Back in the Saddle

As of today, I have a record of three classes in a row. It's been a rough fall. First, school started on September 1st. Those first two weeks were exhausting and I missed several classes. Afterward, I picked up a sinus infection that also involved my chest, and I'm still coughing a lot. I went to half a dozen classes in September. October just began, and I've already attended half as many classes. I only missed last Saturday because I was still feeling sick, and I'd only started taking the antibiotics the doctor prescribed for me.

This has been a nice week, I practiced a wide variety of techniques, including some really obscure variations of some pretty basic techniques, and I've stayed injury free. Not too bad.
One thing I've noticed is a decrease in my range of motion in my right shoulder. I'm not sure if it's my osteoarthritis, or if it's just because I tend to sleep on my right side, and after so many years of this, my shoulder is just screwed up from the weight of me sleeping on that side all night long. I've noticed that the pain in my shoulder comes very early when I'm doing ukemi during the nikkyo and sankyo pins. Far earlier than on my left side.

I've also had a "light bulb" moment on my shikko, or knee walking. I've been able to figure out how to take a step forward so that I make an obtuse angle between my legs instead of something a lot closer to a right angle. That means I'm able to travel farther on each step. My steps aren't very fast, but since I'm able to cover more ground, I don't fall so far behind. I always thought that the arthritis in my hips would keep me from stepping forward that far, but somehow I've been able to make it happen. Maybe I'm thinking more consciously about bringing up my trailing leg, I don't know, but I'm making it work better than I ever have before. At least I'm improving somewhere.

A Step Backward, At Least it Feels Like One

School's been in session for two weeks and three days. I've missed almost every Aikido practice during that time. Hey, life happens. There was the Parent Information Night, the Potluck Supper, and a few other nights when I was just plain tired. Then there was the night when my daughters begged me to stay home.

I've also started reading to my younger daughter again. Somehow we got out of the habit, but now we're starting up again, because it's important.

I went to the dojo Thursday, and had a good practice, except that I torqued my elbow when I was uke on a really nasty pin. It's almost better today, so that's good. I also went today, but took a very bad fall and felt a nerve pinch when I hit the ground. I felt something like an electric shock start at the base of my neck and travel down my right arm. My hand went numb for about five minutes before the feeling slowly came back. I continued to practice with no other ill effects, even until now, except a slightly stiff neck. I'll put some cream on it tonight, and see how it feels tomorrow.

This is probably the one thing that gets to me most about practice: I'm not young anymore, and my body lets me know that at every opportunity. I would say that even after what feels like a very thorough warm up, it still takes me another twenty or thirty minutes of practicing techniques before I truly feel warmed up. That leaves a pretty good window for me to hurt myself during falls or pins. During that first twenty minutes or so, I grimace at every fall or roll, and grunt during every pin. The pain I feel during those fall keeps me from relaxing into the fall, which in turn makes it more likely that I'm going to get hurt. It seems like a vicious cycle that I need to get through. The problem is that other than warming up well, which I've already noted only has a minimal effect, I'm not sure how to get through it.

I've got some thinking to do.

I Need a New Set

I missed Aikido on Tuesday and Thursday due to prior school commitments. Today was a completely different story. My wife began a new class today - human development - that is scheduled to run every Saturday from now until December.  Her class gives me the opportunity to go to Saturday weapons class each week. I'm looking forward to that.

We did some good work today with the bokken. I had a lot of fun. Since I was senior student, I worked with Sensei Chris on all the demonstrations. And if you ask me, I think I did a pretty good job as his uke.

That last two weapons classes have made clear to me that I need new weapons. I got mine nearly two years ago as a set. The set included a red oak bo, and a read oak jo staff. When it arrived, the jo had a thick clear finish that stuck to my hands when they got sweaty. I sanded off the finish and put on a few coats of wood oil. It has worked fine for me since then, but it's really gotten beat up over the past two years. It's really dinged up pretty badly now. When I slid the jo up and down my hands, it feels like Swiss cheese moving under my fingers.

The bokken, while it still looks good and works well, is simply too light for me. For the last two classes I've put mine aside, and taken out a white oak bokken from our dojo supply cabinet. There are several bokkens in the cabinet, but I always reach for the thickest, heaviest bo in the cabinet. My forearms clearly feel the weight difference during class, but I find it better than using something that now feels like a toothpick. This particular bokken is finished similarly to the way my jo staff came, but if my hands stick to the bo, it doesn't bother me. When I get my own, I'll sand it down like I did my jo staff. I'm going to show our chief instructor both white oaks bos and ask him to find me one of the thicker, sturdier ones. I feel I am clearly ready for it, and I don't see myself outgrowing it any time soon.

No Training This Week

I won't be hitting the dojo this week, because too much is happening at school. Tuesday is "Parent Information Night." I'm a bit upset, since this was originally scheduled for Wednesday. A couple weeks ago, we were told that Wednesday is a religious holiday, so Parent Info night was moved to Tuesday.

Thursday is a meeting for parents whose children are joining band or orchestra and need to be fitted for their instruments. Our older daughter wants to play viola, so that's the night we have to attend the meeting. I'm glad she's joining something. We sort of wanted it to be a sport, but this is a nice second choice. Our main reservation is that she'll need to practice on her own time, which she won't. At least with a sport, she'll have practice built in to the regular game schedule. Yes, I know there are orchestra practices, just like band or choir - I did that when I was young. Playing an instrument still demands at least 30 minutes of practice each day no matter what.

I have no idea when the second meeting will end, but if it's early enough, I might be able to get to the dojo. I have no idea right now. On the other hand, my lovely wife will want me to come straight home after the meeting to drop off our daughter, and once I get home, I'm not getting out again.

There is one good thing that begins this week: My wife starts a new class at school this Saturday. Her class coincides with our dojo practice, so I'll drop her off at school, play Aikido, then pick her up after practice. Her class runs through mid-December, so I have at least that many classes guaranteed. That will be nice.

Rank is Arbitrary, Except

There is a young woman at the dojo who tested for 3rd kyu about ten months before me, then she left to try out horseback riding. During that time I had an opportunity to "catch up" in training hours. I think I'm within half a dozen hours of her, although she still has more, so she lines up to my right. What excites me is that since we are so close in training hours, we should take our next rank test together - provided we both keep training at our current pace. I know her, I really like her, and I would enjoy the opportunity to test along side her.

That said, she returned to the dojo Thursday, and we trained together for the first time in months. She was rusty. On a kokyu nage, she was putting her elbow right into my throat, rather than circling my chin up and back. I know she'll be back in form in no time, though. One thing for certain, her ukemi has always been nothing short of amazing. It's really wonderful to have her back.

Starting next Saturday, my wife has a class that gets her closer to her nursing degree. That means that I have almost no choice, but to drop her off at school, then continue on to the dojo. What else am I going to do? Stay home? The girls can come with me and play in the church's play room. As long as they clean up the toys when it's time to leave, nobody cares. I'll have the opportunity to go to every Saturday class from now until mid-December. If our dojo moves to a new location, they can still come with me every Saturday.

I have a student teacher in my classroom this quarter. She is terrific.

Iwama and Aikikai

Our instructor explained the difference between Aikikai Aikido, and Iwama Aikido. Okay, perhaps not the difference, but I'm learning that difference quickly, but the genesis of the two.

Our two first kyus are both from the Iwama style of Aikido. I worked with both last night. I worked with everybody last night. There were ten students in the class, and Sensei kept saying, "New partners," each time we worked on something. When it came time to work with our newest member, we were doing an entering Irimi nage: block with the first hand, do the technique with the trailing arm. Straight in, no irimi step, almost like a clothesline. During one of my partner's turns, he hit me hard enough on the side of my neck to make me see stars. I did my best to give as good as I got, but I was also trying to do my best to learn the technique. I did 'okay' last night. I had a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep. My body hurt, and my muscles were twitching as I lay in bed, making it all the harder to find sleep.

We bought a new MacBook yesterday, as well as a router. I've never set up a router before, but I finally figured out how to make it work. It's nice being wireless.

Ring, Ring

I had no intention of going to the dojo last night. I was tired, and my wife wanted me to stay home, since she likes being with me. We like being with each other. It's a nice arrangement. Besides, my throat was still hurting from Tuesday's choke fest.

The on tap event at the dojo was a trip to the Midwest Aikido Center in Chicago to take a class, then watch rank testing. This was all happening today. We were going to leave from the dojo today at 3:15 to drive south to Chicago. I guess they were going to get something to eat before class, which explains the early departure time.

I'd said I wanted to go as well, since I'm on summer vacation. Sensei was going to take a final count last night to make sure everyone who wanted to go had a ride. Well, like I mentioned, I wasn't going to go last night. So what happens at 7:05 last night? The phone rings. It's Sensei. He wants to know if I'm coming to class, and if I'm going to the MAC. I explain my position, he says, 'okay,' and we hang up.

Now having just spoken with Sensei, I'm not about to plop myself back down on the sofa and watch TV and be with my wife, no matter how tempting it is. I grab my bag, head to the car, and go to the dojo. Guilt is a great motivator. It was a good class, too.

I am not going to the MAC because upon my arrival home last night, my garage door opener started acting up. I'm waiting for the repair man to get back to me now.

Hard to Swallow

Tuesday was an unusual day. Our long-time 1st kyu taught class. I'm not sure where everyone else was, but it was fine. Mostly fine, I'd say. I have always been very particular about things. My wife, from Brasil, says "Cu do ferro," or iron butt. I suppose that's why I graduated from my Master's program with a 4.0 grade average. I see how things ought to be, and that's the way I carry those things out.

So we had class Tuesday. Our resident 1st kyu is trained in another style of Aikido; iwama, I think he said. It seems to be a harder style than the aikikai style we practice. We worked on three techniques that seemed more "battle ready." Two techniques used tonto. All the techniques used controlled pins. That means that we either held our uke down with a pin after a throw, or we moved from attack into a choke hold.

I worked with a 6th kyu girl on the choke pin. This girl is big, and she is not aware of her own strength. Even today, I feel as though I have something stuck in my throat; like a big pill I tried to swallow that never made it past my larynx. It hurts. That said, I was not the only one who made that same comment after class. At least one other student said the same. I hope that a) we don't do any choke holds tonight, and b) my throat feels better soon. If it goes on for a while I'll see the doctor, but honestly I don't know what he'd be able to do. Even if my hyoid bone or some other area is damaged, there is nothing to do, but give it time to heal.

Lastly, and I know I'm not being courteous here, but our new 1st kyu, Joe, is quickly becoming someone I'm not too fond of. It is common for him to be the ranking sempai in class, so he determines how we line up in class. The problem is that he lines up however he feels like, rather than learning the ways of our dojo. We have always lined up the same way since the dojo's inception - at least that is what I've been told. When we line up we place our knees along the line created between the first and second rows of mats. It's simple and makes sense, because if we line up with our knees on the "line," we are lined up straight across. I remember that it was one of my very first classes when someone made it very clear to me that this was how we lined up; knees on the line.

It seems to me that no one has told him, and if they have, he does not heed the instructions. On Tuesday at the end of class, for example, the sensei said, "Line up," and the five or six students of lower rank all lined up very quickly - centered in front of the Kamiza, and with our knees on the line. Simple, easy to figure out. Joe lines up last, and even though there were six students already lined up the way we were supposed to, he plops himself down in seiza away from the other students.

I was the next ranking student in class. Instead of sitting down to my right, he sits about a foot off to my right and about a foot ahead of the line - in other words, at about 45 degrees ahead and to the right. That meant that even though everyone was already down, we all had to move ourselves to adjust to him - even though he was not in the correct place. It bothers me that the five or six of us who lined up correctly had to move and therefore had to line up incorrectly just to line up next to him. As I see it, there seems to be a very strong ego in this guy - something we at this dojo are not used to. In fact, the lack of student (and sensei) ego was one of the things that attracted me to this dojo in the first place.

My very first sensei in Tomiki Aikido also had a tremendous ego. I remember once doing randori - as this is common practice in Tomiki Aikido - with that sensei. At one point as he attacked with the rubber tonto, I grabbed his hand and executed a very nice shiho nage (if I do say so myself) which landed sensei right down on his backside. He had this astonished look on his face, as though he could not believe that one of his white belt students (as all his students were at that time) was able to defend one of his attacks. Well he was not going to take that at all. He got up and slammed that knife into my chest time and time again, as if to say, 'don't every make one of your techniques work on me again.' I had bruises on my chest for days. His ego was the primary reason I quit Tomiki Aikido, and almost quit Aikido altogether.

I'll say that Joe's ego is nowhere near as bad as my first sensei, but I still don't like the idea that he is so oblivious to our dojo's traditions. I'll be as humble as I can and follow along. Maybe I'll learn something, but this is going to be hugely challenging, as I like sticking to procedures that are well established. Sticking to procedure is one of the things that makes me who I am, for better or worse. As a teacher myself, I know that procedures are important, and when students know and accept procedure, it makes everyone's life much easier, and makes learning happen quicker, with less wasted time.

Smooth Operator

I am exhausted this morning. I can feel last night's workout in every cell of my body. Forearms, elbows, knees, quads, back.

Everything we did last night revolved around morote dori (two hands on one wrist), with the exception of our first technique: Hanmi handachi kaiten nage, uchi style, omote and ura.





This technique was part of my 3rd kyu test, as was the same technique in soto style, i.e. going outside instead of under uke's arm. I like these techniques, not because I'm good at them; at best I'm so-so, due to my bad knees, plus I need a few more years of practice to get them down to where I'd like them to be. Perhaps a few years beyond that to get them to where they should be.

I like that technique because of the concentration it takes, and the need to move from the kneeling position. While other martial arts have their kata forms, we have these. I know I'm never going to be fighting someone from a kneeling position. I can't remember the last time I went into a Tokyo tea house - oh, that's right. I've never been to a Tokyo tea house. It's being able to perform a technique from a position that makes moving so difficult for me. These are painful for me, but I like doing them anyway. It is a test of my fortitude, no matter how small a test.


Everything else was from morote dori. Irimi nage three ways, and shiho nage omote and ura. At the end of class, we practiced henka waza, or a variety of techniques from the morote dori attack. I began my henka waza practice with a beginner; one who does not yet know how to fall. It was a practice in patience for me, since I had to take everything so slowly. My partner was baffled as to what to do. I could see she was in that state we all find ourselves in at the early stages where we are all just so overwhelmed by so many techniques that we freeze and become unable to do any techniques at all. So I suggested she do the shiho nage we had just practiced. I could see the idea take hold, and the "deer in the headlights" look vanished from her face. She was good from then on. At some point, Sensei came over and relieved her of her duties as my partner. He and I started working on our henke waza. He was going some great things to me, and I to him. He even threw me in a break fall, and I went with it just as I should have. When it was my turn, not everything was great, but I felt good. I wish I'd had more time to practice, as there were techniques I did not have time to do.


After class, Sensei told me that I was really moving smoothly. This is nice to hear. I've got upper level students from 2nd kyu all the way to  4th dan throwing the occasional compliment my way. While I'm not consciously seeking compliments, it's nice that others see the improvements I'm making that usually escape me, because I'm focusing on so many details, both big and small.


Two more things: We had a visitor - a young, and very pregnant, woman from New York. What she's doing in this small city I don't know. Sensei said she was 1st or 2nd kyu and worked with the Tohei Sensei from New York (not the Tohei Sensei from Chicago) and practiced three to four hours a day. She said she wanted to start up with us a mere two weeks after she has her baby. Cool.

Secondly, our resident shodan has diabetes. Usually he controls things really well. Last night I worked with him twice, and both times I found him to be weak and disoriented. I was really worried. He had finished his first of two bottle of Gatoraide, so I thought he'd be okay. But that was not the case. The second time we worked together, we were supposed to be doing one technique, and he was doing something completely different, and did not seem to know the difference. I'll mention it to Sensei, but as an adult, he is responsible for himself. He's had diabetes his whole life, and should be able to sense when things are good or bad, but I am still worried.

Hiya meshi o Michi

Was I or Wasn't I?

Am I over-thinking? Did I have a good class last night or not? I thought I did. Our chief instructor was there. We started by practicing blows: Shomen-uchi, Yokomen-uchi, Tsuki. This is the first Aikido dojo I've attended where we end tsuki with our fist held sideways. Yes, I understand why, but since no one on earth punches that way, I'm not sure why we do it that way, other than to have us perform our techniques in a certain way.

Then practiced techniques that utilized those strikes. We did irimi nage against shomen uchi. We did forms of ikkyo and gokyo against yokomen uchi, then did a kokyu nage where we held uke by the wrist and elbow of the same arm and entered deeply thereby taking uke down into a back fall, a back roll, or a break fall. We used tonto on the last one.

It all felt pretty good. I worked with Joe (1st kyu) on the irimi nage. I worked with our "regular" instructor on the ikkyo and gokyo, and finally, with a beginner on the kokyu nage.

I was going to say something to our regular instructor after class about how I see myself improving, but then I saw him talking to Joe. They were sort of buddy-buddy, talking about how good their time working together was; how intense of a workout it was. At that point I stopped short. I know my work was good, but it wasn't up to the standards that a nidan or an ikkyu would consider acceptable.

And I guess that's the point: I know I'm improving. I've been told so by a shodan and Joe (the ikkyu), but the road ahead is still long and winding. I cannot see any end in sight. I am 174 hours away from taking my nikkyu test (2nd kyu). At the rate I'm working, I'll test for nikkyu in March of 2012. I feel the baby-step improvements, but that's small comfort when the road ahead has no end in sight. This is the way of Aikido.

I'm sure Thursday will be better.