At Goan Gymkhana

I had this crazy Wednesday such that I arrived late for aikido class, but I was able to at least learn a thing or two.

I found the class in the middle of the omote version of this technique called uchi-kaiten-nage. Immediately we moved to the ura version of this same technique. I believe lots of us had lots of difficulty figuring out where to throw the opponent. Plus we had to be extra careful not to throw our partners hard on the cold cement floor. (should be a good idea to try these techniques on a Tuesday when we can use the yoga mats). Sorry karate guys.

Next was uchi-kaiten-nage-sankyo. It basically starts like uchi-kaiten-ura (maybe even omote), only that instead of moving either backward or forward, one rams into the partner’s shoulders for sankyo. We then finished with ryote-dori-sankyo, after which we immediately moved to bokken practice.

Again we began by forming a circle and doing several shomen-uchis. Then there was shomen-uchi from migi-kame, after which we paired up and learnt how to accept shomen-uchi from kibadachi stance. Then we learnt how to block and strike when one attacks from migi-kame. The latter resulted in a pair moving in a circle around each other.

Last but not least, we reviewed the 3 basic katas that we have learnt so far, and then the 4^th one was introduced. Personally, I like the 4^th form the best so far. It looks really cool.

Off the record, I got a chance to perform the katas with a real Nihonto, and the feeling was simply amazing. Am just saying.