Thanks for the feedback and suggestions guys. I'll definitely check out the books Dent had recommended and see how they are.
I'll put in a vote for best technical manual for aikido (regardless of style): Gozo Shioda's Total Aikido. Actually, I'll put it in as one of the best technical manuals of any martial art.
I'll second that, its one book I keep going back to time and time again, and each time my understanding grows (little by little).
Patience young grasshopper. I have a lesson two days from now and I'm going to go off that one That lesson will be my first one where Sensei leads the class! Can't wait.
BI-WEEKLY UPDATE: *Warning* Big post! Four 2 hour lessons in these two weeks. I learned, and practiced a lot of things!! Rolling I did some rolling, both forwards and back, from a kneeling position. I'm progressively getting better, but I'm still very rough. With both forwards and back, I'll sometimes open up and straighten myself up and end up screwing up by roll. Other times I'll roll over my head. Forward rolls seem to cause more trouble then backwards, but it'll come with practice. Though I get dizzy after I do a lot of them XD Shikko/Seiza I'm doing pretty well with this (Shikko) exercise. Not a lot of trouble, except refining and speeding myself up. I'm till not as good and I'll definitely need to practice!! Seiza still hurts to sit in. During the class I mostly alternate between sitting in Seiza and sitting cross-legged. I mostly feel pain (the uncomfortable kind, not the "Ohcrapthisreallyhurts" kind) in my ankles and slightly in my knees. Once again, I'll just have to practice and keep at it. In regards to kneeling techniques, I read that the reason we do these is because of two reasons. The first being to show that "proper" Aikido comes from the hips and core. Secondly, when samurai where in the presence of their boss, it was considered disrespectful to stand in his presence. They still had to fight in case of intruders so they devised Shikko as a means to fight on their knees. I'm not entirely sure about this though so feel free to correct me. Wrist Stretches We would apply wrist locks on each other slowly so we could practice technique and smooth out any kinks, as well as give the other person a stretch in their wrist. Two people would face off. Uke And Nage. Uke would cross grab (Kosadori?) Nage and would then preform the wrist locks on Uke, transitioning as smoothly as he/she can to the next wrist lock, and then the next, and so on. We worked on Nikkyo, then transitioning to Kote Gashi, and then finally to Sankyo. It was a lot of fun and Sensei told us that even though this was practice, we should go about it with a martial aspect. meaning that Uke should be grabbing as if he/she was attacking, should be looking at where he/she is going to strike (no one is going to look at the ground if they want to hit you in the face!) and should have the other hand ready, as if you are going to punch them. Another example is that when applying Nikkyo, you should use your hips + entire body, instead of trying to muscle your way through. You'll waste time an you'll end up getting clocked in the face. Footwork We practiced some Irimi Tenkan. Learned that when you finish the movement, your weight should be forwards, as it really helps when doing throws. By leaning back, you give that little window of opportunity for the uke/attacker to recover his/her's balance. Atemi Practiced Shomen Uchi, Yokomen Uchi, and Tsuki (Apologize if I get this wrong). Shomen Uchi is pretty much a cut downwards aiming for the crown of the head, though it can hit the nose of collarbone. It comes from Japanese swordsmanship. Yokomen Uchi is pretty similar, except you are coming from a different angle, similar to a TKD knife hand strike. Tsuki is really a straight punch either to the body or the face. Terminology and Technical Terms (Apologize if I get this wrong) Ichi - One Ni - Two San - Three Shi - Four Go - Five Roku - Six Shichi - Seven Hachi - Eight Kyuu - Eight Juu - Ten Shomen- Front Hanmi - Stance (triangular?) Kosadori - Cross Grab Katadori - Same side grab Ikkyo - First Teaching Nikkyo - Second Teaching Sankyo - Third Teaching Kote Gashi - Wrist Turing Throw Shihonage - Four Direction Throw That's pretty much everything I've been exposed during my short time practicing Aikido. It's not much, but it's a start! Techniques Oh boy I went over a few techniques more the past two weeks, and it has been pretty exciting. It even got more exciting when Sensei got back!! I learned these techniques, Sumi Otoshi, Shihonage (w/variation), and this technique that started from Nikkyo and ended in Kote Gashi. The Sumi Otoshi was the same as the one I did a few weeks back (see previous update) Also, we incorporated a leg sweep as a variation. It is similar to the video below: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJt_4f2s5nw&feature=channel_video_title"]Adapted Aikido: Corner drop/leg sweep against a straight punch to the face. - YouTube[/ame] Except is was a lot harder, as we had mats, so the fall pretty much made my bones squishy (To quote Aikiwofie ) To add on to above, Sensei told us (uke) to actually try to punch the nage (not trying to knock them unconscious mind you). With the Atemi, he told us (nage) to be quick with it, and if we were to slow, shouted at us and told us that it was too late, as we would have already been punched by the Uke. He constantly stressed that if you don't unbalance/distract your Uke, you as Nage will have a crap load of trouble. He told us constantly to be marital during practice and attack with intent, as attacking with a half assed intent wont benefit you or your partner or yourself. During drilling the technique, it was hard, fast, and painful. But I had so much fun, and I loved every second of it!! Anyone who says Aikido is fluffy is very misguided. After drilling for 20-30 minutes on Sumi Otoshi I was hurting over from falling, getting hit, and moving so much. I got clipped a few times too. Call me a masochist, but having all that hard training made me feel more alive then ever!! Another technique we did was Shihonage from Katatdori. This one is okay to me. My height is an issue as I keep running into problems with getting the Uke's arm over my head. I'm not used to ducking down when doing it and in some cases I'm on my knee's. Not a fan of this technique, but I'm definitely aiming to improve it! Who knows? After some practice the technique may start to grow on me and I might find it fantastic later on in the future! Final technique has the Uke doing Kosadori on the Nage. It's a little hard to explain but I'll try my best. Nage applies Nikkyo on Uke utilizing hips for efficiency, moving the front foot a little to side if necessary. Uke should be in Nikkyo and also have their other hand shut off from committing a punch. Nage steps back with, switches to Kote Gashi while executing a quick Atemi to the face to unbalance and prevent an attack from the Uke if possible, and sweeps back leg backwards bringing the Uke to the ground. Randori Two words. AWE-SOME. (wait...) Defender v.s two attackers. Attack is Shomen Uchi. Each attacker attacks ten times, whenever they want. Defender can only dodge, evade, etc. Can't use hands either. It was really fun!! Sensei told us not to try to knock them out, but provide the defender with a committed attack. After you attack, don't just walk off and wait your turn. If you want, you can attack multiple times. So it's like strike, turn strike again, turn strike again (kind of like a combination, to try and make a comparison). Sensei also told us that if we are going to hit them, slow down a little, but still hit them, even if their back is turned, otherwise they won't learn. I did quite well. Didn't get hit at all (though they weren't going really fast, with me being a beginner). Sensei then said that he would try to hit me, not hard, but to give me a challenge. I'm thinking okay, this will be fun!! We start, and my smile stopped. My thoughts turned from "Whoopie!", to, "HOLY MCDOJO!!" He attacked with such intent and ferocity, clubbing me on the top of the head a couple of times. I did not expect it (note to self, expect the unexpected) though I can proudly say that I evaded half of the attacks. Though the ones that did hit me hurt like kick up the rear end. Dealing with one opponent in TKD was slightly difficult. Two was, well, hell. Both my attackers challenged me after seeing my Sensei demonstrate, attacking me faster and multiple times. Sensei told us that at higher levels the numbers of attackers increase, the attacks will vary, and the attackers will attack even harder and faster, cornering you if you aren't careful. He then laughed. I'm like ;_;. Overall, Randori was a blast! It isn't full contact and only has one attack, but they made up for it by attacking me fast, hard, and many. AWE-SOME!! To be honest, it's really hard to convey all my feelings and the absolute fun I had through text. It was just that much fun!! Sensei and his students are also no nonsense, and focused so much on martial intent!! One of the students did't hesitate to hit me, throw me, or absolutely obliterate me if it was needed. In my TKD we do focus pads, sparring, joint locks, ground work, and a lot of running. I felt sore all over. After doing Aikido, I felt even more sore, but even more alive!! Aikido is awesome, and I pity everyone who doesn't do it (joking lol XD) Domo arigatou gozaimashita!!! ~Seventh
Its great to hear a little love for Gozo Shioda! Many aikidoka shy away from dirty-nasty Yoshinkan influences... Osu!
What's not to love? Mind you I may not think that if I'd been one of his ukes or yakuza he'd start fights with in his youth
Brief Update: I'm going on a haitus to get accustomed to my first year of high school and until I get settled in, I'll be taking a break from Aikido. Best case scenario, I can go back after settling in. Worst case scenario, I won't be able to go back for a long while, which I hope it doesn't come it. I'm genuinely sad. Though I should be happy that it happened! Cross my fingers and hope to go back
I took a break from martial arts from 8th grade and started again my senior year in high school. I actually didn't start aikido until after that break... I was training at a karate dojo, and when I got back they were doing aikido. I had never even heard of it at that time (despite being an avid Steven Seagal fan), I just did it because 'the other guys' did. Now its my main 'focus art' and its brought me into practicing in iaido, judo, and jujitsu....that was about 11 years ago.
