EntropySink
Entertainment & Artistry => Sports/Outdoors & Manpoon => Topic started by: Mike on February 16, 2011, 12:27:04 AM
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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.
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I want to learn that 7 hit deadly punch thing that's on Kill Bill. Does Aikedo do that or will I have to learn Tai-Chi?
:p
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Akido is handy in life if you take a fall on ice or some such. Training is boring as hell at first, because the first several weeks is literally nothing but falling over and over and over and over....
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Akido is handy in life if you take a fall on ice or some such. Training is boring as hell at first, because the first several weeks is literally nothing but falling over and over and over and over....
wait, whats your point....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4LX8PPMuOY
:D
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Akido is handy in life if you take a fall on ice or some such. Training is boring as hell at first, because the first several weeks is literally nothing but falling over and over and over and over....
The last month has been anything but boring. I've spent about equal time as nage and as uke. It certainly hasn't been falling over and over.
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I assume the Doctor is having you exercise more for you're health, and I found myself in the same situation not long ago. Akido is a form I have never practiced, but i really suggest you take a least a few classes in Krav Maga. You will put you're body through workouts you never thought you could and before you know it you will be in great shape and amazingly lethal.
All the forms have their good and their bad, and Krav Maga takes a few of the best things from the best arts and removes all the fluff.
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I have a few of friends that do Aikido, they all really like it. It looks pretty good but a little passive for me, Judo is much more aggressive. The other thing is ground fighting seems to be missing from Aikido, which is sort of odd since it's really a defense martial art.
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Ground fighting is a MUST. Everyone should take BJJ
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I have a few of friends that do Aikido, they all really like it. It looks pretty good but a little passive for me, Judo is much more aggressive. The other thing is ground fighting seems to be missing from Aikido, which is sort of odd since it's really a defense martial art.
Well, as I told one guy at work: I am already well versed in hurting people. I simply don't need more training in that. So a less aggressive art is perfect for me.
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I take it back, Aikido is passively aggressive since the masters wear a dress, just to temp people to fuck with them.
(http://www.martial-arts.ca/images/Photos/Vancouver_Shomonkai_Aikido.gif)
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I have a few of friends that do Aikido, they all really like it. It looks pretty good but a little passive for me, Judo is much more aggressive. The other thing is ground fighting seems to be missing from Aikido, which is sort of odd since it's really a defense martial art.
Well, as I told one guy at work: I am already well versed in hurting people. I simply don't need more training in that. So a less aggressive art is perfect for me.
i would agree with you. like you already said you getting much more out of it than just learning how to hurt people. I think things like Krav Maga certially have their place in certain contexts, but I would imagine it would offer very little in terms of spiritual growth since it's only purpose is to maim or kill as quickly as possible...
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I take it back, Aikido is passively aggressive since the masters wear a dress, just to temp people to fuck with them.
(http://www.martial-arts.ca/images/Photos/Vancouver_Shomonkai_Aikido.gif)
From http://www.aikidofaq.com/humor/index.html
Shodan (male): A male who is so adept at blending (and helping others to blend) that he can wear a skirt to class and nobody in class will laugh at him because he might help them learn to blend with the mat. At high velocity.
Hakama: what shodans call a skirt so they don't have to teach quite as many people to blend with the mat (see shodan (male)).
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I have a few of friends that do Aikido, they all really like it. It looks pretty good but a little passive for me, Judo is much more aggressive. The other thing is ground fighting seems to be missing from Aikido, which is sort of odd since it's really a defense martial art.
Well, as I told one guy at work: I am already well versed in hurting people. I simply don't need more training in that. So a less aggressive art is perfect for me.
i would agree with you. like you already said you getting much more out of it than just learning how to hurt people. I think things like Krav Maga certially have their place in certain contexts, but I would imagine it would offer very little in terms of spiritual growth since it's only purpose is to maim or kill as quickly as possible...
Krav is called a self defense system instead of martial art because it places absolutely zero focus on spiritual, so you would be correct.
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If you take aikidio or karate or whatever at your local dojo/Y, do you actually focus on spirituality in a real way or is it just window dressing or ignored altogether?
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Depends upon the individual.
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If you take aikidio or karate or whatever at your local dojo/Y, do you actually focus on spirituality in a real way or is it just window dressing or ignored altogether?
Who was this addressed to (or was it just a general question)?
Different people (and different systems) place different emphasis on the spirituality. When I did TKD there was little emphasis on it. In my short time with Aikido I've seen a lot of it. I spoke with a few people who have trained in other dojos and they placed a different amount of emphasis on it.
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Just in general
I ask because I assume it'd be important to the instructors but 90% of the students wouldn't give a shit
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It really depends on the instructor.
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If you take aikidio or karate or whatever at your local dojo/Y, do you actually focus on spirituality in a real way or is it just window dressing or ignored altogether?
Really depends on the instructor. Some completely ignore the culture around the martial art and just train to fight. Others really embrace it. I think the best clubs are an even blend of both.
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So my side was feeling a lot better (like just a small twinge of pain when pressed just right) so I decided to resume rolling but paying attention to how it felt and stopping if I felt any pain. Was careful, didn't do front rolls since I hadn't practiced them, back rolls I took only to the shoulder and didn't go over (so more back rock than back roll), and only did side rolls fully. And now my fucking side hurts almost as bad as it did 3 weeks ago.
I doubt the doc's office is open today so tomorrow I get to play the "how long do I have to wait to get an appointment" game. Then I need to see if it could be technique related which should be interesting because the doc probably doesn't know how the rolls are done to know if it could tweak the muscle and the sensi isn't a physiologist to know if the roll could tweak the muscle.
Really, the annoying part is just having to deal with figuring out what is going on. Having the training interrupted sucks but isn't a terribly big thing.
IRT the spirituality thing: On Thursday we were to have a beginner's class with one of the sensis (she is co-owner of the dojo along with her husband who is head sensi) but she wasn't feeling well. Before class she gathered us around to explain what was going on and basically said that the mood she was in would be reflected in how she lead the class and we would get that same energy. So after not being able to find any black belts who could fill in we were lead by one of the elder non-black belt students. Since he didn't have much training on leading and setting the correct spiritual environment we skipped that part of the warm up and ended up doing a rather physical class. We, considering the weather and how many of the class were feeling, a very welcomed thing.
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You really need to ask your doctor to give you some Biofreeze. You can find it at some health stores too, but usually it has to come from a doctor.
Anyone practising martial arts should have it on hand at all times, it works miracles.
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You do realize that this isn't some minor muscle sprain? A cold/heat treatment hasn't worked (tried that long before going to the doc). My other muscle aches are handled with simple care (stretching afterwards, hot shower/bath, heating pad if bad).
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Yea i understand, and i'm not saying it is a fix but biofreeze helps so so much
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Well this poses a dilemma. Before class I spoke to two of the instructors (the two that regularly teach the beginner class) about the injury and asked if poor rolling technique could have caused it. There was some concern that it very well could.
I think I'll still go back to the doc and make sure there isn't a bigger issue. I will probably have to schedule a private lesson to work on the rolls if the data points to technique. I simply can't do 2/3 classes of rolls and then 3 weeks off over and over. For one I'll never actually get the technique as there is too much down time. Also need to see if the doc thinks this is a pain I can just push through.
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Forgot to mention: In a bit of a twist today's class was suppose to be a roll-focused class but when the instructor asked how we were feeling (before class) he got a feeling that a bunch of rolling wasn't going to be a good thing for the class. So he decided to kill our legs the first half and then work on focused hand work the second half. Was a good class.
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Today's class was a ton of fun. After warm-up we started with a technique where the ending just blending in with the beginning of the next side (Most Aikido techniques are done in sets of four alternating sides before alternating roles). By the end of that practice we were sweating hard and getting kind of dizzy (lots of turns).
Saturday's class was cool as we basically just focused on one technique. We did the overall technique then went in and refined each part of it.
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Getting up to go to the Wed morning class can be brutal. The only way I made it there (vs going back to bed) was to just not think about it and not give myself a choice.