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On Rank Advancement

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:01:19 -0400

This is an issue that has come up a LOT for me and many of my friends. In fact, I think it might be safe to say that it comes up for most people who train in Aikido at one point or another in the course of their training. I think that there are two main cases in which the issue of rank advancement becomes a concern for people: 1. being pushed to test or advance when the student doesn’t want to, and 2. when students are due to test, long past due to test, or impatient to test and advance. Here, I will only be addressing the latter, although someday I may come back to this topic and write about #1.

I’d like to talk about this topic within the context of my own experience and how I’ve worked through it. I suppose it might help to start with a little background.

My Story

I started Aikido in January 2009, which means I’ve been training for about 3.5 years. I knew from the beginning that testing was going to be something I’d like to do, so my first teacher told me that my 6th kyu test would be at the beginning of summer 2009, despite the testing schedule indicating I could have tested in March. He was trying to coordinate the tests with another local dojo in Park City, and due to scheduling constraints, I found out I wasn’t going to test until the end of summer.

After I had passed my 6th kyu test at the end of July 2009, my teacher later scheduled my 5th kyu test to take place that fall, a few months later. Testing in September as I did, put me back on track with testing time-wise.

My 4th kyu test was supposed to take place in spring 2010, but due to trying to consolidate and coordinate other peoples’ tests on the same day, my 4th kyu test got pushed back, month after month for the NEXT YEAR, despite being fully ready, simply because other peoples’ schedules were busy. I was 5th kyu for almost two years before I advanced, despite wanting to test.

Finally, I was approached by my teacher in January 2011 about doing both 4th and 3rd kyu tests at the same time in March in order to play “catch up” with testing. However, I came to a bump in the road. At that time, I became aware of another dojo that had twice as many classes with a whole group of highly ranked, highly talented teachers that I was very eager to learn from. At this new dojo, I could train between 10-12 hours per week! The idea was intoxicating. So much Aikido!!! I could train my heart out! Needless to say I started training at the new dojo and decided to give up on testing for the time being.

Starting at a new dojo put me behind again on the testing curve, which was my own fault, and I was willing to accept that. Given my situation, I was sort of used to putting rank advancement in the back of my mind, so any delay in testing wasn’t going to be that big of a deal to me. It was more important that I could train.

The dojo cho at my new dojo scheduled my 4th and 3rd kyu tests for June 2011. Despite finally advancing, I knew I was still behind. I sort of promised myself I’d be more serious about testing so that I could finally keep up. My 2nd kyu test was due to be taken in December 2011, and I wanted to be ready.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of my control, I was not put on the testing list last December. That is, I was not allowed to take my 2nd kyu test despite being more than capable. At the time, school was consuming a lot of my time, and I was a bit worried about my grades, so I couldn’t spend too much time worrying about it. I pushed my ego aside for the time being and figured “everything happens for a reason.”

However, I’ll admit that part of me wasn’t okay with it because I KNEW I was ready, and I knew I trained more and harder than everyone else going up for rank advancement, and I WANTED to earn that brown belt. Many people are allowed to test when they’re less than ready, and here I was, over-prepared and not allowed to test. I hadn’t lost faith in the system, I simply thought the system was working against ME only.

Furthermore, in January 2012, I started making my transition over to Aikido of Santa Cruz, and I KNEW that testing would be at least 6 months to a year until I would be considered to participate in testing. “SIX months to a year until I could test for 2nd kyu?!?! It’ll probably be 5 more years til I come up for Shodan at this rate!” I think my ego was starting to get the better of me.

What was worse was the fact that I was watching people who had earned their 4th kyu and advanced to 2nd kyu ALL while I was still just 3rd kyu. Part of me sunk to a low I hadn’t felt before about testing. Reflecting on how I had always, always tested way later than I should while most other people always tested on time, I started to feel like the system had been working against me the whole time. Why couldn’t I just be tested on time like I was supposed to? With each friend who passed me in earning their 2nd kyu, I felt as though it weighed me down more and more.

Days went by.

…….And then I snapped out of it.

“What the hell, Cherie??” I asked myself. Why was I dwelling on rank? Somehow I managed to smother the voice of reason that always told me “rank doesn’t matter — only training matters.” I had become so preoccupied. I experienced the very reason of WHY ego is such a problem.

Perspective started to kick in. I have TONS of training experience under my belt (no pun intended) that most people WISHED they only had the time and money for. In the period of 1.5 years, I’ve clocked in TWELVE seminars, trained an average of 6 days/12 hours per week. I received the rare opportunity to serve as a soto deshi. Taught kids classes at a major dojo 5 days a week for nearly SIX MONTHS. I’ve trained with 22 dojos in SIX of the United States and even one in A FOREIGN COUNTRY.

Talking some sense into myself, I asked, “Who, at the rank of 3rd kyu, has had anywhere CLOSE to all these fantastic opportunities?” … Honestly I can’t name even one. If you know of someone else, please tell me.

There are many people who advance in rank who have only been able to train a couple days a week at most who WISH they could train as much as I have. I need to be grateful. In the end, it’s training time that’s the most important, and with training time comes skill and ability. I know I could pass a 2nd kyu test today if I had to. Why am I trying to rush it? Here are some productive perspectives that have helped me kick my ego and work through my troublesome mindset about rank advancement.

1. I am not entitled to anything. Even if I can pass a test, doesn’t mean I deserve rank advancement. If I cultivate an attitude of self-entitlement, I am undermining my training.

2. Ego will stop my training dead in its tracks. I’m sure O’Sensei didn’t even really like the whole idea of rank advancement because it’s just one more way our ego can fixate on something in our training. In essence, I believe that fixating on rank advancement is a sure way to contaminate my training. In fact, doing so will likely delay testing because (1) Sensei can probably tell if I’m only concerned with testing and rank, and (2) if my ego is taking over my whole thought process, I’ll likely keep myself from learning anything at all. … You know, the whole “empty your cup” thing.

3. I need to realize that patience is part of the learning process. It’s part of our training. I want to make my training a personal journey where rank is welcomed but only serves as “frosting on the cake.”

4. Trust is also part of the process. It’s taken me a long, long time to put trust in my teachers. Teachers have the ability to choose when students go up for testing, and I was always skeptical about this. I’ve come to the realization that teachers want you to test as much as YOU want to test, but that they won’t put you up for testing unless they believe you’re ready. There are, of course, exceptions to this with abuse of power and all, but for the most part, I believe that delayed testing has nothing to do with that. I know that my teacher will test me when I’ve shown enough enthusiasm, spent enough time in the dojo, shown competency in the material and shown that I have the right mindset. Cultivating an “everything happens (or doesn’t happen) for a reason” mindset has been one of my most productive mindsets.

5. What I need to do is focus on training ONLY. Train hard, and whether tests and rank advancement come early, on time or late, it’ll come, but worrying about it will not make it come faster. Sometimes communication between student and teacher and be beneficial, but DO NOT show your Sensei that you are impatient by asking “when is my test?” Every dojo I’ve been to, that’s been a general rule: Don’t go to the Sensei, let the Sensei come to you.

6. Train as a white belt and surprise people who assume your rank is lower than it really is. For me, it was really hard to initially give up my ego, so I decided to do something fun and silly like this to get the process started. I’d rather surprise and impress people spontaneously than come off as a show off any day. Whenever I’m finding myself worrying about rank again, I’ll just put on the white belt for a few days. It’s very refreshing (and sometimes amusing).

7. Make it a habit to take a dose of perspective. Looking back, those few months where I was denied testing is so insignificant in the long run. It wasn’t years that went by, it was months. I know several people who have been denied rank advancement for YEARS despite being more than qualified. Whenever I start worrying about rank, I try to make sure I take a moment to put everything into perspective.

8. Let go: I only have control of myself and my own decisions. The best I can do for this process is choose to work hard and accept the fact that I can’t make my teachers do anything. Cultivating bitterness will only destroy me and hinder my progress. I can change myself by doing to previous 7 things, but that’s it. I’m not in control of everything, and I don’t have to be. Be careful not to let this mindset turn into one of apathy. It’s important to stay enthusiastic and dedicated to training while accepting the fact that sometimes we can’t make things happen faster.

Anyway, I could probably write much more on this topic, but I think this post is long enough. I hope it’s helpful in one way or another, or at the very least, you’ve learned about part of my Aikido journey regarding rank advancement and how I worked to cultivate a more productive mindset.

Original Article

Free Writing Experiment

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:38:56 -0400

On my flight out to California this weekend, I decided to do some free writing and see what turned out. Yearly, I try to participate in a writing project called “NaNoWriMo,” National Novel Writing Month, and I wanted to find out whether I could get an Aikido novel started for this year’s NaNoWrimo. The following 525 words is what resulted. I’m not sure whether to proceed as a fictional novel, a semi-fictional novel or write a sort of short memoir based on my own experiences. The reason is because there are some fictional elements to the description of the experience, specifically the environment. If I decided to go with a memoir, I’d have to change some of that.

My ultimate goal of the writing would be to: practice writing, tell a story, share/explain concepts/experiences in Aikido with non-Aikido people, motivate my own training, and hopefully inspire other peoples’ training as well.

The following is what I wrote in its entirety, highly undeveloped and unedited, except for some technical mistakes — I tried to make sure grammar, punctuation and spelling was okay, but that’s it. I just let the words fall onto my page, and the rest is history.

It was six AM. I wasn’t even fully awake yet. The mat was freezing… I was freezing. I tried to remind myself over and over that I was doing a good thing by showing up to the early class. Somehow, a little voice in the back of my head was not convinced. “Misogi… Shugyou…” I forced the words through my head over an over like a mantra. It’s a part of our Aikido training to endure these kinds of conditions, I reminded myself. Misogi is purification, and even though I sincerely disliked the cold, I knew it was good for me. It cleansed me. I knew that enduring less than desirable conditions would train my mind to be stronger than my body. This was the essence of shugyou.

As I sat in line waiting for class to start, I tried to take in the environment as objectively as possible. Rather than unproductively wishing to be somewhere else, I wanted to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings and fully experience the gratitude for the opportunity to be here, now. And then of course, it would be nice if I could distract myself long enough to forget about the cold, I thought.

I could hear the rain steadily falling on the aluminum rooftop. The sound echoed through the completely silent dojo. I couldn’t wait for the glimmer of pink, morning sunlight to peek through the windows and warm the dojo. Given the winter season, however, that wouldn’t happen for at least another 45 minutes. I could only hope that training would sufficiently warm me.

Just then, a Japanese bell rang once, and the sound reverberated for several seconds after. Everyone was sitting in a perfectly straight line, sitting tall, and facing forward in a calm state of meditation. While everyone else sat perfectly still, seemingly undisturbed by the cold, I fidgeted impatiently and uncomfortably. I found myself distracted. My eyes wandered from the shomen, to the people next to me, to the left side of the dojo and then the right. Suddenly my eyes locked onto the teacher walking up to the front of the dojo. Very slowly, he sat down in seiza facing forward. He paused for a moment, likely paying his silent respects to founder as he gazed at the photo hanging on the shomen.

“Rei,” the teacher called out as he put his hands pressed together up to his face and then bowed gratefully toward the front. We all copied him in unison. The teacher, or Sensei, as we called him, then turned around to face us, still sitting in seiza. “Onegai shimasu,” he said sincerely as he bowed to us. “Onegai shimasu!” we all shouted in unison and bowed again in return. I could felt the energy of the people in class surge through me, and for a moment, I completely forgot about the cold.

It was the beginning of the first day of my first week of Kangeiko — cold training.

Original Article

Description of Kids Classes

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:04:39 -0400

This is an entry written for a friend who wanted to know more about Aikido Kids’ Classes.

What is Aikido?

Watch this first:

How young can kids start?

Depending on the martial art and the school it varies. In Aikido, typical starting age is about 6 years old, but, for example, Sunny Skies at Aikido of fremont teaches an “Aiki tots” class where the some of the children were as young as 3-4 despite the description saying ages 5-6:

Aikido of Fremont Schedule

What’s the routine of a kid’s class?

15-30 minutes before….

I arrive 15-30 minutes early to plan out my class for the day and unlock the doors for students to arrive. I also sometimes clean the dojo a little bit.

5 minutes before….

About 5 minutes before class starts, all the kids start rolling in. Parents are signing their kids names in on the attendance roster. Some parents like to chit chat about how their children are doing in the class. We sometimes talk about how tests went or when future tests will be scheduled, or how much more proficiency the child has to show before going up for a test.

1-2 minutes before….

About 1-2 minutes before class starts, we do a “uniform check” to make sure everyone is clean (hands, feet, uniform), and make sure the uniform is put on properly. A lot of children don’t figure out how to do it properly until age 9-10. I re-tie anyone’s belts that aren’t tied properly. I roll up sleeves and pants for anyone whose uniform is still a little too big. In Aikido, we do wrist grabs, and if sleeves are longer than 3/4 length, I roll them up to expose the wrist to help training go easier.

Line Up….

As time for class comes, I ask everyone to get in line, which IS a standard across the board for Aikido. In kids class, we sit in order by rank, which is NOT a standard across the board. Some dojos hate that, some always do it. All dojos practice sitting in a kneeling position called seiza when sitting in line. —>

Bowing in…..

To bow in, I sit off to the side of the mat, usually behind the line. I wait for all the kids to sit up straight, stop fidgeting, face forward and hands in lap. I make them wait about 30 seconds like that. When all’s quiet, I stand up and walk up to the front of the room and sit in seiza. I wait about five seconds looking ahead at the front (shomen). I start to bow, and the most senior student calls out “SHOMEN NI REI”, which basically means “show respect/bow to the shomen.” and we all are bowing to the front together. Then I turn around to face the students, still in seiza, begin to bow to the students and the most senior student calls out “SENSEI NI REI” (“show respect/bow to the sensei”). According to Japanese culture, as the kids class teacher of lower rank (i.e. not black belt) I can ONLY be called sempai (“senior”). At Utah Aikikai, our dojo-cho (“dojo head/owner”), requires the students call all kids class teachers “sensei” so that the students show more respect. The dojo-cho at Utah Aikikai thinks if the students call teachers “sempai,” the kids won’t behave as well or show as much respect since it’s a term that isn’t as high on the “food chain” as “sensei.”

As we bow to each other, it’s very common to say “ONEGAI SHIMASU” which you’ve probably heard before, and in addition to meaning “please”, it can also be translated in Aikido context as “If you would be so kind to train with me.”

Other Dojos’ Bowing Practices

Some dojos may not call out “shomen ni rei” and “sensei ni rei” at all. They may say nothing. Some dojos just say “REI”, some dojos say “OSENSEI NI REI,” since most Shomen have a picture of O’Sensei, the founder of Aikido, on it.

Warmups (first 10-15 minutes)…..

As we all know, warmups are to warm and stretch the body safely, so there is a variety of kinds of warmups we do. We do generic stretches, yoga stretches, Aiki taiso, which consists of wrist stretches, footwork, and other Aikido-specific movement practices, Tai Sabaki, which consists of technique/attack combination specific Aikido movement practices and ukemi practice to help us learn how to fall safely.

Here’s a random warmup/bow-in video for you:

Here is a video that’s part of a playlist containing other possible practices we might do in Aikido:

Another example of bowing in and warmups:

After we all bow to the Shomen and then to each other, we spread out for warm ups. Warm-ups are generally the same for children and adults. Search “Aikido warmups” on youtube, and you’ll find a variety of warm-ups with a lot of common movements, but varying orders, numbers and some dojos add in yoga stretches. In my kids classes, I add “cobra/upward dog” stretch and “child’s pose.”

Aiki Taiso

One exercise you may have noticed in the first video is the rowing exercise (“funa kogi undo”). Other exercises might be called “shomen uchi ikkyo undo” (“undo”=”oon-doh” means “exercise”, we can do this static or with dynamic foot work), “tai no tenkain”=”body turn”, “double tenkan” OR “two-step turn” describe a stepping body turn.

Zengo Undo & Happo Undo (btw, the shouting is called “ki-ai”—>Wikipedia - Kiai)

Wrist stretches are very important in Aikido. Common stretches are called “Ikkyo” (#1) “Nikkyo” (#2) “Sankyo” (#3) “Kotegaeshi” (wrist turn back):

Other
I believe the shaking of the hands clasped together is called “furitama”=”spirit shaking”: (source: Wikipedia - Misogi) Etc.

You can search ALL these terms on youtube for videos. If you want more specific names of exercises, please tell me. I can also take a video showing you which exercise is which if you get confused.

Ukemi Practice (practicing safe falling)
Ukemi (receive+body=”receiving a technique with your body safely”) practice, includes forward rolls (“mae ukemi”), backward rolls (“ushiro ukemi”), side rolls (“yoko ukemi”), high falls (“tobi ukemi”) for advanced students, etc.

Core Class Time (40 minutes starting after warmups) ….

Classes go differently each day. Classes have the option of accomplishing several different things, and the emphasis depends on what the students need (e.g. if there are all advanced students that day or all new students, or a mixture) and what the teacher wants to emphasize. Here are some options:

+ Go over terminology for beginning students (e.g. “hanmi”=”half-body stance”, “seiza”=sitting on the knees, “O’sensei”=founder of Aikido—>Morihei Ueshiba, etc.)

+ Talk about what Aikido is and its philosophy of non-confrontation for both beginning students and advanced students who might need reminders or want to deepen their understanding. For example, what does it means to “blend” physically (i.e. becoming one with your partner’s energy), mentally (e.g. understanding another person and their view point) and verbally (e.g. avoiding an argument by working with a person verbally). Another example topic of discussion is how to show respect to the teacher and fellow students in class. Another core concept is “Zanshin” — why it’s important during training (e.g. safety and building awareness), and why it’s important outside the dojo (e.g. safety from strangers and safety from danger).

Physical Blending with your Parter by Ginny Breeland (“uke” = the one providing the attack)

Verbal Blending in Aikido (“Get angry customers to back down using the martial art Aikido”)

+ Go deeper into some footwork practices (e.g. tai no tenkan, double tenkan, irimi=”entering”-shuffle, happo undo=”eight direction footwork exercise”)

+ Practice techniques:
Basic: Ikkyo, nikkyo, sankyo, kotegaeshi, iriminage, kokyuu nage (this means different things at different dojos)
Intermediate: Rokkyo, kaiten nage, tenbin nage, more advanced kokyuu nage, etc
Advanced (typically for teenagers or adults only): henka waza, kaeshi waza, koshi nage, randori, etc.

I may be deceiving you to say that there are basic, intermediate and advanced techniques in Aikido, because anyone can typically learn even the advanced techniques (e.g. I’ve done randori with the kids as long as I gave them a good/slow introduction), but the fact remains that the advanced techniques usually require a higher level of comfort with Aikido techniques in order to enjoy practicing the more advanced techniques as well as being VERY familiar with how to practice safely. For example, I suppose kids could play with kaeshi waza (countering techniques), but they need to be comfortable with a handful of techniques to know what counters are available. To explain what I mean, a kindergartener would have a hard time drawing a house if he didn’t know how to first draw a “triangle” “circle” and “square.” Sure the child could try, but the end result might not be a house. :P

If the kids are good and fully understand the responsibility of using the practice weapons, we sometimes pull out the wooden swords (bokken) and practice basic cuts. They love it and consider it a reward. I always remind them in advance that the practice weapon is to be treated like a REAL WEAPON. Don’t put the blade on the mat because if it was real, we’d tear the mat — you always hold the bokken properly on the left hip not touching the ground. You don’t clack and clank the weapons with your friends. Don’t try to strike a friend with the weapon, even if you’re joking because you can still very seriously injure someone with these wooden swords. You don’t wave the sword around in the air because you might break someTHING or someONE. Don’t do ANYTHING with the sword that they’re not told to do. That means if the teacher is talking, don’t continue practicing unless told to do so. Always pay attention to what’s around you — we call this “Zanshin,” remaining mind. It’s a core concept in Aikido.

Bokken Cuts

End of Class (last 5 minutes)

We play games! In most dojos, Kids class teachers are given free reign on what games to play as long as it satisfies at least one of them following criteria: (1) It’s good for physical training and exercise, (2) It’s good for coordination training, (3) It exercises a key concept in Aikido, (4) it exercises Aikido basic practices like footwork, etc. (5) It enhances the children’s understanding of Aikido.

Kids Class Videos Taken by Me

Aikido of Fremont (playing “Sensei Says”, exercising Aikido Footwork and Reaction time)

Working with Eric on Test Requirements

Funniest Teen Class on the Planet

Entries I’ve Written About Kids Classes
What I’ve Learned From Visiting Kids Classes In California, Summer 2011

Teaching My First Kids Class

Original Article

Looking Forward as 2012 Begins

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:43:10 -0500

Motivation

For some particular reason, 2012 feels like a very important year for me. Usually the New Year is always important, inspiring me to write New Years’ Resolutions, etc., but last year I somehow ended up taking a break from the whole New Years thing. Perhaps I needed to spend a year without direction since so many of previous years had goals and a direction, so I think it was a good opportunity to “feel out” my new direction. Last year was definitely an unusual year, being simultaneously amazingly incredible and amazingly difficult.

A couple years ago I had sort of predicted that 2011 would be a cleansing year and that 2012 will be a year of rebirth, definitely not in the “new age” sense of 2012, but more in a coincidental, personal sense. So much came to an end last year, and so much has already begun this year. The wild fire clears the landscape, and with a little luck and the right conditions, a rebirth of the landscape follows.

2011 in Review

I lost of my graduate Ph.D. research funding in January 2011, propelling me into making profound decisions. I begun the year unemployed but managed to secure a lower paid T.A. position that at least helped us make ends meet. It also forced me to make a big decision about my future; was I to continue with the Ph.D. program, or downgrade to the Master’s and “get the hell out of Dodge?”

At first I reflected on the fact that I loved my research and really wanted to continue with it, regardless of whether I had funding, hoping that I might be able to continue as long as I could secure a T.A. position each semester. After a few very unpleasant run-ins with my advisor, I realized I had a deeper problem: my advisor and I didn’t get along at all. Our working styles were completely different, and he specifically wanted me to work in a particular way. With that realization, I decided I needed to wrap up my research and downgrade to a Master’s instead.

After the Spring semester was over, I realized that as much as I love T.A. work, and as much as I love research, I didn’t like having to do them at the same time. Also, slowly but surely, I was coming to the realization that Aikido was starting to become a more significant part of my life. Not only that, but I was realizing, I *wanted* Aikido to become a more significant part of my life. It was for this reason that I decided I should just go with the Master’s non-thesis option, finish my class requirements, and get out of grad school, most likely for good. I love engineering, but not at the expense of my health and well-being.

As for Aikido last year, I started at Utah Aikikai in the first week of January 2011. My training was much more rich at Utah Aikikai, being able to attend many classes per week, and train under many different instructors. I needed the variety and learned a lot. Many new opportunities were available to me, and I got to meet and train with people who loved Aikido as much, or nearly as much, as I did. There were more people available to mentor my training too. One of the biggest
opportunities I had was volunteering for kids classes and eventually becoming a Kids’ Class teacher for the dojo.

I think that 2011 was when my Aikido training became “real.” What I mean by that was my training became something more than a fun activity I did a few times a week; I trained hard-core. I trained 5-6 days per week throughout 90% of the year, I visited 13 new dojos, including my first international dojo in Auckland, New Zealand, and attended six semminars.

Reflecting on how my life’s focus changed from Engineering to Aikido over the course of 2011, I feel inclined to write New Years’ resolutions for my Aikido training rather than writing them simply for life in general. I’m not sure whether anyone else does this or whether it’s even practical or beneficial to do, but I want to make 2012 an experiment in this case. At the end of the year it will be interesting to see how everything progressed. At the very least I think the experience will be very insightful.

I finished my Engineering program in December 2011 and ventured out and away from Salt Lake City, starting 2012 with a fresh start in Santa Cruz, California.

2012 Purification

I wanted to start 2012 in the most amazing way possible, and so far it’s been incredible. I’m hoping that starting 2012 on a good foot will make the rest of 2012 a wonderful year of new beginnings and purification.

January 1st, I joined Aikido of Santa Cruz in their yearly Misogi Purification celebration with morning class being held on the beach in the sand and Shin Kokyuu performed in the cold ocean. We were lucky to have such a beautiful temperate day on January 1st, but the water was still excruciatingly cold. The
whole experience is meant to be refreshing, and despite being very cold, misogi in the ocean always leaves me feeling amazing, filled with good, new energy. After misogi, there was a misogi after-party at 1pm. I got to spend time snacking and chatting with my amazing friends at Aikido of Santa Cruz on a beautiful,
sunny Saturday afternoon.

My first week in January was spent training at Aikido of Santa Cruz in a constant state of disbelief that I was ACTUALLY THERE. I had spent June to December of 2011 dreaming and wishing that I could call Santa Cruz, California home, and that dream/wish came true. I’m STILL in a state of disbelief, but not like it was in the first week.

My second week in January was spent training with Yoshi Sensei and his classes at U.C. Santa Cruz at the beginning of the week, followed by my favorite yearly seminar with my most admired Aikido teacher, Christian Tissier Sensei from France. The San Diego Aikido Bridge seminar this year was again incredible, and I was so very happy to see all my friends from last year, including Yoshi from Utah Aikikai who joined us for the last two days!

My third week in January has been spent training at both Aikido of Santa Cruz and the dojo at U.C. Santa Cruz and catching up on photos and notes from the Bridge Seminar.

The fourth week of January is about to begin, and the first month of 2012 will be concluded with hard-core training that will hopefully set the pace for my training in the rest of 2012: Kangeiko.

Kangeiko, 2012

Kangeiko is a traditional annual winter training intensive in which people training in Aikido are incouraged to ramp up their training for a week in “cold” winter conditions. Having come from Salt Lake City, I can tell you that Santa Cruz isn’t truly “cold,” but the morning here can be pretty chilly, especially with rain. Particularly for me, being one who was originally from Phoenix, Arizona, I love to be toasty warm, so Kangeiko will likely push me to my limits, but this is what Kangeiko is all about, and I want my theme for 2012 to be the same: Masa Katsu Agatsu — “True Victory is Self Victory” and Shugyou — “disciplined training.”

Masa Katsu Agatsu through Shugyou.

I think that “True Victory is Self Victory” means that in all of the ways you can acheive a kind of “victory” (e.g. victory in the workplace, victory in sports, etc), the real victory or “true” victory is the kind of victory you achieve when you master your own mind and will power. Last year I tapped into this on the surface, but this year I want to dive in. I want, or would like to:

Maintain my training at a rigorous level throughout the year.
Challenge myself to train even during difficult conditions when I might normally consider skipping out.
I want to keep going to seminars. Four per year minimum.
Earn 2nd kyu this year if possible.

There are several aspects of my training that I was thinking about focusing on this year.

Internally: Increase the amount of connection I use in my techniques.
Externally: Work on Christian Tissier’s more stylistic variations.
Feet: Work on moving my feet more. Don’t get caught up in upper body.
Posture: Work on having truly straight posture, not simply decent posture.
Ukemi: 2012 is the year for tobi ukemi, or high falls. It’s time I work on it more diligently.
Intrapersonal: Constantly strive to set an example (e.g. good etiquette, volunteering, etc.)
Interpersonal: Try not to talk during training so as to not distract my training partners.
Innovate: Try to compile existing exercises for practicing using the center and other exercises that
develop skills critical for smooth, effective techniques. If more exercises are needed, try to invent them.

In general, I think I’d like my training in 2012 to be much less about specific techniques and much more about connection and extension. I have such a strong tendency to push, or if I discover the beginnings of connection, I often get excited and push.

This pretty much constitutes what I want my direction in Aikido to be for 2012. Basically I want to continue to train hard, and this year I want to push myself closer to my limits.

Original Article

New Zealand

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:56:42 -0500

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Original Article

Events August 2011

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:26:44 -0400

Nakayama Sensei Seminar in Logan, UT

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This was my first seminar with Nakayama Sensei, and I really enjoyed it for several reasons, two of which are worth mentioning here. First of all Nakayama Sensei has become one of my favorite teachers. He is quite funny/entertaining and explains everything in a very easy-to-understand way. Anytime Nakayama Sensei came over to help me with the techniques, I never became confused and was able to continue training without needing any long explanations. Furthermore, I love how he loves to help students. He came over many times to offer help and was always happy to do so. He did the same with all the other students, and it seemed important to him that we worked on everything to the extent that the students felt comfortable with the technique that was being covered.

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Secondly, I have struggled with the version of Ikkyou that AAA teaches because no one was able to break it down for me or teach it in a way I could understand before this seminar. Within a minute of Nakayama Sensei explaining Ikkyou, I understood exactly what I wasn’t doing: it was the footwork. At that moment I felt like I had a revelation about Ikkyou. The version of Ikkyou that I learned initially, which happens to be the same Ikkyou taught by Christian Tissier Sensei, focuses on taking balance by utilizing a vertical circle (pushing uke’s elbow over their head). The version I learned at the seminar uses a horizontal circle. I had constantly asked myself whenever seeing this version of Ikkyou, “Why doesn’t uke just walk away? How does this even take their balance?” With the footwork that Nakayama Sensei taught, I was able to understand that I was never creating the distance between uke and myself, and I was never using my hips in the movement. I made some diagrams below. Green is uke, brown is nage. The attack I had in mind while drawing the diagram was shomen-uchi.

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1. Irimi-tenkan,	2. Feet together,	3. Rotate hips.

I’m really looking forward to another seminar with Nakayama Sensei. :)

Photoshoot with Wasatch Camera Club

Members of the Wasatch Camera Club volunteered their time to come by and take photos at our dojo of us giving various Aikido demonstrations. Originally it was supposed to just be yudansha and ikkyu only, but because there were a limited number of people available, I was the only third kyu invited. It was a lot of fun. I hope they come by again sometime and take some more photos. It’s a rare occasion when people take photos of ME training! You can see all of the photos here.

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Original Article

Keeping Energy Up: Waking Up

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:16:22 -0400

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For quite a while, I’ve been noticing I experience an “energy rollarcoaster,” which is not only unpleasant, it completely ruins my productivity. I know that there are a handful of things that affect my energy and how well my energy is maintained throughout the day, so I decided to start making a list of the things that work for me, starting with a list of things that help me wake up in the morning. I’m going to keep something like an “energy journal” to see what works and what doesn’t and find out exactly what combination of things gives me a really great day energy-wise.

Original Article

Notes and Quotes (Anno Sensei and Mary Heiny Sensei)

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:53:37 -0400

While I was at the Santa Cruz Summer Retreat, I took several pages of notes that turned out to be more valuable for my own training than I previously expected. Most of the time I take notes and go back to them later to find out that they don’t have the same meaning as before, and sometimes I don’t even remember the original idea that was being conveyed. This time, however, I go back to my notes and am surprised and delighted to remember such great things from my time at the Aikido of Santa Cruz summer retreat. Since I enjoyed going back to my notes so much, I thought I would share some of them here. Right now I’ve only typed up notes from Mary Heiny Sensei and Anno Sensei, but I still have some notes left from Jack Wada Sensei and several friends, so there will be a second follow up entry to come.

Motomichi Anno Sensei, 8th Dan:

“Aim as nage to give ukemi to uke that gives them joy…”

“Meet uke with your ‘kokoro’ （心）… throw your spirit in first.”

“Don’t look at uke.”

“If you think 「投げたい、投げたい」(‘nagetai, nagetai’ — I want to throw, I want to throw), then you will certainly have bad posture.”

“Train wholeheartedly with joy.”

“Train with ‘Kansha no kokoro’ (「感謝の心」— a heart of gratitude). Move through your technique as though you were saying to uke, ‘Thank you, thank you!!”

“At the end of your throw, raise your arms to the sky with the feeling of ‘that was SO GREAT!’”

“Execute techniques mindfully with a heart of gratitude and love.”

Question posed to Anno Sensei during the Q&A session: “I’ve heard from OSensei that in Aikido, the techniques are like points along a line. At what point do we practice between the points?” Answer:

“The points are like 1+1. Our training is practicing the process of adding 1+1. We use them — they are like tools in Aikido. The techniques are the questions, and Aikido is the answer.”

Question posed to Anno Sensei during the Q&A session: “Anno-Sensei, you talk a lot about how it’s important for our training to polish ourselves. Can you give us some advice about how we can polish ourselves?” Answer:

“Our training starts out rough, so to polish ourselves, we aim to move in ways that remove the rough edges … Look to do techniques in a way that doesn’t require strength or force; aim to use your center … train with a heart of gratitude.”

—Motomichi Anno Sensei

Mary Heiny Sensei, 6th Dan:

“My job is the same as both uke and nage: to be within myself and be with my partner.”

“… As uke, don’t be seduced by the ‘dark side’ of ukemi …”

“Ukemi needs to be a constant two-way conversation.”

“If you’re doing independent mind ukemi, then you’ll never reach that moment of Aiki with your partner…”

“We need to connect completely.”

“Spiral up instead of focusing on throwing downward… Stir, stir, stir… round. Keep your hands in front of your center …”

“As nage, if I stop, uke should stop.”

“Never be satisfied by the fact that uke its the mat — instead be satisfied only by the fact that you reach that moment of Aiki where you’re in harmony with your partner.”

—Mary Heiny Sensei

Original Article

What I've Learned From Visiting Kids Classes in California, Summer 2011

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:46:52 -0400

My Trip to California…

When I was in California from June 21st to July 15th, I visited and helped with several kids classes, spanning from as far south as Santa Cruz to as far north as Richmond. Every single kids’ class was a delight, and every single kids’ class sent me home with new ideas and strategies for giving kids good Aikido experience, empowering the children, instilling a sense of responsibility and honor, and at the same time, allowing them to have fun and go home looking forward to the next class.

Each class taught me something different, and each instructor was very good in their own way. Seeing the variety of instructors and teaching styles was very inspiring. The table below shows all the kids classes I helped with:

June 28, 2011	Aikido of Santa Cruz	4:30 - 5:30pm	TEENS (Ages 13-18)	Aimen’s Class
June 29, 2011	Aikido of Fremont	4-4:40	Aiki Tots (ages 5-6)	Sunny Sensei
		5-6pm	Children (ages 7-8)	Sunny Sensei
July 01, 2011	Aikido of Berkeley	4:30 - 5:15pm	Children (ages 5-7)	Alonzo Sensei
July 05, 2011	Aikido of Santa Cruz	4:30 - 5:30pm	TEENS (Ages 13-18)	Aimen’s Class
July 12, 2011	Aikido of Santa Cruz	4:30 - 5:30pm	TEENS (Ages 13-18)	Aimen’s Class
July 13, 2011	Aikido of Santa Cruz	4:30 - 5:30pm	YOUNG PEOPLE (Ages 9 - 12)	Gresham’s Class

Aimen’s Teen Class at Aikido of Santa Cruz

There are two main realizations I brought home with me: (1) Humor is ESSENTIAL — use lots of it! (2) Empower the children and you’ll not only give them more opportunities to have fun, they’ll learn more.

Aimen’s Teen class was amazing because Aimen was able to keep the attention of 12+ teenagers despite using lots of silliness and jokes. In my experience, if you get the kids riled up with jokes and silliness, I would lose their attention completely and never get it back the entire class. I’m starting to realize that it’s “strategic humor,” meaning that you can be funny with the kids, but you give them cues and clues about when it’s time to focus. So far I’ve been able to increase the silliness in my classes and regain their attention within 10 seconds of calling for a moment of focus. This has improved my kids classes 5-fold already!

Alonzo’s Young Children’s Class at Aikido of Berkeley

In Alonzo’s class at Aikido of Berkeley, I was impressed that he didn’t hesitate to give the 5-6 year old students bokkens to practice with. Alonzo really empowered the students, and I believe that the students got a lot out of the responsibility he gave them. When I got back from my trip, I had a class of seven students of various levels, and I decided to take a leap of faith and do a mini bokken lesson. I used a strategy taken from my own parents that worked with me, and it seems to have worked with the children, and that was, explain to the children up front the nature and responsibility associated with being allowed to use the bokken. If my parents ever gave me some insane responsibility or privilege at the age of four, they sat me down and said, “I’m going to let you do this, but I’m counting on you to be responsible.” I explained that the bokken is a real weapon that you can hurt people with it if you don’t treat the bokken with respect, and I explained that you don’t point the bokken or swing it at anyone, and lastly, that it was very important to pay attention to the exercise and ONLY do the exercise I was giving. I looked at each one of them and asked if they understood, and they seemed to, so we proceeded. The class ended up being a lot of fun, and they said they want to use the bokken more often.

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Alonzo’s class was also amazing because I felt as though he was able to teach at the level appropriate to each student. There was a fifth kyu teenage boy, there was third kyu little me, and then there were the children. Throughout the class, he was actually able to help me with the given exercises as though it were an adult class. I had a really great time!

Sunny Sensei’s Aiki Tots and Kids Class at Aikido of Fremont

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sunnyKidsGroupFunnyP1070511-1024x768.jpg”][/lbfenix] Sunny Sensei’s kid classes at Aikido of Fremont was also a huge inspiration. I was just stunned to see that there were about 20 young kids in his 7-8 year old class, and that he was able to keep them all focused and having fun the entire class period. Also, the level of skill of the children of this age was. just. incredible!! They were doing each movement properly! I’ve never seen such consistency and solid level of standards. Also, he was teaching them all sorts of japanese words and phrases! I was so impressed. I think the main thing I learned from Sunny Sensei’s classes is that group activities are key. The students love to do things that make them feel in sync with the group. So in my kids’ classes lately, I’ve really been trying to utilize group activities, and I’ve even started teaching the kids Japanese words during warm ups! They do very well, and they love it! Furthermore, during techniques and Aiki Taiso, I have them say the words outloud and repeat the meaning back to me. I think it’s really helping them remember the vocabulary. And lastly, Sunny Sensei’s Aiki Tots class inspired me to use more bouncy balls during class, and to use soft bokkens for practice in “getting off line.”

Back Home! Improvements & New Responsibilities

Since being back home, Berardini Sensei has put me in charge of the entire kids’ program at Utah Aikikai. I’m teaching five days a week: Monday through Thursday 4:30-5:30pm, and Saturdays 12:30-1:30pm. Even though it’s only five hours a week, it really feels like a big job! I’m thoroughly enjoying the responsibility. :) Here are the things I’ve added or improved since being back home:

Give the children bouncy balls during shikko to help them practice keeping their hands in front of them.
Added a bouncy ball game in which there is one ball per child; the balls are tossed simultaneously to the opposite child, and the trick is to use teamwork and coordination to be simultaneously throwing and catching the bouncy balls. The kids LOVE IT. They ask for it after every class. We need MORE bouncy balls! :(
I’m being “daring” and letting the children use the weapons as a way to add interest and variation to classes. To keep them learning, I have to keep them stimulated, and stimulation often requires variation and new experiences.
I’ve decided to make Saturdays my improvisation day where I choose to do something a little out of the ordinary while still teaching them Aikido. Rather than pulling out the list of technique requirements, Saturday will be reserved for improving our training in different ways. (See the discussion following this list.)
I’m requesting good posture and focus whenever they’re sitting in seiza, regardless of whether they’re observing instruction, sitting in line before class or just waiting for a turn to do a technique. I’m finding I have to ask less and less, such that they are starting to figure out that they have to check themselves.
Overall I’ve increased my standards by a little bit and have become more consistent in asking for those standards to be met. The quality of kids class has improved about 10-15% already!!
The over structure of my classes has become more solid and straight forward — I’m less wishy-washy and more decisive.
I keep a regular kids’ class notebook and record what we did, what worked, what didn’t work, and what I’d like to work on in future classes.

Saturday: Of Zombies and Randori….

On Saturday, I again did a new experiment: I worked on Randori with the kids! Before class, I planned it all out and thought about how they would react/respond to the various exercises. Here’s how it went:

First, I had them line up at the end of the mat to prepare for a “turn-style” exercise. I explained to them that we would be working on Randori, and had a discussion about what Randori was. I explained that we were going to start out really, really slow and basic and work our way up. I told them that I wanted everyone to have fun with it, but that if I asked them for their attention that I expected them to quickly focus, and that if I thought things were becoming too disordered (lol, no pun intended), that we would move back to doing regular techniques and do Randori another time.
After the discussion, I started with the demonstration of the first exercise, which involved nage moving to the center of the dojo and uke giving a very slow, walking, “zombie attack” (sound effects encouraged provided they were giving good zombie attacks). Nage’s job was to simply pick a side and move off line, gently protecting themselves from uke with their hands (gentle outside spiral, just to keep a separation). Uke then moved to the back of the line, and Nage continued to ward off the zombies until all of the zombies had a turn.
Next, was one of the things I was VERY pleased with.. we worked on etiquette!! I made sure that every single person, upon defending from all the zombies, bowed politely to the next person in line before handing off the position as Nage. They were so good at following that instruction! I was a very proud Aikido teacher. :’-)
After everyone had a turn being nage, we did a second round of the exact same thing, except Nage moved farther back, and zombies were instructed to give fast-walking zombie attacks. Believe it or not, I actually had a hard time getting them to give fast-walking attacks! I was worried they’d go crazy, and it ended up that I had to insist they give tougher, faster attacks! Haha.
Then we did another round of “slow-walking zombie attacks,” but this time I had uke attack twice in one “go” by turning around after each attack and attack opposite the original direction. This, I was hoping, would teach them to be aware of uke at all times, and I hoped it would help them get used to using tenkan while being attacked.
After those three exercises, it was time to try 2-person Randori. Somehow the class time ran PERFECTLY such that every child had a chance to be nage for randori. I let the kids volunteer to be uke for randori, and they did a great job of following the rules and giving each other a chance to be uke. Uke’s instructions:
- Slow-walking zombie attacks ONLY.
Nage’s instructions, broken down into four easy things to remember — when “hajime!” (start) is called:
- Pick a side, it doesn’t matter which side, but go towards the outside of the side you pick
- Keep all your ukes in front of you: don’t get between them, and don’t turn your back to them
- Move, move, move; don’t just stand still
- If you get “bunched up” create some space for yourself by running off to a spacious area of the mat

They did PHENOMENALLY WELL! It was a fantastic class, and I think they had fun with it. :) Hopefully we can have more fun classes like that. I’m really enjoying teaching kids class!

Original Article

What I learned at the Aikido of Santa Cruz Summer Retreat

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:46:19 -0400

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gP1080185-1024x768.jpg”][/lbfenix]There were, of course, many things I learned at the Santa Cruz Summer Retreat like all seminars, but this is the first of my Aikido seminars that sent me home with a toolbox filled with more conceptual, rather than technical, ways to focus and enhance my training. I found that there was a common theme between all of the teachings in all of the classes; Linda Sensei, Mary Sensei, Jack Sensei and Anno Sensei all said (in their own ways, of course) polish your spirit, and you will simultaneously be polishing your body.

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gP1080170-1024x768.jpg”][/lbfenix] I think we all train being told over and over, “relax your mind and your body,” “train your mind to be relaxed and calm,” etc, etc; so it’s not that training the mind is anything new to us, but I think this seminar finally helped me understand the WHY and HOW we should focus on this in our training. I think my understanding boils down to this personal interpretation: you can train the body alone endlessly, but the body has a limit — the mind/spirit does not. So to truly maximize the capability of your physical training, you need to first focus on maximizing your mental training.

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gP1080129-763x1024.jpg”][/lbfenix] I think it’s easy for us to become distracted by the technical and physical aspects in Aikido, especially as you move through the kyu ranks. Currently, my level is third kyu, and up until now, my training was about 97% physical and 3% mental. Ever since being back and training at my home dojo, the change in focus from predominantly technical to predominantly mental has left me with the feeling that my training has been transformed by leaps and bounds. I recall Anno Sensei saying, “train whole-heartedly with joy,” and “move through your technique with gratitude as though you were saying ‘thank you!!!’ to your partner, and at the end of your throw, extend your arms upward with a feeling of ‘that was so great!!!’”

Even though I surely don’t yet incorporate this practice in each moment of training as much as I would like, I’m constantly reminding myself and working on it. I’m sharing this idea with my friends all the time too! They are so inspired by these little tidbits I’ve acquired from Anno Sensei and the rest of the sensei from the retreat, and they tell me it makes training a lot more enjoyable and productive! I’m certainly feeling that same thing in my training; the Santa Cruz Summer Retreat has inspired my own training more than I had ever imagined.

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gP1080173-689x1024.jpg”][/lbfenix] A common idea mentioned over and over was the concept of polishing oneself. I think initially I had some vague idea of what this meant, but it was quite abstract for a few days until it started to sink in. After the retreat, at one of Anno Sensei’s classes held at the Aikido of Santa Cruz dojo, a student made a great request during the Q&A session: “Anno Sensei, can you give us some advice on specifically how we can work on polishing ourselves?” Anno Sensei’s answer to this request was the very moment that I felt like I understood the connection between mental and physical training and why training our spirit/mind (kokoro) is so important. Anno Sensei basically explained that our training starts out rough, and that we must aim to train in a way that removes the rough edges. When you train with a heart of gratitude and love, you are constantly working to chip away these rough edges.

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gP1080180-768x1024.jpg”][/lbfenix] In my own interpretation, I can see that one’s technique becomes polished when they stop limiting their focus to the physical and simply work on becoming a more loving and thankful person. I can see that a loving and thankful mindset would make one’s technique a lot more considerate of uke, and thus a lot more soft. One of the things that Mary Sensei emphasized that (in my opinion) deepens this idea is realizing that “Aikido is a constant two-way conversation”. When you’re loving and thankful and mindful in a verbal conversation with a friend or loved one, you’re able to pay attention to the other person whole-heartedly, and the conversation becomes pleasant and productive. In the same way, if you train with a loving and thankful mindset, your conversation with uke becomes more considerate, and consequently it becomes soft, gentle and effective. If there is no such conversation or exchange of energies, then there is no harmony of energy, and thus our technique would remain rough, and in essence, we would not being doing Aikido.

[lbfenix img=”http://enkai.nu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gDSCN1018-1024x768.jpg”][/lbfenix] At least in my experience, at my level, there has been (and still is) a lot in Aikido that is very abstract. For example, what does it really mean to “connect to one’s center,” or “move with one’s center”? What does it really mean to “extend ki” or “take balance?” And I always ask myself, “why am I constantly feeling as though I’m so stuck?” The last of those questions was answered by a lot of what I learned at the Summer retreat discussed above. I’m always finding myself stuck because I’m focusing on my training with a limited view. Of course we need to go through the motions and memorize and practice this movement and that movement, but along the way, I think I would like to remind myself of all those conceptual things I brought home with me from the Summer Retreat. I have so much to work with in my training now that I’m back home; lots of work to do, always. :)

Original Article

A Bokeh Photography Study.

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:45:00 -0400

A Bokeh Photography Study.

Passed 3rd Kyu!

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 04:01:39 -0400

I’m quite relieved and happy that my 3rd Kyu test is over and that I passed. These last three months have been full of long, hard training. I feel like I should be taking a break at this point, but I’m sure it’s only beginning. Besides, I love Aikido too much to take any kind of break; rather, I’ll likely be trying to relax rather than worry so much about having every technique down. I believe the minimum waiting requirement to test for 2nd kyu after 3rd kyu is 6-9 months, so I won’t likely be testing again until at LEAST December.

Right after the test, I didn’t feel too great about it at all because I was more focused on how much I struggled with 2-person randori. I don’t have a problem keeping them away from me, but I have a lot of difficulty with completing throws. As a result, they were able to pile up on me and then everything REALLY went nowhere. I’ll ask Sensei and Melissa and Mikey to hold more randori-focused classes; it’s something I want to work on.

Despite not feeling great about the test, I went home to watch the video and found out I make an exponential improvement since our Jiyuu-waza practice on Saturday! There were two key sources that facilitated the improvement: (1) Before the test, Shawn spent 30 minutes with me just working on footwork to keep me moving. I’m so thankful! (2) I had made a music video from clips of our practice on the Saturday before the test, and because I had watched the music video so many times, I was able to study my Jiyuu-waza in detail and formulate a list of things I wanted to improve on: move my feet more, clean up my footwork, and blend more. I absolutely made an exponential improvement on all of these things. I don’t intend to sound overly-self satisfied — it’s just that I never expected to make that kind of improvement in a matter of DAYS.

In fact, improvement like that in Aikido usually never happens in a matter of days, unless there have been countless hours of focused training, which I didn’t have with Jiyuu-waza. Aikido is a martial art that simply takes time; skill sinks in slowly. I suppose you could say it “ages” because you can’t beat time. There’s usually no way around it. Anyone who comes into Aikido thinking they can master the art quickly might be a little delusional. Sure it’s possible to become aware of all the various techniques, and sure it’s possible to be able to do the techniques to some extent, but the details and finer points of techniques in Aikido go way deep, and your body and mind come to move and adapt in a way that can’t be accelerated.

Given that, I never expected to see that I would blend so smoothly in techniques and keep moving and using clean footwork so consistently. Of course it wasn’t perfect, but it was such a huge improvement that I couldn’t have asked for anything better of myself. I feel like I was able to demonstrate my skill level and take the experience and move forward with my training. I’ve made a new music video (a “re-make,” essentially) of the video we took of the jiyuu-waza portion of the test that took place on Friday, June 3rd. Hopefully I can watch this several times and study it enough to figure out more things I want to work on.

With 3rd Kyu at Utah Aikikai comes the privilege of wearing a hakama, which is usually reserved for students of Shodan level or higher in most dojos. For that reason, I had quite a mental block about wearing one at first, but after wearing it five times for kids class, I can happily say I’m able to put the mental block aside, and I’ve actually again started looking forward to wearing the hakama, even at this level. It’s comfortable, it helps me keep my posture, and it forces me to be more precise in my movements (otherwise you might trip on it and fall, haha). Strangely, I think it adds a lot more than appearance to training; I’m hoping it actually will help my Aikido.

So anyway, what happens now? The stars are shining bright in Aikido. I actually have a “teaching schedule” for kids class now: Mondays and Wednesdays, and helping Marc P. on Thursdays and Tim on Saturdays. I’m sure that I’ll be helping more until I’m once again employed. In the mean time I’m trying to make whatever contribution I can to the family by selling jewelry and doing portrait photography, perhaps even some webdesign if I can find the opportunity.

I’m thinking about asking Mark S. if I can take 15 minutes of class time on Sundays to practice teaching basics for an adult class so that I can become comfortable with the idea of teaching adults. Sunday classes are usually pretty quiet and flexible. I know that they’re possibly looking for someone to take over Sundays, and if was qualified, I’d be happy to try. With a little practice, maybe it’s possible.

After the test, we hung out in the dojo for a while and talked, and then after that, we went out to celebrate. Bella and I were treated to dinner for passing our tests, which I really appreciated. It was a great time! We laughed and talked and took silly pictures. We should do that more often. We’ve been talking about doing a weekly movie night. We’ll have to see if we can make it happen.

Anndd, last announcement: I officially accepted the offer to join the deshi group. I’m really excited about it, and I’m still in a little bit of disbelief about the offer. I consider being a (soto) deshi as having the opportunity to be an important part of the dojo, and despite what I’ve always tried to do to help out, I never really considered myself to contribute to the dojo in any significant way. Being a deshi gives me a more concrete way to contribute, and that makes me happy. :)

Original Article

Tissier Bercy

Mon, 18 Mar 2002 22:31:24 -0500

Original Article

Extra Terrestrial

Thu, 15 Nov 2001 17:31:43 -0500

Original Article

Videos from California Summer 2011

Sun, 19 Aug 2001 23:59:59 -0400

Enkai.NU on Tumblr

On Rank Advancement

My Story

Free Writing Experiment

Description of Kids Classes

What is Aikido?

How young can kids start?

What’s the routine of a kid’s class?

Looking Forward as 2012 Begins

Motivation

2011 in Review

2012 Purification

Kangeiko, 2012

New Zealand

HTML5 Player:

Events August 2011

Nakayama Sensei Seminar in Logan, UT

Photoshoot with Wasatch Camera Club

Keeping Energy Up: Waking Up

Notes and Quotes (Anno Sensei and Mary Heiny Sensei)

What I've Learned From Visiting Kids Classes in California, Summer 2011

My Trip to California…

Aimen’s Teen Class at Aikido of Santa Cruz

Alonzo’s Young Children’s Class at Aikido of Berkeley

Sunny Sensei’s Aiki Tots and Kids Class at Aikido of Fremont

Back Home! Improvements & New Responsibilities

Saturday: Of Zombies and Randori….

What I learned at the Aikido of Santa Cruz Summer Retreat

A Bokeh Photography Study.

Passed 3rd Kyu!

Tissier Bercy

Extra Terrestrial

Videos from California Summer 2011

Music videos of me

Music videos featuring Tissier Sensei

Other videos