Linda Eskin Writes About Aikido, Learning, Training, Discovery, and Connection
No classes today (Sunday, day 10 of 16).
“The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your inner enlightenment. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter.”
Morihei Ueshiba (O Sensei)
“The Art of Peace”
Today, Saturday, wrapped up the first week of my 16 day Personal Aikido Intensive. I’m delighted and relieved to be able to say I’ve been … Read more …
This is freakin’ hilarious (stick with it – it looks stupid at first). Thank you to Don Modesto on AikiWeb for sharing it.
I’m going to try to keep this brief, because come hell or high water I am going to get 8 hours’ sleep tonight. Have you … Read more …
Tonight’s class was weapons. We usually focus on one weapon per class, and tonight it was jo (my favorite!). We did the first 12 jo suburi, and a combination of several at the end. I think I’ve only done 1 through 5 or 6 before tonight. I definitely had not seen the bigger swirling-the-jo-around techniques – those were fun!
I really like weapons classes, for the opportunity to work independently and slowly. It’s possible to focus on the mechanics, alignment, center/base, staying relaxed, breath, posture, and so on, without the rush of doing partner practice. I wouldn’t want to train like that exclusively, but it’s nice to be able to break things down and work on what you need to work on.
I also like that once I get something basically down, I can practice it at home on my own. (I keep a spare jo in the barn for that.)
Tonight I was really happy about most of what I did (not really lost at any point). I felt much more solid and settled than usual during the techniques. Between techniques, however, I caught myself being a bit busy and unfocused in the way I was moving. I’ve seen what that looks like in videos (it looks ridiculous and goofy), and have been trying to be more conscious of it. So tonight I tried my “being someone else” approach (see that blog post). Sort of “how might this look and feel if I were…?” It worked beautifully. No “trying” just doing. And then feeling what it felt like to be doing things that way.
There was a second class tonight, normally for 2nd kyu and up, but tonight anyone could stay for it. I was very tempted, but also very tired. I would’ve been the only one below 4th kyu. I decided to stay if by doing so I would make an even number of students (6), but as luck would have it the number came out odd with me (7), so I passed on participating. Probably for the best, as I was really wiped out from little sleep and a very fast-paced day at work. It wasn’t until I was on the way home I remembered that I also had to get the barn ready for a feed delivery in the morning, so it’s a good thing I didn’t stay later.
I sure didn’t get everything perfect today, but I did a lot better. 5-½ hours of sleep instead of 4, and actual meals (big, hearty … Read more …
Before I got horses, I got chickens as “practice livestock,” to see if I was up for the whole feeding-and-cleaning-every-day-and-night thing. I made some mistakes, and learned a lot. After a year, and still enthusiastic, I tore out trees, got the yard graded, put in a barn and fencing, and dove into horse ownership better prepared for having had that experience with the chickens.
In addition to being fun and worthwhile on its own merits, this two-week period of training at every opportunity (now at only day 5 of 16) serves a similar purpose. This time it’s to help me be more prepared for the Aikido Bridge seminar in January. And true to form I’ve made some mistakes and am learning a lot. A few lessons so far:
I’m sure there are more, but I’m too tired to think of them. Time for some stretching, a hot bath, and, well, 6 hours sleep. Sigh.
There is class on Monday (day 4 of 16), but because of a prior commitment I won’t be there. So no training notes for day … Read more …
