Well, it's over. And, of course, it's just a beginning.
Thanks so much to everyone for participating today, and especially for helping me all along the way -- not just my teachers, but everyone (because, ultimately, you're ALL my teachers anyway).
So how did I do? All in all, I did OK. There are some things I wish I had back, but I knew there would be. Most importantly, I got lots of great feedback and accolades from my teachers. Given that I came to Roanoke Budo Kai with two other schools worth of other ways to do things behind me, I had a lot of relearning to do, and it wasn't always easy. The fact that my teachers gave me an enthusiastic "thumbs up" today is something I'm very proud of, and very grateful for.
Some key things I remember...
Whitt Sensei has run the show for all other tests (Kyu Tests). Today, Gaston Sensei did, and I swear that about a third of what he asked me to do was stuff we'd never practiced in class. Perhaps that was a good thing for my state of mind, as it kept me thinking creatively, rather than getting all knotted up when something wasn't working.
I had some great Ukes. Chris survived a one-pinkie surprise tekubi, for instance (sorry, Chris). Eric graciously flowed through a bunch of kokyus and kaiten nages. Christie kept coming at me when I was in the chair. Mark's amazing backfalls were a joy to work with during irimi-nage. Todd was a challenge for Shihonage, but we got it together. Sankyo and Yonko on AK was, well, it's always fun to work with AK. If I missed anyone, I apologize. Ya can't do Aikido without Uke, and good Ukes are precious.
Randori... ah, well... One thing I can say is that it's been a lot of years since I've been that tired (at the end). Guess I have a few things to work on yet. :-)
Thanks, everyone. See you on the mat on Monday.
Mike, it was a great time! As far as you being rung out at the end of randori, you have nothing to work on. Our instructions were clear as Uke - "wear you out". So, it was going to go on until you were in that condition, it was just a question of how long would it take.
ReplyDeleteI've done drills like that with firearms, practicing protecting against gun grabs. It's interesting that although you know it is friends and an artificial environment, when the fatigue peaks and adrenaline can't quite cut it, your mind starts to interpret it as a real attack. Did you feel that?
Ha! I felt it as a real attack as soon as Evil Todd surprised me from behind. At that point, I was already dead tired, and I basically never got on the offensive. If Gaston Sensei's objective was to humble me, it worked.
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