025. Aikido Summer School 2010
Aikido Summer School turned out to be a lot of fun, even if I was really quite nervous too. Some of the things we did I didn't really understand or could do, but for the most part I really enjoyed it. One of my favourite parts was doing self-defence in street clothes, it felt different and it was easier to relax then. I got some excellent feedback from instructors and other people, which was nice.
I went for blue belt grading and was stupidly nervous all week. It was weird, though - when I was in the actual grading situation, I managed to calm down and I actually managed to block everyone watching out. I had excellent uke's (uke = person you're doing technique on) which definitely helped, and I quite enjoyed throwing them around. :D Yeah, I say them - usually you only have one uke for your grading (at least unless you're going for black belt, but that's a completely different matter) but I managed to wear the first one down and had to get a second one. :D All the hard work paid off, too: I passed my grading and even got blue in weapons (our grades consist of two parts: 'hands' and 'weapons') even though I hadn't specifically graded for that! :O I asked our Sensei afterwards and he said the grading panel thought I was worth blue in weapons so they decided to give me that as well. I'm really rather happy with myself - there were six (or seven?) people going for blue and only two of them passed (me and another student from our club in Wolverhampton), and I was told I was the best one! Possibly even more shocking was that I also got the "most outstanding female aikidoist of the year" award. They only give one of those out in a year and I never thought I'd ever get one. Miranda got it last year and she's seriously pro. I still can't quite grasp it, but I do feel extremely honoured. Everyone in our group did really well - most of those grading passed, and Wanda who was going for 2nd Dan weapons was skipped to 3rd Dan! We got loads of awards and certificates as well, in fact I think everyone apart from Matt and Eugene got something. Our club has always been very successful and we're known for our high standard (thanks to our Sensei who doesn't go too easy on us).
^I had a bit of free practice with Abdullah during one of the lunch breaks.^
^Me in my grading.^
^Chew took her black belt grading (and passed, of course, since she's brilliant!), here she's defending from Sensei Chong's flying kick.^
^We call Chew "Tiny Death".^
^Wanda doing technique on Matt.^
^Our group on the final day after gradings. Sadly Eugene left earlier :(^
^Me with our Sensei.^
^Wolverhampton Aikido Club's awards and certificates.^
^ I don't get to keep this trophy as it'll be passed on, I'll get to have it for maybe a month or so. It has my name on it!^
^This one I get to keep.^
I went for blue belt grading and was stupidly nervous all week. It was weird, though - when I was in the actual grading situation, I managed to calm down and I actually managed to block everyone watching out. I had excellent uke's (uke = person you're doing technique on) which definitely helped, and I quite enjoyed throwing them around. :D Yeah, I say them - usually you only have one uke for your grading (at least unless you're going for black belt, but that's a completely different matter) but I managed to wear the first one down and had to get a second one. :D All the hard work paid off, too: I passed my grading and even got blue in weapons (our grades consist of two parts: 'hands' and 'weapons') even though I hadn't specifically graded for that! :O I asked our Sensei afterwards and he said the grading panel thought I was worth blue in weapons so they decided to give me that as well. I'm really rather happy with myself - there were six (or seven?) people going for blue and only two of them passed (me and another student from our club in Wolverhampton), and I was told I was the best one! Possibly even more shocking was that I also got the "most outstanding female aikidoist of the year" award. They only give one of those out in a year and I never thought I'd ever get one. Miranda got it last year and she's seriously pro. I still can't quite grasp it, but I do feel extremely honoured. Everyone in our group did really well - most of those grading passed, and Wanda who was going for 2nd Dan weapons was skipped to 3rd Dan! We got loads of awards and certificates as well, in fact I think everyone apart from Matt and Eugene got something. Our club has always been very successful and we're known for our high standard (thanks to our Sensei who doesn't go too easy on us).
^I had a bit of free practice with Abdullah during one of the lunch breaks.^
^Me in my grading.^
^Chew took her black belt grading (and passed, of course, since she's brilliant!), here she's defending from Sensei Chong's flying kick.^
^We call Chew "Tiny Death".^
^Wanda doing technique on Matt.^
^Our group on the final day after gradings. Sadly Eugene left earlier :(^
^Me with our Sensei.^
^Wolverhampton Aikido Club's awards and certificates.^
^ I don't get to keep this trophy as it'll be passed on, I'll get to have it for maybe a month or so. It has my name on it!^
^This one I get to keep.^