Strick's Ramblings

Went out to pull some friends out of the mud, ended up getting stuck myself. 

http://www.strickstuff.com <-- A video is on the front page (for now)

http://strickstuff.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:Get_Stuck <-- some pics here... & I'll put some on myspace.

Sensei Motsomoto-san offered up his weekends again, so I eagerly accepted.  Today was great, I feel like I'm making progress with my ukemi (forward at least).  Need more practice with my "Ninja walk."

I asked Matsomoto-san if I was getting better, (lol) he said no... that maybe after 30 years he may tell me that I'm getting better.  He said that he's been practicing for 30 years, and he still needs more better...

I have another session in the Morning... I will probably be pretty sore tomorrow... we'll see...

I had a good Aikido session tonight. We had more people there & Sensei offered to teach again on Saturday & Sunday. that's awsome, so that will be 5 sessions a week. I'm sure I'll be sore again, I had quite a good workout tonight.

Today, we a good workout... worked on lots of moves & I practiced my rolls.  Sensei said I really needed more practice, and I agreed.  Our normal dojo (Misawa Gymnasium) was closed for a basketball tournament so we ended up having our meeting at another Dojo.  Sensei said it was a Sumo dojo.  Their mats were softer than standard totami mats.

I really must be out of shape, because after this practice and the practice on Friday, my muscles were exausted.  Monday is a Japanese Holiday, so they'll be no practice on that day.

had another awesome Aikido session today. I really need more practice & I really need to learn more Japanese. Sensei Motsomoto-san agreed to give us a private lesson tomorrow. That is awesome that he is doing this for us. This is great, because I definitely need more practice. Everyday I leave the dojo, I feel great, a bit tired, but tired in a good way.

I was asking one of the Japanese I work with some questions about Kyuodo, and martial arts in general.  I told them that I was taking Aikido downtown, and he started laughing... which made me a bit mad... they said that Aikido wasn't very popular in Japan.  That Judo & Kendo was the most popular.  I'm not sure why they were laughing.

oh well... Aikido is popular with me.  That's all that matters.

My 2nd day of Training went well, eventhough today I really felt the language barrier.  I will sign up for the next Japanese class that's offered.  Plus, there's 2 high school aged kids there (Japanese), one speaks english better than the other, so hopefully they can help.  I really will need to practice more than 3 times a week.  I will go to the gym and practice either by myself or with one of the other guys in the class.

I missed my Aikido practice on the 4th, decided to do the "fire works" thing, also, the muscles needed the time...

Happy Independence Day!!!

Last Night was my first Aikido class. It was quite a workout, as I'm pretty sore today. I haven't had a workout like that in a long while. I can't wait to learn more.