I’m not sure what it is, what’s changed, but I’ve been loving Aikido lately. It’s making me smile big goofy grins. Sometimes I’m still sort of smiling hours after.
What’s up with that?
Partly, it’s been a change in training partners. I’m getting to play with the brown belts a lot and they’re fun.
Why? Well I think the influx of new white and yellow belts means that I’m often one of the more senior people on the mat. Twice now I’ve had to call the bow in. So it clearly puts me on the senior side of the mat when we divide up.
Partly, I think I’ve made peace with training forever as a green belt. I can’t test for brown until my rolls improve even though rolls aren’t on my test. And that’s okay.
I’ve also gotten lots better at some things so I no longer feel like a green belt imposter. I never thought they gave me the green belt to be nice to me but I did think it might be respect for my determination more than my abilities.
These days though even I’m a beginner when it comes to rolling I feel I’ve got green belt skills when it comes to lots of the techniques.
I’m working my way through the brown belt review with no expectation of testing. It’s also so huge, the list of techniques, that there’s no point in even trying to memorize them. Just relax and learn.
And smile!
Aikido is definitely on my life list of
Of things to try (P.S. Sneezing during writing replies is not good…) I’ve always been drawn to martial arts. Maybe one day…
Nice blog…. Keep writing… 😃👍
JOKE – broadway play quote: Next to Loving, I like Fighting.
Part of falling, rolling,
twisting, Ba-Gua walking in circles like Charles Darwing and Akido is
healthy and fun.
2nd joke. shy programmer learns to dance
1.)when I dance (romance patern) I think
of forms and akido ‘energy reflections.’
When I rarely fight (the
modern day life, n’est-ce pas?) one imagines
let us dance new stranger.
question: HOW COME
MORE FEMALES are NOT INTO ‘martial arts’,
with exception of MMA
Rhonda Rousey, etc?
PS. hope it is not connected (who know?)
to Silly Valley coders,
silicon valley, Ellen Pao
and reddit.com controversy;
the general BAD health
of females – see statistics.
As a brown belt, this is exactly how I feel with regard to the black belts – at least for now. Maybe someday I will take the plunge, but it’s got to be something I want, not just something to get done. That’s one of the things I like about Aikido; you can just show up and train, and that’s okay.
Yes, I like that too
Dear Sam,
So glad you have entered the magical zone of true and intense aiki love!
What really struck me about your post, is that you say you’re not altogether certain why it’s got so good for you recently – and then you pretty much go on to give a perfect, model illustration of the conditions for “flow” that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defines . . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi#Flow
“a sense that one’s skills are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand, in a goal-directed, rule-bound action system that provides clear clues as to how well one is performing. Concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant, or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted. An activity that produces such experiences is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, with little concern for what they will get out of it, even when it is difficult or dangerous”.
take care and keep loving it all . . . 🙂