Following: A Walkabout

Thursday, October 22, 2015

A Walkabout

Wednesday was a pleasantly touristy day. We are staying just up the hill from Chez Panisse. In the morning I bopped down to that neighborhood to pick up a croissant from a bakery we have visited before (I think Scott is going to cover pastry and Aikido today so I will stick to walking).

When everyone was awake I somehow convinced them to take a walk to our favorite lunch spot (Vik's Chaat). It was about 8 miles roundtrip. When we left we passed a house with a sign on the garden gate asking the the gate remained closed to keep out the deer. We are high in the Berkeley hills in a densely populated area so I thought it was just a funny sign. Then we looked across the street to see a deer bounding up the hill! I guess they were serious!

I love the architecture and plants here. We wandered along streets we knew and streets we didn't. We stopped in a few shops (books, kitchen, books) and just chatted. We stopped for incredibly delicious gelato (creme fraiche and peanut butter chocolate chunk) just before climbing the hills back to our house.

We all crashed with showers and books for a few hours and then back to a dojo we first visited in 2013. That was when and where Evie saw Jan Sensei for the first time. We spent about a week here last time with Evie training over many classes with the Sensei there (Kayla Feder Sensei). Many of the dojo members remembered her and were so welcoming, it is a lovely, lovely place.

More from other family members, I think. Off to Petaluma!

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Aikido Glossary

These are the most common terms you'll see here. We've also prepared a more detailed glossary (see below).

Dojo: “The place of the way”. The training hall where we practice our art. In the US, many dojo are decorated with a Japanese aesthetic, but some are in racquetball courts or gyms. In the end, the dojo is wherever the people are who show up to practice.

Gi: Training uniform consisting of jacket and pants (normally plain white for aikido) and an obi, or belt. In our federation, belts are either white or black, but in many federations, there are colored belts, most commonly blue and brown, but sometimes there are more gradations. Some aikido practitioners also wear a hakama.

Hakama: The pleated pants (that look like a skirt) worn by some aikido practitioners. In some organizations, it is (or can be) worn by students of any rank. In others, it is reserved for black belts, and in still others, there are different rules for men and women (which are derived from some interpretation of Japanese ideas of modesty). It has no real practical purpose, but serves as a sort of historical link to samurai tradition.

Hanmi: “Half body.” We use it to mean an aikido stance which is sort of triangular. Front foot faces the partner, back foot points out at about a 45 degree angle. It provides a great balance of agility and stability, while offering only half the body as a target for attack.

Musubi: “Connection” or “joining”, although the word is also used to mean “knot”. A key principle of aikido because it helps avoid confrontation and collision, which lead to destruction.

Nage: The person “doing” the technique, generally the person being attacked in some way.

Seiza: Formal sitting posture, kneeling with a straight back. Tough on the knees if you are not used to it.

Shomen: The focal point of the dojo, the proper direction to face. Most aikido dojo have some sort of shrine to the founder on the shomen. Shomen is also shorthand for Shomen uchi, which is an overhead strike to the forehead with an open hand, like a classic karate chop. It's a stylized attack when performed with an empty hand, but would be devastatingly effective with a weapon.

Uke: The person taking ukemi. A good uke is more precious than gold, because he or she will help you learn better aikido not by teaching, but by creating the conditions that allow you to discover how to make sense of Sensei's teaching.

Ukemi: “Receiving” is the closest translation from Japanese. When someone performs an aikido technique on you, your are taking ukemi. It encompasses a lot of stuff, including the punches, grabs, and kicks that we use to simulate attack, as well as the falling and rolling we use to keep ourselves safe.
On a deeper level, it refers to the act of connecting with and following your partner. Great ukemi keeps you safe, allows you to be alert for opportunities to reverse a technique, and helps your partner learn better.