Going matless

INTI Dojo Wed 24/9/2014 class

Even though I already knew the answer I asked the student members nevertheless. "Do you want to lay out the mats for the practice?"

As for me since I and the senior students here have been working out on the hard tiled concrete floor for years we have gotten used to it and even come to enjoy the experience.

Anyway the jig-saw mats are past their useful life spans. All of them are broken, hardened, dirty and smelly due to abuse, neglect, and wear and tear. Hence as the old, hardened, smelly and broken mats have lost their useful function it makes little difference between bouncing on mats or on bare tiled concrete.

At the start of each new semester when regular Aikido practice resumes I let the students decide and go along with their decision whether to use the mats or not as the junior trainees who sign up for their first class may feel extremely uncomfortable or even intimidated working out on a hard surface.

Since the latest renovation of the Student Center the college management had relocated the store to the back of the building. The store is where all the martial arts equipment, including the mats are stored. The new store is so remote from the training hall that we have to walk 15 minutes to get there, and another 15 minutes carrying the jig-saw mats for the return trip.

Last semester prior to the renovation when the old store was located next to the students affairs department, it was just a only short walk from the store to the dojo. And because of the ideal location of the old store all the martial arts clubs eg Aikido, Karate, TKD, Chinese Kick Boxing were using the mats whether they needed them or not.

However starting from this semester I notice that Karate, TKD and Chinese Kick Boxing have stopped using the mats probably for the same reason as Aikido; the hassle of the long distance walk and time to the store to take out the mats and later to return them for storage.

Silence. Nobody said any thing or expressed an opinion, including the new trainees. So looking at the smiling faces and the knowing looks all round I took it as a collective agreement to work out on what we have been accustomed to doing and come to enjoy for years, the hard ceramic tiled concrete floor.

Sitting in pain

Aikido national Kyu Grading at MAA HQ Dojo June 15 2014

The painful condition of my right knee was making it difficult to sit balanced and upright in seiza. As a result I had to sit with my backside raised and my torso tilted forward to cope with the pain. It was more like half kneeing instead of sitting down.

After some time the pain became so unbearable that I had to change to sitting cross-legged.

I am not sure if anyone noticed my awkward sitting posture. If they did no one was telling.

Getting up on my feet from the sitting position was also difficult. I had to brace my right knee with my right hand in order to stand up straight.

Tomorrow I have to go to INTi to start the new training session and I wonder how I would cope with the painful knee condition. Pray that after a night and a day's rest the knee will get get better.

Using the mind and body language to control and lead the attacker

Sun 1/12/2013 Inter-campus combined training Cyberjaya dojo

Katate tori kokyu nage technique.

One girl was puzzled why when she extended her hand forward and started to initiate the tenkan movement the beginner Uke who grabbed her hand just stood there unmoving and frozen stiff. As a result Uke created so much resistance that Tori was stopped from rotating her body by the frozen Uke.

I told her that Uke had no incentive to move because Tori had allowed her partner to grab her hand before starting to tenkan. I told her that she had to provide the incentive for Uke to chase her hand by spinning her body together with her extended hand first before allowing Uke to even touch it.

Aikido is preemptive and not passively waiting for something to happen before taking action. This is what I mean by using your mind and body language to control and lead Uke.

Kihon Waza: back to the basics

K ihon means "basics" or "fundamentals." The term is used to refer to the basic techniques that are taught and practiced as the foundation of your Aikido training.

The practice and mastery of kihon is essential to all advanced training, and includes the practice of correct body form and breathing, While practicing basics such as stances, locks, projections, rolls and breakfalls, body movements and footwork it also includs the basic representative katas.

Kihon is not only practicing of techniques, it is also the martial artist fostering the correct spirit and attitude at all times.

Hence we take our kihon waza training seriously and practice them for life. If at any instance in your practice you have a doubt you will find the answer to your doubts in the kihon waza. So let's always never neglect to practice the basis every time you step into the dojo.

As Bruce Lee said “I do not fear the man who has practiced 10 000 techniques once, I fear the man who has practiced one technique 10 000 times".

Back to basics

Basics are the foundation of advanced material. The lessons from your first class, those that you never outgrow, contain a huge amount of material that keeps giving and giving with more practice. 

Simple broken down structure and body movement work is the foundation of moving with power. When you dissect the most advanced practice you know you will see the basics. The advanced techniques are simply the basics done to perfection. 

As Musashi wrote, "your combat walk should be your everyday walk." Keep on practicing.

The long wait for getting the aikido club started

Just sent out my letter of acceptance and the Aikido resume to the Sudent Services Department of Inti International College Subang as advised by the student committee of the college's Aikido Club.

Let's hope the wait for a positive outcome will not take too long to come.

Beginning from Feb some students there have been trying to set up the club and to promote Aikido a free seminar was even organised in April to garner publicity. However, despite the students' best efforts the college management seemed to be dragging their feet in giving approval for setting up the club.

Then in May I approached a senior lecturer in INTi who was once my student for assistance. With his kind assistance things started to move, albeit slowly. Towards the later part of May I saw encouraging indications that the college management was responding positively to the application to set up the club and I remained optimistically hopeful.

Then last week my contact notified me that the college management wanted me to write a letter of acceptance to confirm my acceptance as the Aikido teacher of the club.

Hoping for a good outcome I am once again feeling rather optimistic again.

Determination

INTI Aikido. Mon 24/6/2013 class
The bad haze situation in INTi Nilai is no hindrance for members to come to the dojo for training.

I was impressed that two very determined girls who refused to be affected by the haze chose to don face masks for training rather than to skip class. And in spite of poor visibility Nigel drove all the way from Puchong to come to Nilai for the aikido class.

Very dense haze. Poor road visibility. No people and few cars on the road. This was the creepy scene that confronted me as I drove back from Nilai alone to my house in Seri Kembangan after the Aikido class ended.

I shuddered when the thought of what was going to happen if the car broke down in the night crossed my mind. Then the image of the two girls wearing face masks to train in the bad haze calmed my anxiety some what.

Ikuhiro Kubota Shihan Semina June 15 & 16 2013 Dewan Sri Putra, Bkt Jalil

Sensei taught a kumi jo set consisting of only 4 movements. From these 4 movements you can use the jo to counter jo gedan tsuki, jo choku tsuki, jo jodan tsuki, jo shomenuchi and jo yokomenuchi executed by your partner.

With this kumi jo set multiple pairs of partners can practice at the same time. Eventually Sensei got all the 40 odd participants to form a human chain in a big circle in the hall and everyone then uses his jo to hit the one in front and the other at the back of him in the giant circle.

Compared to previous seminars Sensei did not do much empty hand Aikido this time. On the other hand he used the jo to express empty hand Aikido movements. It is as if he wanted to stress the close relationship between weapons applications and empty hand techniques of Aikido.

On the last day we found out that he was going to touch 70 years in two days time. Although we didn't have a cake on hand we celebrate his 70th birthday by singing the "Happy Birthday " song after presenting gifts to him in appreciation and gratitude to his teaching.

Visibly touched Sensei executed a hand somersault on the floor to the delight of those gathered in the hall.

Paper tantos (daggers/knives) for weapons training

Paper Tantos

These colourful objects are not candy bars.

They are The Star newspaper pages bundled together in rolls. Each bundle is made up of 24 sheets of papers rolled and binded together by cellophane tapes. I intend to use them as tantos for Aikido weapons training in INTi when the new session starts next Monday.

Individually paper may be a soft material but when bundled together they can be turned into a hard object.

Measuring 4cm in diameter and 30cm long they fit snugly into a human's hand. Although not as hard as wood nevertheless they are stiff, strong and quit unbendable. After testing them on myself I found such improvised weapons just right for weapons training.

Best of all they are non-lethal, easy to make from newspaper pages and inexpensive.  After training the students can keep these paper tantos in the store room without worrying about theft. I doubt if anyone would be interested enough to want to steal these paper objects. Even if they are stolen it is quiet easy and inexpensive to make new ones.

Hope to see the members turn up in full force on Monday for the aikido workshop. Try to persuade the interns to try out the art. And do note the new training time from 7.00pm to 8.30pm. Please come in at 6.30pm to lay out the mats so that the class can start at 7.00pm sharp.

Reviewing the MAA Aikido grading syllabus

Attended a TTC meeting at Low Sensei's Puchong Dojo to review the MAA Aikido grading syllabus.

The syllabus was first drafted in 2000 and since then it has stayed the same through the years. As MAA has been given permission by Hombu Dojo to conduct Dan grading locally up to 4th Dan level starting from 2013, the TTC committee feels that it is timely to review the 13 year old syllabus.

The outcome of the meeting was the removal of many of the repetitive techiques in the 2nd and 1st kyu grading syllabus. The committee felt that lower kyu techniques eg 5th and 4th kyu techniques need not be repeated in the higher level tests.  Because of so many repetitive techniques in the current syllabus, the grading for 2nd and 1st kyu candidates can take more than 1 hour to complete. The committee felt that there is scope for shortening the grading time at the same time maintaining the essence of our aikido training. On the other hand with the removal of the lower grade techniques the committee felt that more advanced techniques could be introduced to enhance the higher grade tests.

The committee also deliberated on the 1st to 4th Dan grading syllabus. 

Naturally being the person who was responsible for compiling the original syllabus in 2000, I was asked to compile and publish the new syllabus. Just submitted the first draft of the new syllabus for peer review.


 

Holding my own

Low Sensei's yudansha class. 

Two months of inactivity has made my mind and body rather sluggish and lethargic. 

Before I stepped into Low Sensei's H&E dojo I was wondering if this oldie could hold his own against the vigor of youth of the young yudanshas. Ten minutes into the 2-1/2 hour training I realised that I was worrying for nothing. 

The aftermath... a tired body drenched with sweat but mind and body completely invigorated

13 th Malaysia Aikido Seminar

Seeing the student struggling to remember and shape the forms of the no #2 aiki ken set as he was trying to recollect the entire set of movements in one go I asked him to copy my movements counting slowly and audibly after me and to pause briefly after each count before continuing with the next movement. 

One, two, three, four, five, six and seven! After some time when he succeeded in remembering each small incremental step from the first to the seventh count he was able to string the separate movements to complete the whole set of the seven step movements of the no #2 aiki ken. 

It also help to boost his confidence further when I asked him to copy my movements firstly as the Uketachi and secondly as the Uchitachi, also counting verbally and audibly with a brief pause in between counts before proceeding with the succeeding movement.

Water break

Fri 13/7/2012 13th Malaysia Aikido Seminar

A short water break after the first session ended before stepping on to the mats with our bokkens for the second session.

Frozen Nage

During the 5th kyu grading at MAA HQ Dojo on 10/6/2012

"Katate dori ikkyo omote!" I called out the first technique. Astonishingly while all the 5th kyu graders got into action right away one pair just stood still, unmoving. The nage had frozen in position, unable to respond to the command and he was looking at his partner with a blank stare as if his mind was somewhere far away other than in the present. Because the nage was unresponsive, the uke who was gripping nage's outstretched hand found himself locked up with nage and unable to advance.

"Katate dori ikkyo omote!" I repeated the command, this time saying more slowly and deliberately. Nothing happened. The nage remained frozen, his mind unable to connect mentally with my command, and uke was going no where.

Resisting my own impatience to shout out the command the third time and to show by action how to do the technique, I nudged the nage's shoulder sleeve gently, moved in close to his face and whispered quietly so other people couldn't hear into his ear "look at what your neighbours are doing and copy their movements ."

Nage turned left to look at the other pair, returned his sight to his own partner, paused, blinked and then as if something in his stalled mind had finally snapped stepped back with his front foot.

I was certain that the nage knows his technique but probably due to the stress of performing the test in front of so many people for the first time had temporarily lost his concentration and mental faculty. After the recovery nage was able to complete all the techniques with no more disruptions.

I imagine the pair was locked in position, remaining stationary for at least 1 minute, as if frozen stiff like ice cubes in a freezer even though the hot mid-day temperature outside the building was hovering around 35 degree C.

Anyway all the candidates have passed their kyu examinations. Congratulations and have a nice weekend. Penang candidates please have a safe journey back to your home state.

Impatient caller

You can tell from the way people ask you questions whether they are serious or not in wanting to learn anything.

Impatient Caller: Is there a dojo in Bangsar area?
Me: No. We don't have a dojo in Bangsar.
Impatient Caller: You have dojos in Cheras and Brickfield areas right? (he already knew and self-answered his own question faster than I could open my mouth)
Me: Yes. Our nearest dojo to Bangsar is in Brickfields (trying to be helpful by providing factual information)
Impatient Caller:I'm a beginner and I want to learn Aikido
Me: OK. Fine . You are welcomed.
Impatient Caller:As a beginner how fast can I do bokken work?

Impatient Caller represents the typical me generation. Always want quick fixes and instant gratifications instead of investing the time and effort needed in seeking knowledge.

Shoji Seki Shihan Seminar Kuala Lumpur 23/3 to/25/3 2012

My old left knee injury surfaced again due to the vigorous physical exertion of the three day seminar. Last night I walked with a slight limp. I expect with rest the knee inflammation should clear up in a few days time.

11/3/2012 National Kyu Grading

Congratulations to all the successful candidates who passed their kyu examinations at MAA HQ Dojo today. Well done.

Restart Putrajaya Aikido

Received a surprised call from V in the office at about 4.30pm.

"We have received permission from our department head to use one of the 2nd floor rooms for Aikido training. Can we resume Aikido class starting on Tue next week?" V spoke in Malay on the other end of the line.

"OK sure can do. We can resume the regular class starting our training as usual at 8.00pm." That was my reply, responding likewise in Malay and also trying my best to mask my lack of enthusiasm.

After a break of almost 6 months I didn't expect them to want to do Aikido again.

When V first mentioned to me last Nov about looking for an alternative room I didn't think they were serious. So as not to sound so unappreciative I just went along and told him that I would continue to teach them the art if they could find a new venue to practice. After a while of no contact since that last conversation with V  I decided that the new class was not going to happen anytime soon. With that in mind I then made the decision switch the Thur class to Wed in INTi.

Here it goes again. Come next Tue I will go straight to Putrajaya from my office after work. I hope this time the response will be less lukewarm as last year.

Full house

Wednesday 18/1/2012 class. Fullhouse attendance. Had to move the mats from our usual Mezzanine Floor training area to the ground floor lobby.

There were a few students from Taekwondo and Chinese Kick Boxing classes.

Gong Xi Fa Cai INTi Aikido

Wishing all INTi Aikido Club members Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai. The first INTi Aikido class immediately after the CNY will be held on 30/1/2012.