Archive for the ‘Iaido’ Category
Onegai Shimasu
My shoulders hurt, my arms hurt, my knees have just stopped hurting, and I have a heck of a swelling/bruise on the inside of my left elbow where I managed to mash my head into it during a forward roll.
I couldn’t be happier about it all.
I did it; I went to an Aikido class after over a decade of wanting to try it.
It has been an Aikido weekend. As Toronto Aikikai has an open door policy with regards to visitors, I hauled myself down to the dojo to observe the classes this Staurday. Saturday was a good time to check out the dojo, as they offer a good mix of classes that day, all in things I’m interested in trying; bokken weapon’s practice, general mixed level Aikido, and – much to my delight – Iaido. Apart from picking up the beginnings of a cold (rain, cold, windows all open, sitting and watching for 4 hours, and me being one of the few people not keeping warm through physical exertion), it went well. I was favorably impressed with the “everyone pulls together” attitude displayed by everyone. There were people present with a wide range of skill levels, and it was encouraging to see the more advanced students explaining and working things through with the newer students. Pretty much what I expected, but nice to see.
I had some qualms about taking up the study of Aikido and Iaido: I’m pushing 40, I’ve never been particularly flexible or physically active, and I just lost about 75lbs of body weight. It isn’t exactly a description of the ideal martial artist candidate. However the head instructor had some good advice – in my opinion at least. If I’m willing to apply diligence and perseverance to study, and if I gauge my progress based on self-improvement and not against how well or fast other people progress, there’s no reason I can’t do this. And he’s right; I don’t feel the need to be shodan in 3 years or anything.
So, as Toronto Aikikai allows prospective students to try out a class before deciding whether or not to join, I packed up a gym bag and headed back down to the dojo this morning for the 11am beginners class. After all this research and checking out Aikido and Toronto Aikikai, I can’t say that it was radically different than I thought it would be – but it was quite exhilarating.
Physically I did better than I thought I would – although I probably don’t want to know what my forward rolls look like from the outside. I also need to work on my flexibility like you wouldn’t believe; I’m thinking a daily regime of stretching isn’t a bad idea. But both the instructor, and the other students were very good at making me feel at ease; They’re a very patient bunch. It is going to be a long and hard climb to get over the first couple of initial steps; I’m not 18 anymore, and I’m working on developing a number of baseline physical abilities all over again, but I’m willing to keep plugging away at it until I get it right.
Getting up to get coffee halfway through writing this has highlighted another couple of twinges, and I’m sure new places will pipe up to voice their complaints at unaccustomed strain.
I’m still going back Tuesday.
