Aikido - Test!

The back of my left knee is a little sore from this morning's exercise. Sensei said I had the seat too far back. If it was too close the front of my knee would hurt. I worked with T.W. this before class to help him prep for testing. L.P. is also testing soon. We worked on ryokatatori kokyunage, ryokatatori iriminage, ryokatatetori kokyunage, kokyudoza leading to ryokatatetori tenchinage and some henkawaza variations for when you get stuck in preparation for all the testers. We did a round of randori before the testing and I got to do one. I got a little tied up and spent too much time backing up but got complements from others so I did okay.

Tonight, S.B.(?) (a young woman who often attends our class after working out with the older kids) tested. S. did pretty well even though she was nervous.

It was also the last class for the two sisters from Scotland and their German friend. They're flying back home on Thursday. The older sister brought her new camera (a Canon 30D!) to take a group picture.

Gym - First Morning

A. and I got a started a little late (I set my alarm incorrectly - oops) but we walked down with our towels and our receipts in lieu of our membership cards. We went straight to the recumbent exercyles and did a 20 minute "ride". I ran my heart rate at about 120 and my cadence at just under 100 on level 2 resistance. I'll set my resistance a little higher tomorrow. I'll also try the upright "bike" because my feet kept slipping on the pedals. Too bad the pedals don't have toe-clips! A.'s shoes need arch supports.

C. says she'll work with us via e-mail to design a plan and (hopefully! *fingers crossed*) help us stay motivated. Heck, the next 14 months are paid for. We'd better darn-well use it!

Weight: 306

Aikido - Bokken

Tonight, K.S. sensei led weapons class. We worked on bokken basics: The stances, the strikes, the yokomen parry and, putting them all together, Bokken Kata #1.

Gym - Signed up!

A.C. and I signed up, this morning, at the Being Fit gym near home. We plan to go every weekday morning to work on the machines to get healthier, get stronger, get fitter and lose weight.

Test Prep

Several of us have been helping some of our fellow students get ready for testing. I helped L. P. and T. W. through the evening with the rokkyu and gokkyu techniques they need to know. My toe slowed me up a little bit but not too much. Good class (as usual).

Purple Toe

Another crowded mat. It's good to have a nice mix of new and experienced people to work with. I am helping one guy get ready for his rokkyu test. I missed too much tonight because about an hour into class I caught my right little toe in the crack between two mats. It started to swell and turn pretty colors. I sat out for a bit and did some more training near the end of class.

Katatori Attacks

Before class, Sensei had me help a new student get familiar with sitting seiza and working on kohotento undo and another student asked me to help him get ready for his rokkyu test. Most of our new students were back, too, so we had another large class (21, I think). After warming up we worked on katatori responses, first yielding then parrying then responding with ikkyo. We also worked on katatori iriminage and ended class with kokyu doza and misogi breathing.

Weight: 303

Sensei's Back

T. and I went to Aikido tonight and had fun. It was about the largest class I've seen in our dojo. There were 24 people on the mat. We have a lot of new people and, in my opinion, one of Sensei's strengths is being able to teach one technique in such a way that anyone can learn it at their current level. We did some more ki testing and some of the techniques that naturally flow from them. We did katatetori sokomen iriminage among other things.

My wrist acted up a bit but not as much as last week.

Wrist Pain

T. went to her YAMS group tonight to make connections there. She'll be coming to Aikido on Monday and Tuesdays for the summer, at least.

I got to class a bit early to stretch out. I'm a bit stiff from Tuesday (no surprise, there, after almost two months off!). Only one of the older male beginners came back but the two young women (sisters from Scotland) came and brought a friend of theirs from Germany. After warming up and rolling we worked on katatecosadori ikkyo, katatecosadori tenkan kokyunage, katatecosadori sokomen iriminage and other variations. My left wrist, which has been bugging be for a couple weeks (feels like a bit of tendonitis) and it got so I couldn't hold on during the grab as uke. Especially painful was putting my palm on the floor when doing or recovering from ukemi. I had to use the knuckles of my fist to push up with.

I wore out a little earlier tonight because the class was a bit more vigorous than Tuesday.

Beginner Night

T. and I came back after a far-too-long absence for sickness, vacation and, well, laziness. It was the first day of the summer session and as T. and I came up to the desk to register there were two young women registering and a young man who'd just finished and was putting on a dogi. T. helped him with his belt. We had at least five new attendees.

A.O. sensei taught tonight. After stretching and kohotento undo, we did rolls to give the new people practice. We worked on sumi otoshi for rolling practice (forward and back) then worked on ikkyo. Next, we worked on katatecosadori kokyunage and katatecosadori kotegaeshi. We finished with some ki exercises.

My left wrist has been bugging me for a couple weeks. I must have tweaked it because I can't bend it forward or back and kotegaeshi is right out.

Weight: 305