Wazas & Kisses-March 29th, 2008

Last night we had about six people show up. A couple of dads and sons, plus my girlfriend and I. We only covered 2 or 3 techniques, but we went over them in immense detail.

We focused mainly on aihanmi wazas. Ikkyo, omote and ura. Timing became a huge factor here as we had to flick our "hand swords" and cut into the technique before being grabbed by the aite. If we let them grasp our wrists, it becomes almost impossible to carry out ikkyo or irminage.

I focused so much on the wrist flick that I would stop and think about the next step. This breaks the flow of motion and allows the opponent to solidfy his grip on us. Instead, we need to move in one fluid motion. Not thinking, just moving through and around the aite.

I typically overthink most everything. This has helped me quite a bit in other areas of life, but usually hinders me in aikido. Although I haven't been going to the dojo that much recently, last night I felt what psychologists call "the flow", a state in which physical and mental activity run smoothly and without conscious effort. I used to feel it more, but lost it sometime ago when I broke from regular training. Was good to know it's still there.

Another point that came to mind after practice was the point of first contact. As soon as I make physical contact with the aite, I know if I will do the waza properly or not. The next 99% of my physical movements will either complete the technique or be an awkward, forced imitation of aikido. It reminded me of a first kiss between two people. When the man first touches the woman, he instantly knows that, yes, I did the right thing, or, no, I made a mistake. Anything after that will continue down two wildly different paths. In romance, we speak of passion and chemistry; in aikido-rhythm and ki, the "harmonious energy".

Skill Vs. Strength-March 8th, 2008

Last Saturday we had a nice group. Several of us got together in the chilly dojo to receive instruction. We spent most of the evening practicing various shomenuchi techniques. The sensei went through several wazas all using the sword hand attack.

The natural response to the sword hand (手刀) is to block in an X-form. This is incorrect and quite painful, resulting in bone-on-bone clashing. Instead we should circle our arms up and move slightly to the side of the opponent. This deflects, rather than blocks, the attack.

My first big error of the evening was how I first touch the opponent's arm. I had a bad habit of pushing against his arm when I made contact. We should twist our arms slightly and plant the soft, fleshy part of our forearms on our partner's arms. Remember that, plant NOT push. This allows us to continue the waza without greatly disturbing our movement.

When practicing shomenuchi nikkyo ura, another mistake became apparent. As I was spinning, my hand was bent towards my center. This leads the aite into me and messes up the technique. The shihan explained that I need to keep my hand pointed out and away from my own body to guide my partner in a wider circle and then bring them down.

There were other mistakes, of course, but I am too tired and embarassed to write them all here. Don't worry, true believers, I promise to make more mistakes and post them here.