Article 2: Where am I going?

Sadly there is no great stone tablet on the top of Mount Fuji that says what makes a good ikkyu or what makes a good sandan... life would be much easier if there was.  So over the last week I have been trying to assess what is it that I really need to improve in the limited time that I have to prepare for my grading.

I think I've narrowed the areas of improvement down to three key subheadings:

1. Conditioning
2. Technique
3. Relaxation

It does go without saying that if one of these areas improve then it will impact on another area.

Conditioning:

I'm slow, really slow.  I've been very lucky over the last year to train with some of the fittest Aikidoka I have ever met, they certainly are carrying the bar of what we should all be aspiring to.  I've never been a particularly talented runner and PE at school left me with a sense of mild dread, Aikido was the first time in my life that I looked forward to working up a sweat.  There is no denying it, I am not as fit or fast as I want to be.

When watching some of these guys training, they are so light on their feet that their and strong in attack.  This sort of fitness really does test shite, as uke can really close you down quickly, get up and attack again.  Intensity of practice is important, it furthers the ability for movements to be retained as muscle memory and it is a great way of testing you mental calmness.  

The benefits of being fit in Aikido are obvious, but what are the areas that I need to target?  As I said in my first article I do not want to rely on arm power (which I have little of anyway) to force my uke into the mat.  I need my fitness and strength to benefit my Budo.  Key areas for development are my thighs and lower stomach, the core stability provided by improving these muscular groups are going to have a huge impact on what I can do on the mat. 

I find koho ukemi difficult (Koho Ukemi (22 seconds), not all Aikido schools prescribe to this type of backward breakfall.  Not only do I find it a far more practical and safer than the cross leg, the result of doing 20 is clear on the faces of many of my fellow students in the dojo.  

Target 1: 60 koho ukemi each week (in a row)

The exercise will improve the muscles in all the right areas, not only improving my uke but my shite waza to.

Additionally, I want something to do on my non training nights.

Target 2: Three 2 mile runs per week.  I'll publish the time of my first run on Tuesday and try to improve the time.

Technique:

Of course meeting Mustard Sensei a year ago has been the biggest influence of my technical development since I started again in 2002.  My first article looked at Chushin Rokyu as a concept, and it is something that I will come back to in some detail.  The key to technical development perhaps is studying technique less and principles more.  I think it is hard to give some quantifiable way of showing improvement in my Kihon Dosa or Kokyu Ho.  But what I am going to do is perhaps get more qualitative feedback after class, particularly on how the technique 'felt' to take uke for.  I can say however with a fair degree of certainity that my worst Kihon is Hiri no Yosei Ichi.

Youtube Video of Chida Sensei performing Hiriki no Yosei Ichi

This video demonstrates the movement, which is very challenging.  Currently I want to be able to go wider and lower, with my weight further forward.  When withdrawing I do not want my rear leg to bend or rise off the mat.

Target 3: Further confidence with Kihon Dosa - with a focus on Hiriki No Yosei Ichi.

Relaxation:

This is always a challenging one, my current thought processes are like this:

Strong core ---- maintenance of centre line ------ no need for shoulder power ----- therefore can relax.

I'm really not sure how to articulate this, so I'll say that it is something I need to do and it is totally reliant on the above two areas improving.

Target 4: No arm power and building this as a regular habit.

Happy training,

Osu

PS Oh and all my Ushiro Waza are garbage and I need to do them more often.