Aikido and stuff

[ironphoenix]

It's been a while since I practiced aikido four days in a week, and my body is voicing its concern. Coupled with a hike last Sunday (Wolf trail in the Gatineau, 8.2 km) and more walking than usual due to work (tests taking place in a nearby building), I think this may be the most exercise I've gotten in quite a while. It's definitely doing good things for my cardio fitness and mood. Hopefully, the ache in my elbows and knees is mainly due to the extra stresses put on them while taking ukemi¹ for gradings on Wednesday.

I should say more about the gradings. We had a fifth kyu², two thirds, and a second. I took ukemi, including suwari-waza³, which I generally avoid because of knee issues, for one of the third kyu candidates, and for the randori⁴ for both third kyu candidates (simultaneous randori, which was somewhat chaotic) and the second kyu candidate. All of them passed; our sensei won't invite someone up for a test for which they aren't ready.

All told, a good week for my body, but one that I shouldn't repeat too soon!

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1: "Ukemi" is taking the role of "uke", the person who "receives" a technique; learing to do it well is as difficult and as important as learning the techniques.

2: The highest rank before black belt is first kyu (ikkyu); increasing numbers in kyu ranks (nikyu, sankyu, yonkyu, gokyu) refer to successively lower grades.

3: Suwari-waza is technique done while kneeling; it is practiced because in polite Japanese usage, it is improper for a vassal to be above his lord, and since samurai might have to dispatch an assailant while their lord was seated, and it would inconvenience the lord to rise, some "upper-class" Japanese arts such as iaido and aikido teach techniques which are done from a kneeling position.

4: Randori is freestyle technique with multiple attackers. It requires a good deal of technical skill and strategy to do well. Ukes have to be on their toes to avoid collisions and injuries, since throws are sometimes not well-delivered or are directed towards other ukes or obstacles.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

You're....first dan? working on second? (guessing based on years and relative involvement)

I tested for 4th kyu but never actually got the results; of course, that was 3+ years ago...

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

Nope, I'm second kyu. The days of practice testing requirements in our federation (we test under the United States Aikido Federation requirements) are quite gruelling. Practicing 2 or 3 days a week, it takes 2.5 years or so to get the 300 days of practice required after reaching second kyu before testing for first kyu.

[zingkotori.livejournal.com]

Ooh, simultaneous randori. I want to play!

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

*grin* I can only say, from an uke's perspective, that space is at a premium!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I always want to practice with someone who does Aikido. It drives me nuts to see the videos of the attacks they practice against - the attackers are always *doing it wrong*.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

I agree that some of the attacks are wildly silly. This is often because many aikido students today (and some instructors) have little experience with other styles before beginning aikido. It wasn't always so.

At some point, probably after my ikkyu test, I intend to practice karate for a while in order to improve my grasp of the pacing and flow of striking combat, which is where things usually start out. Aikido techniques are most easily applied when the attack is maximally committed, and many strikes are in fact feints or relatively light jabs used to create openings. In aikido practice, we generally go straight to a single committed strike as uke; this is pretty much a teaching aid not to be mistaken for the context in which the technique will arise in real life.

Our head instructor did ten years of tae kwon do, so he devotes some time to this kind of thing in our classes; we also have some senior students with other experience, with whom practicing can be quite "eye-opening".