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....

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...

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.

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!

@ 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.

Friday,26 August 2011 session at the Japan Information and Cultural Centre 'dojo'

I wonder if I am the only one but two hours of Aikido seem to fly so fast nowadays.Anyway last Friday we had a Kohai by the name of Yassin.

The first hour by Daniel Sempai consisted of warm up exercises followed by Ushiro and Mae Ukemi from Suwari Waza not forgetting the exercise whereby one attempts to lead the other down the imaginary triangle thus distabilising his balance.

In the second hour,Sensei took over and we began with Soto Kaiten Nage Omote and the Soto Kaiten 'stretch' whereby one stretches the other until he taps out.

There was also Soto Kaiten Kata gatame and I must say I found it quite a challenge bringing down Uke but I hope to perfect that in the sessions to come.

Other techniques of the day which were mainly from the Shomen Uchi attack were:Iriminage,Kokyu Ho,Tenchi Nage,Kata Gatame and Sumi Otoshi and Gyaku Hanmi Rokyo.In Shomen Uchi Sumi Otoshi,Sensei stressed the importance of Tori keeping the arms straight when going for Uke's elbow.

I must say Gyaku Hanmi Rokyo made me sweat especially pinning Uke's elbow under my armpit but finally I managed to execute the technique.To top it up all there was the back stretch commonly refered to as Haishin Undo.......Great class!

Advanced class

Pointers;(1.) When doing yonkyo, keep your movements forward to give uke no time to counter. This means keeping uke occupied all the time, which is easier said than done.
(2.) In the same vein, the grip is important. First, you have no time to change grips, so make sure you hold tight. Next, hold very close to the wrist, just like you hold a sword. Uke's hand becomes the handle, while the part of the arm between the wrist and the elbow becomes the blade. (3.) Make sure uke's arm is vertical just before doing the cut. (4.) Make the cut decisive and convincing. In order to do this, you have to make sure that uke's elbow ends up pointing downwards. (5.) In regards to shomenuchi kokyuho, move in with your whole body, and keep your movements forward to avoid tripping uke on your knee. (6.) Lastly, the more relaxed you are, the easier the movements.
Techniques: gyakuhanmi katatedori yonkyo omote and ura, gyakuhanmi katadori kokyunage, gyakuhanmi katatedori katagatame, shomenuchi kokyunage, and ryotedori kokyunage omote.
Comments: To be very honest, I didn't manage to move my body correctly enough to do yonkyo. I think i have the motion in my head, but my body just doesn't respond appropriately.
Weapons(Jo); We reviewed what we did last time and added the last of the kesa techniques. I won't go into names since i am quite sure none of us remembers even a simple one like, say Kesa uchi no.1. Of course maki otoshi no.1 doesn't count because we have done it countless times for it to be permanently etched in our memories.