Improvement

Sometimes its hard to tell if I am improving or not. In Aikido it is usually subtle changes that make all the difference. I can say that I am now familiar with a wider array of techniques and openings than I once was.

I think the most significant difference is my awareness of surrounding people, including uke. I can tell with more accuracy the trajectory a person will be thrown and aim my uke away from that spot. I can also get out of the way, instead of being hit, when a person is thrown at me.

All around I feel more centered and balanced. I am also a bit more comfortable experimenting with different styles of throwing. Some styles such as Steve Pimsler’s or Claire Keller’s make a lot of sense to me. I struggle with Donovan’s and Hal’s styles. I find I can visually understand them but making them work for me is incredibly difficult.

On the other side of things, My ukemi feels much the same, except that when people really chuck me it hurts a bit less. Members are continually telling me that I’m improving and most of the time I believe them. Training here is like concentrated Aikido practice anywhere else. I feel ready to take my first kyu any day now. Though I have to wait for Sensei to give me the heads up. I don’t even know what my hours are anymore.

Good luck to everyone in Florida. I hope I get to come and see the new dojo soon.

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Categorized as Aikido

28 comments

  1. I’m looking forward to seeing the changes in your Aikido. Maybe you can teach me the different styles of throwing you mentioned, as you’ve experienced them?

    The dojo is hard work, but getting there.

  2. You should devote one blog to introducing us to some of the intangibles of your instructors up there. All I know about them, having never met them is what I can google. Let us know some more about your instructors, so we can better understand the differance between Donovan’s style and Claire Keller’s style.

  8. Thanks for a new post, Tonya.

    Some of what you describe is greater awareness/ki/6th sense, that comes with continued practice. I try to remind people every now and then to practice with “soft eyes” that are not focused on any object in particular, especially uke, but take in as much information as possible. You become aware of your peripheral vision when you stop focusing on what’s right in front of you. Like Spiderman’s spider-sense.

    It doesn’t sound like you are coming home for the holidays. Too bad. I was looking forward to witnessing your progress firsthand, as in flying through the air from a gigantic iriminage throw.

  9. Incogneto…

    to be followed by Return of the iPhone, and the poorly received iPhone: The Phantom Menace.

    Buck…

    Tonya’s probably getting the dojo ready for their Christmas seminar.

    Tonya…

    Dee and I also miss you. Maybe we can come up early next year? We’ll see….

  16. “Next to me in the blackness lay my oiled blue steel beauty. The greatest Christmas gift I had received, or would ever receive. Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, pringing ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots.”

    -Ralphie

  20. Huntsville is nice; very hilly. I looked and it appears that the only dojos here are Yoseikan and an ASU affiliated dojo. I wish I could drop by and check out those styles, but it’s only every so often we get to see family. Besides, I didn’t bring my gi. 😉

    I wonder how my cousins will react if I put a li’l sankyo or something on ’em, especially three in particular….

  25. Yeah, most of my family likes to shoot guns for target practice. Clay pigeons are are the best, but if you don’t catch the supplies on sale it can get pricey.

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