Mind Over Matter
It seems like ages since the last time I practiced aikido. The reason is that, on February 16th, my wife gave birth to our son! It has been a terrific but hectic week for both of us; we will never forget it.
I wanted to go to the regular class again, but it didn't happen. I went to Irie Sensei's beginner's class this time. It seemed as if I didn't have the energy to get up at 7:00 am after spending the last few days at the hospital, sleeping restlessly in the waiting room. But I was able to deny myself and get out of bed.
There's something about a good workout that rejuvenates the body and senses no matter how tired or lazy one happens to feel beforehand. In other words, I'm sure glad that I went to practice this morning. That's one thing I like about aikido: Once class begins, I quickly forget all my problems and concerns and just focus on training.
About halfway through class, Doshu suddenly entered our small, cramped dojo and sat at the edge of the mat, directly in front of where my partner and I happened to be practicing ushiro ryotekubi-dori sankyo (uke grabs both of tori's wrists from behind). This was ironic because last week I was having a lot of trouble with this kind of move. I can't be certain that Doshu was watching me, but it sure felt like it! Actually, he was just waiting for a break in order to speak briefly with Irie Sensei. Isn't it interesting that we as students step it up a few notches when we know the instructor is watching?
By the way, ushiro sankyo didn't seem to be much of a problem today compared with last week's ushiro shiho-nage. I studied my book (Best Aikido) and DVD (Principles of Aikido) a little and made sure I could get a better grasp on these moves.
At the end of class during sitting kokyu-ho, my partner was a student whom I have gotten to know during the past year or so. Whenever we do this move together, his ukemi seems to humor me: He uses all his might to resist, and in the process, emits a loud animal-like groan when he can no longer contain me. Today I couldn't help but laugh out loud (and so did he). We weren't horsing around, but I was worried that Irie Sensei would get the wrong idea; he didn't. (The instructors at Hombu sometimes find things humorous and make light of certain situations. Like today when sensei grinned as he pointed out to a student that his uniform pants were halfway down his thighs, exposing a colorful pair of boxer shorts -- I guess the student didn't notice during all the suwari-waza!)
After class, I left the dojo a little more quickly than usual. I wanted to get to the hospital to visit my wife and our new son! I no longer felt lazy and tired.
I wanted to go to the regular class again, but it didn't happen. I went to Irie Sensei's beginner's class this time. It seemed as if I didn't have the energy to get up at 7:00 am after spending the last few days at the hospital, sleeping restlessly in the waiting room. But I was able to deny myself and get out of bed.
There's something about a good workout that rejuvenates the body and senses no matter how tired or lazy one happens to feel beforehand. In other words, I'm sure glad that I went to practice this morning. That's one thing I like about aikido: Once class begins, I quickly forget all my problems and concerns and just focus on training.
About halfway through class, Doshu suddenly entered our small, cramped dojo and sat at the edge of the mat, directly in front of where my partner and I happened to be practicing ushiro ryotekubi-dori sankyo (uke grabs both of tori's wrists from behind). This was ironic because last week I was having a lot of trouble with this kind of move. I can't be certain that Doshu was watching me, but it sure felt like it! Actually, he was just waiting for a break in order to speak briefly with Irie Sensei. Isn't it interesting that we as students step it up a few notches when we know the instructor is watching?
By the way, ushiro sankyo didn't seem to be much of a problem today compared with last week's ushiro shiho-nage. I studied my book (Best Aikido) and DVD (Principles of Aikido) a little and made sure I could get a better grasp on these moves.
At the end of class during sitting kokyu-ho, my partner was a student whom I have gotten to know during the past year or so. Whenever we do this move together, his ukemi seems to humor me: He uses all his might to resist, and in the process, emits a loud animal-like groan when he can no longer contain me. Today I couldn't help but laugh out loud (and so did he). We weren't horsing around, but I was worried that Irie Sensei would get the wrong idea; he didn't. (The instructors at Hombu sometimes find things humorous and make light of certain situations. Like today when sensei grinned as he pointed out to a student that his uniform pants were halfway down his thighs, exposing a colorful pair of boxer shorts -- I guess the student didn't notice during all the suwari-waza!)
After class, I left the dojo a little more quickly than usual. I wanted to get to the hospital to visit my wife and our new son! I no longer felt lazy and tired.
posted by Chad at 9:21 PM
1 Comments:
Congratulations on the birth of your son!!
I remember my son's birth and the time around it vividly and it's certainly one of the best moments of my life.
Cherish this and spend as much time with him as you can :-) It's so special - the first 1 or 2 weeks they are almost like they're still inside the womb. After a week or two they you can see a distinct change in their awareness towards the world. I've seen this in my own children and in several others.
Enjoy!!
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