November 2009
26 posts
1 tag
Your Teacher is Always Right
Since my last post was about looking for the lesson in everything your teacher does, I’ll expand on that a bit with a realization I came to recently about being a student.
I’m a user experience analyst by day, writer, former technical communicator, and amateur horse trainer for fun. In each of those contexts I hear the same kinds of statements: “They’re just lazy.”...
October 2009
11 posts
2 tags
Look for the Lesson
In any interaction with Sensei I assume there is a lesson - that Sensei knows exactly what he’s doing, and there’s a point to it.
In a recent class we were doing an exercise, each walking straight toward Sensei and turning tenkan to avoid his bokken swings, sideways at our midsections. I did OK the first time through, and got back in the end of the line.
The next time I was up I was...
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“By cultivating our concentration for staying with our sensations, we develop a...”
– Wendy Palmer Sensei, Aikido of Tamalpais, from her book “The Intuitive Body - Discovering the Wisdom of Conscious Embodiment and Aikido”
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Commit First, Then Figure It Out
Something I have found fun and useful in several areas of life (music, riding, and now Aikido) is to commit to doing or participating in something, and then figure out how to make it happen. For instance, I might commit to being at a weekend horse camping event. Then I have to get after making sure my truck and trailer are ready to go, get my horse used to loading in the trailer, etc. I...
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On Being Someone Else
A bunch of random-but-related thoughts have been swarming around my head lately like so many butterflies that won’t alight long enough to permit a decent photograph. So I’ll try doing what I’ve done before here when I can’t herd ideas into coherence - I’ll just blurt them all out and see if there’s anything useful among the lot.
Thought #1: When I was preparing...
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Connection (and Riding)
I’m just back from this morning’s seminar on Connection, and things are only just starting to sink in. So I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts (or feelings?) on this eventually. But here are a few things that stood out for me at first glance.
We did an exercise where we did shomenuchi ikkyo, ura waza, but without touching each other. Just staying together through the technique...
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Vet Tech Anology
I’ve heard it said that Aikido is more like police work than like the military. You want to control a bad situation, keeping everyone as safe as possible. There’s nothing comparable to storming in and taking out the enemy. It’s an analogy that resonates with me, and has been very useful in explaining to non-Aikido friends why my training isn’t about fighting or beating...
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Don't Push So Hard Against the World
Several weeks ago I participated in the Aikido In Focus seminar called “Relax, it’s Aikido,“ one in a series of seminars by Dave Goldberg Sensei, Aikido of San Diego. In the last few days I’m finally finding my realizations from that experience forming themselves into coherent thoughts. OK, so I think slowly.
I didn’t know what to expect from this seminar. Relaxation...
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Aikido? Or Riding?
I’ve had this idea rattling around in my head for quite a while. I think students of either discipline will recognize these points - and will probably be able to cite many more.
Aikido? Or Riding?
Linda Eskin
Heels down, chest open, eyes forward. Breathe. Relax your shoulders, soften your elbows. Breathe.
Look where you want to go and you will go there.
Close your hands. You’re...