Happy moments...

My own experience says that you can't combine Aikido and photography. You either do Aikido or you take pictures. If you try to combine you will suck at both. This is why I am so happy I do not have many pics. This means I focused on what was important - taking the most benefits from Piotr and his crew being here with us. Yet there is this group photo I want to share.

Clarification

Just to clarify, as I did in a comment to previous post - grading I took last Sunday was for 1st kyu. I will have to take shodan exam on my next visit to Poland.

Last Day of Seminar

For me, the highlight of this day was the grading of our sensei. He doesn't like being refered to as sensei outside class, but to us he is our precious sensei, and he knows it.
Anyway, he did his black-belt grading and passed. Wow, you should have seen him in action. Of course he had to hold back coz of the bad floor, but overall it was quite amazing to watch. I wanna become like him.
The certificates for gokyu were also presented to all of us that passed. So it was a win-win situation for everyone.
From the bottom of my heart, i wish to express my special gratitude to Piotr sensei, Kasha, Martin, and most of all Mateusz. For some of us, finding a physical activity that one can do with much dedication and enthusiasm is quite an achievement. And thanks to Mateusz, this has become a reality, at least for me.
Thanks to all who I have practised with. Stay strong coz I still need you next year. Take care everyone!

Saturday at Aga Khan Sports Club-Day 3 of Seminar

Saturday was D-day for some people who had been looking forward to being graded for gokyu. There were a few problems with the venue, but eventually it was all sorted and we had a nice session.

The first part was spent mostly on some basic techniques. It was very different in that we had all these skilled people and they perform techniques without holding back, all this despite the fact that the floor is not at all forgiving. Ok, I am repeating myself here but I think it’s important to note that this is not child’s play.

Right, so Piotr sensei really took some time to demonstrate a few techniques and explain in more detail the concept behind each and every one of them. It was all very enlightening. Yeah, there was some kote gaeshi, some kind of irimi nage, etc with the attacks also changing from tsuki to katate dori…

After a short break we had a weapons class. This was done using jo. It was our very first jo class ever since we started aikido. First time in my life to be honest. A jo is basically a straight piece of wood, slightly longer than a bokken. The explanation was that there are no rules like with bokken use. This is just a weapon you use to seriously injure or kill someone, there are no formalities. Piotr Sensei said that he enjoys using/teaching the jo class more than the bokken class. There were all these new styles shown and its all very hazy now, but I am sure Mateusz will make it palatable for us next year.

Then came the main event, grading. Of course every one being graded was very nervous. Its kinda like the moment when swords are drawn. Everyone freezes. (I am lifting this from a Japanese movie I saw once called the ‘The Hidden Blade’). Its hard to explain if you haven’t watched the movie yet. Anyway, despite all this nervousness, everyone managed to show some level of understanding of the gokyu techniques. Proof of whether Piotr Sensei was convinced will be known tomorrow when we get our results. I can’t wait.

For me I find that I learn something new in every session. Like now I understand how and why people bow to each other in seiza. I even understand why the left hand is the first to touch the ground and also the last to leave the ground, and why one should not lift the body off the ground when doing this. These are not things you will learn from you-tube or over the internet, so I think it’s a great privilege to have our guests impart all this knowledge to us for free. Mateusz suggested that if anyone has any questions, now would be the right time to ask because we have someone who has been teaching for a very long time, so knock yourselves out guys!

Friday's Class (At Goan Gymkhana)

It was a lesson like no other that I've attended.

Firstly, thanks go to Piotr Sensei for giving his time, knowledge, and encouraging words. Thanks also go to Mateusz, Martin, and Kasha Sensei. The short moments of interaction during the lesson were awesome; I learnt something new and had fun at the same time. Thank you - I'm very grateful.

Next, congratulations go to those who obtained 5th Kyu during the grading session.

It may seem like a dance (as was mentioned during class), but Aikido has some really practical aspects. This was clearly demonstrated with Kaiten, where a knee strike to the head is the intent.

Dodging Shomen Uchis was another interesting part of class. Don't move backwards and keep focus on all opponents, especially the nearest one. An interesting aspect was trying it with hands behind the back - not easy!

Ikkyo, Kote Gaeshi, Shiho were also covered with many explanations to go with the technique. Issues such as position of the leg with Ikkyo (keep outer leg infront to prevent it from being grabbed, keeping back straight) were taught. With Shiho, Uke's arm can be broken at several stages of the technique. All in all I really appreciated 'the why?'. In short, awesome!

On a final note, my own Aikido experience. I began Aikido mid this year and fondly remember my first lessons. They involved watching Sensei demonstrate a technique then trying the technique myself. It mostly ended up with me forgetting it or doing something totally different. Sitting at the corner of the class watching the seniors perform the moves and wondering whether I'll ever get there. I almost quit after every lesson. With nothing to show other than bruised knees, aching shoulders, hurting elbows, strained toes (I didn't even know this was possible) - why continue? One more step - one more class - giving up is no option. Well, hopefully, I've passed the initial inertia and look forward to the next learning curve and the next Friday class - next year!

Otherwise, I'm glad I met new people, had great times, and wish everyone all the best in their endeavours.

Have a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year!

Venue change notice

Please be informed that KU venue is unavailable, therefore seminar will be held at Aga Khan Sports Club.
Sorry for inconvienence

Wednesday at the Goan Gymkhana

The Wednesday class was SPECIAL. Special in so many ways. We had the privilege of Piotr sensei and 2 of his friends gracing our practice session. That means there were 4 hakama-wearing guys. I have never felt so honored in my life. Honestly, it felt awesome being in the presence of these very skilled people. If you have taken a look at the pictures on our web-page, you will immediately single out the lady and Piotr Sensei.

Naturally, Piotr sensei took us through the class. I can’t clearly describe in detail what we did (I am not good with words so I can end up writing a novel instead), but suffice it to say it was an intensive 2 hours. Everything was different. Each teacher has their own way of teaching. Most inspiring of all was seeing Mateusz take a back seat for once. He was an A student all along, carefully paying attention to Piotr sensei’s every word, and I was secretly watching his every move. (I wanna be good too, you know).

Normally, we restrict ourselves to doing ukemi on soft ground. Piotr sensei did it on the hard wooden/concrete floor with so much ease. Following his cue, we did the same, but am not so sure everyone’s shoulders are ok. If you bruised your shoulders or any other part of your body, it should serve as a challenge to try roll better next time.

So we had a warm-up session, immediately followed by gyaku-hanmi kote gaeshi. This is the technique we focused on. We first started with a static attack, following it with a chudan-tsuki (straight punch to the stomach). It was a good opportunity for uke to learn how to respond. Usually, Mateusz has a hard time teaching us guys how to absorb techniques. Yesterday we saw it first-hand, how uke and tori react. Amazing stuff. Despite the floor not being very forgiving, the technique was performed almost like one would on a tatami floor.

Lots of other exercises followed after this and honestly it was kind of a relief when one hour was up, because I was beat. By this time I was panting like…It reminded me of my first session at KU. I can’t imagine 4 hours on Saturday and 4 more on Sunday.

Bokken practice was even more fun. After warm-up we did some shomen uchi, and immediately moved to ichi-no-tachi. This was different from the one Mateusz showed us. Due to time being so short, or my mind working too slowly, I was not able to perfect this tachi, especially my footwork, but I have enough to work on.

Personally, I got a chance to practice with each of our guests, and it was all very eye-opening. I look forward to practicing with them again tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

On a lighter note, I got to kind of understand why aikido is not competitive. If you perform the techniques without restraint, the results will most likely be fatal. This is obviously not the main reason, but I am just saying.

Weekend seminar

Please note class schedule for next few days:

Friday, December 17th - Goan Gym Khana from 1800 til 2000
Saturday, December 18th - Kenyatta University from 1200 til 1600
Sunday, December 19th - Kenyatta University from 1200 til 1600 (pending confirmation)

At KU

The techniques we focused on were juji-nage, kokyu-nage, sumi-otoshi, tenchi-nage and kaiten-nage, the latter being a continuation of Friday’s lesson. We were able to focus on the details of each technique as we try to master them, and understand their application.

Towards the end we had a mock test situation where all of us present failed miserably. Clearly, we still have a long way to go. Of course the test comprised most of the 5^th kyu techniques, so we were able to remind ourselves once again how to do them.

In weapon practice we did iaido, where we continued with Shindo Munen Ryu. We revised Iwanami, Ukifune-gaeshi, noarashi-gaeshi and utsusemi. We then added the 5^th one, matsukaze.

Some points emerging from all this included reasons why some movements are necessary, especially in iaido, e.g. the movement right before chiburi. Another one was whether movements are in a straight line or with feet being at shoulder width apart, etc.

Friday's Class

Kaiten was the technique of the day; both the Uchi & Soto versions.

Important difference from Tenchi. Where as with Tenchi, the initial movement is outward, with Kaiten it is with the wrist inward. Next... Just as it is important in Shiho to keep ones eyes on the movement of Uke's hand, so is it with Kaiten Uchi. When going underneath Uke's arm, keep focus on the hand and don't bend the torso.

Before I forget, we also covered a Sankyo version of Kaiten. With this one, remember to keep Uke's hand high and close to the chest (like with Nikyo) and cut through Uke.

Well, that was Friday's class!

At Goan Gym

Having missed class last Wednesday due to traffic, and with Mateusz not showing up on Friday due to work, I looked forward to today’s class with much anticipation. We did not practice at our usual place though. Despite this all was well. We focused on the different ways of doing gyaku-hanmi katate-dori shiho-nage. So we started with the ura version, then moved to gedan, which is pretty tricky. Statically, tori opens uke’s elbow like in kaiten-nage, but instead of moving in steps forward with the back leg and back with the forward leg such that they are standing perpendicularly to each other. At the same time, (this is the tricky part) tori does a forward cut such that tori ends up beside him/her. The rest is the normal shiho-nage that we know.

This can also be applied when the attack is yokomen-uchi. Initially we used to step back and stretch uke. But what if uke is really good? Then you can try gedan.

Aiki-ken (合氣剣) was as usual, where we practiced shomen-uchi and a few other basic techniques and finished with Chiba Sensei’s first 2 katas(型).

There will be class on Friday, just in case someone heard some rumors that there might be no class. Again, there definitely will be aikido class on Friday at the Japanese Embassy. Be prepared for a series of more classes since Piotr Sensei will be here in like a week, so we have a lot to do guys!

Friday's Class

We began with the stretching exercises; for the hands, legs, neck, back - basically a complete warm-up. Mae & Ushiro Ukemi followed both from Suwari Waza & Tachi Waza.

We then went through the techniques required for the 5 Kyu level. It covered both the Omote & Ura, Ai Hanmi & Gyaku Hanmi versions. What was really fun was the coming together to try and remember the techniques in addition to correcting each other on the correct form.

In summary, we enjoyed ourselves!

at KU

Saturday started on a somewhat shaky note. That is because it was a rainy morning, and it came with all the usual problems, namely traffic jams, mud, congestion, i leave it there for now. Anyway, despite all this we had enough quorum to do some aikido. As is customary, we tried to perfect our ukemis and do some more dynamic techniques. For those who had never done ukemi on tatami before, i have to say it was quite hectic. (some of us had it kinda easy, lol!)
So we managed to go through techniques like juji-nage, irimi-nage, and the like.
There was an impromptu test situation where we had to perform techniques almost on instinct, and ...well...we delivered. This is the part where some of us got to be reminded of uchi-kaiten-nage and sumi-otoshi. Its always so easy to forget.
For aiki-ken, we did shohatto and sato from Muso Shinden Ryu school. We also did iwanami, ukifune-gaeshi, noarashi-gaeshi and utsu-semi from Shindo Munen Ryu school.

Friday's Class

We covered several KatateDori techniques, both omote & ura versions, which included:

• Ikkyo AiHanmi (KataDori technique as well)
• Sankyo AiHanmi
• Gokyo AiHanmi
• Rokkyo AiHanmi & GyakuHanmi

It was a great refresher lesson. The techniques all seem to be derived from the initial Ikkyo movement, with subsequent moves then being specific. Everything also seems related to the sword movement; get the sword movement right and the technique works easier.

Gokyu focuses on the forearm (closer to the wrist than elbow). Sankyo on the wrist. With Rokkyo, focus is on securing Uke's elbow. Subsequent pressure is then applied to the wrist to force Uke downward to the ground. It's a technique that can be used to keep an attacker on the ground until 'reinforcements' arrive.

Back stretching exercise completed the class.

End of class was followed by a relaxation session over drinks. Interesting and thought provoking issues were discussed. I enjoyed myself and it was a different ending for my Friday's evening - thanks Sensei for the invitation.

Until next Friday!

First off, it was nice of the additional ladies to show up and grace our session. Feel free to join us again next time, (maybe this Friday?)

Ok, so we essentially did katate dori gyaku hanmi kokyu nage, changed the attack to chudan tsuki, tried chudan geri (this didn't work). We also went through reverse kote gaeshi and finished with ai hanmi nikyo.

With bokkens, Mateusz managed to come up with a somewhat conclusion of ichi no tachi dori, which is one of the aikido bokken forms. This is what we did.

Friday's Class

Firstly, there were stretching exercises. For the back, legs, waist, well... basically routines to be incorporated for personal fitness and flexibility.

Next was Aikido. The techniques for today's class were (gyaku-hanmi omote):

• hanmi-hadachi katatedori shiho
• tachiwaza katatedori shiho
• hanmi-hadachi ryotedori shiho
• tachiwaza katadori ikkyo

Points to remember:

• don't expose your sides; you could get tickled
• for ikkyo's focus on the elbow and not that much on the wrist; keep uke's elbow bent
• for shiho's keep uke's arm infront when tenkan-ing
• don't fall unless the technique has worked!

Otherwise, classes are really getting exciting and I'm eagerly looking forward to next Friday's class!

Saturday and Wednesday Sessions

Having adapted to the Saturday sessions after attending only one session, I found it easy to keep up with what was going on. I won’t go into details because I lost focus at some point due to fatigue, but we covered most of the dynamic techniques, which included juji nage, sumi otoshi, kiri otoshi, and irimi nage (it is possible that I have forgotten one or two). Of course there was also mae ukemi. What I found most intriguing is that these sessions are so intensive that the only thing for me to do in order to get through them is to let loose. Forget everything and just react to what is happening. There is no time to slack off and daydream.

In the aiki-ken (会氣剣), we were able to complete the form that we have been practicing for a while now.actually, there was a little contention as to how the form ends, but we have the idea. On a side note, we might experience an even cooler form when Piotr Sensei comes next month.

We ended our day on a very high note, whereby most of us went to hang out after class. There is this fabulous sushi place in Westlands, where we had intelligent discussions as we savored this Japanese delicacy. That was quite an experience for most of us I dare say.

Of particular note on the Wednesday class at Goan Gymkhana is that Mateusz had some advice for us before class. In our Birankai International Passport (the booklet), rule 4 on page 16 stresses that what the sensei gives is not absolute, but rather an opening or path. We were encouraged to take note of this.

The basic technique in the first hour was gyaku-hanmi katate-dori shiho-nage. We were shown different variations of the omote version, including hanmi-hatachi, both in tachi-waza and suwari-waza. The theory is quite simple really, just move in while raising the arm as if raising the sword, grab uke’s wrist while keeping your elbows down, turn and cut to uke’s lower back. Uke’s reactions are equally important. For the simple reason that if one tries the technique in hanmi-hantachi, uke could be in so much unnecessary pain unless they react/move accordingly.

The aiki-ken practice was a little different this time round. We tried Muso Shinden Ryu and Shindo Munen Ryu techniques. We started with the former, which is always in seiza, and we were shown the first 4 forms, namely, shohatto, sato, uto and atarito. It is important to familiarize oneself with nuki tsuke and noto. Nuki tsuke is the act of drawing the sword. Noto is the act of re-sheathing the sword. At the moment we can only do this theoretically, but for those who are serious about this, it is advisable to acquire a iaito. If you talk to Mateusz nicely, I am sure he will hook you up, especially since Piotr Sensei will be coming next month. We were able to go through shohatto, and for some of us it was easy, having covered this in one of the Tuesday classes that was scrapped. We then did the first 2 forms of Shindo Munen Ryu, that is Iwanami and Ukifune-gaeshi. The basic steps are: take 2 steps forward beginning with the right foot and on the 3^rd step move to the side as you do nuki-tsuke (draw and cut off opponent’s wrist). I have forgotten the name of this cut, but it is a kind of kesa giri, only its from below. Then step back and do shomen-uchi, chiburi and noto, in that order. Ukifune-gaeshi was my favorite. After the first 3 steps, take 2 steps backwards and do shomen-uchi. Take 2 more steps forward while ‘pushing’ with the sword, and do another shomen-uchi. Then step forward with the right foot while doing barai in such a way that the sword ends up on your left shoulder sideways. Step sideways with the left foot and do a kesa giri, (this is my coolest part), then step forward, do chiburi and noto. If you know something about hara-kiri, this is the decapitation part.

Friday's Class

With practice certain aspects of Aikido e.g. Ushiro Ukemi (backward rolls) are becoming kind of fun. The initial phobia and slight bruises seem something of the past. However, I harbour no intention of trying it on certain floors!

We began today's class with Kaiten Nage. It must have been the Uchi version which goes on the outside of Uke's arm as opposed to Soto, which goes under Uke's arm. Next was Tenkan Ho, followed by GyakuHanmi Kokyu Ho. The former was a building block for the latter. It was the Ura version though a demonstration was given for the Omote version as well as a stationary one.

Irimi Nage then followed, both the AiHanmi & GyakuHanmi Ura versions.

Wednesday at Goan Gym

Occasionally we get the privilege of quite a number of ladies gracing us with their presence during practice. It is a rare chance to experiment the techniques on what I consider worthy opponents.
Wednesday was one such occasion. In addition to the few ladies who are always with us, even more showed up such that the ratio of ladies to guys was almost 1 to 1. I was pleasantly surprised when a lady somehow managed to pin me down with a nikyo technique. Well, I kinda made it easy for her but seeing the ‘evil’ grin on her face was quite something. I am sure in her mind she was like, “uh huh, uh huh, don’t mess with me next time”. Or, something close to that. You can do this, ladies. Just put your back into it and keep up the spirit. Don’t disappear.

We basically went through gyaku-hanmi nikyo-ura and nikyo-omote, and finished with rokkyo. Nowadays we pay a lot of attention to detail because of the upcoming grading next month. Just the mention of the name sounds intimidating, but I hope we will be ready in time. All one has to do is work hard, right?

The aiki-ken(会氣剣) or bokken practise was also quite something. We continued with one of the forms we had started last week and it was fun. Apparently these forms are under constant perfection or modification, such that no single form can be maintained for long. One has to be alert and move with the times, I think.

After practise a few of us went for a bottle of beer. Its always nice to hang out even after the lesson. One can really let loose (partly coz of the beer) and still learn a lot. And besides, its a lot of fun fun fun!!!

Friday's Class

Is it just me or is time really moving - it's Friday once again!

Where do I start today? For starters I was late for class, so bear with me if I miss the nitty-gritty details.

Okay... There was Ikkyo from SuwariWaza (from the knees as opposed to standing which is TachiWaza). Both ura and omote versions were covered.

Next came a KataDori (shoulder grab) technique. Not to be confused with KatateDori (wrist grab). Now this technique involved moving the grabbed shoulder backwards away from uke in order to destabilize, then with the other hand and approaching from below the chin, pushing uke's head up and towards the spine.

KoteGaeshi was closely behind. Both the KatateDori GyakuHanmi and AiHanmi versions. One of my favourites of 'Simplicity Rocks!' But that's another story of its own.

What I will call 'Entanglement' aka JujiGarame came last; RyoteDori GyakuHanmi. If KoteGaeshi is simplicity for tori, JujiGarame is 'ouch' for uke. Why? Getting to the point where ones arms are locked in that manner... well, that's 'heat'!

This how it goes, first move to try - Ikkyo. If pushed go Ura mode, if pulled go Omote mode. Had a long day and want something straight to the point - KoteGaeshi. Had one too many, JujiGarame would be nice - just make sure the entangled hands aren't yours :) If you have to fall bend the leg closest to uke but don't fall unless you have to - it helps tori learn and saves you some unnecessary aches.

So, that was today's class - exciting, lively, and fun (at least for me). Until next Friday!

Wednesday at Goan Gymkhana

This was one of the simplest classes ever. In this sense; owing to the request of some aikidokas, Mateusz kept things very…oh, I don’t know, slow? Guys just wanted to learn the names of the techniques in a static manner. To make this as palatable as possible, we only concentrated on 1 technique; ikkyo. The attack was gyaku-hanmi katate-dori. So we focused on ikkyo-omote and ikkyo-ura. The initial movement is important, difference being that when doing the omote version, one changes legs when stepping out of the line of attack. This was a good chance to focus on the details.

The ken-jutsu(剣術) was also unique in that a new form was introduced. It is a long one, so we did not get to finish it. I am looking forward to it next time.

Friday's Class

It's Friday!

Today's class... From the start.

We began with some ukemi (rolls). As usual, at least for me, the roll was not as smooth - the sound of contact with the ground was occasionally heard. I really need to master this otherwise the floor with smoothen me :) Anyway, remember that the head goes to the side and avoid touching the ground with the knees.

We then covered AiHanmi Ikkyo Omote in 3 versions, namely:

1. KatateDori (single wrist grab),
2. MoroteDori (single wrist grab with attacker ie uke using both hands),
3. RyoteDori (both wrists being grabbed).

The concepts are all similar and once the KatateDori version is understood, the others will follow.

From there came JujiNage (if I remember right). It starts as RyoteDori Ikkyo but uke's hands get crossed; one hand crosses the other at the elbow. Kind of entangling of the arms - interesting!

Finally, we ended with a wrist plus elbow lock (not sure of the name but something of the form Hiji Garame Rokkyo). It starts from MoroteDori Ikkyo but the movement changes direction and locks the wrist and elbow. The straight arm is then made vertical thereby pushing, or should I say obliging, uke to lower themself to the ground. Talk about persuasion!

Remember, keep elbows close to oneself, uke's elbow goes over & through their head, and roll smoothly (for your own sake).

That was the class today.

Important notice to those who did not attend: there are no classes on Saturday & Tuesday.

That should be all for now - until Friday!

At Goan Gymkhana

So, quite a number of people showed up and this changed the course of events. I think some had gone out of Nairobi for one reason or another, but as one can imagine, most of those who have missed the action for a while had quite some catching up to do. For the benefit of those who were not there on Tuesday, we reviewed juji-garame. Then followed another whole range of techniques including yokomen-uchi shiho-nage, ryote-dori kote-gaeshi, ryote-dori shiho-nage. I honestly didn’t keep tabs on the names this time round, but whenever possible we did both ura and omote versions of the techniques.

Again a few pointers were added. One was stepping sideways when doing yokomen-uchi shiho-nage omote, as opposed to stepping backwards like we used to before. Others one just has to take advantage of them on the ground.

Of particular note was that there was no ken-jutsu, so some people were disappointed to have carried the bokkens and not use them. Next time guys!

At Aga Khan Sports Club

This time we concentrated on ushiro ryote dori techniques. Ryoute(両手) in Japanese means both arms, so basically the attack is such that uke grabs both arms of tori, this time from behind. The beginning is from the front, like in a sword fight, facing each other. But then, tori opens and tricks uke into grabbing the hands from behind. Sounds theoretically simple, but there are lots of details too. Sincerely, the range of techniques was such that I cannot recall each and every one, but one could do kote-gaeshi, shiho-nage and irimi-nage. Cool stuff. I remember marveling at the expanse of aikido techniques because even after a full year, we are still encountering new variations on a constant basis. Like this one called juji-garame. Karamaru(絡まる) means to twine, like to twine a rope, so the technique aims at entangling the opponent’s hands and throwing him/her forward. Its tricky since (1.)it involves tori reversing the attack in order to grab uke’s hands, and at the same time one must do several turns, the ten-kan being one of them, and (2.) it is a high break-fall technique. Another one is whereby uke does shomen uchi, but tori somehow sweeps uke off the feet. I am yet to wrap my head around this one.