Tuesday, June 30, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

Kawakami Sensei was present and after taking us through the warm up session that included Mae and Ushiro Ukemi from Tachi Waza as well as Mae Shikko, Joshua Kohai and I were 'graded' by Sensei on various attacks/techniques before we 'got down to business' with the following techniques:

-Tsuki Ikkyo Omote (two versions)

-Tsuki Kote Gaeshi (two versions)

-Shorter version of Morote Dori Nikyo (in two versions)

Sensei demonstrated various ways of executing various techniques such as Kote Gaeshi and Shiho Nage and also demonstrated Shiho Nage using two Uke.

ATTENDANCE LIST:

-KAWAKAMI Masayuki

-KIYAGA Ben

-KIBE Jason

-MICHUKI Leon

-MUTHII Joshua

-OKUMU Julius

-WAITITU Vanessa

-MAMBO Stephen

-NJOROGE Anthony

-Two newcomers

-MWAKIO Sammy

NEXT SESSION:THURSDAY,JULY 2 @ THE SAME VENUE

Thursday, June 25, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

We had a brief warm up session which also featured Mae and Ushiro Ukemi from both Suwari and Tachi Waza before Tom Sempai guided us through the following techniques:

-Katatedori Shiho Nage Omote and Ura respectively.

-Hanmi Handachi Waza Shiho Nage.

-Chudan Tsuki Shiho Nage Omote/Ura.

-Kata Dori Sankyo Omote and Ura respectively.

-Ushiro Kata Dori sankyo.

We wrapped up the session with Zagi Kokyu Ho.

ATTENDANCE LIST:

-ODHIAMBO Tom

-NJROROGE Walter

-MAMBO Stephen

-A sizeable turnout of 'regulars'

-Two newcomers who joined the session

-MWAKIO Sammy

NEXT SESSION:TUESDAY,JUNE 30 @ THE SAME VENUE

TUESDAY TRAINING

 Another wonderful Tuesday 23rd on the mat with Kawakami Sensei at the Japanese Information Center at UpperHill. It was a full house with many seniors and juniors in attendance and the Aikido spirit of training and assisting each other in understanding techniques and movements was in abundance tonight.              

sensei Kawakami Started off the Class with Calisthenics and then techniques.

CALISTHENICS

Ikkyo Undo- wrist exercise 

Nikkyo Undo- wrist exercise 

Sankyo Undo- wrist exercise

Kotegaeshi Undo- wrist exercise 

Shikko- walking on knees

Ukemi- forward (Mae) & backward (Ushiro) rolling/ falling

Basic stretching, horse stance and side lunges.

TECHNIQUES

SHIHO NAGE- Four directional Throw

1.Kata dori shihonage omote- 1st teaching four directional throw, in front of Uke.

2.Kata dori shihonage -2nd tech using head going outside under uke's arm as nage, to ground.

3.Katate dori shihonage omote- 1st teaching four directional throw from gyaku hanmi.

4.Katate dori shihonage ura- 2nd teaching four directional throw from gyaku hanmi, behind uke.

5.Ushirokata dori shihonage omote- shoulder grab from behind four directional throw 1st teaching.

6.Ushirokata dori shihonage 2nd- grab from behind four directional throw under uke with head.

7.Hanmi handachi kata dori- nage in seiza and uke standing shoulder grab.

8.Hanmi handachi katate dori- nage in seiza and uke standing same side wrist grab four directional throw.

NIKKYO- 2nd Pinning technique

1.Katate dori Nikkyo omote- 2nd pinning technique 1st version, front of uke.

2.Katare dori Nikkyo ura- 2nd pinning technique 2nd version, behind uke.

YONKYO- 4th Pinning technique

1.Katate dori yonkyo- same side wrist grab 4th pinning technique.

2.Kata dori yonkyo- same side shoulder grab 4th pinning technique.

Applications in JIYU WAZA

Kawakami Sensei later on performed Jiyuwaza from sitting position. His Uke was Ben.

-Shihonage omote and Ura- four directional throw

-Kotegaeshi -wrist throw

-Sankyo 3rd pin & nage waza.

-Uchi Kaiten nage

-Ryote dori versions of kotegaeshi, shihonage, kokyunage.

Continue coming on the mat and improve your Aikido.

Wonderful session!

Great thanks again to Kawakami Sensei's Study and reminder of the need to establish good understanding in basics especially 'Tai sabaki'( Hand/Body position) and 'Ashi Sabaki'( foot position movement)in doing all the Kinonagare ( fluid form when techniques are done in motion). Thanks also to his constant reminder that in study, Aikidokas have to demonstrate honesty in commitment by performing the full attack as in Uke and Executing the full technique as in Nage.
For the Thursday 18th class i enjoyed the whole session a lot especially interchanging roles amongst the juniors and seniors. I would say performing Kokyu ho in variations with Toshi san was enjoyable and challenging when trying to get around his energy center.
Some Challenging Versions of Kaiten nage (rotary throw) Kawakami Sensei did are as follows:
- Katate dori Uchi Kaiten nage,( Going under Uke's armpit)
- Katate dori Soto Kaiten nage,( from outside Uke's holding hand, while sliding out)
- Ushiro ryote dori Kaiten nage,( wrist grasp from behind)
- tai no tenkan uchi Kaiten nage,( leading uke then tenkan going under Uke's armpit to perform throw)
Lets continue showing up for study and improve our techniques by helping one another with gladness,'Onegai-Shimasu' the Aikido way.

Thursday, June 18, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

Kawakami Sensei arrived early and on time as he always does and took us through the entire session beginning with the warm up session including his famous warm ups whereby one touches the shoulder to the ground while spreading the legs on the 'tatami'.

After the warm up session, Kawakami Sensei took us through the following attacks/techniques:

From Tachi Waza:

-Katatedori Shiho Nage Omote & Ura respectively.

-Kata dori Shiho Nage Omote (two versions).

-Yokomen Uchi Shiho Nage Omote.

-Shomen Uchi Shiho Nage Omote.

-Ryote dori Shiho Nage Omote.

-Uchi Kaiten Nage (two versions).

-Tsuki Shiho Nage.

From Suwari Waza:

-Zagi Kokyu Ho.

-Shiho Nage Omote.

-Kokyu Ho.

-Kokyu Nage version.

ATTENDANCE LIST:

-KAWAKAMI Masayuki

-KITAYAMA Toshiyuki

-KIBE Jason

-AGUTA Tony

-ODHIAMBO Tom

-MUTHII Joshua

-A sizeable turnout of 'regulars'

-One newcomer

-MWAKIO Sammy

NEXT SESSION:TUESDAY,JUNE 23 @ THE SAME VENUE

#Gi things

In the bus this morning,a young lady asked me which martial art I practice.
She had seen my gi and belt which were overhanging in my bag.
She practices Karate and Aikido and was pleasantly suprised to learn,
I'm an aikidoka.
She used to a student at the  Saints School in Sagana and attended the
Aikido classes there.
I gave her timings,directions to the dojo at the Embassy and our blog address.
Hopefully,she will be joining us soon.

Moral of the Story-Don't be afraid to have your gi been visible in public;-)

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

Due to the unpredictable nature of Nairobi traffic, I arrived 30 minutes late which usually infuriates me but all in all, I did not loose out on much.

I found the warm up session already over and Kawakami Sensei was present taking everyone through Katatedori Ikkyo Omote.

The rest of the day's session consisted of:

-Kata dori Ikkyo and Sankyo Omote respectively

-Kata dori Ikkyo Ura

-Katatedori Ikkyo Omote and Ura respectively

Kawakami Sensei also demonstrated a number of other techniques from a Kata dori hold for example Kaiten Nage and a front choke.


ATTENDANCE LIST:

-KAWAKAMI Masayuki

-KITAYAMA Toshiyuki

-KIYAGA Ben

-AGUTA Tony

-ODHIAMBO Tom

-MICHUKI Leon

-MUTHII Joshua

-WAITITU Vanessa

-A host of other Aikido enthusiasts

-MWAKIO sammy

NEXT SESSION:THURSDAY,JUNE 18 @ THE SAME VENUE

Thursday, June 11, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

Kawakami Sensei arrived early as usual and was accompanied by his granddaughter who is destined to be a great Aikido Sensei in the years to come.

After the warm up session, we went through Mae and Ushiro Ukemi from Tachi Waza follwoed by the following:

-Katatedori Kote Gaeshi (two versions)

-Ryote dori Kote Gaeshi

-Ushiro Ryote dori Kote Gaeshi

Sensei also demonstrated various techniques from a Katatedori stance including the dreaded Katatedori Nikyo.

ATTENDANCE LIST:

-KAWAKAMI Masayuki

-KIYAGA Ben

-AGUTA Tony

-ODHIAMBO Tom

-MICHUKI Leon

-NYANG'OR Vincent

-A large turnout of regulars

-Two newcomers

-MWAKIO Sammy

NEXT SESSION:TUESDAY,JUNE 16 @ THE SAME VENUE

Tuesday, June 9, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

Masayuki Kawakami Sensei is back again and as was the case last year, the session was thrilling with lots of tapping out and moans of pain!

Kawakami Sensei took us through the warm up session which included some difficult feats including touching one's shoulder on the 'tatami' while spreading the legs wide as well as getting up from a seated position 'Kawakami style'.

The techniques Sensei guided us through were as follows:

-Ai hanmi Katatedori Kote Gaeshi Omote.

-Katatedori Ikkyo and Nikyo Omote respectively.

-Kata dori Ikkyo and Nikyo Omote respectively.

Later on, I had a chance to speak with Sensei as he waited for his taxi and he informed me that he has had a passion for Aikido for the last 47 years and that back home he teaches Aikido.

He hinted that this time he might be around for one month and he shall inform us incase of any changes to his schedule.

ATTENDANCE LIST:

-KAWAKAMI Masayuki

-ODHIAMBO Tom

-WAITITU Vanessa

-A large turnout of 'Aikido enthusiasts'

-MWAKIO Sammy

OKAERI NASAI SENSEI!

NEXT SESSION:THURSDAY,JUNE 11 @ THE SAME VENUE

Sad news

T.K. Chiba sensei passed away yesterday, 5th June 2015. His legacy lives in us.

Thursday, June 4, 2015 session at the JICC Conference Room

It was one unique session bearing in mind that 90% of those present were first timers.

Having arrived late due to the usual unpredictable Nairobi transport system, we were only able to warm up for about ten minutes before proceeding with the rest of the session under the guidance of Toshiyuki Sensei which consisted of the following:

-Shomen Uchi (static) Ikkyo Omote.

-Katatedori Kokyu Nage.

Sensei gave the first timers a brief introduction about Aikido, the importance of Rei as well as Ukemi among other important points.

We wrapped it up with Haishin Undo.

ATTENDANCE LIST:

-KITAYAMA Toshiyuki

-A large turnout of first timers

-MWAKIO Sammy

I take this golden opportunity once again to heartily congratulate our dear Sensei and friend Mateusz Waga as well as Piotr Masztalerz on their promotion to the next level. Having last graded in 2012, I have even forgotten how it feels to be promoted....LOL

NEXT SESSION:TUESDAY,JUNE 9 @ THE SAME VENUE

tuesday,june 2,2015 session at the JICC conference


we went through a moderate warm-up session guided by sempai mwakio and practised,
mae ukemi,gyaku  ukemi and yoko  ukemi not forgetting shikko-ho waza.



walter kohai guided us through the following wazas;

shomen uchi-ikkyo    omote and ura

yokomen uchi-shihonage      omote and ura

yokomen  uchi-kokyunage

ushiro  ryotetori-kotegaeshi


we ended the session with hanshin undo

attendance list:

walter njoroge 
samy mwakio
michuki leon
vanessa waititu
nyang'or vincent
julius ukumu
and other aikido enthusiasts

next session;thursday,june 4 @the same venue



the art of aikido consist of never being concerned with victory or defeat,with strength or weakness,of not moving one step forward,nor one step backward,of the enemy not seeing me and me not seeing the enemy.penetrating to that which is fundamental before the separation of heaven and earth where yin and yang cannot reach,one instantly attains proficiency in the art.

(the true and wondrous sword of tai-a)

Greetings from Poland

Hey, guys. Habari?

Just a quick update from Poland.

This weekend we had a seminar and Piotr was promoted to rokudan (6th dan), I passed the test for sandan (3rd).

Hope you all are well. Warm greeetings