Rainy Season

My four-month-old son, Andy, with ajisai (hydrangeas), a symbol of the rainy season in Japan

Testing

I emailed a friend of mine, Toshi, whom I haven't seen in quite some time. He teaches shamisen (a traditional Japanese stringed instrument) to private students in his home. I suppose that's why I haven't seen him at the dojo: Sunday seems to be a busy day for him.

He was happy to inform me that he recently passed his exam for 1st kyu (the rank just below black belt). He said it was easy and that he didn't study or practice for it.

According to Toshi, 3rd kyu is the hardest exam to pass because there is a big jump between 3rd and 4th kyu; the exams for 5th and 4th are based on the fundamental moves of ikkyo, nikyo, shiho-nage and irimi-nage. From 3rd kyu, however, the exams include sitting moves and other moves that are not learned in beginner's classes such as defending against straight punches, etc.

I've also noticed when I observe 1st and 2nd kyu exams, there is a segment where the examiner will call out a random move such as "yokomen-uchi shiho-nage ura." The student is expected to execute the move in about one second or he/she will be considered to have forgotten the move (or the name). That is sometimes counted against the examinee during the test.

Therefore, I've decided to start making flash cards for all the combination of moves including omote and ura (front and back variations of a move). Hopefully this will prepare me for the "lightning round" segment of the upper-kyu exams.

Mind Your Tongue

I was a little nervous while going to the dojo this morning. It would be my first time to attend the regular class without going with a friend. The locker room was full of yudansha (black belts) as I put on my uniform and tied my white belt.

There were probably around 60 students (maybe more) in the 9:00 am regular class this morning. I was surprised to see Sugawara-sensei enter the dojo to instruct; Kanazawa-sensei usually teaches this class.

I think everyone decided in advance who their partners would be. After our warmup, everyone quickly grabbed a partner. The only student without one in my part of the dojo was a woman who looked as if she was visiting from overseas: she had a big patch on the front of her uniform (patches are not worn on uniforms of Hombu students) and was wearing a brown belt with no hakama (generally only white and black belts are worn). So we did ukemi for each other during the entire class. Depending on the instructor, we either change partners before each move or we keep the same partner during the entire class.

Everything was so fast-paced this morning; I could tell it wasn't a typical Sunday morning for me. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up, but I did fine. It was a great workout. I thought my partner was going to break my wrist during shomen-uchi sankyo, however. I was too embarrassed to tell her to go easier on me.

By the way, I want to give some advice to anyone reading this: when you do ukemi during irimi-nage, make sure your tongue is not between your teeth! When my partner was taking me down, she hit the underside of my jaw and I bit my tongue. Luckily it wasn't too bad. I'll never make that mistake again (at least I hope I won't)!

After class was over, I talked briefly to my partner. She said she was from Washington D.C. and was visiting Japan for just a few days. Today was her only chance to practice at Hombu. I felt bad that she came all the way to Japan for aikido and was stuck with me! I told her she should stick around for 30 minutes and attend Doshu's class. I could tell she didn't seem to keen on that idea! The regular classes are so intense; it would be hard to practice in two back-to-back classes.

In the regular class, we did a brief cool-down after practice that involved jumping in place and stretching. That is something we don't normally do in the beginner's classes. Afterwards, I saw my friend from Sri Lanka in the dojo. I asked him if he had fun, and we both laughed. Last week, Irie-sensei told us both that we should start attending the regular class instead of his beginner's class. My friend jokingly said that we had no choice! Anyway, I'm glad I took Irie-sensei's advice. I'm sure my friend was too.

Leaving the Nest

I knew today's practice was going to be crowded because the staff at the front desk had put newspapers on the floor in front of the big wall that holds everyone's shoes. There were already pairs of shoes on the newspapers. Sure enough, lots of new faces were present. That's okay because I was able to meet some new people. There was a married couple visiting from India who had only been practicing aikido for one month. It was their second practice at Hombu, and they were going to be in Japan for one month.

There were people on either side of my uke and me who kept bumping us during practice. In Japan, people sometimes bump into others without any acknowledgment; I suppose in a country with such a dense population and not much livable space, bumping has become part of life. I have even caught myself doing it withouut offering an apology. Anyway, After practicing the second move and bowing to my partner, I rushed across the dojo to find my next partner. It seemed like the students in that part of the room were a bit more considerate of others around them.

I learned a few new "tricks" today that helped me with my technique. On shomen-uchi ikkyo, when I cut down on uke's arm, bringing my left foot forward after leading with my right foot, I brought that left foot against uke's grounded foot. It nearly tripped uke and prevented him from recovering from being off-balance. Whenever I am partners with a black belt, this technique is always used on me, and I was finally able to figure out how to do it.

Another tequnique that I learned was during shomen-uchi nikkyo. Again, my partner was a (recently promoted) black belt, and when he had my arm in a wrist lock, he applied pressure with his thumb on the outside of my hand where the index finger and thumb come together, right above the bone. It really hurt, and no one else has ever used that pressure point on me during nikkyo, so I'm not sure if it's something taught by Aikikai (because I can't understand every point that sensei explains) or if it's just something that this individual does. At any rate, I will use it from now on.

After class, I was standing in the 4th-floor hallway near the stairs and Irie-sensei had to pass me to get to the stairs. He stopped and said to me in a low voice, "Karaana-san, you should start attending the regular (advanced) class in the main dojo since this beginner's class is so crowded." I said, "But I'm not very good," and sensei immediately responded with, "No one is very good the first time." I took this as a sign! I was a little scared, so I quickly told an English-speaking student what had happened. He told me that sensei told him the previous week to start attending the regular class as well, but this student decided not to. Well, I think I'll take the challenge! We all have to leave the nest at some point, right?