Highlight Reel

Well, the results are in...  I've been watching the video that Hamden Sensei made for me (thank you soooo much!) with a very critical eye, and I guess I'm both satisfied and humbled.

Some of my favorite sequences are irimi nage with Mark, and pretty much everything I did with Eric.  Here's Mark making me look good, for instance (and even here, my posture could use some work!)

Here's the video (I've edited it down to just under 12 minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY9sOyjfZeY

Honestly, there were quite a few techniques that I don't recall, and I'm not sure how I'd even name them.  I was just trying to do something like what Gaston Sensei was calling out.   I'm happy with how I dealt with that kind of adversity.  I told several people the story of how, at one point, I started to panic, thinking "what's he talking about? -- am I this unprepared?"  As luck would have it, I happened to look down at my feet and see those black painted toenails, and I loosened up (thanks, Tonya).

Even Jiyu Waza looked OK, mostly.

...and there's that pesky Randori.  I'll be living with this for a long time, and I only included this sequence in the "highlight" reel to remind myself that I'm not the bigshot that I sometimes think I am.  It really looks as bad in the video as it felt.  When Evil Todd grabbed me from behind, I was already pretty tired, and from there I really never got my bearings -- I never recovered.   Well, perhaps at the veeeeery end -- when I threw A.K and moved right to Christie.  I want to believe I was about the finally get a rhythm going, but Sensei clapped.

Tai Chi

One thing that's been on my list for some time has been to study Tai Chi with a local teacher.  He's really awesome, and has a close connection to the gentleman in the video below.    I plan to start this Saturday.  I'll do this instead of adding Saturday aikido, but this is something I can do with my wife, Linda.

Can you spot Kokyu Ho, the beginnings of Shiho Nage, and others?

http://youtu.be/6NagW6BImF8

Ender's Game

Folks, if you haven't seen Ender's Game in the movie theater yet, I think it's worth the watch. I read the book in high school.  The premise has only gotten more relevant.

If you do watch, look for Aikido in the movie.  The most obvious references are the hand-to-hand fight training (I saw kote-gaeshi, hiji-garami, and a couple others in quick succession), and several fight-against-the-bully scenes that were relevant, too.

Then there were the less obvious references.  Lots of verbal Aikido on Ender's part, when he works with one of his team leaders, for instance.  Or his whole approach to the ultimate enemy.  Or the final "irimi" that ends the movie.

Anyway, worth the watch.

Mike

Shodan

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.

Butterflies and Toenails

Tonya has expressed that, in solidarity with and in support of my test in 90 minutes (!), she was painting her toenails black, and encouraging others to do the same.   So, I could hardly not do so myself, right?

I figure it'll symbolize "loosening up" a bit.  It ain't pretty, believe me...

Thanks to all those who have emailed me with their support.  (gulp).

Domo Aregatou Gosaimasu

Mike

Almost Showtime

My daughter asked me if I was nervous about my black belt test coming up on Saturday.  She's a nervous child.  Worries about everything.

I told her: "Not really. Why should I be nervous? I've been training for a long time, I have the complete support of my teachers and the people I train with, I'm healthy, and, well, I'm just ready."

In other words, I lied.

Hell yes I'm nervous!  I'm confident.  Resolved.  Determined.  But definitely nervous.  Woke me up several times last night, in fact.  Nothing like waking up dreaming about kaiten-nage. Very disorienting.

I know that test day is seldom anyone's best day. I know I'm going to screw up, and I know that I'll be largely evaluated on how I do under that kind of stress. I know that I'm expected to know the techniques -- not perhaps perfectly (whatever that means), but to a high level of proficiency and confidence.  I know that, most of all, I'll be evaluated on how I handle myself -- attitude, composure, physical and mental posture.

So what do I have going through my head?  What mantra am I chanting continuously?

1. You. Can't. Go. Too. SSSllloooow.  No matter how fact Uke attacks, slow down the technique during the blend.  Take the air out of it.  Drain the adrenaline.  Control the pace of the whole test.
2. Extend the blend.  Move, relax, breathe.  
3. Hip to hip.  Don't overshoot the blend.  Don't be tempted to work on the outside.
4. Welcome the screwups. Means it's real. If you ain't fallin' down, you ain't tryin'.

You can do anything for 2-3 hours.  Just stay focused.

Sorrentino Seminar

OK, so I responded flippantly to Tonya's recent post to the Kai's email list about the Sorentino Sensei Seminar yesterday.  I owe a real response.

First of all, hats off to Tonya for pulling off a great seminar.  She's been very magnanimous by giving a lot of credit to everyone for volunteering various stuff, but there's no getting by the fact that she was the force behind it.  Thank you very much, Whitt Sensei.

And here were Tonya's comments about the things that stuck out for her:

1.       Aikido training is about improving me, not my partner (work with the uke you have, not the one you wish you had….and newbies are a wonderful gift)!

2.       There are 3 jobs on the mat: Sensei, nage and uke.  Each need to do their job with full commitment and focus and if that happens then its good training!

3.       Half of your “dojo dues” goes to your ukemi practice so don’t waste that money by learning nothing as uke!

4.       If there’s room to drive a truck or even a motorcycle between your hips and uke’s then you have a problem!

5.       Give an honest attack….I love the analogy of getting a glass!

6.       Some of his attack choices were different than ours: punch/ withdraw and when grabbing kosa tori to get to ushiro kubishimi we should attempt pull/ move uke instead of going around them!

7.       Structural integrity: head over shoulders over hips and while a wide stance provides stability it limits mobility!

8.       It’s ok to go slow b/c if you are going too fast to be aware of your body then you can’t fix your mistakes!

9.       Sankyo lifts and separates while nikkyo crushes (that seated sankyo pin was fun, wasn’t it?!)

10.   You can keep knives (and tegatana) sharp and effective by cutting the meat and joints (sword hand – not hammer hand, don’t cut into uke’s strength).

I echo all of what she said, and I'd like to emphasize #8.  Tonya is laughing, I'm sure, because I certainly didn't heed that advice when working with her that day!  I remember Sensei telling a joke, but I can't remember the joke...  something about learning to do something that was hard, and how stupid it was to think that speeding up would make it easier.  What was the "something," anyway?

OK...  Some other things that stuck out for me...

Stacked Lessons

As do many good teachers (including ours), the day's lessons clearly built on each other.  "I never throw anything away!" says Sorrentino Sensei.  I love that.

Context

In general, the context for all Aikido techniques is "multiple attackers, weapons everywhere."  Sometimes this can be very helpful if something we're doing seems puzzling in a martial sense.  Context is important.

Kuzushi

OK, there were three essential elements, according to Saotome Sensei.  The second was Kuzushi -- unbalancing, and the third was "posture" (can't remember the Japanese term -- I think it sounded like "says she," or "she say".  Help, anyone...)

Hey -- here's an interesting take on Kuzushi.  Very deep. I really like it.  Remind me to blog about "AABLE" (my own mnemonic).

Final note on Kuzushi.  "Kuzushi first -- then 'do a technique.'"  Gee -- never heard that before.

Irimi, irimi, irimi

The whole day was about irimi.  Entering -- in a lot of different contexts.  Some new twists (for me) included:

• If there's only one attacker, maybe tenkan isn't your best option, because you risk turning your back to your opponent (sorry -- "partner").  But, with more than one attacker (which we always assume, right?), turning gives you the opportunity to see the rest of the field.
• Don't dwell on Uke after the technique is done (watch it on YouTube -- ha!)  Move on to the next attack.

Dynamic, not static

Sorrentino Sensei acknowledged the value of practicing technique from a static position, but strongly emphasized that he "didn't want to cultivate that" as a mind set, and hinted that our practice can do that if we're not careful.  Even tai no henko was practiced dynamically in a number of different ways.

Being Uke

I was honored and very grateful to be called up as Uke several times.  Wow, what an experience to try to work with Sorrentino Sensei!  I remember him demonstrating one technique, where he was quipping about how Uke "couldn't let go if he wanted to."  To me, it felt like I could get hold of him if I wanted to!  I just kept trying because I knew that if I didn't, he'd hit me with that hand I was trying to grab!

I was also impressed that he ran the whole seminar without his "own" Uke.  Most teachers bring an Uke or two that they're familiar with.  Sorrentino Sensei did not, and that's a testament to his abilities as a practitioner, and as a teacher.

Meeting the Blacksburg folks

I trained with a number of our fellow aikidoka from Blacksburg, and then hung out with them at lunch, too. Great people.  I think I'm going to try and make it to the Tuesday night class every once in a while next year.

Tattoos

I gotta get me one.  :-)