Tick, tock, tick, tock...test prep starts in just about 2.25 hours! See you at 6:00 pm and don't forget your water bottle! It's gonna be a hot one!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
test prep
it's not our muscles that make us rise, it is our spirit.
...it's not just about technique.
...it's not just about technique.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Winter is offocially over...
...when after 3 hours of practice I get to have my first post class Slurpee of the season.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Summer Camp/Test Prep
The 2014 summer session of camp/test prep kicks off next Tuesday, June 17.
All are welcome and as usual, we will kick it up a notch for camp/test prep classes. Beginners will be taken good care of so don't hesitate to come as well.
Camp/test prep will run for 6 weeks, every Tuesday night from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
As usual, week 1 and 6 we’ll have video review for baseline and progress. Please be prepared to stay a little later those nights.
Remember, if you are not testing, we will need ukes of all types, so please come and support your fellow aikidoka.
Camp/test prep has been a long standing tradition in Rochester which, with your support we’ll continue to enhance everyone's quality of practice.
Thank you,
Marcella & Brian
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Unlikely Bedfellows
As some of you who practice at our dojo know, my wife Candy and I are into blacksmithing. Yup, blacksmithing. Hammers, anvils, fire, the whole deal...just no horses. I mean, what else would you expect two RIT educated engineers to do in their down time, well besides Aikido, of course.
So, besides outing ourselves as slightly into the odd spectra of society, why does it matter? Because everything is connected if you are open to seeing it. As we got more and more into hitting things with hammers we started to see parallels that couldn't be ignored. When we got frustrated or were stressed, our work suffered. Things just didn't come out right. Sound familiar? Relax, Progressively.
Ok, that was an easy one. Being relaxed helps lots of stuff, so what else? How about nikkyo and hammering. Nikkyo is all about the pinky finger. The grip on the hammer handle, assuming you want any accuracy, or not to throw the hammer across the room, or not get tendinitis, is all about the pinky. Also, nikkyo is not a death grip. It's soft yet unyielding. Exactly what we needed and we already knew it from Aikido!
Now we get to swinging our nicely held hammers and the connections just kept flowing. The hammer became a part of our unbendable arm. It rose, it fell, and rose and fell over and over into the patten of shomen uchi undo. When we aimed the hammer, we aimed it with our hips! How else could we do it?
And all was well. But then, we got bigger hammers! So big you needed two hands to hold them and swing them high over your head and down with all the might of gravity. Guided by the right hand, driven by the left. We discovered swords in the shapes of hammers. And there was much rejoicing.
So, besides outing ourselves as slightly into the odd spectra of society, why does it matter? Because everything is connected if you are open to seeing it. As we got more and more into hitting things with hammers we started to see parallels that couldn't be ignored. When we got frustrated or were stressed, our work suffered. Things just didn't come out right. Sound familiar? Relax, Progressively.
Ok, that was an easy one. Being relaxed helps lots of stuff, so what else? How about nikkyo and hammering. Nikkyo is all about the pinky finger. The grip on the hammer handle, assuming you want any accuracy, or not to throw the hammer across the room, or not get tendinitis, is all about the pinky. Also, nikkyo is not a death grip. It's soft yet unyielding. Exactly what we needed and we already knew it from Aikido!
Now we get to swinging our nicely held hammers and the connections just kept flowing. The hammer became a part of our unbendable arm. It rose, it fell, and rose and fell over and over into the patten of shomen uchi undo. When we aimed the hammer, we aimed it with our hips! How else could we do it?
And all was well. But then, we got bigger hammers! So big you needed two hands to hold them and swing them high over your head and down with all the might of gravity. Guided by the right hand, driven by the left. We discovered swords in the shapes of hammers. And there was much rejoicing.
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