So, I've been thinking about doing another martial art for some time but after some hounding by the doc it went from thinking to doing. I did some reading up and various arts and decided that Aikido sounded interesting. Did some searching around and found a dojo with a good website and a good scheduled and then meet with the sensei. I liked his approach and philosophy in regards to training.
On Jan 22 & 23 I took their beginning Aikido course which lasted the majority of each day. The purpose of it was to basically give enough of an introduction that one could go to classes and be able to participate. Plus it gave those that were on the fence a way to see if it was for them. I greatly enjoyed the time and decided to start training.
The following week (Jan 24-30) they did Kangeiko which is basically a week of intensive training. During the week they offered 3 or 4 classes a day with a three hour class Saturday and Sunday morning. For me this gave me a chance to do the 6:30 am class before work and the 5pm class right after work. All the classes were all levels so it was interesting seeing techniques and trying to get the basics out of it. Luckily the stuff scales well.
Unfortunately for me on Wednesday (Jan 26) my back was sore after class and really hurt the next day. So that meant no rolling as it fucking hurt when I tried. Luckily the techniques can be taken to the point where I almost need to roll and then stopped. Turns out I got a spasm in the right flank muscles. Crappy part is that it is just now clearing up. Yesterday I was able to do side rolls during class but those muscles were killing me afterwards. Hoping to be able to do more in tomorrow's class.
One thing I'm quickly noticing is the depth of the techniques. For one simple technique (uke grabs wrist, nage raise hands, turn hips, and step through) there is so much to do to improve it. I.e. the motion while raising the hands so you aren't fighting against the other person's strength (not that uke is suppose to resist like that), moving the hand back slightly before the grab is made to get uke off center, where your center is relative to your partner's center, etc.
This dojo does place a lot of emphasis on the spirituality side of it also. The connectedness between partners, where you are in relation to everything else, having the right frame of mind while practicing, etc. It is surprising how relaxed I am during and after a class even when I go wound up.
I will say that sitting in seiza is not coming that easily. As soon as one part of my legs gets used to it and stops hurting another part starts hurting.