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:
- Set the alarm for oh-dark-hundred.
- Hit snooze about 6 times.
- Jump out of bed, soak food for the donkeys, eat.
- Feed donks.
- Shower, grab my stuff, and head to my home dojo (Aikido of San Diego).
- Participate in a 90-minute conference call from the dojo (was there alone), so that I could be there on time to train with Jean, who has her 5th kyu exam coming up next week.
- Train with Jean for an hour.
- Participate in the the first session of our new 8-week Low Impact class, which was really a nice experience.
- Hang around and chat after class.
- Mozy on home. Eat a banana and raw nuts on the way.
- Have a 90-minute massage, in an attempt to un-spasm my left calf and hamstrings, which seem hell-bent on preventing me from practicing suwariwaza.
- Have a hearty snack of nachos, grab a fresh gi, and run out the door.
- Forget my phone. Oh well.
- Get to the seminar with maybe 5 minutes to spare. Change, get on the mat, bow in.
- Have a fantastic time training. Get a few things easily, and totally miss a few others.
- Spot another friend every few minutes. Grab them to train with. Grab new people, too.
- Be glad the mat isn’t as crowded yet as it’s going to be tomorrow.
- Have a blast. Notice how time flies. Bow out, and circle up.
- Tell friends about a dozen times that I can’t go to dinner, I need to go home, feed donkeys, and get some sleep. Get convinced to go out for dinner anyway. Just really quick.
- Spend two delightful hours catching up on news, discussing teaching methods, considering breakfalls, and wondering what the nearby diners must have thought of our “animated” conversations.
- Drop a friend off at their hotel.
- Head home, start laundry, feed donkeys, write this blog post.
It’s 12:45 a.m. Next up: Bed. Back on the mat at 8:15 a.m. :-)
