Saturday Afternoon at the Dojo 2/2/08

Aikidokas: Tim, Randy, Jeff, Gail, and Larry

Ukemi: Ukemi went well. Left side big falls are still weird. The end result is good, but the way I'm getting there is strange.

Techniques:

I went through reps of 14-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata, some of 3 & 4, and 8, 9 & 10. Working with Larry again. He opened my eyes up to initial off-balances on some of the later techniques.

On Hiki-otoshi, after meeting at ma-ai, I need to take a step to the back corner for the initial off-balance. After that improvement, the technique started flowing.

He also suggested some tweaks for the initial off-balance for 8 and 9. For these techniques, the second off-balance needs to be to a back corner. Actually, it does for #8. For #9 it's the lack of a dramatic second off-blaance that allows uke to recover and react in to Hiki-taoshi.

We discovered something I needed to do to complete Waki-gatamae. After the entry, and the arm-lock, I need to extend the off-balance a bit with a step out. Then I can breathe out and get the tap-out from uke.

Then Larry did some work on 1-5 of Owaza Ju Pon. And I uked for those techniques for the first time. They went well, except for #2. This technique should be a simple front roll for uke. Larry somehow managed to hook the arm onto which I would roll. I ended up taking a big fall, but without any support from tori. I landed on my ribs on the near side to tori, instead of getting further around and landing on the far side. I almost had the wind knocked out of me. Jeff took my place for the rest of Larry's practice.

Aftermath: Sore legs and arms. A couple of bruises. Sore ribs. A good session, though.