Thursday, September 29, 2011

Exams

Yesterday we had a small exam session. Tony passed 4th kyu, Bartek and Douglas passed 5th kyu. The exam was very good. Congratulations ;-)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Aikido National Geographic



I saw this great video last week about Aikido on National Geographic and I thought it best to share it with you all....Cheers!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Sketchy duel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi2kaDzGh9A&feature=player_detailpage

i found the above video interesting. check it out.

Ben's contact

Ben's phone number is +48698058338. Please feel free to either call him or SMS him to express your respect and support. But do everyone a favour and do not overuse it - the less distractions he has the better.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Friday, September 23, 2011

It was a national holiday in Japan(Autumn Equinox day) and therefore there was no class.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 session at the Goan Gymkhana

Tony sempai took us through some warm up exercises before Daniel sempai 'officially' took over the session.
It all began with Mae and Ushiro Ukemi from Suwari Waza in addition to various warm up exercises we went through including my favourite-doing a hand stand against a wall.

Ryote Dori Shiho Nage in both Omote and Ura and Tenchi Nage made me sweat as we embarked on some Yonkyu techniques.

Next up was all about Kokyu Nage in Morote Dori and Gyaku Hanmi stances with the former giving me quite a hard time!
We went through Shomen Uchi Nikyo:Omote and Ura before calling it a day with a review of the eight Bokken Kata(without any Bokken).

The exercise that made my evening was the one where my partner dragged me on my back on the 'dojo' floor-Phew! After being dragged across the floor at high speed,I thought my Gi was worn out at the back and I had to budget for a new one(lol)!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

@ Gymkhana 19 Sept 2011

The class was mainly to prepare Douglas for his 5th Kyu exam.
Ukemi lessons warm-up were in order for starters.
Stance: Gyaku hanmi     Techniques: Ikyo, nikyo, uchi kaiten, and kotegaeshi all in ura and omote

Thanks Daniel for handling the class! and Ohhhh....thanks for the Japanese sweets!!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Friday, September 16, 2011 session at the Japan Information and Culture Centre hall

The Friday session was dominated by Sankyo and to set the ball rolling it all began with Ai Hanmi and Gyaku Hanmi Katate Dori Sankyo in both Omote and Ura and apart from the 'cutting' motion towards Uke's centre,I guess it went down well for me.


Next up was Yokomen Uchi: Shiho Nage,Kote Gaeshi,Kokyu Ho and Sankyo(Omote and Ura) not forgetting Shomen Uchi Sankyo where we began by locking up our forearms in front which always reminds me of the late Bruce Lee's classical movie 'Enter the dragon'.

As the session ended with the Haishin Undo,I was pleased to note that everyone had a great two hours...

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Our Ben

Where is our Ben? Has anyone heard from him yet?

Wednesday,14 September, 2011 advanced class at the Goan Gymkhana

It was all about Ryote Dori this Wednesday and the techniques on the 'menu' were:
a)Shiho Nage(Omote and Ura)
b)Irimi Nage
c)Ikkyo(Omote and Ura)
d)Kote Gaeshi and my favourite-Ude Garami.

The first hour came to a close with a version of Kokyu Nage whereby Tori clutches Uke's arm close to his body before propelling him(Uke) forward using the hips.I almost damaged a colleague's wrist but thankfully it did not happen.

As pertains to the Weapons hour,apart from Jo basics;Kesa Uchi no. 1 and 2,Maki Otoshi no. 1 and 2 and Junte Uchi Otoshi,Sensei guided us on how to perform Shiho Nage,Sumi Otoshi and Nikkyo using a Jo! Awesome session!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Monday, September 12, 2011 beginner's class at the Goan Gymkhana

Once again Ben Sempai was in charge of the class and as customary,the session began with a jog around the 'dojo' followed by warm up exercises before embarking on Mae and Ushiro Ukemi from Suwari waza and Tachi waza positions.
The second hour began with a review of Friday's techniques and it was Ai Hanmi Katatedori Ikkyo in both Omote and Ura versions that set the ball rolling.
What followed were two techniques:Morotedori Shihonage and Morotedori Kokyunage(or is it Kokyu Ho?)....the stretching of Uke before the throw being emphasised.Next up wasGyakuhanmi Katatedori Rokkyo and once again,the pinning of Uke's elbow under the armpit proved to be a challenge.
The technique that made my day was Katadori Ikkyo(in both Omote and Ura) especially the part where Uke is thrown off balance by the power of Tori's hips.After this technique,I realised that it is imperative to learn techniques in both Omote and Ura since one way or another,when faced with a real life situation,your attacker will either pull or push you....hmmmmm....that is some food for thought.
The class ended with the good old back stretch-Haishin undo which came in handy especially after two hours of rolling forward several times.

Friday, September 9, 2011 session at the Japan Information and Culture Centre

Sensei informed us that he would be away during the Friday session thus,Ben Sempai took over during the two hour session.
All began with Mae and Ushiro Ukemi from both Suwari waza and Tachi waza not to mention several warm up exercises including the familiar Ikkyo Undo and the like. The first hour was mainly composed of warm up exercises.
During the second hour,the main techniques were from the Ai Hanmi Katatedori stance:
a)Ikkyo(Omote and Ura)
b)Kotegaeshi.
It was a rigorous two hours and my Gi was drenched in sweat by the time we left the 'dojo'.....The Ura version of Ikkyo proved quite a challenge for me but all in all,I am sure I shall soon grasp the whole movement....

Monday, September 12, 2011

Wednesday, 7 September, 2011 session at the Goan Gymkhana

During the first hour of the class,Sensei took us through the paces performing Mae Ukemi from Tachi Waza as we prepared for more Ukemi in the techniques that followed.
From the Ai Hanmi Katatedori stance,the techniques were:
a)Jujinage
b)Kotegaeshi and
c)Iriminage.
We then performed a version of Kokyunage whereby Uke is spiralled down to a hold.Next up was Uchi Kaiten Nage from the Gyaku Hanmi katatedori stance and the first hour ended with Koshinage except that we skipped the last bit of throwing Uke from Tori's hip since the surface at the Goan Gymkhana was not suitable to complete the technique.

As for weapons,it was a review of Jo Sansho one(all parts) and since I am only familiar with part one,I took the opportunity to fine tune my knowledge of the first part....

Aikijutsu

F**k, my stay is over. Yeah, i cursed alright. Getting to the point, we had Japanese culture orientation classes yesterday, where i chose to participate in this thing called aikijutsu. Everything looks more or less the same as aikido, save for a few variations. Which made me really wonder why there is a difference. Though i should not admit this in public (just in case my Japanese senseis are reading this), it was all very boring,mainly because it was a sort of beginners class, and given we were not wearing proper clothes. Still, all was not lost since i managed to learn one more warm-up exercise.http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=156049954483756&set=t.1281471780&type=1&theater. Above is a picture of my very rusty ikkyo from said class...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Aikido girl

Monday, September 5, 2011 beginner's session at the Goan Gymkhana

It certainly was not one of my favourite Mondays but after the two hour Aikido session I must admit I felt much better.
Ben Sempai took us through the paces with a jog around the 'dojo' followed by some physical exercises and Mae Ukemi from Suwari Waza.We then went over some more physical exercises before beginning the techniques of the day.
It all began with Gyaku Hanmi Katate dori Soto Kaiten Nage and Uchi Kaiten Nage.I had a harder time with the latter but as they say,"Practice makes perfect" and time will tell how well I shall grasp the technique in the months to come.The first hour came to a close with Gyaku Hanmi Katate dori Yonkyo Omote which still gives me a hard time especially performing the 'cut' towards Uke's centre.

Sensei took over the second hour with the following techniques in the Gyaku hanmi Katate dori stance:
a)Uchi Kaiten Sankyo Omote and
b)Nikyo Ura.
Two other techniques from the Yokomenuchi attack were:
a)Tanto dori Gokyo Ura and
b)Ikkyo Ura.
Gokyo is usually among my favourite techniques especially when Uke is forced to release the weapon at hand(eg. a knife).
The day would not be complete with the good old stretch,Haishin undo.....perfect recipe for Monday blues.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Friday, September 2, 2011 session at the Japan Information and Culture Centre

As is customary with most Fridays,the session began with warm up exercises followed by Mae Ukemi from Tachi Waza.Immediately after that,the technique that set the ball rolling was Ryote Tori Tenchi Nage which I always seem to have mastered only to realise that it takes a lot of practice to master the technique.
The techniques that followed were based on the Chudan Tsuki attack and were as follows:
a)Irimi Nage
b)Kokyu Ho
c)Ushiro Kiri Otoshi
d)Rokyo
e)Two variations of chokes(I guess a choke is Kubishime)one which involved knocking the air out of Uke's neck arteries and the second one involved extending the arm as if performing a Kokyu Nage attack then Tori wraps his arm around Uke's neck and locks in bringing Tori to the ground and making him tap out by placing his elbow on Tori's thigh.
The other techniques that completed the Friday session were Gyaku Hanmi Katate dori Sumi Otoshi and Ai Hanmi Katate dori Shiho Nage which is one of my favourite techniques.....
Lovely stuff!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

@ Goan Gymkhana 31 Aug 2011

Though having been a public holiday, that wasn't reason enough to keep Aikido 'enthusiasts' out of the dojo :)
Class started with a 'wrestling' session (kinda reminded me of my childhood fights, I lost count on how many I lost and judging from this session nothing much has changed.) where everything goes except blows of course. This was done in suwari waza. The aim of this was to make us tired thereby shaking off the stiffness before real aikido stuff began.

Stance: Aihanmi Technique: Irimi nage chudan, jodan, and gedan. Each performed in Ura and Omote.

All seem to go well, only that the ura part of these techniques proved difficult for me. 

Several points are worth mentioning for Irimi nage to be effective
  1. One thing we tend to forget often is never let go the hand that is on uke's neck until you are ready to complete the technique!!!
  2.  Tori decides where and when uke falls not the other way round.
  3. Tori should make the technique as uncomfortable as possible for uke.

Weapon hour saw the use of our bokkens in ichi no tachi, not so bad I can say, getting somewhere at least.