Musings on aikido
I'm very much a beginner at this art. I know that in terms of mat time, I'm not really moving slowly, but it sometimes seems like I'm struggling against a complete lack of natural ability.
I've been pushing training pretty hard recently, as I hope to test again in a month, for 4th Kyu. I was discussing this with the senior student, trying to decide if I was ready or not. The problem I'm having is that the next most junior students are second kyu, and fairly talented. The median rank I train with is probably shodan, but might be nidan. I don't know what a 4th kyu looks like; I'm trying to hold myself to the performance standards of the shodan and nidan I train with.
Class last night was under the head of the dojo, and was mostly aimed at the vast horde of hakima that take the mat when he teaches. His classes always have a central theme illustrated by techniques. I'm not sure I fully picked up on the central theme of last night's class; I know that two of the techniques are ones I have trouble with. I did make two observations, though I'm not certain I'm correct in both of them. Sensei apparently means something more comprehensive by the word "posture" than I normally think of as a physical description. It's more like what is meant by the term for describing military units - not only physical position, but all aspects of preparedness.
The second observation was purely physical. Sensei was describing "moving outside uke's power". Observationally, I'm becoming more attached to the concept of moving tangent to Uke's strength. It may be the wrong way of thinking about it, but it was getting me through.
The last is an interesting category of observations, things that are superficially true - perhaps "fifth Kyu" true - but fail upon real understanding of the concept. I've run into two of those in one technique (ikkyo) where my first mental model was a sandtrap for real understanding of the technique.
I've probably got another decade to work on this. Maybe I'll get somewhere by then.
I've been pushing training pretty hard recently, as I hope to test again in a month, for 4th Kyu. I was discussing this with the senior student, trying to decide if I was ready or not. The problem I'm having is that the next most junior students are second kyu, and fairly talented. The median rank I train with is probably shodan, but might be nidan. I don't know what a 4th kyu looks like; I'm trying to hold myself to the performance standards of the shodan and nidan I train with.
Class last night was under the head of the dojo, and was mostly aimed at the vast horde of hakima that take the mat when he teaches. His classes always have a central theme illustrated by techniques. I'm not sure I fully picked up on the central theme of last night's class; I know that two of the techniques are ones I have trouble with. I did make two observations, though I'm not certain I'm correct in both of them. Sensei apparently means something more comprehensive by the word "posture" than I normally think of as a physical description. It's more like what is meant by the term for describing military units - not only physical position, but all aspects of preparedness.
The second observation was purely physical. Sensei was describing "moving outside uke's power". Observationally, I'm becoming more attached to the concept of moving tangent to Uke's strength. It may be the wrong way of thinking about it, but it was getting me through.
The last is an interesting category of observations, things that are superficially true - perhaps "fifth Kyu" true - but fail upon real understanding of the concept. I've run into two of those in one technique (ikkyo) where my first mental model was a sandtrap for real understanding of the technique.
I've probably got another decade to work on this. Maybe I'll get somewhere by then.