skip the previous post~

let's skip the previous post shall we, i noticed that i'd been having alot of nice dreams during the last few consecutive nights.. and the latest one ,which is this morning's -- about my pretty neighbour- girl who moved out, migrated to australia many years ago.. well, it seems that she's moved back, that is, in my dreams, and she's driving a beetle as well, in case you're not a beetle fan, you'd not understand wat feeling it is like to meet another person that likes the same thing that you love so much~ moreover, it's a PRETTY girl~ FHUIYOH~!! :P that's wat i call a nice dream to wake up from. NO there's no MORNING WOOD..incase you're wondering, cos i was already late for work~

BUT today's topic is about AIKIDO. not dreams. went to attend this aikido workshop yesterday, it was in peejay dojo,(which is not my dojo) and the whole night we were focusing on one technique particularly: SHIHO-NAGE(the four directional throw) well, yesterday's training was fun, i could say relaxing and fun, cos the dojo's airconditioned, and the mat areas are big,there are alot more of aikidokas compared to our teenie-weenie 3 member dojo. but i was happy my sensei was conduting the workshop, and vincent and i are asked out to be his uke(partner) to demonstrate for the rest of the class. Atleast , as total strangers to the other students, we stamped some impression.
well, i think our gi makes me look stupid without the black belt, doesnt it? looking at the yudanshas(aikidoka with black belts)then looking back at myself, i DO look like a nerdy-noobie with a white belt and a half-framed specs, but hey, i think white looks less stupid than the color yellow or orange or actually brown that i'm supposed to wear right?~ the other good thing is, sensei asked us not to waste money on getting the color belts since we barely wear them for even half a year.

ATTENTION: if you're extremely bored now~ reading this, dont go on, i will not hold any responsibility for causing death by boredom of reading my blog. below are articles all closely related to my aikido training and thoughts. do log back to read other stuff next time. btw, next time i will mark a warning'*' on the topic to tell it's a aikido-boring related post.

but heres a reward for you ppl who'd decided to read on: the more "interesting" stuff that happened during aikido practice was this time, years ago, when i once had a tutor(sempai) to partner me during a kenshukan(workshop session) she was grabbing my collar and we were supposed to learn hiji-ate(elbow lock) so when she was trying to grab my collar, her arms straightened, and i wasnt standing tall so her armpits sorta like came into my field of vision. and HOLY-MAMA< i saw BUSH.!! THICK BUSH! i dont know how many girls actually dont shave their "u know where"--as the SANEX adverts call it , but hell that LUSH virgin-never been shaved armpit BUSH-not hair was too much even for my eyes to set vision on. i changed partner as soon as i could. i dont know .it just freaks me out. i even shave mine.
NO I"M NOT GAY.

okay let's go on.
black belt. Yeah, it's supposed to serve as a mark to tell that you have such a ranking and level of understanding of the art,But then again, sad to say, you do actually see some yudanshas around that dont really deserve their belt. well, who am i to say this but hell, they dont even have the spirit.if one doesnt even show the spirit , commitment and enthusiasm in a practice session in dojo, then WHEN? well, that's basically the scene that i see over here, i know we are not supposed to compare and complain, but i think YOSHINKAN AIKIDO( house of cultivating the spirit and mind) originates and is known as the tougher-techniqued stream of aikido around, it stresses on form and practicality.
but the truth is, the association over here is filled with politics. (my friend was just teliing me how any other martial arts have this issue too) BUT COME ON people~ BUDOKA(martial-artists) fuck the politics .CAN WE HAVE MORE QUALITY TRAINING? i am merely a brown (3rdkyu), asked around,from conversations, me and my partner are known for being hard on techniques,other ppl in the dojo are actually afraid to partner with us, being afraid that we might not be able to control our power thus causing injury. yet, truth is we've never really injured each other or ourselves from our hard techniques. wat i really think is, I DONT EVEN THINK THAT MY TECHNIQUE IS HARD i'm just doing it cos any softer i'd better be doing yoga instead?~! compared to what i'd experienced from foreign instrutors,from the little exposure that i've had, i'd seen and experienced, with all due respect i believe our local senseis are far better than just being capable of performing the techniques themselves, BUT i think they are just being too merciful on the students. sorry to say, some of the trainings are more like a bunch of kids doing some aerobics tau-fu-fah exercise.
the reason i get so agitated whenever i get serious and all pumped up about aikido after watching some superb demonstration video or attending some live demonstration or even taking part in a seminar, is because the image that the local aikido reflects is just this : SISSY TYPE OF SO-CALLED MARTIAL ART.
believe it or not , the first one month of joining ,2years ago,myself, i had to keep telling myself that aikido is an art derived from the ancient samurai's art of combat,in order to get over with the feeling of not knowing why i was doing the basic silly movements which NOW i understand that it IS really important.and just like alot of aikidokas, i strive to perfect my technique in both hard/fast and soft/slow approach, the latter one to perfect the flow ,placement and smoothness, fast for timing.
BUT i've come across so many practitioners that have quit half way, not even understanding wat they were spending so many time doing(the six basic movements) looking like clowns. yes. the problem is the marketing aspect of it. AGREE WITH ME,STEVEN SEAGALS MOVIES SUCK RIGHT?whos' fighting looks nicer? matrix or seagals? the question is, HOW MANY WOULD ACTUALLY STICK TO IT LONG ENOUGH TO SEE IT'S WONDERS?i've even met with people who came up to our dojo to enquire, which asked alot of silly questions,like: wat if the attacker pulled back his hand after a punch, or wat if he launched a jab?silly as they were, i used to ask them too, but guess wat, the answers from our sensei was sillier enough to be NOT at all convincing. he told him, the best form of martial art is to not fight.with respect, sensei, you are just shoving away your business.TRUE ENOUGH aikido is a practise of harmony ,balance and peace. but wat do we do when we find an imbalance of harmony? we restore peace right? we fight too.
The best answer that i'd experienced so far is from JO sensei 6thdan shudokan aikido . i managed to attend one of his class when he came over from australia a year ago, and after the class,asked him the same question that had been buggin me until THAT day~
lets just get straight to the story:

i asked the same silly questions about jabbing punches that aikido seems impossible to catch hold of,or quick kicks.

here's his physical description:he was calm, bald headed 40 year old guy.he was prolly half a head shorter than i was, he was small built but sturdy.

after hearing my question, he gladly smiled and offer to answer me, he said : come, let's try, take off your glasses, and launch a couple of jabs at me.

so took off my glasses and tried aiming at his face for a couple of jabs which he easily evaded/ okay. i've had no former training of jabs, and i admit that my jabs seem more like punches cos it was so slow,
then he said : " come on, aim and jab. QUICK. FASTER> u can do it faster" so i took a deep breath and decided to put in all oof my might, to give two quickest jabs right to the nose of this confident sensei.

it was a surprise to me that he managed to evade my first jab and before i know. i was pinned to the wall with a neck choke on me..and mind you, the wall was atleast 4 feet away from where i was standing.

i was shocked. he didnt say anything else, but continued: are you okay? now attack me again.anyway u like. as i wasnt good with kicks.i decided to give him a side punch full force. and that was the last thing i remember until i was lying on the floor. it was much later that i've only realised that i was on the floor already.i thought i was supposed to have hit him.
JO sensei had just pulled my leg and tripped me , while i was concentrating on my upper body to launch an attack with full force, he creeped in within split second and tipped my less stable lower body.

later, he gave me an explanation that stopped me from asking anymore silly questions that doubt the ability of aikido until today:
as i had been attacked by him, using not the formal aikido-technique way, yes i was stunned, and you might be scratching your head as i was back then, i wasnt at all contented, i asked him: is that aikido? he answerd me with a warm smile on his face: "i dont think you can even choke a smaller person if you merely use the power of your hands." while he said this, he showed how he made an entering move with his whole body. "instead of just extending your arm's muscles which maybe is 10kg power, now your whole BODY WEIGHT is moving with a momentum focused to collide at the small area of your palm tryin to grab the throat of the attacker.your WHOLE BODY. it's wat, 60kg?. imagine the devastating effect of it."

then he continued: "the second one, the one that i pulled your leg and tripped you" .. i was satisfied with the first question now, so i listened patiently."you might say it is not aikido.no it is NOT,BUT then again, it IS the essence of aikido philosophy when you put into real situation"
how come? "without proper timing, do you think i can creep down before your blow reaches me , and if i hadnt' placed myself in the region that i could take your balance, do you think u would fall? i'd be eating your kicks head-on" i was satisfied.
aikido is not about being stuck in the technique, any other martial arts should not fix your mind set to perform a certain technique. it is supposed to train our muscle memory to react to any situation that we might get involved with, that, without thinking, we can react to it naturally, instinctively.

i hope that convinces you ,assuming that you are not an aikidoka .that aikido IS actually a practical form of art. we are not that dumb to expect people to attack us by grabbing our arms. darn it, it IS JUST the easiest form of us "feeling" the contact of the attacker..so that we can react to it. and if you really want to ask this question: WHY DO THE ATTACKERS ATTACK THIS WAY ONLY? WHY CANT THEY ATTACT THE OTHER WAY? WHY DO THEY HAVE TO TELL WHAT WAY THEY ARE ATTACKING? CANT THEY SURPRISE THE ATTACK?

THEN WE SURPRISE THE COUNTERATTACK TOO ask this question and be prepared to have some part of your body injured. we do it that way because we do not want to hurt our opponnents.and lose people to practice with . got it? :))