The class was two and a half hour long. Even though only three participants showed up, we still managed to have very interesting and fruitful session. We got to know first of Chiba Sensei's boken suburis. Then we got some yoga mats and improvised a mattress so that we were able to perform some more dynamic aikido techniques. But first we revisited mae-ukemi in suwariwaza and then tachi waza. Then introduced first steps of high breakfalls. And then we moved on to techniques. We tried ai-hamni sumi otoshi, then shomen-uchi sumi otoshi. We revisited kokyu-nage, then moved to the most interesting part of the evening - irimi-nage applied for different attacks - from gyaku-hamni through shomen-uchi, zuki, ushiro-ryote-dori.
The class was very interesting. Thanks to small number of participants we were able to focus on particular problems each of us had. Very rewarding time.
And afterwards we went for traditional beer where we added more theoretical part and - as beer took its toll - discussion slowly drifted off into lighter topic.
2 comments:
OMG!!!It was in this class that i realised how unfit I am. My body aches all over. But despite this, I wouldn't trade that time for anything at all. I had a delightfully awesome experience. It was my first feel of how aikido would feel if applied correctly. We obviously have a long way to go, but for me, that's the fun part. I learn so much stuff with each lesson that if I could fit it all in my being, i would be the greatest aikido student ever.
The ukemis were awesome (albeit scary), and the trick for me is to let oneself go. If you find yourself thinking too much about it, chances that you are gonna chicken out are very high.
And then there was irimi-nage. Fantabulous technique.
Am still working on how to hold the boken and execute a simple cut...but the suburis were amazing. Sensei executed them with such finese that one can't help feeling a little jealousy. I later watched this movie, 'Ame agaru', which sensei gave me. The swordsmanship in it is just out of this world. This is a must watch for anyone crazy about swordsmanship.
The evening ended on some very intelligent discussions and fun activities.
I really wouldn't mind a repeat performance as often as it is possible.
OK, I told you before - stop the sensei thing. And stop praising me so much. This is really embarrassing
Additionally - once I manage to introduce real sensei to Kenya you will see how poor my aikido is. It is a long, long journey and we all are just a beginners.
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