Today was a lot of fun I trained with Claire Keller who sometimes teaches here. I asked her to train with me specially because I liked her style of teaching so much. We had a nice relaxed training date together. The last two classes were taught by Douglas Firestone who is really funny and only corrects when necessary.
Well I'm leaving tomorrow and its bittersweet. I'm happy to go because I want to see my friends and family in Jacksonville, yet I wish I could stay so I could continue to train with the deshis and members of this dojo. Everyone I told I was leaving said "Already? Has it been a month? I hope you'll come back." To which I replied "hopefully I'll be back for the Christmas seminar and then a year from this August. Then I'll stay as an uchi-deshi." I found it amusing that everyone assumed that I was a new uchi-deshi, simply because I was always here and took all the classes.
I wanted to bake the deshis another cake before I left, but I'm too tired and I have to pack. I'm leaving at 8:15 Saturday on a shuttle to the airport. It's cheaper than a taxi, but it will take longer. Oh well. I'll see you all in Jacksonville on Monday evening. I think you'll see a difference in my aikido, a good one. I'll definitely be ready for Nikyu when I've reached my hours.
Tonya
Friday, September 14, 2007
The last training day
Wednesday and Thursday (the last)
Wednesday Sensei taught the 12:15 class and the 5:30 class. I was the by his side the instant he took off his hakama after class so I could fold it. I think he was amused at how fast I moved to be the first one there. Today Luke picked me to train with him, which certainly made me feel special. I also trained with some very kind kyu ranking students who were all cooperative and focused. Mike the head deshi got sick Wednesday morning and had to skip classes. I hope that he gets better before I leave so I can train with him one last time.
Thursday I took all the classes again, which is what I do more often than not. The weapons class especially was fun. I keep learning all these things I've never seen before. Luke's class was good too. For once I felt intelligent in class because I recognized the techniques and the openings well enough to not continuously botch them. Ernie on Thursday evening did an interesting choke that I thought was nice because it didn't involve using the gi as the choking tool.
Tonya
Monday and Tuesday (the last)
Monday was fun Donovan called me up to take ukemi several times and I'm proud of the fact that I managed not to embarass myself. I can't recall for sure if he said something along the lines of you've improved since the last time you were here. Maybe I imagined it because a compliment from Donovan is rare indeed.
Tuesday was quite the interesting day. The first class I trained with Noriko. She has a very strong technique. I made sure to anticipate her on nikkyo because we all know how painful that technique can be when applied vigorously. Then I requested to train with Luke later because I liked it so much that I wanted to train with him again before I left. I always learn a lot when I train with him.
Tonya
The last weekend
Saturday was a fun day as always. It was very hot though and everyone was sweating and hoping to work in groups. Sensei's class was fun and then Mike A. taught. His class focused on technique. He gave some very simple, detailed, and understandable explanations for his techniques.
Sunday Chuck taught the first class and he was very dynamic. We did mostly group work again because it was crowded, but that was not a problem for me because of the heat. Donovan taught a class or two and as always his class focused just as much on ukemi as technique.
After the classes were over. I went and got some ice for The Summer's End Party hosted by Yamada Sensei. There was some tasty food and a lot of laughing and merriment. I got to have fun and dance some swing and salsa. Cleanup afterwards was pretty easy, and I had a lot of help. Sensei was happy with the turnout and everyone had a lot of fun.
Tonya
Friday, September 7th
I had a good time friday. My favorite class was taught by Claire Keller. She was very helpful and when she corrected my technique she was careful not to offend me or put me down. Of course after class the next day I asked her to be my training date the next time she came in.
Tonya
Friday, September 7, 2007
Wednesday and Thursday
Wednesday I took all five classes. Sensei taught two of them and I found it odd that in both he taught exactly the same techniques and openings. It was nice though because I got to work on them twice as much. In the morning class I worked with Eddy. He's a very competent kyu who has remarkable technique. In the evening I was very tired because I couldn't get to sleep at all the night before or catch any naps during the day, but after Alberto's energetic class I think I perked up a bit whether I wanted to or not. Though I must say I didn't appreciate the push-ups and sit-ups at the end. Oh well I guess I can forgive him since he's so much fun to train with in classes when he's not teaching.
Thursday was an interesting day I only took four classes because I was invited to a UN luncheon by a minister at Calvary church that I attended Sunday. Apparently he organized the event. I believe I impressed him in some way so he decided to invite me. After a relaxing morning class I finished my chores early and took a nap. Then I went to the luncheon. It was fun navigating the subway to Grand Central Station and then to 45th street and first avenue. Getting through security was irritating and I ended up having to call Richard (the person who invited me) down to get me past. The lunch was gourmet and the dessert was a piece of chocolate cake so rich that I couldn't eat the whole thing. There was some informal conversation on the topic of technology in the roles of the rural community, and water sanitation, but it wasn't too exciting. Richard also introduced me to the president of the National arts Association and told me that they have cool things going on there in the evenings like poetry readings and art displays. He said the latest they run is 8:00 so if I wanted to go I would have to either skip the last class or forgo a shower in order to make it there several minutes late. I'm not particularly fond of either idea. I invited him to come and watch a class and he suggested that one day we might give a demonstration down at the Arts Association.
The last three classes of the day were great fun. I trained with Alex, a pretty Polish girl and we had so much fun in Luke's class that we laughed (whilst training seriously) the whole time. The next class I trained with Nephrati who can't be any taller than five feet. It wasn't as challenging as I thought it would be, because she was a good uke and had strong technique. In the last class I trained with a black belt named Isaic. We wanted to work together so both of us would get a workout, but Luis's class was more of a long difficult technique class, so we had to go slow to get them right.
Tonya
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
misspellings
My last entry was supposed to be randori not tandoori or whatever my spellchecker decided to switch it too. It is a very useful yet annoying feature.
Tonya
Tuesday 3rd week
Today was a most interesting day. The first class I had a lot of fun and read and ate a lot between the first and the second class. Perhaps I should have slept instead because by the time the tandoori class came about I was grouchy and had trouble flowing with my uke's movements. I managed an hour or so nap between this class and the next and felt much better for it. Sensei came back today and taught his first class since he's been here. It was a nice basic class with classic openings. He is a bit difficult for me to understand, but I think I managed well enough. His technique speaks for itself. The next class I was assigned a beginner to help out. He thankfully already knew how to roll so I just had to do my best to walk him through the technique. I got more confident as the class went on. Harvey was teaching and was very helpful. Junya taught the last class and it reminded me a bit of Donovan's because of the extensive ukemi at the beginning. Though he threw in a couple very silly exercises like the "bunny hop." You can imagine what that looked like. I was giggling the whole way down the mat because I knew how ridiculous I looked doing it.
After class I will only say I had an interesting evening. Ask me about it when I get back to Jacksonville.
Tonya
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Friday and Labor Day Weekend
Friday was another hard day of classes. I took four because my knee was still a bruise at that point, and my arms were dead tired and sore from compensating for my knee in ukemi. Every time I got up off the floor it was like doing a push up. The hardest part of any class when your arms are tired and you have one good knee is wiping down the mats on your hands and knee(s). Nonetheless I enjoyed all of the classes. Douglas Firestone is a great teacher. He is such a funny guy on the mat. Everyone was learning and being entertained at the same time.
Saturday was a nice relaxing day. I trained with Doug the deshi, and we took it easy on each other to avoid any more injuries. The second class I trained with an interesting man with a solid, but very slow technique. He asked me if I was a dancer because I moved well on the mat. I was very flattered. Then I played with Lorie, a girl who takes the children's class. She's a real sweetheart and has a great ikkyo.
Sunday was a lot of fun. Everyone was jovial on the mat and I had a great first class. Donovan taught an ukemi class. I was pretty much able to to everything except the knee walking, (which I sat out because of my bruise) . The next class Donovan taught weapons. I found out once again that I don't know how to hold a jo properly or stand in hamni just so. It was a lot of precision work. Donovan really knows his weapons. I pretty much relaxed for the rest of the day and watched an action film with the deshi's in the evening.
Labor day there were no classes so Sanji and I went to Pinkberry to eat the best frozen yogurt in existence and then Miguel and Doug and I took a subway to the Brooklyn bridge and walked across it. We took lots of pictures, some of them rather amusing. Once we got back Sanji and I went to the supermarket so we could get ingredients for a cake. This time he baked it while I supervised. Lemon and strawberry (very good)
Tonya
