again, and another black belt sat next to me. I worked with him for a while. Then another black belt sat next to me. I started enjoying myself. I also noticed that the people wearing white belts kept practicing with each other. I was really happy to be working with the black belts, and they seemed pleased with me.

The last black belt I worked with was an American of Japanese descent. I heard others talk about him and saying something about "his" students, so I figured he had his own dojo somewhere. He and I did the final exercise together. I think I did well with him, too. He gave me a couple of quick bits of instruction that I put his suggestions into practice right away, and I think he was impressed by how quickly I improved. I was getting him off his knees quickly and with little effort, which is the whole point. He also said I was strong. I don't know about that, since I have a hard time appreciating my own strength or how much energy I'm putting into my techniques, so I guess I did well with him, too.

Soon class was over. We bowed out. The men sat in the common room while the teacher took a shower. When he was done with his shower, we changed. I started talking to the last black belt I was working with, and it turns out that he was a young guy from Brazil. That was quite the coincidence. He was in Chicago to get his MBA at the University of Chicago. The teacher and many of the students went out for Chinese after the class. I took my things, got in my car, and made the 50 mile trek home. Of course, when I pulled into the garage and tried to get out of the car, I couldn't believe how stiff I was, and today I am sore and tired, but I had completed my first seminar.

More Work at the New Dojo

So last week I helped strip the roof off the new dojo. We moved tons (literally) of rocks, rubber sheathing, and insulating material so that the roofers could put on the new roof.

I arrived this morning at the new dojo ready to work. I walked up the alley, behind the corner building and into the space behind the dojo. I think there were about eight people there as well. No one had started anything, so being 15 minutes late was no big deal.

As I stood with the others, I saw the new roof. "That's nice," I said to no one in particular. Others saw what I was looking at, and started to take notice, too. It was a lot of work, but very much worth it.

Today I worked with the other members to rip tile off two office areas and the entry in the building. Each space was about 150 square feet. It was that old Vinyl tile from the 60s, and it had been glued down to last forever. Scraping it up was quite a job.

We also moved some rough hewn lumber from the back area into the garage. There was once piece about two feet wide, six inches deep, and at least ten feet long. There were two long straight branches about six inches in diameter, and another flat piece of hewn lumber one foot wide, by about four feet long. These pieces will be put together to create our kamiza. I think there is also a plan to hang our bokken and jo staffs from there as well. I think it's going to look terrific.

New Roof and a Key

From my other blog:

Our school's IT person helped me out yesterday by letting me know that the iPad I was given was a student model, which is why everything was blocked, and nothing worked. He gave me a teacher's model, which I brought home yesterday. I found iTunes and the App Store loaded on this iPad. I opened up iTunes and entered the term "free" in the search, and found a vast array of public domain books that I wanted to read. I don't have time, though, so I'm not sure what I was thinking.

Some of the public domain books were compliments of the Gutenberg Project. I've heard of that. I'll check back again soon to see what they've added. I saw Dickens, Wharten, Thoreau, and more. Some of the books that were originally written in English are published through this service in other languages. I saw a Dickens novel published in Finnish. I didn't down load that one.

Instead of going to the dojo this morning, I went to the new dojo and helped strip off the old roof. It was one of those flat jobs that are typical for small city buildings. We figured about eight tons of stones were sitting on top of the roof. Over the years a lot of dirt had mixed in with that. We shoveled it into wheel barrows and dumped it into the dump truck that was pulled up to the back of the building. After that, we pulled up the layer of rubber that was supposed to have water proofed the roof with mixed results. We folded these sheets up and dumped them in the big dumpster out back. Then came the 4' x 8' x 4" sheets of Styrofoam, then some brown material in sheet of 18" by 36" by about 1". Someone called it Celotex, but I don't know. This stuff was very dark brown, but it was light and would be good for insulation. That took us down to the plywood. As we stripped the old roof, the professional crew installed the new roof. After my two hours, the entire old roof was gone. There was only a little water damage down at the low end of the roof. We pulled up some of the rotted plywood, and found the stringers underneath in good condition. Our chief instructor, who paid for the building himself, and is paying for the new roof, said that by tearing the old roof off ourselves, we saved "a ton of money." It felt good to be part of that.

Since there were only six of us there, not including the professional crew, I worked the whole time I was there. Sometimes there are so many people there, that some people are always standing around waiting for some direction. The "second" crew showed up at about 11:30. It was the people who went to the dojo and attended class. I have no idea what they were going to do, since the big job was done.

There was also a small section of roof that covers the stairway along the side of the building. This section was only about four feet wide, but it was steeply angled. I have a feeling that when they tear that part off, a lot of people will be standing around doing nothing. As said, I'm glad I went early this morning.

Lastly, as I was walking out to my car, I ran into our regular instructor. He said that since our brown belt, Joe, was awaiting orders and would probably be shipped overseas, he had an extra dojo key burning a hole in his pocket. He gave it to me, saying that sometime I would have to get to the old dojo early to start setting up if someone else wasn't already doing it. He said that since I was a high enough rank it was something he'd wanted to do. "With rank comes responsibility," he said.

Results

After my Aikido class today I wound up alone in the changing room with our chief instructor, who is a fifth degree black belt. I paraphrase here, but he pretty much said, "I've noticed that your Aikido has gotten really sharp over the summer. Really sharp. Don't think I haven't noticed how good you're getting. You're also much more stoic in your practice. This is something we really need from our senior students. They need to set the example for the younger students." By younger, he means lower rank and less experience.


I am feeling good about this, but since I am stoic, I will not show it. Some of it, I suppose, is that the Dave Lowry book, Moving Toward Stillness, has had some affect on me.

School is in session. I'm busy in my fourth grade classroom, and my wife is taking the first two clinical classes for her nursing certification. My attendance at the dojo has been less than stellar.

Speaking of, my entire body hurst from yesterdays classes. One hour of open hand, followed by an hour of weapons. Carlos, who is ready to take his shodan test, taught weapons, and only two of us stayed. We worked three bokken techniques followed by their respective open hand techniques. That was intense enough since the final technique involved a "backwards" choke, meaning, uke is bent backwards with his face is in nage's armpit, and facing upwards with his chest open to anything nage wants to do. In our case, nage was supposed to bend uke's elbow backwards over his knee.

Again, my body is sore, but I have until Tuesday to recover. By then I'll be itching to get back to the dojo and go through it all again.

School has beat the snot out of me. My class is difficult, to say the least. Having a student teacher has helped, but I'm still completely worn out by the time I get home. The only reason I didn't go to the dojo on Thursday is because I had to drive Lu back and forth to her class, which coincided with class.

This week should be better.

Well, It's a Start

We got off to a decent start this week. On the first day of school, we met outside in the parking lot that also doubles as a play area for the students. Yes, there are other areas to play, but about two-thirds of the asphalt is devoted to play. On Thursday morning, there were balloons set out, each one with a grade number on it. The students lined up around their balloons. When it was 8:00 the principal gave a little speech, then the eighth graders all came to the front door, and cut the ribbon that "opened" the school for the year. I always like that tradition.

Before school began, I walked over to the fifth graders to say hello. These were the students who were in my class last year. I got a lot of hugs and smiles. I love that class. It's going to take a lot for any other class to take up that much space in my heart. Since the first day, I always stop at the lunch tables when I see one of my kids there. I keep getting hugs from them. I really hope that never stops. I'd love to have them giving me hugs and smile when they are in eighth grade.

So far the student teacher has been fairly fine. I've spent my time going over procedures; she has gone over an interest inventory called, "My Book of Things and Stuff." The students list their favorite subject, where they would like to go on field trips, and multiple pages asking kids how they like to learn. One page asked alone, in pairs, groups, or whole class. Another instructs kids that they are going to learn about houses and what would they like to do: Build a model? Design a house? Read about houses? There are more pages like that, and I can tell a lot by what they'd like to do. I also like to go over that with the parents to see if the students write anything that surprises the parents.

When we practice at the dojo, our chief instructor walks around and observes while the students practice the technique. If he sees something wrong, he'll work with an individual. If he sees several students doing the technique wrong, he'll stop everyone and correct. He'll also say something to students if he sees good things, too. Yesterday he said something to me. I was in the middle of doing a technique so my concentration was focused on that, not on the specific words he was saying as he walked past, but I got the overall idea. The part of what he said that made it to my brain told me that he was telling me that I was doing the technique about as well as it could be done. I could not have been more pleased.

Out of Sensei's Hands

I had a terrific class yesterday. One of our members tested for sixth kyu yesterday, and afterwards many people went to the new dojo for pizza (probably, I'll find out on Tuesday), and again, probably stayed afterwards to do some more work on our dojo-in-progress.

There was also a small group who skipped the dojo work, but were more than happy to stay for pizza, before they cut out and spent the day at Six Flags Great America. I was asked, but declined the invitation. It was mostly the young, single people who went to Six Flags. Being neither young, nor single, I chose not to go. My wife and I went to my classroom instead. There are still many things to do before school starts on Thursday.

Class itself was very nice. We had a Tai Sebaki (open hand, if I got that right) class for one hour, followed by a weapons class. The open hand class was, again, terrific. I performed the techniques well, and worked with a number of different people. Oddly, our chief instructor asked our regular instructor to teach so he could, as he said, practice. I worked with him once.

There was a moment at the end, after our sixth kyu test, that bothered me momentarily, but I did my best, and am still doing my best, to "keep goddam stupid ego out of it," as Terry Dobson said. I know I'm good, I just would like to have the chance to show it once in a while.

We had weapons after that. We worked on the 31 Jo Kata. I worked with our regular instructor. We traded uke and nage to show the rest of the class (both of them) what to do. There was a time when I had to strike downward on his jo staff, and when I did, I knocked it out of his hand. He was impressed that I was able to do that. I was surprised that I was able to do that. Then I did it again. And I think again. When he did it to me, I could feel his strike run through my jo staff and up into my arm. My bad wrist felt it worst of all. After a few hits, he stopped to watch the other two, and I was able to take a minute to regroup. About all I could do was shake my wrist and hope for the best. Despite that, I had fun, and proved to myself how much I'm improving. I just hope that when school starts I can continue my high level of attendance.

Sunny Side of the Street

It was time for my annual bone density test. The machine is a long, flat table that I lay down on. There is another piece about two feet over the base of the table that takes the x-rays. That piece moves up and down the table. They took pictures of my spine, hips and ankles. In some areas my bone density rose, and it dropped in others. Overall, my density is slightly up, but the numbers are insignificant. Something to the nature of -1.092 last year, and -1.087 this year. It's close enough to the normal range that it's fine. I'm sure it would be better if it was higher, but it's still good.


We went to school today, and started putting my room together. Lu started emptying the boxes of books for my student library, while I put by desk where I wanted it, stacked two shelf units on top of one another to make a tall shelf, and started putting my school binders on the shelf.

I also discovered that my casement windows are not going to be arriving for another month. One month. The workmen removed the plywood from the frames and installed solid pieces of glass that do not open.


The windows do not open.
 
At all.
 
My room does not have air conditioning, and right outside my window is a large parking lot/asphalt area. The asphalt traps heat all day long and radiates it out. Not too different from the way a grocery store's parking lot is always ten or more degrees warmer than everything else during the summer. I am not sure about the shades for the windows. I don't see them in my room waiting to be installed. If they don't go up, then the sun and heat will be coming into my room all day long, and I'll have no fresh air at all.

This didn't happen last year. The teachers on the east side of the building got all their windows on time, although they had to wait for shades. Since they are on the east side of the building, the sun and heat are not such a big issue. By the time the kids leave my room at 2:45, the temperature is usually well into the nineties on the warm days. September is going to be fun.

Premonition of Sorts

I was where I usually am when an important or new idea strikes: in the shower. For whatever reason, I thought about my student teacher from last year, Sarah. She did a brilliant job. She was a carbon copy of me, so of course she was brilliant.

The phone rang earlier this afternoon. It was Sarah. She called to let me know that she got a job teaching fourth grade, like me, in the next city to the north. I am thrilled. We talked for a while, and I let her know that I would always be there for her, and she could call or email if she had any questions about curriculum or anything else she might have a question about. I'm very happy for her, and I know she'll do a great job. She was meant to do this.

Saturday Dojo Party

Joe decided to have a dojo get together. He lives in Illinois, about one half hour's drive south from our current dojo, and about 20-something minutes south of my house. I had his address, so I used my Tom Tom to find my way. I love my sat-nav. I'd be lost without it.
We left the dojo about 1:00 or so. The younger, single people went straight to Joe's from there. I went home to clean up and collect my family. Lu made home made mac-n-cheese with the potato chip topping that needs to be baked in the oven. It's a family favorite, but Lu complains that it gets dry too quickly. It doesn't seem to matter how much milk we add, it gets dry. I still like it, though. As I'm writing this, Lu and I were just talking about the party, and we discovered that we were the only people who brought food. Most people only brought beer, or brought nothing at all. At least when Lu and I go somewhere, we do it right. Lu also noticed that nobody brought any dessert.
I think we arrived about 2:30 or so. The young people had already eaten, but who cares? Joe made brats, hamburgers and baked pork and beans. As we mentioned, we added the mac-n-cheese. There was also some home made taco dip and chips, but I think Joe and his wife made that. I ate a little, but Lu ate even less. I didn't eat much because as I was pulling up to Joe's house, he came walking out and told me to park my car in his driveway. I followed directions, since he's a Lt. Colonel in the army, so when he gives an order, I listen. I tried to back up, but as I did, I lost sight of his low-to-the-ground car and our bumpers rubbed against each other. We both lost some paint, but that's all. That's all. Right. It was enough for my day to be pretty much ruined. I hate doing that. Joe didn't seem to mind at all, and I just kept apologizing. Again, and again. I told him if there was any cost to fix his car, I'd take care of it. Again, it was just some paint, but I felt terrible. I've already decided that I'm going to buy him a very nice bottle of wine, and bring it to him on Tuesday at the dojo. Joe is a red wine drinker, I discovered.
As the day wore on, the party seemed to break up into two groups: the older people, including me, and the younger people. I mostly stayed with the older people, except when Gabriella or Isadora wanted to play the beanbag toss game that the younger people just couldn't seem to get enough of. I tried it a couple times, but couldn't get the feel of it. We have the game here at home, and I seem to do much better here.
Joe had a very interesting house. He grew up there, and his parents lived there until their deaths. He inherited the house, and has lived there ever since. He said the house started out very small and was added on to twice. A quick look at the outside confirmed what he said. Parts of his house were very old. There was a very large deck out back, and a swimming pool that comes into play later. He also added a Japanese garden, which was very beautiful. We sat and talked, and Joe had a great time showing off his garden, and his his house in general.
After a bit, the young people decided to go into the pool. It was the Esther William's model. About four feet deep, and maybe 15 feet across. It was also really cold. The guys jumped in, but the two girls took a long time to lower themselves in. It rained all morning long, and despite my telling Lu to pack suits for the girls, she decided not to. Fortunately, Joe, who is only two years older than me, has several grandchildren. His wife asked if Isadora wanted to get into the pool, noting that she had a size 6X girl's bathing suit in the house. Isadora jumped at the chance to get into the pool.
The young people were in the pool, including Terri, Andrew, Michael, Ashley (they are a couple), and Nick. They are all single except Terri, although she acts like she's single. I also noticed she kept going back to her cell phone to call her husband. I think she was trying to get him to come to the party, although he never showed up while we were there. The young people were doing a whole lot of splashing around, and Joe had a wide variety of pool floaty devices, which the young people were using in a variety of ways. Isadora still wanted to swim. Because of the what Lu didn't pack, I didn't have a swim suit either. I needed one, because the pool was four feet deep, and Isadora couldn't go in without me. Fortunately, Joe had a pair of Army swim trunks that he let me borrow. I was amazed that they fit, since Joe looks a lot thinner than me. They were a bit snug going over my bum, but otherwise, they were good. Lu said I looked good.
The older people could easily tell how cold the pool was, and when they saw me taking my daughter in, they agreed that I was a good dad.
I made my way into the pool, and it's an understatement to say it was cold. I didn't want to be like the girls and take forever to get in, but I also wasn't going to do a cannonball, either. I just used the ladder, and lowered myself in without pause. Did I mention the water was cold? Once I got in, some, including Sensei, asked if I thought the water was cold. I said, "A little," which elicited a laugh from the dry and warm people on the deck. It was time for Isadora to get into the water. She looked around and saw a floaty device that was basically a boat. "Here, Daddy." She threw it in the pool so I could hold it as she climbed in. I am in this water freezing, and she's completely dry. I pulled her around the pool, keeping as far from the young as I could. After a while, she decided to get into a small tube. That was fun. By the time she tried to get onto the third floaty thing, she was too cold, and I said it was time to get out. I was happy that pool time was over.
We left soon after that. It was about 6:00, I guess. I brought ten bottle of beer with me, five Sam Adams Light, and Five Berghoff Summer Wit. The Berghoff was a very famous German restaurant in Chicago. They hired a brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin to brew beer for the restaurant. The beer became popular enough that they licensed the name and recipe and now it's sold in some liquor stores. It was pretty good. I left some of each in Joe's cooler in case somebody wanted some later, and took the rest home. We were not the first to leave, but pretty darn close. I think Joe was going to start a fire in the pit and have everyone make s'more's. I think we left at the right time. The girls were tired, and were happy to get home. Lu and I were also happy to get home.

Saturday Morning

 It rained early yesterday. I didn't bring any gardening tools with me to the dojo, and that worked out fine. Let me briefly explain. Walk in the front door, and there is the "customer" area. Remember, this was a plumbing store before. Customers would walk in, step up to the counter, and order parts. I'm conservatively guessing that this area is between 15 and 20 feet in each direction. I'm not sure what the plans are for this space. There is a door off to the left that leads into a smallish 10' by 10' room, or maybe a bit larger. There is some furniture there now, as well as a refrigerator filled with lots of beer. No, I didn't drink at all. Nobody did. It was too early.
There is a hallway that runs down the center of the building with the customer area on the right, and the room on the left. That hall goes past the two rooms - one on each side - where I pulled out the baseboards. Beyond that is an open area that we will use for our practice. Around the corner to the left is a bathroom. It shares a common wall with the room that holds the refrigerator. Some of us were talking and we weren't sure that this new space isn't much different in size from where we practice now. Maybe it's an illusion. Maybe we'll be able to get in a lot more mats than we have now. We'll see.
My first job was to remove the baseboards from two small rooms that will be right off the practice area. We don't know if we're going to keep these as changing rooms, or demolish them and build changing rooms somewhere else. So I carefully removed the baseboards and pounded out the nails so we could use them again. I noticed that the baseboards from opposite walls were different lengths. I guess they didn't care much if the rooms were square. My second job was to measure the slope of the floor using a laser level and a tape measure. That required a lot of crawling around on the dirty concrete floor.
We also decided on a floor. On top of the concrete we'll arrange 6" x 6" x 3" (or 4") blocks of foam about one foot apart arranged in offset rows. On top of that will go 1/2 inch sheets of 4' X 8' OSB (oriented strand board). On top of that will go a rubber-like material that comes in large rolls about 3' across. On top of that goes the Pergo-like flooring (Sensei decided on bamboo - it looks terrific). On top of that will go our mats. The mats will roll up, so other groups, such as dance, exercise, or yoga, could potentially use our space.
We put together a sample that was about 8' by 8' of all the underlayment, with one box, about 4' x 8', of the snap together flooring on top. We walked on it. We danced on it. We jumped on it. It looked like it moved up and down under our feet too much, but it never felt too soft. We put a practice mat on top of that. Then we fell on it. We threw each other on to it. We bounced a bowling ball off it. Our worry was that something would break the Pergo-like bamboo floor underneath, but it held together beautifully.
Sensei also had a natural cedar privacy fence installed around the back yard perimeter, with a large two-piece gate at the driveway. The driveway enters from the side street, and runs behind one building before entering the dojo property. Now that the fence is up, I can see the back area is much larget than I first thought. We should have enough space for a workout area, and the Japanese garden he wants. There is also a garage(?) back there. Maybe it's a very large tool shed. I'm not sure, but Sensei wants to keep it erect, but change it somehow so it's more like a gazebo or something: Open walls, cinderblock posts at the corners, with the asphalt shingle roof overhead.
It's going to take a long time to get the dojo ready, but it's going to be worth it.

One Little Step, One Bright Lightbulb

I wrote this here back in June of 2010:

"Finally, Aikido is good for my Aiki spirit. It was toward the end of a very long and difficult time in my life. I was having some very serious personal relationship issues. She came into my life unexpectedly, and made that difficult time even worse. I have never been treated so badly before, or since. The Aikido helps me deal with the feelings I still carry. I would like to forgive, but I am not in that place yet. It has never affected any part of my daily life, but if you were to ask, I'd immediately tell you that, no, I haven't forgotten, nor have I forgiven. I would like to be able to forget. I'm not sure about the forgiving part, though. Maybe I'll never get the one without the other."

Aiki spirit means to join with someone rather than to fight. In the dojo it typically refers to the physical, but we can also blend the mental, emotional, or spiritual. I realized this week that I've been thinking about something that wasn't even happening. Once again, I've found that I'm dealing with a perception, while ignoring the reality. I got a terrific dose of reality this week.

I found a blog the other day. It belongs to a woman I knew a long time ago. Sadly I was in a very bad place at the time, so I was not able to have a healthy relationship with this woman. I've known this for a long time, and in my heart, I have taken responsibility for that.

I suppose it was the aiki spirit in me that decided to reach out. I'm not sure what I was looking for, but I know what I found. I found that while I thought I was carrying a lot of bad feelings, I was not. I wrote a comment on her blog, similar to the comments I leave other diarists on www.OpenDiary.com, where I keep my main blog. I wrote something that was hardly profound, but in my own clumsy way expressed concern, hope, and good wishes. I also mentioned that she had a nice family, as she had posted some photos.

While the old me would have balked at posting the comment, this me, the gentle Aikido warrior me, posted the comment with no hesitation. Then I let out a long, slow breath and realized something.

There was no anger, no resentment, no bitternes. Nothing but calm, stillness, peace.

I've been wondering to myself when I would be able to forgive the past, only to realize that I already forgave years ago. It's only been my mental blindness that's kept me from realizing what my heart already did years ago.

Will she write back at some point? I don't know, and honestly, it doesn't really matter. I have realized that I am at peace with this, and have been for a very long time. The only feelings and memories that are left are good ones. I can look back on everything that happened and be grateful for all of it, because it, along with everything else, brought me to where I am today. I would not trade that for the world.

From My Other Blog

Background: I am saving you the trouble of reading my previous entry wherein I explain that I am taking a continuing education class for the purpose of license renewal. It is called "The Daily 5." Two sisters who teach reading have developed this method of teaching reading. Perhaps if the two sisters taught us, it would be better. Instead, two "experts" from a nearby district are teaching. Until now, I was unfamiliar with their abilities. I thought this class would help me be a more effective teacher of reading. I thought it would be interesting. I was wrong.

I can't believe how exhausted I am after coming home from a day of sitting around doing nothing. I sit all day and I get very stiff, especially in my hips and knees where I have arthritis. I like to be moving around. It might help if this class was engaging, but sadly it isn't. Even now, we're sitting in a computer lab, and there is nothing to do. The class instructors have given us a list of reading and "Daily 5" web sites to explore, but I just have zero interest.

This is absolutely the worst continuing education class I've ever experienced. We had the opportunity to evaluate the class this morning, since today is the final day. I've never done this before, but I had no other choice than to give the lowest possible grade to each aspect of the class. I also wrote several pointed comments about the disorganization; the way the examples focus only on Kindergarten and first grade activities; the poor use of technology; and the snail's pace of the class. I still am not sure why we are looking at web sites. The sisters who developed the Daily 5 have password protected and copyrighted everything they do and say, so we can't get access to the original material unless we pay dearly to get it. I see that one of the sites we've been given to explore is from Blogspot.com. I know that Blogspot is blocked at the District level (as is this site). Both are considered "social networking" sites.

I was so tired yesterday that I actually skipped going to the dojo. This is the first class I remember missing this whole summer. I certainly want to continue going as often as possible. I'm down to about 80 hours before I test for my brown belt, so I want to keep going. Being tired shouldn't stop me, but last night it did. I'm guessing with about 80 hours of training left, I should test some time in the spring. I'm looking forward to this very much. I've been a blue belt for almost three years now, and I'm ready for that brown obi (belt) around my waist.

One of my colleagues just looked over at me. I held up my hand to my head as though it were a gun. I pretended to shoot myself in the head.

I really want to go home now.

Working Ukemi

I had a very good class last night. Our regular instructor wasn't there, but one of our senior students taught class. We worked on break falls. We did a couple exercises where we worked in partners, and used our partner to either hold on to, or literally roll over while we did our break falls. I have some abrasions on my forearms from my or my partner's dogi rubbing on my arm as I went over and hit the mat.

I Discovered Stats

I like to write. I do not know computers. I am less familiar with this site perhaps than I should be. I found the stats page and discovered that there are people who have read my blog. Very nice. I have another blog, although over there it's known as a diary, which has a dozen or so regular readers who also make it a point to comment. That's the beauty of that other site; since I've been writing over on OpenDiary.com, it's been an accepted part of the culture that readers comment on others' diaries. Comments don't seem to be as big a part of this site compared to the other. I can accept that. I don't write to get comments. I write to clear the bad feelings away, or remember something that's special to me.

I've been writing on Open Diary since February 1999. The site was about four months old when I discovered it. I think there were fewer than 2,000 people writing on the site when I started my diary. Now there are over 350,000 diaries on the site, although many only include one or two entries before they were abandoned.

Now I discover that maybe someone else out there is reading this, too. I am not going to change the way I write, or what I write. Mostly it's still going to be about Aikido, but some classroom and home events may find their way here. Those topics tend to go into my other blog.

In Today's Email

Yesterday at the dojo, I, along with one other person who is one rank below me, was asked to demonstrate a technique to the rest of the dojo. There were about eight or nine of us in attendance yesterday. Andrew demonstrated Shiho Nage, and after, our Chief Instructor asked me to teach Ikkyo.


I received an email this morning, addressed to both Andrew and me, from our regular instructor.

"You both did a really good job demonstrating techniques at today's class!  Wow!"

It's nice to be recognized for doing well.


I've also recently noticed that I've taken another step on the path. Both my ukemi and my Aikido techniques have become better. I've been told that my forward rolls look like the ones done by our regular instructor, who is a nidan (2nd degree black belt). I'm taking break falls with much more ease and confidence. My techniques are becoming more effective, although I still have a ways to go here depending on the technique. I am also getting past the "issue" from April.

I Knew He Would Ask

I've been teaching this Aikido for Kids class, and doing a good job of it, if I do say so. Our dojo is also moving to a more permanent location, since our Chief Instructor purchased a store front. More than one person said that our dojo is only going to succeed if we have a viable kids' class. Ergo, our other instructor asked if I would be interested in being the full-time kids' class instructor when we move into our new space.

I said I'd have to think about it. I could go for it if I wasn't the only instructor. I wouldn't mind teaching a kids' class if there was another instructor or instructors, and I only had to teach once or twice each month. I don't think I could do it each and every week, even at the princely sum of $20 per class.

Randori

I had the opportunity to practice a more free-flowing form of randori last night. I've practiced more controlled versions before, but last night was more "anything goes." I did well. Some others said so, too, which was nice.

It's so rare that someone else comments on my Aikido. When Sensei demonstrates a technique in class, it's our dojo's practice that whoever's doing ukemi for Sensei will then work with Sensei after his/her demonstration, i.e. when everyone else is practicing what Sensei just demonstrated. When I do ukemi, then practice with Sensei, as nage, I'll do my technique four times: left and right, both omote, and ura. When I'm finished, Sensei will simply say, "Thank  you," then I'll go find someone else to practice with, while Sensei watches others looking for ways to help. And that's all I ever get with Sensei: four tries and a 'thank you.' When he works with other dojo members he seems to take more time with them and work more on their techniques.

Our chief instructor taught class last night. His girlfriend was there, too. I worked with her on an irimi nage, once palm up style, then palm down. Four tries, left, right, palm up, palm down. I played with Sensei's girlfriend, who is either 1st or 2nd kyu. Whichever, she's a brown belt, and she's very good. She complimented me on my ukemi.

So that was nice. One compliment on my ukemi, another on my randori.

New Post

I missed class Tuesday, because we had someone over to the house to help my wife with a on-line pathophysiology test. Thursday I skipped, because the day before we were told about the 212 teachers who were laid off because of Scott (The Neo-Bolshevik) Walker. Thursday was no better, since we then had to sit and listen to the garbage from the administration, and how this was the only way to go about saving money.

Our Principal kept saying things that made no sense to me, because she kept saying "it," as in, 'It isn't over yet. I'm working on it. It's not settled. I've had closed door meetings about it. So I just stayed home. I had a headache, and I wanted a drink when I got home. Usually if I'm going to the dojo, I don't drink that day. If I do, then I sometimes fall asleep before it's time to go.

Yesterday's class was good overall, but I had some trouble. First, as I was warming up, I did a forward roll (before I was ready, I think) and one of my back muscles spasmed a bit. It was all right during class, since I kept moving. But once I stopped, I could feel it spasm really hard, and I just had to leave before our weapons hour. That pissed me off, because I really love weapons class. And I'm pretty good at it, too. It just seems to come naturally to me. Not that all is perfect, but I get about 95% of the techniques without too much frustration.

I also had my wrist popped pretty badly. We were doing a variation on nikkyo, and my partner came down hard on my wrist. He said he felt it pop when he did it, but I didn't feel anything at the time, other than a very solid nikkyo. He stopped immediately and asked if I was okay. I said I was fine, which is when he told me about the popping. At the time, it was not unlike that which I've felt from any of our other upper ranked individuals. My parter yesterday is an ikkyu, and he plays hard. Since I became a third kyu, I've tried to practice with more intensity than before, so hard practice is good. Today I'm having trouble twisting my wrist in either direction. I'm sure I'll be fine by Tuesday.

I won't go to the dojo Thursday. Instead, I'll be at school taking care of my students while they are not on stage singing their part in the school-wide music concert.

Shugyo! Sort of!

Shugyo, or austere practice, is a distinctive feature of martial arts practice. I do my best to train in an austere way as often as my old body will let me.

Our chief instructor taught the first hour of class yesterday. Every technique we worked on began with a tenshin step. It was a great learning experience to see how many different things we could do from that first step. Today my knees are killing me, because, while I only worked with two different partners, I left everything I had on the mat. As uke, I attacked quickly again, and again. I'd go in as soon as I could get up off the mat. As nage, I was throwing with as much intensity as I could muster. I worked as hard as I could until I went into oxygen debt, then I'd have to slow down, or even stop. This was no looked upon well by the instructor.

But here's the thing: Before I got back into Aikido, I did a whole lot of bicycling. I was riding to the tune of over 100 miles each week, with 50 mile rides on Saturdays. I rode with a group made up of a bunch of Cat-3 and even some Cat-2 riders. I remember riding down the road at 30 mph, with some sprints up to 40 mph. More than most (if not all) Aikidoka I know, I know how to manage my oxygen. I know the process of cellular respiration. I know what VO2-Max is, and how to manage mine. I know that I go anaerobic at about 164 heartbeats per minutes - although now that I'm older it's probably less. All my rides meant going on the road with a heart rate monitor strapped to my chest. When it comes to my endurance, I know what I'm doing, and I've learned to listen to my body and hear what it's trying to tell me. I also know that in order to raise my VO2-max, I need to push myself beyond the point where I'm ready to stop when I come to the end of being anaerobic. When my cells run out of fuel, I have to stop. It's only by pushing beyond that point again and again, can our bodies learn to go beyond. Granted, we are only able to push beyond just a little, but if we keep pushing, that limit goes up little by little. But that means that there are going to be times like yesterday when I've pushed myself past the limit, and once I've done that, I'll have to pull way back.

We'll see how that goes. Otherwise, I'm going to have to pull back my practice to a lower level. It's just that when I feel that spirit move me, I want to go all out.

A Bit More Progress

The snow started falling on Tuesday. The school district cancelled all activities as of the end of the school day. The dojo cancelled class. We had a snow day on Wednesday. My wife and I were out for three hours working together to clear snow. We got about two hours help from our neighbor, who has a big snow thrower. We really couldn't have done it without him. We had another snow day Thursday, and again, the dojo cancelled class.

Saturday was the first regular class in a week, and I've been really feeling it. I'm sore, but it that really good way that says 'I had a really good Aikido class.' Our chief instructor was back after getting a muscle tear in his calf while teaching at Midwest Aikido Center. We had an open hand class instead of weapons, which is alright, considering I really like when our chief instructor teaches. Those always seem to be really great classes.

The dojo's other 3rd kyu and I have ben debating on how to line up. She tested in October '09. I tested in March of '10. She's been lining up before me ever since I joined the dojo. Over the summer, she took time off, while I came to every class. I now have six more hours of practice at rank, so we thought I should line up first. Our chief instructor said that hours don't matter as much as date of testing. Since she tested five months before me, she'll always line up first, even though I have more hours. At least we settled that.

One of our members spent the last month in Tokyo, and was able to visit Hombu Dojo for a few classes. He demonstrated a technique he learned there, which we all got to practice. We also worked on an ushiro technique that ended in a kaiten nage. We lined up in two groups. Our group included one 1st, two 3rd, and a fourth kyu. We were really working it, and our chief instructor noticed my intensity. I was glad. I am really hoping to be ready to test in the fall. I want a brown belt. My instructors also want me in a brown belt, first, because they believe I deserve it, and second, it's better for me and the dojo since I'll be an instructor. I know it's "just" a kids class, but I'll still be an instructor.

Finally, we had another of our beginners classes this Saturday. While everyone else went on to the second hour of class with weapons, I worked with our regular instructor and helped teach the beginners. He used me as uke throughout, I demonstrated, and I worked one-on-one with the three students helping them position their hands and bodies properly. I'll keep doing this for the next three weeks.