Todays Aikido Adventure

Featured ai hanmi katatetori - which as luck would have it is standing in the same stance to your uke (loosely opponent, literally recipient but this is the party that initiates the attack and has the aikido done to them). Most basically you stand with your left foot forward and uke does the same or vice versa. Then they grab your wrist. Then you do something about it, in most techniques tonight we were breaking the severity of the grip by moving the ukes arm to a weaker spot usually away from their centerline, often in toward their face, ultimately landing them on their face or anterior side anyway. The beauty of this particular attack is that it's slower moving than being punched but the defenses are very similar and each technique you can do from either attack. Versatility is important. Because you'll see on yesterday's posting listing what all has got to be accomplished during the test there's no ai hanmi katatetori, but there is tsuki (punch).

So there ya go, or more accurately there I go, babbling happily about Aikido.

Soon I'll scrounge up some You Tube clips to link to, it'll make more sense.

It's Time

After a chat with my aikido mentor and friend known as the Passion King, I've started preparing to test for the rank of 1st kyu in Aikido. I've trained in Aikido for the last 15 years the first 7 were pretty intense the last 8 less intensely. Although the last 9 months have amped it up. Which is good for my mental health, very good for my mental health. But to test I have to kick it up a notch or two. So this is what I'm expected to do. At the earlier levels, the techniques are called out and you do them. At this level the attack is called and you're expected to respond, it's an intense kind of fun. And my updates will be mainly focused on how that's going.


1st Kyu (300 days)
Katatori menuchi - 5 techniques
Yokomenuchi - 5 techniques
Morotetori - 5 techniques
Shomenuchi - 5 techniques
Ryotetori - 5 techniques
Koshinage - 5 techniques
Hanmi handachi Ushiro Waza - 5 techniques
Tantotori
Freestyle: 3 attackers

Fresh French Fried Hell

I don't work with the all of the sharpest crayons in the box,and we seem to get into some semantic trouble with the dread business casual. Folks seem to think that as long as their business is covered, they're work appropriate. Um, no, this is not the case, and seriously one had such a short skirt on earlier in the week that she was going to be advised to wear a hairnet.

I've made a sign to go next to my NO WHINING sign, it says, JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN WEAR IT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD.

I really don't know what my next step should be but smart money says it will make my boss pee himself.

Randori

Just because I like to repeat it every once in a while. Randori means to embrace chaos. Lately I think I'm also embodying chaos.