Hamster-kido

Our last sub-sensei day. It was fun, but I am glad Sensei will be back tonight.

I wasn't feeling too great; I think I had some bad leftover General Tso's Bean Curd the other night. Plus, I've just been feeling really tired and rundown lately. I think I might make an appt. with my doc, get my blood tested for anemia, etc... I'm a vegetarian and never sure I am getting enough iron. The last time I was a vegetarian, I ended up very anemic. My sister used to say I was "blue and sickly". Ha. I was also goth at the time, so it was kinda the look I was going for, anyway. ;)

I met a friend in the parking lot to make an exchange. He had a hamster for my kids and I had a gift for his baby's birthday and some books and videos he wanted to borrow. I told him I wasn't even sure how long I'd last on the mat, since I was feeling so sluggish.

And yes, I brought a rodent to class.

Not many people for class. The sub asked if attendance is usually down when my sensei is away. "Yes", I said, "but Mondays are usually quiet anyway." He said that in WS, it's the same; when Harvey is away, attendance decreases. He said, "I guess that's how you know you have a good sensei. People want the real thing."

We actually ended up with eight eventually. I was senior again. I'm still not used that. So we had 2nd kyu, 3rd kyu, 3rd kyu, 4th kyu, and three nonkyu. Plus the nidan teacher, who joined in the practice.

Ryotetori was the attack du jour. Once I was uke for kaitennage; when we got into lines to practice, I told the 3rd kyu to go first. "I didn't see it." The teacher had joined our line and heard this. "Didn't see it? Come on, you know this move. Karen, what kyu are you???" Heh. "2nd..." "Second! You've done this before...."

Yeah, when it was my turn, he said, "Looks like you've done this one before...." Ha. I am just so used to saying I didn't see it, when I am sensei's uke.....it's become a habit. I actually love that technique.

I think I heard one of the guys call me "vicious." I prefer the term "effective", myself. ;)

One of my fave training partners is home from school for the month, so this should be FUN. Insert evil laugh here.

It was a great class. I was laughing quite a bit, and glanced over at the teacher once. He jokingly said, sternly, "NO LAUGHING!"

I actually felt great after that class, so I stayed for the second one.

This class, the 4th kyu and I both stayed, and we were joined by two nonkyus and a newbie. He wasn't sure what to teach, so we told him the two nonkyus were getting ready for 5th. So, we did the 5th kyu techniques.

Funny thing was.....he couldn't remember them! Ha. Been a long time since he took that test, and since he doesn't usually teach, he was at a loss. He practiced them with me first, while everyone else was doing katatetori kokyu. He had me remind him of some of them, which was funny. He said he's not good with remembering the Japanese names, and said that was the big joke when he tested for shodan. He said he had to watch what everyone else was doing. Funny, I just remembered that I watched that test and don't remember him doing that. So he hid it well! I told him that I am a real geek with that kind of thing, so people usually come to me to ask those sorts of things.

At least it's easy to remember what we did:

Katatetori (gyaku hanmi) kokyuho (only thing not on test)
Shomenuchi ikkyo omote and ura
Shomenuchi iriminage - This one I got to demonstrate on HIM, because he couldn't remember. After I threw him, I said, "This is my favorite!" Woo hoo! After that one time, he threw me, though....which was also fun.
Katatetori shihonage omote and ura
Ryotetori tenchinage
Tsuki kotegaeshi
Ushiro tekubitori kotegaeshi - I told him I think this one is Yamada Sensei's idea of a joke...it's tricky for 5th kyu! He said, "Yeah, no kidding..." I demoed this one, too. ;)
Morotetori kokyuho - He pointed out that THIS one he knew!

After class, he told me he was surrendering his keys. I joked that if my sensei ever asks him to teach again, he'll say no way. We joked, "Karen laughed at me! Because I didn't know how to do the techniques. Which was true, but...."

I was not laughing at him, I was laughing with him. Really, he had a great sense of humor through the whole ordeal.

The two 5th kyu candidates said they wouldn't be testing on Sunday. I haven't seen anyone who is eligible to test, practicing lately. So I have a feeling we won't have anyone testing in WS Sunday. That's up to sensei, though...

After class, I cleaned Sensei's office (damn, it was dusty) and then heard the other female in class call my name. When she walked into the ladies changing room, she saw the hamster's nose poking out of the plastic container she was in. Geez, a few minutes later and the hamster would have escaped! In the dojo! Ack! We taped up the holes she had made and I hoped she wouldn't escape during my 35 minute drive home. That was an interesting drive home, like something out of a comedy movie. That hamster chewed FAST. I had to keep covering up the holes....the first one with a stack of dojo flyers that were on the car seat....then with my kids' aikido book that I grabbed from the pouch on the back of my seat. Eventually, she knocked the book OFF and I had to drive holding the book on top of the container. Swerving all over the place, grateful that there's very little traffic that time of night, and praying I wouldn't have to explain this to a police officer. Oh boy!

Whew.

Well, sensei returns tonight. Plants watered, fish fed, office swept and dusted, mats and carpets vacuumed, one newbie signed up, no injuries, dojo and deshi still in one piece. :)

While the cat's away....

Sensei's been away for a week and a half. He'll be back at the dojo Tuesday. I'm glad; I miss the big lug.

Training has been going well. There just hasn't been much to report lately.

I'm working on my ukemi, as usual. Especially iriminage ukemi. I have noticed, though, that that ukemi isn't very easy for most people. I'm trying to be "boneless" and just "go with it". I have been feeling a big difference in my ukemi lately.

Yesterday a spectator told me after class that she "really loved watching me", that I was "flowing" and "supple" and "fluid." Holy moly. I thanked her, of course. She made my day.

She came with her adult son, who signed up. He said he had watched class 5 times; his mom was proud that he had finally taken the plunge. He filled out the paperwork and bought his gi, but says he will start April 1st. I told him he has to come back now, since he bought his gi! :)

I have been teaching all the kids classes for a couple weeks. It's been pretty fun. Wednesday of this week was especially fun. We did a couple "games" I found online. One that we really enjoyed was: Partners sit back to back, then interlock elbows. Now, they try to stand up together. It was a riot! Lots of laughing. :)

They also really enjoyed this kokyuho that we do sometimes in the adult class: Gyaku hanmi katatetori grab, tenkan, keep walking in circle with your hand in front of your center, drop, up, kokyuho throw. They loved trying to stay connected to nage, especially when they were taking ukemi for ME. They all wanted to do that, LOL! I was happy to oblige.

Funny thing is, when we do this in the adult class, I groan. It was really fun with the kids, though. Meditate on this, I will. ;)

The substitutes for the adult classes have all been cool. One more tomorrow night, a nidan from WS. He taught one of the Saturdays and last Monday, too. The Sat. AM class was a hoot. He was off in a corner, in a daze....another 2nd kyu and I decided to both run over and grab him. He looked so lonely over there. Ha. He said we totally woke him up. Woo hoo!

Monday at noon, I taught. It was just me and a lady from WS. She recently returned to aikido after a hiatus of a couple years, I guess. She used to train in NJ. We did tai no henko, katatetori kokyuho, shihonage omote and ura, and the tenkan forward roll throw. We talked A LOT. Sensei probably wouldn't have approved, but you know, I rarely get to talk to other women (in person) about aikido practice. I am almost always the only girl in class lately, so it was nice to have another female to talk to. I hope she had fun...

Tuesday, a different nidan taught. That was really fun, too. We had freestyle class, so that was cool. I laughed a lot. When sensei is there, I don't get the giggles, but with a sub.....I just couldn't help it. I guess I was much more relaxed. No pressure.

Wedneday, I had to leave right after kids class. My son had a concert at school. I was paranoid that no one would be able to get in. I had to lock up when I left, since no one had shown up for the 5:30 class when I left around 5:05. I was afraid the sub would forget his keys or something. Worry, worry, worry....

Thursday we had a snow storm, so we cancelled class. The sub that night lives near me, so has a 45 minute drive up to the dojo. The roads were bad and the snow was heavy, so we took the night off. At least I didn't have to worry that I was missing something. ;)

I thought about going up to WS today, but after lying in bed thinking about it for an hour, I decided to stay home. For various reasons.

Two of which are my ankle and my hand. I twisted/turned my ankle Tuesday morning (at home) and it is MUCH better. But I figured it could use a day of rest. My hand, OTOH (ha), still hurts after almost two weeks. My pinkie got caught in a guy's gi when he did nikyo on me...and it bent backwards and twisted. I guess I must have sprained something. Luckily it's my left hand, so I don't use it much. No swelling or anything, but it's weak and sore. One of the guys said, "6-8 weeks" for it to heal yesterday. I said I should be used to that 6-8 weeks thing by now.

I'm thinking of asking sensei about having an open mat class on Sunday mornings.

What else....I remembered to feed the fish and water the plants. Sensei told me to do that while he was away....also to have fun, take care of the dojo, and watch out for the beginners. Check, check, check, check, check... :)

Oh yeah, right before sensei left we had this visitor at the dojo, who turned out to be a guy I knew in college. He was actually how I met my husband; I went to see my friend's new apartment and met his new roommate...whom I later married. Sensei told him to call me to set up an appointment for his first class, but I haven't heard from him yet. Very weird to see him.

One more sub-sensei day tomorrow, then back to "normal" on Tuesday. Sensei will be in rare form, I'm sure, after 10 days sans aikido. Freestyle will be very, um, interesting. ;)

February 20th

Only four of us. Mondays have been really slow lately. This class was interesting, because we had a 2nd kyu, 3rd kyu, 4th kyu, and 5th kyu!

Sensei joined in the action for every technique, so it was a pretty exhausting class. "A good workout" is what he called it. Yup. He complimented the two junior guys on their increased stamina. One has been coming to class more often, and the other quit smoking! Woo hoo!

Crosshand ikkyo omote and ura - I was senior, so sensei's uke....he was chuckling afterwards. I think he is amused by the way he makes me fly for the ura, especially. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That ukemi always makes me laugh. Since we have been going over the ukemi/attack for this, I decided to grab and try to move behind uke, to see what he'd do. He should have done ura with that energy. He did omote. D'oh! I just laughed. I think we get it in our heads to do 2 omote and 2 ura, and it's hard to deviate from that even if uke's attack dictates the other one.

Crosshand kotegaeshi - I don't remember anything. Sensei wasn't doing a lot of correcting; I think he just wanted to practice and was having a good time.

Crosshand iriminage - This was the one where you put your hand up in front of your center like a sword and sorta tenkan on your front foot and cut down. My 5th kyu partner needed several demos from Sensei, so I got to take a lot of ukemi. Good! I need the iriminage ukemi practice. I had read on a forum somewhere that someone was trying to be a "boneless uke", so that was my goal. I just kept thinking "boneless", heh.

Crosshand sankyo - Sensei joined in and threw us anyway he wanted. That was pretty fun! When my partner and I were nage, we just did the sankyo, though.

Crosshand tenkan roll throw - Getting pretty tired for this one. And when Sensei joined us, he told me to move faster, "don't break the rhythm!" Good lord. Maybe I'm just trying to slow down the rhthym!!!!! Hmpf.

Crosshand two-arm throw thingy - Sensei came over and threw me in this one, before clapping and calling me up as uke. I was taking unnecessary breakfalls, I guess. Later on, after I bailed once, he told me I can roll, "If you keep stopping yourself, you are going to get hurt!" Ugh. I want to breakfall. But here I am again, making myself do things I'm not quite ready to do....he told me awhile back that I tend to do that. I just figure the more breakfalls I attempt, the less scared I'll be, the better they will get.

Maybe not.

Jiyuwaza - Oh, fun! Fun to do this with less experienced people. And Sensei, of course.

Kokyu dosa - not much to say about that.

No one showed up for the second class, so we went home early. I was tired, but still disappointed. It's a long drive up there just for an hour class; I'm driving more than I'm practicing and that just sucks.

I changed my schedule around a bit, so I can make the noon class on Mondays every other week. Sensei was ready to cancel it due to lack of interest. Lately, his only student then has been a WS student. He told me to work on clearing up every Monday, heh. He said that he told the WS-er that there will be no noon class the next two Mondays (he is going away), but if I wanted to, I could tell her there will be class this Monday and I can teach. I am undecided about that.

I drove up to the college today, but it turns out there were no classes today. Someone else from my class showed up, too....and she's not even blonde.

Class in less than 6 hours!

No Gnus Is Good Gnus With Gary Gnu.....

Training has been going very well. I just haven't the time or the patience to sit down and type out a blog entry everyday.

Some classes are more challenging than others, but I am now usually up for the challenge. Not that I have a choice....

We had a 5th dan mountain of a visitor in freestyle class this week; it was the hardest class I had had in awhile. Later on, my sandan friend e-mailed and let me know I did well, and that it was a challenging class for everyone.

Yes, I guess it was!

Thing about him is that when he's uke, I tend to give up, knowing I won't be able to move him anyway. And when I'm his uke, I'm afraid I'll get hurt. It seems that no matter how hard or soft my attack, his technique is the same....hard. Once I fell back and hit my head on the mat. Later on when he was asking if I was ok, someone reminded him of how "that head hit a marble wall" at winter camp. Ha. I was fine, blaming my ukemi more than his throw. But actually, I think it was 50/50. ;)

Our ikkyu told me that maybe if I didn't try so hard, the mountain would take ukemi quicker. Hm. Now I'm hoping he comes back soon, so I can test that theory!

We have a lot of beginners in the dojo now, which is great. Fresh blood. Bwahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of them, a 14 year old boy (about my height), kept spinning when I was doing shihonage with him. Sensei told me to extend more, so I did....but Gumby Boy (I heard one of the guys say "he's another Karen!" earlier) was still able to spin. I looked at Sensei and shrugged, he was grinning...then came over to explain to the boy that if he does that, nage can just choke him out instead. And demonstrated on him. I love my sensei.

Another newbie was doing the same thing the next night, but it was only his second class....so it's not time for that lecture yet. Heh. I just laugh and do something else.

Weapons class this week turned out to be sensei, me, and two newbs (the two mentioned above, actually). At first, it looked like no one was going to show up, and I was glad. By Thursday night I'm exhausted, so I was looking forward to going home early. I wish Sensei would change weapons class to earlier in the week; I just don't have the energy or brain power for weapons at 7:00 PM Thursdays. Early in the class, I noticed I was having a bad attitude.....I have a feeling Sensei probably noticed, too, heh. So I made a conscious effort to get rid of it, accept where I was, and just practice. And it was fine. We practiced ichi no ken after he went over all the basic bokken stuff. At least I know that one, so I felt confident demonstrating it with sensei.

He then had us put back the bokken and told me to get a tanto. Tsuki kotegaeshi with a tanto, woo hoo! I love that one. It was very interesting with the two newbies. The kid was funny, running after me with his knife way out front, making a funny "movie attack" face at me. When sensei told them to get a second tanto, they grabbed this HUGE one that we have and rarely use. So THAT was amusing, also. Later on, Sensei told them to attack me.....then he went to get a weapon himself. A bokken. And attacked me with it. I said, "Jesus!" (I was expecting a tanto....), he grinned, and I proceeded to enter on the wrong side of the sword. Heh.

We took turns attacking eachother and that was fun, although a little scary when the beginners were nage and trying to move fast. I guess my ukemi HAS improved.... ;)

Monday night, I was the senior student for both classes, so I took A LOT of sensei ukemi. Especially since we had a spectator; I got to have a personal beating for an audience! Woo. I was wiped out after that.

Wednesday night, second class, was me, the ikkyu, a beginner, and a brand-newbie. I heard them talking and the beginner said something about having "two seniors" in class. And I was like, wow. He means me. How cool is that?

I taught the kids class this week. I picked up my daughter from school, and she told me she wasn't feeling well and didn't think she should go to aikido. She said she felt hot and weak. So, I drove her back home, settled her in; she had a 99.7 temp, so no huge fever. Then ran out the door to the dojo. No skipping out, since I was the teacher! Ack!!! Of course, I needed gas desperately AND got behind a school bus (for quite awhile on 9W). I ended up getting to the dojo right at 4:00, to find two of the kids waiting by themselves upstairs by the dojo. A dad dropped them off, then went to the PO. You'd think he would have made sure someone was there, wouldn't you? Ugh. He came a few minutes later and I told him I just got there, so I don't think he'll do that again soon. At least I hope not.

So I just had those two; they are cousins. After warm-ups and rolling practice, we did crosshand ikkyo omote and ura, crosshand iriminage, and the crosshand forward roll throw, which I guess is probably just a kokyunage? Then we did kokyu dosa, much to their relief. Um, I think I tired them out. Oops.

They were flopping down on the mat and saying "ow" instead of taking decent backfalls. So I told them we obviously had to practice backfalls. So we did that, they did just fine, so I told them no more "ow"s when they fall, since they know how to do them just fine. They were amused by my impression of how they looked crumbling to the ground. Ha.

They like to complain. A LOT. But I just kept them moving, anyway. Because I'm mean that way.

I called home after kids class; my kid was absolutely fine, playing video games. She gets these low-grade fevers sometimes, but then she's fine a few minutes later. My kids are weird.

Sensei and the kids teacher are going away at the end of this month for ten days. So I'll be teaching three kids classes while they are away. Heh heh heh....

Kids class this AM, we played Sensei Says, practiced ukemi, then did crosshand ikkyo, kotegaeshi, iriminage, and the above mentioned forward roll throw. We also worked on getting uke's balance from behind, before we did the iriminage.

Adult class this morning...I dunno, I was not conscious. I asked my friend in the ladies room before class if I looked even half conscious. "No." she said. Heh. Didn't think so.

The attack was katatori. And I was demo uke for a shomen ate technique. I did manage to get my head out of the way, which was damn good for Saturday morning. Later on, he had us do throws with the jo. Oh, not good, not good. I can barely manage aikido without a big stick, in the morning. While I didn't get hit with the jo, I did manage to hit my mouth into uke's shoulder once. How? I have no idea.

Sensei atemi-ed a punch to my ribs. And I said, "Ow!" He laughed and said, "Aw, it didn't hurt THAT much!"

No, it didn't actually hurt at all. But don't tell HIM that! ;)

This week, I did manage several painless breakfalls. Oh, Monday night second class was just me, and this father/daughter pair of beginners. Sensei actually asked what they wanted to do (he didn't look at me, so I didn't answer, LOL), and they had no idea. I thought they'd say 5th kyu since they will be up for that test soon. Instead, the girl finally said, "I'd like to learn how to breakfall." Oh boy. Sensei took one look at me and said, "I don't think Karen wants to learn how to breakfall..." and laughed.

I said, "I already know how to breakfall."

"Yeah? I thought you said you forgot how?"

Sigh.

First, he said they have to be able to roll right. So he had them practice rolling....and told ME to go get a bokken. Then he made me practice rolling with the bokken in my hand. Good lord. I hate doing that. SPAZ! I did ok on one side. When I looked at him, he said as long as I don't drop it or hit myself with it, I'm doing fine. "Do the other side." Yikes. Spaz-city. Luckily he didn't make me do that for TOO long.

He made me go down and huddle onto the mat, then grabbed my gi and flipped himself over into a breakfall. Then he made me stay there while the others did the same thing. The guy, much larger than I am, protested that he might hurt me. "Nah, you won't hurt her..." Gee, thanks.

It was a fun class. I do much better throwing myself into a breakfall, with no one else involved. Ha. Sensei said I keep pulling back instead of just relaxing and going with it. He was very patient, but I could see he just wishes I could just DO IT. When I bail out, that's when I get hurt. I KNOW this, yet I still chicken out.

Kyu tests are in WS on March 12th. I can just watch. Whew. Maybe I'll get to take ukemi for someone, that would be cool. I still haven't been a test uke. Maybe my friend Kim, who is up for 4th kyu.

We are also doing a demo/seminar at Bard College on March 18th. We did one last year, too....that was really fun.

Not sure if I'm going to class in WS tomorrow. Harvey is in Montreal, so one of the seniors is teaching. I rarely go to WS anymore. I take 11 classes a week at my own dojo; my body needs a break once in awhile. Plus, that dojo is COLD in the winter. ;)

And that concludes the Woo Hoo Girl's Weekly Report.

Winter Camp 2006

Pictures here:

http://photobucket.com/albums/f79/KGWolek/

Copied and pasted from the Women In Aikido site:

I'm sorry, I just never got a chance to write anything about the seminar. Bummer. I hate it when that happens.

It was an excellent seminar and I had an awesome time. It was great having roomies to come home to afterwards! Usually, I end up spending WAY too much time with my sensei, which isn't really good, ha. I love the guy, don't get me wrong. But as Gaia said, "You two must have been siblings in a previous life..." To which my (and my sensei's) friend added, "A very recent one..." This time I had some buddies to hang out with, so that was a good thing. Meeting Mary was very cool....she is very brave to attempt an Aikikai camp like she did! She says she was overwhelmed some of the time, but she didn't show it. She just jumped right in to pretty much every class.

It was interesting hearing her viewpoint and the differences in styles. No iriminage in Ki Society! THE HORROR!!!! I freakin LOVE iriminage. ;)

I only missed one class (besides the dan classes), Peter Bernath's class. I really didn't want to miss it. But toward the end of the earlier class, I had fallen and cracked my head on the faux marble wall, and was smart enough (for once) to know that I should sit out. I was pretty upset, but ran into one of my friends and teachers in the ladies room soon after I got hurt. I told her I KNEW I was getting too tired and should have bowed out, but being me, I stayed and got hurt.

I went up to my room, took a shower, and iced my head for a bit before I went back downstairs to watch. I can't sit still very well, LOL. Besides a headache and a little disorientation, I was ok.

All the classes were awesome. I especially enjoy Donovan Waite's classes. My sensei spoke to DW Sensei at the seminar and asked if he'd come teach a seminar at our dojo...and he said yes! Woo hoo! I'm so excited!!!!

Penny's class was really fun; she changed techniques so fast I was laughing and laughing. I'd love to take one of her classes when there is more space to play.

I got to practice with Anne Marie and Mary a few times throughout, so that was cool. I got to do jiyuwaza with Gaia (another of my roomies, from Aikiweb) in Clyde Takaguchi's class (I think) and that was VERY fun! We had tons of space to throw eachother around. I almost didn't get on the mat for that class, but when I saw how much space there was, I was in like flynn.

I practiced with my Sensei once....morotetori kokyunage...and ended up with some nice bruises on my arms. Him and his grip of steel.

We did a lot of line throws, due to the space issue. Even Shibata Sensei did lines and he NEVER does them. He cracks me up. One of his students invited me to come by and practice next time I'm in the Bay Area visiting my sister. I just might!

The tests were all great. Funny, the day before I had practiced with this woman who was very serious. Saturday, I found out why....she took her shodan test! No wonder.

Yamada Sensei added ukemi to the shodan tests, much to the interest of my friend and dojomate Paul, who will test in May in Montreal. He said, "I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed..." gesturing to our sensei. Heh. I said I foresee much ukemi practice in our near future.

While practicing with one guy, he asked, "Are you Karen?" Apparently he reads my blog (hi, Daniel!), so that was really cool. He didn't ask for my autograph, though, hmpf. ;)

The night before we left, I crashed at my sensei's house, because our flight left at 6 AM. That evening he said something about me having to take every class. "Are you serious?" I asked. He laughed and said, "Yes, I'm serious." Later on, he said, "I might relent on that. There are 6 classes a day, so maybe you can take four..." I ended up taking about 11 hours of class, I think, over the three days. He was happy with that. :)

The trips down and back were ok. We had to get up at 2:30 AM on Thursday to catch our flight, so I only had about an hour and a half of sleep. Then at the airport I discovered the reservations guy put me on the wrong connecting flight and I'd end up getting to FL an hour after my teachers. And he said he wouldn't wait for me at the airport and I'd have to take a cab. Geez. I was getting a tad upset; my friend/teacher and his SO asked what I could do. They said I could fly standby on their earlier flight. She even went back to retag my luggage for the earlier flight! I did fly standby and I did get on their flight, so all was well.

We were pretty tired when we got in, but I couldn't nap at all. We went to Whole Foods on the drive to the hotel, so we got lunch and some groceries (the rooms had fridges and microwaves). Heh, Sensei was supposed to get a Ford Taurus at the rental car place, but all they had were minivans. That was pretty funny, but it turns out the van came in REALLY handy! I have a feeling we'll get one again next year.

We went out to eat (Mexican) and when I got back to my room, there was Mary, waiting in the room! It was just the two of us the first night. The next day, I was hanging out by the reservation table and Gaia just happened to come at that time. So Friday night, there were three of us. Saturday night, Anne Marie joined the slumber party...and Sunday night we were back to three.

Gaia and Mary joined me and my dojo crew for dinner each night, so that was fun. Friday night was Thai, Saturday night was Japanese, and Sunday night was Italian. They were all great places to eat. I ordered Tiramisu Sunday night, I guess Sensei didn't hear me...because when the server handed it over to me, Sensei leaned forward and gave me a look. Gaia said, "Karen, you're getting a glare..." but he insisted it was just an inquisitive look. He didn't say a thing about the sugar after that. Whew. It was yummy, but later on I wanted MORE SUGAR. Hee. Luckily, I didn't have any in the room.

We watched the second half of the Women In Aikido DVD on Gaia's laptop one night, and the NY Aikikai Past, Present, and Future DVD another night. Both were great...I would love to see the first half of the Women one.

The flights home...well, our connecting flight was delayed so we ended up spending too much time at LaGuardia. Turns out we could have gotten on an earlier one, because our luggage arrived before we did. They had told us it wouldn't make it on that flight so we had to wait. Grrrrr..... The flight from LGA to ALB was a cropduster. The only people on it were the three of us, two airline employees, the pilot and copilot. That was pretty exciting!

And I got a nasty sunburn. Blonde hair and blue eyes. And no sunscreen. Duh. I got lectured by several people over THAT, for sure, LOL.

Shoot, I can't remember much else. If I do, I'll be sure to add on!

It was great, though, to hang out with other Aikido-obsessed women. Funny, when Anne Marie mentioned the Women In Aikido site, my sensei asked her why we'd need a seperate forum for women. Because we DO. That's why. ;)

Pay attention!

Monday, Monday....

5:30 class. Tiny. Where the hell is everyone lately? Geez.

I was senior, which means I'm demo uke first. Which is a little scary, since you have no clue at all what he is going to do.

Luckily, it was just morotetori kokyuho. Whew. I can handle that. Except that I used to have some trouble with the ukemi, God knows why. Instead of standing in one place, I'd sorta follow him around or something. Weird. First technique shown is usually just a backstretch, so at least I didn't have to fall.

Oh yeah, class consisted of me, 3rd kyu, 5th kyu, and newbie.

My first partner was the newbie. I told him about pretending he's holding a barrel when he does the kokyu. Hope it helped.

My second partner was the 5th kyu. During the first technique, I saw him bow out to bandage his foot. When we started working together, he bowed out to get another bandage, one that would stay stuck. So I was watching the other pair work, avoiding sensei's eye. The first time the guy bowed out, sensei practiced with his partner while he waited. So, being extremely spacey and tired, I really wasn't up for that.

"PAY ATTENTION." I hear from across the mat. Sigh. Sensei put his arm out. Here we go! See, now I just figured we'd do the ikkyo we were practicing, but no. It was a personal beating, as we lovingly call it. So I wasn't really sure what to do. I was really not with-it yet. Yonkyo. Doesn't hurt. "Take ukemi. Roll out." Pathetic to have to be told THAT at 2nd kyu. Oh. Oh, yeah, right. Roll. Sheesh. He gave me his "What the hell is wrong with you???" look. Sigh.

I WAS paying attention. Just not to Sensei. ;)

Hm, let's see. Iriminage. "Bend your knees." "Step in behind him." Hey, that worked so much better. Surprise! ;)

Oh, ikkyo omote and ura. Sensei stopped to explain why you have to attack the right way depending on the technique we are learning. You'd attack static or pull, for omote....and push/go forward for ura. Then he had us practice both, depending on the attack uke gives. My partner was the newbie, so this didn't work out very well, heh. We tried, though, and it was fun.

Second class, just four of us AGAIN. This time we had another 2nd kyu, me, 4th kyu, and a nonkyu. The 4th hadn't been around for a month or so, he's one of my training buddies, so I was glad to see him. I just wish I had more energy.

Ushiro ryokatatori was the attack for this class.

Kokyu was first; my partner was the beginner. He's got about 65-75 pounds on me, I'd guess. So this was a little interesting. I just tried to forget about him and move my own body. I looked up at Sensei and grinned. It had to be funny to watch.

Ikkyo, sankyo, head-turn-thingy, iriminage, what else.....

Iriminage, I said, "This is a good one for short people!" and Sensei laughed. You have to get REALLY low. Too fun. Only bad thing about ushiro ryokatatori iriminage is that uke's fingers get stuck in nage's gi.

I was uke for sankyo. I think Sensei was trying to rip my arm out that last time. Whoa. That hip thing really works.

He had us practice what to do if your uke is really strong and resisting the sankyo. Put your head against their hand and move. Gives "Use your head" a whole new meaning.

Lots of funny stuff involving size differences. The poor guys have to really bend their poor widdle knees.

Head (bashed nose), shoulder (slept funny), elbow (hyperextended and still a bit sore), and toe owies (fallen on). If only it was my knee instead of elbow, we'd have a children's song...

Today, I'm just physically TIRED. Great shape for winter camp in a few days. At least Thursday we'll just be travelling and chilling out in Florida. No classes til Friday. So I just have to get through tonight (freestyle) and tomorrow.

BAM, right in the nose!

Thursday:

I have to admit I remember very little.

First class.....nothing at all. Sigh.

Weapons class, we did bokken stuff, again. We had eight people in class, so that was cool. I wish I wasn't so freakin tired by Thursday night, though. I actually drank a Redbull on the way to class. I was desperate. I have to say...it DID help. Don't tell Sensei. It had caffeine AND sugar. Bad, bad Gumby.

Saturday:

sandan, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, non, non, non

Yokomenuchi kotegaeshi ura - Sensei stopped me to show me how to tenkan. The horror!

change partners - No one bowed to me or my partner, the only other female in class. Fine. She said to Sensei, "Sexism in the dojo!" and he said yes, that we didn't want to work with the guys. Yup, that's exactly it. Then she said "we might hurt them..."

Yokomen kokyunage (straight in) - No the whole kaiten thingy, just straight in with your arm to their face.

yokomen shihonage-type thing - I can't explain this one in words. No freakin way. It's not an easy one to do on a flexi-uke like myself or my partner. Sensei had NO trouble, whatsoever.

kokyu with the choke (uke) - Ok, so I was uke for this. And I got clobbered right in front of everyone. And I still don't know HOW. All I know is he did the start of a kokyu, I lost my balance, and BAM, I got Sensei's arm right in the nose. It's swollen and tender, and my sinuses are screwed up....and I have a headache. Two days later. OUCH. Afterwards, when I was working with my partner, Sensei came over to correct me, I sat in seiza, he looked at me, then said ok and left. First I thought maybe he was pissed, maybe I made a face, but now I think he just realized it wasn't going to work. I was too out-of-it and my eyes were all teary from the blow.

iriminage - Changed partners three times. OMG. I was exhausted by then. I was out-of-it right from the start of class, but geez, by this time I could barely move.

yokomen tenshin line throw - Earlier in class, one of the guys said, to sensei, that he didn't think yokomenuch was a very effective attack. So we all sat down and Sensei explained about why we do the attacks we do, etc... Well, during this throw, I hit the question-guy with my yokomen. And he fell down onto the mat. There was a lot of "Well, you asked!" and "Now you know!" etc... I didn't mean to hit him, honest. I'm just not very good at stopping my strikes before they hit yet. He actually thanked me, though, LOL.

kokyu dosa

Only two kids for kids class, so the teacher said I could go to breakfast. I did. I was useless at this point, anyway. At the coffee shop, Sensei asked me, "So, what's the situation with you??" One of the guys said I needed coffee and Sensei told him, "No. Don't push the coffee!!!" I am always sleepy on Saturday mornings, but this Saturday was even worse than usual. I didn't get a mocha, because Sensei was there, ha. But I REALLY wanted one. I got a bagel and an OJ.

I need to go to bed at like 8:00 on Friday nights, I think!!!! Well, this Friday night I'll be in Florida at winter camp. Wonder if sensei would notice if I slept in Saturday morning........................

Going With It

Wednesday:

Kids class. Karen Sensei taught.

We had a lot of fun. After the stretches, I had them do rolls across the dojo. First, they had to do tiny rolls and see how many they could do from one side to the other. Then do it again, but try to do even more. Then we did the opposite....how many big rolls, then see if you can do less. We also practiced setting up the rolls and kicking the back leg over. I told them they were doing a lot of flopping onto the ground, ha.

We practiced crosshand ikkyo omote and ura. One of them remembered it was ikkyo AND omote. Yes! Omote, I again emphasized taking big steps. So we all lined up and practiced that, too....across the mat. Just the "giant steps". When they went back to practicing the technique, I kept on them about the big steps. It was really, really fun.

Ura, which one of the new kids remembered it was called, I wanted them to work on the tenkan and how they should keep turning while they lower themselves and uke for the pin.

No big skirmishes between the cousins. Although when I came out of the changing room, they were wrestling on the mat. I told them only aikido on the mat.

The drama king didn't say "ow" too often, which was great, but his cuz was talking to me often while I was demonstrating or telling them what to do next. And one of the new kids' dad was telling him how he's supposed to do kokyu dosa, after we bowed out. Ha ha ha, pretty funny, guy who has never done aikido correcting someone. He also spoke to them a few times during class; my sensei told me awhile ago that I'm not to allow that, but I didn't feel comfortable saying anything. I'm sure I'll get over it soon, if he keeps it up.

Mostly though, I think everyone had fun.

We also went over how to tie the gi belts. Sensei told me last week they should be tying their own belts. Pretty funny, considering I tied mine wrong for like two years before anyone said anything.

I usually feel nervous before I have to teach by myself, but once we get started, I have a good time. The parents watching is sometimes unnerving, but I can usually put them out of my mind eventually.

5:30 class was teeny. Just the 1st kyu, me, and a 3rd kyu guy at first; halfway through class, another 2nd kyu showed up. I KNEW we'd do a freestyle class. And we did. It was pretty cool. The ikkyu threw me in a couple koshinages, and I took the ukemi just fine. He did them very early on in class, so the rest of the class I just kept thinking, "just go with it..." and I think I did ok. There were a couple times where I wasn't sure exactly what I should be doing as uke (with Sensei as nage), but he just did something else then. The "something else" is usually worse than whatever he was originally doing, so I have got to learn to read him better.

Got hit in the nose once, ow. Sometimes my head still doesn't get outta the damn way.

Then later on when I was nage, an uke grabbed my shoulders from behind (ushiro ryokatatori), and I knew what to do.....but I got stuck at one point. He is like a fireplug, nearly impossible to move. Sensei was telling me to step through, keep going, step through! When I finally was able to do that, uke was still holding on while he fell....onto the back of my foot, so we both ended up on the mat. OK, yeah, that smarts. Sensei asked if I was ok...I said, "I think so..." "If you're ok, then keep going!" No rest for the wicked and the weary! So I finished my turn as nage.

I just twisted my big toe, which still hurts today....it doesn't really want to bend.....and pulled a muscle in my foot. It cramps up a little here and there. But damn, it coulda been so much worse, a 200 pound guy falling on my size 6 foot.

I decided not to take the second class (see, I'm getting smart). That class was just sensei, the 1st kyu, the 2nd kyu, and the biggest guy in the dojo (who is 3rd kyu, I think, he rarely practices). See? SMART. ;)

I hear they had another freestyle class. If I had stayed, that would have been three freestyle classes in two days. I think it's good I left...