Following: Thursday

Friday, October 16, 2015

Thursday

First day of class with Jan Sensei was fantastic, as expected. Wait, we're not there yet. I have to go in order.

Mid-morning we went grocery shopping and found a surprise new bakery that wasn't on the list. Good bread and macaron, the croissant and kouign amann were mediocre.

We had lunch at our Airbnb house, and then went and explored Bellevue a little bit, ending at the farmers' market to get some things for dinner. They had local canned fish and beer for sale at market. It was pretty strange. Also, $50/pound butter. We didn't get any.

We ate dinner at a nice park, and then on to the dojo!

Class was wonderful, as expected. Lee Sensei from Aikido Northshore was, as always, a wonderful host, and it was great to see everyone again. There was one person from New Jersey, but I believe other than him we came the farthest so far. I heard some New Orleansers would be here for the weekend. Everyone seems to love the idea of the Aikido road trip, and following Jan Sensei. When I mentioned it to a few of the Seattle people, the conversation went something like this:

Me: We're going on an over 5,000 mile Aikido road trip, and following Jan Sensei down California.
Person 1 (keep in mind he has a British accent): Why didn't I think of that?
Person 2: You didn't homeschool.
Person 1: That's right. Bother.

I got some pre-class jiyu waza (free practice) time with Glenn Sensei from Aikido Seattle, which is always fun. We were both definitely warmed up by the time class actually started.

It was nice to see a continuation of what Jan Sensei was talking about last year with axes. (That's plural axis, not something you chop wood with.) He was talking about looking in the empty space, instead of where people are, because that's where you can actually move. At other seminars Sensei has mentioned looking where you want to go, or where you want uke to go, instead of at a person, because no one can move somewhere that's already full. Also, stepping back changes the axis and lets them push you over. So instead, you turn, keeping the same axis. It gives you more room without compromising your stability.

Jan Sensei used a vacuum analogy that I really liked: When we train, there's a lot of talk of extending, extend your hands, your ki, whatever. But really we want to be like a vacuum. It sucks air in one place, and blows it out another. It can't just blow (or extend) all the time, that's impossible. So we need to suck uke in first, and then extend.

I definitely couldn't take it all in from one class, and I'm looking forward to more this weekend!

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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.