From the Aikido of San Diego Membership Handbook, by Dave Goldberg Sensei:
Have fun.
Aikido practice should be a joyful experience, and playful most of the time. If you aren’t having fun, you may be treating yourself too seriously. Don’t be in a hurry to master anything. You have the rest of your life to enjoy your training, benefit by it, discover, and grow.
True for Aikido training, and for everything.
My 2nd kyu Aikido exam, on 21 January, 2012. Many thanks to my mentor and uke, Cyril Poissonnet, 3rd Dan, whose teaching, coaching, and encouragement have been an important and happy part of my Aikido training from the beginning, and to Dave Goldberg Sensei, and all the teachers and students at Aikido of San Diego.
It’s been a steady stream of “aha” moments since my exam yesterday. More to come on that soon.
Well, fine. I can’t train 6 hours a day and keep up with blogging at the same time. So, here’s a bit of catching up.
The seminar was a wonderful experience, with the ouchy exception of some persistent leg muscle spasms that started a couple of weeks ago. I got through most of it, and had a good deal of fun, but was also pretty limited in what I could do, and distracted, which was unfortunate.
There were 6 guest instructors in addition to the main 3. Here’s a quick summary of a few of the classes, to the best of my recollection.
Troy Farrow Sensei taught on Friday morning. We worked on a variety of swirly techniques from gyakute-dori (cross-hand grab), including one I do all the time in jiyuwaza, but can recall ever seeing anyone teach it. It was a fun, high-energy class, and a great way to get going in the morning.
Friday evening’s class was led by Greg O’Conner Sensei, who I had the pleasure of training with at the Aiki Retreat last summer, too. His focus was on movements coming from sword technique, with a lot of cutting energy.
On Friday night I hustled out the door and back to my home dojo, Aikido of San Diego, because Goldberg Sensei would be teaching the 90-minute class. I miss those lately, because he usually teaches the 90-minute class on Wednesdays (my date night). These longer classes are often more seminar-like in temperament, really going into depth on some aspect of Aikido as a practice, as opposed to techniques. It was a truly inspired class, and I’m very glad I was able to make it
Jeff Sodeman Sensei taught a class on injury prevention and safe ukemi on Saturday morning. It was a great one-hour reminder of the things we’d learned in one of his longer workshops last year. I especially liked one warm-up exercise that involved stepping out in 8 directions (to the front, to the front-side, to the side, etc. all the way around), at first a little, then deeper, and finally in lunges. Great for loosening up, and for building strength and coordination. And you can do it any time (while you wait for the coffee to brew, for instance).
I finally got to train with George Ledyard Sensei on Saturday evening, which was awesome. His way of communicating and demonstrating really clicks with me. I enjoyed his class, and got a lot out of it. We worked on a Daito Ryu method of learning to send a wave of energy over our partners, from our hara (center), getting inside the attack. It was interesting to play with that same energy later in the seminar, especially in Ikeda Sensei’s class.
On Sunday, Lia Suzuki Sensei taught the morning class, but I arrive to late to join in (I really need to warm up first). I’m sorry I missed that one; I’d been looking forward to training with her. Sunday evening’s class was taught by Murashige Sensei. By that time my legs and brain were too tired to participate, so I watched that one from the loft.
On Monday morning I only managed about the first 20 minutes. When muscle spasms get to the point where you cannot get yourself out of the way of Tissier Sensei, who has come to demonstrate something with your partner, it’s time to get off the mat. So I watched again, and took some photos from the loft.
That night I was doing much better (seems that shikko is the killer, for the moment), and was able to participate in both classes at my dojo. Like many vacations, it was great fun to get out, to see and learn new things, but wonderful to come home, too.
All in all a tremendous experience, and I’m looking forward to next year!
For the third year running, I am participating in the Aikido Bridge Friendship Seminar in San Diego, with Doran Sensei, Ikeda Sensei, Tissier Sensei, and 6 guest instructors. sandiego.aikidobridge.com
Today, Thursday, was the first of five days, and just ran from 6-8 p.m., but I’m exhausted, so this is going to be quick. :-) I’m taking vacation time (Thursday-Monday) for the seminar, so I had the whole day free. Naturally I filled it with all kinds of fun. Here’s how it went:
It’s 12:45 a.m. Next up: Bed. Back on the mat at 8:15 a.m. :-)
This is not specifically about Aikido, but what resonated with me was the life-changing potential in finding the right teacher, your teacher, in whatever it is that you do, and honoring your duty to pass the art along.
Plus it’s a beautiful video. It’s about Michael Bell, master swordsmith of Dragonfly Forge and head instructor of Tomboyama Nihontō Tanren Dōjō (Dragonfly Mountain Japanese Sword Forging School). Enjoy.
My 2nd kyu exam is coming up in two weeks. Today a friend sent me my own advice, from my email to her before her first exam, a while back. If you are an aikidoka, you might hear echos of Robert Nadeau Shihan, via George Leonard Sensei’s book “The Way of Aikido”. If you are a horseperson, you might recognize the teachings of Olympic Dressage Coach, Jane Savoie. I try to train this way, and it’s always good to be reminded:
“Meanwhile, between now and your test (especially if you are getting stressed out), visualize the situation (dojo, Sensei, fellow students, etc.), and practice being calm, happy, and deliberate.
Worry/anxiety is just negative visualization - rehearsing in your mind all the things that could go wrong. When you catch yourself doing that, stop, take a breath, and rehearse in your mind everything going beautifully. :-) Breathe, smile, stand up straight and feel your feet rooted in the ground.
Try on the feeling of saying, in your mind “For the next few minutes, this is my mat. Get ready, because you’re about to see an inspiring test!” :-) And be prepared, if anything during your test should throw you off momentarily (getting dizzy, doing a different technique from the one Sensei asked for, or whatever), to simply re-center, take a breath, and keep moving forward with your test, calmly. Just let it go (“Oh well. Next!”) and keep going.
It’ll be fun. :-)”
In this video from mocaenboca.tv, in Spain, Rafael Regaño Sensei introduces the viewers to Aikido. This is one of the best videos I’ve seen yet for explaining what Aikido is. It’s in Spanish, with English subtitles. An excerpt:
“The purpose is to enter into harmony with your training partner and then gradually to integrate the philosophy to extend that harmony towards society, one’s surrounding, etc. It’s not a combat art, but one of harmony and unity. The idea is union with oneself and one’s partner, using martial arts, but without the components of aggressivity and competitiveness. It’s a peaceful philosophy.”
I don’t post many videos, but this one is important, especially at this time of year when we tend to be taking a look at our priorities, where we are, what we are doing, and where we want to go.
I suggest that you watch this, and then (if you haven’t already done so) find something physical that you love to do, and begin doing it. It might be hiking, dancing, surfing, or just about anything, but you have to love it to stick with it. In my case it’s Aikido.
A friend from work shared a link today to this article: The Trouble with Bright Kids. It describes some research on the kind of positive, praising feedback we get when we succeed, and how that can influence our chances of success on future attempts. It’s also interesting to read how girls/women and boys/men are affected differently.
It really rings true for me. Or hits a nerve. Or maybe it’s both. I was one of the “high ability” kids (possessing an innate quality, as opposed to making a “strong effort”). I went through school accompanied by a litany of desperate admonishments by my teachers: “You’re one of the brightest students in the class. You should be getting better grades.” Mind you, no one in the school system did a thing to help me learn how to do that, they were just constantly disappointed in me.
It wasn’t until college, when I took Cognitive Psychology, and Psychology of Learning & Perception, and put the principles into practice, that I figured out how to succeed in school. Went from Cs and Ds, and academic probation, to all As, on the Dean’s List.
What I realized after reading the article, and thinking it over on the way to the dojo, was that the whole issue is skill-area dependent. Or at least it seems that way to me.
No one ever told me I was athletically gifted (in spite of being a very physical, coordinated kid). I was never on any teams, or competed at anything. And here I am being patient with myself, and sticking to it, learning Aikido in my late 40s, and loving it.
I hear about people who have gotten the message (I would assume) that they are physically talented - like people who have been very successful in team sports - who get discouraged quickly when they try Aikido. “I’m supposed to be athletic, but this is difficult for me, I must really be a failure.”
I would guess it would be the same kind of pattern with anything: music, art, math… If you start out thinking something should come easily to you, it could be easy to feel like a failure for doing merely ordinary work - or worse, finding it seriously challenging. But if you expect it might take real effort and time to achieve even basic proficiency, then it’s not a disappointment to have to make that effort, and it’s easier to let it take as long as it takes.
For teachers (academic or martial arts) it’s something to keep in mind when working with children. And it’s something to consider when judging our own “failures” harshly, and something to look at when we’ve given up on ourselves.
Well, bummer. It’s official. The CAA “Menlo Retreat” is on sabbatical for 2012. The hope is it will return, in some new form, in 2013.
I’m disappointed to not be going next summer. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone, and doing nothing but training for a whole week. My dorm things are still/already packed from last summer.
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience it at least that one time, to have met so many really wonderful people and participated in a warm, inclusive Aikido tradition.
I’m looking forward to 2013, and to helping create the event, in whatever way I can help. For now, we can all stay in touch and post photos and stories about past Retreats, share ideas and info about the future, and keep the soul of the event alive. If you are on Facebook, there’s the Aiki Summer Retreat Fans page you can “Like” to stay in touch. And check the fan website: www.aikiretreat.com from time to time.
Please share the links with your friends throughout the year, so they can be in the loop about the new 2013+ Retreat. Invite them to go, when details emerge about it. If 2013 is going to be the beginning of a new and successful event, we’re going to have to support it.
Meanwhile, take the week of vacation time and the money you were planning on spending to go to the Retreat, and find another Aikido event to enjoy and support. Start with those at your own dojo, of course, and pick any other event(s) you think might be worthwhile. Go, and bring some friends along with you. It’s our participation (and volunteering to help out, where possible) that keeps them happening.
I know so far that I’m going to the San Diego Aikido Bridge Friendship Seminar (my 3rd year) in San Diego in January. At the end of March I’ll be doing the Evolutionary Aikido Seminar at Aikido of San Diego, with Patrick Cassidy Sensei and Dave Goldberg Sensei. For a summer “away” seminar or retreat I have about 8-10 options so far, but haven’t made up my mind. In any case, I hope to see you on the mat soon, and at the Retreat in 2013!
