Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 9/19/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, Tom, and Sal.

Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own and watched over Sal.

The Walk: None.

Releases: Sensei had Trey and I get our Releases in and then move straight on to Owaza Ju Pon.

Techniques:

Trey and I worked on Owaza Ju Pon in the teim we had before Trey went off to the Aggie football game.

Aikinage, Kata Otoshi, Shihonage, Ushiro Kubi Gatama and the off-balances for the Gurumas.

We spent most of Trey's time on Kata Otoshi. It's an interesting technique on uke's side of things. I noticed that when Trey nailed the timing, I'd just find myself taking the rollout and not really thinking about getting out of it. If the timing was off, and most of the time it was early, I would sort of stumble out of the technique. Occasionally, when he was early, I would notice my foot compensating for the technique he was trying to apply: it would move off-lie to catch my balance.

We also worked on aikinage for him, and he is catching on quite well.

For me, we worked in a few reps of Shihonage, Aikinage, Ushiro Kubi Gatame, and Ushiro Ate. they went far better than either of us expected.

Trey disappeared and I then served as uke for the other guys on Aigamae-ate, Gyaku Gamae Ate and Gedan ate. We got some good work in, and I made progress on my next 10,000 falls.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Nothing affected the right elbow or right middle finger tonight.

Aikido Friday Night - 9/18/09

Aikidokas: Tim, and Trey.

Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own.

The Walk: None.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

Trey and I worked on Owaza Ju Pon all night, since we were the only folks around.

Aikinage, Kata Otoshi, Shihonage, Ushiro Kubi Gatama and the off-balances for the Gurumas.

We spent a large amount of time on the off-balances for the Gurumas and Trey made marked improvements as the night wore on. You need to direct uke out and around to get the otoshi and the guruma. The otoshi is very similar to the entry for a blown shomen-ate if you extend uke too far.

We also spent a large amount of time on aikinage. At the end of the work I made a bit of an improvement in my approach by getting the non-working hand much further over uke's shoulder. This allows me to get aikinage and Ushiro Kubi Gatame more reliably. A nice light bulb moment.

I spent a bit of time on Shihonage. It seems my problem with this technique stems from the third off-balance, or lack thereof. If my timing and distance are cool, it is the "up" off-balance that, if it fails, destroys my technique.

I don't remember much of our work on Kata Otoshi.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Nothing affected the right elbow or right middle finger tonight.

Volleyball, 1-2

We played well on each point, but we just didn't win enough points. We had 5 players, as did our opponents. My theory still holds: we need to have the same 6 team members over a period of at least 2 weeks to be playing at our best. We've not had the situation for some time.

An opponent landed under the net on top of my foot. When I attempted to move, I slightly aggravated a tendon or ligament, as my foot was still trapped. It seems ok now.

Also, after 6 hours of painting with a long extension on Sunday, my shoulder was a mess. Volleyball aggravated it and now an injury that I thought I'd managed to get rid of has come back. Aleve, "Heat" and specific sleeping positions are the order of the day.

Mercuri still missing

We let Mercuri out, as has been our ritual for the past few years, around 6 p.m. Thursday night. We called for her around 10 p.m., when she is usually nearby and ready to come in, but she was not around. This didn't worry us greatly, as she occasionally spends the night outside.

When we woke up Friday morning and she was not waiting at the door, that concerned us.

As of now, Monday afternoon, she is still missing. I'm hoping for the best, but preparing to not see her again.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido
Wandered the neighborhood looking for Mercuri

Saturday:

Went to look at an estate sale in League City
Got caught up to date with my book database
Aikido
Dinner with M., K., and K. at Durango's

Sunday:

Painting M. and K.'s house
Dinner at Joe's with M., K., and K.
Collapsed from weariness (6 hours of painting will cause that)

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 9/12/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Brad, Tom, and Sal.

Ukemi: Watched Sal and then demonstrated why it's not a great idea to have your leading arm go across your body on front rolls.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: With Sal.

Techniques:

Monkey in the middle with outside the arm off-balances. I did a little work as uke and then spent the rest of the afternoon watching and making suggestions. They started to get it fairly well by the end of the session.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Right elbow and right middle finger are minor concerns.

Aikido Friday Night - 9/11/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Tom.

Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own. Tested to see how the left hip is doing.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: None.

Techniques:

Trey and I worked on Kata Otoshi and Aikinage all night. Kata Otoshi is a bugbear of technique for me. I did manage to nail it four times in a row and then three times in a row. I think I need more reps. The determining factor seems to be my timing: I tend to be in a hurry. I need to slow down.

I did manage a left-sided Aikinage, though. Go me!


Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Right elbow and right middle finger are minor concerns.

Lunching out: Tony's Seafood House

I'm reporting this a week late, but at least I remembered.

This week, I tried a relatively new place: Tony's Seafood House. I could walk there from work on a nice day with plenty of time to kill.

I ordered a 6 shrimp and 2 pieces of catfish plate, iced tea and their pecan pie. I was underwhelmed. The shrimp was ok, but the catfish was spiceless. And don't even mention the pecan pie, it was pretty bad.

There was a mix-up with my bill and I could have walked out of there for around $6, but I returned the extra $10 bill.

What the future holds:

If I have to have seafood and it has to be close, ok. Otherwise, no.

Volleyball, 1-2

Another week with not a full team. We started off with 4 players and ended up with 5.

I got a number of good sets in the first game, but they soared off court when I hit them. I improved a bit in the second and third games.

We won the second game and came close to winning the third, so it was a decent night.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido

Saturday:

Up early to go mattress shopping.
Also stopped by Bay Area Aquariums to look at their fish and corals
Aikido
In the shop to turn two pens
Dinner at Durango's
Made baklava. Awesome.
Started work on a batch of bread

Sunday

More work on the bread
Grilled out for dinner with my mom and aunt

Monday

Off to an early showing of G-Force. Disappointing.
Waited around for mattress delivery
Hand and foot with the in-laws.

At the Movies: G-Force

G-Force: 2

An animated feature about a group of Guinea Pigs, a fly, and a mole who form a spy team. They attempt to save the world from the greed of an appliance manufacturer. Bill Nighy (Davy Jones from POTC 3) stars as the CEO of the appliance company.

It was not as bad as I was afraid it might be, but not as good as I hoped.

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 9/05/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Brad, and Sal.

Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups and did a little warm-up of my own. I actually took a self-imposed big fall as part of a demonstration for Brad, iirc. the landing wasn't great, but I walked away from it.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Watched Brad and Sal work on them

Techniques:

We tried another drill for working on Shomen-ate. Uke stands in front of tori and goes up on his toes, tori attempts to strike uke just when uke's heels touch the ground. Sal did ok. I did poorly. Weird.

It seems like there should have been something else, but I can't remember it.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play.

Aikido Friday Night - 9/4/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Tom and Sal.

Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups and did a little warm-up of my own

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

I worked with Sal on his releases for most of the evening.

At the end of the session, Sensei had Trey and I attempt to execute iriminage on Tom and Sal. It was quite a change from working with Trey. I could feel a huge difference, mainly in their reactions. Trey did a better job figuring out what the difference was, I think.

I also attempted a left-sided iriminage on Trey once or twice. My footwork was confused, so it did not go well.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. I think I've finally figured out how to fold my hakama properly. I've started a tradition of wearing it on Friday nights and finally managed what I thought was a good fold. This week it also helped a slightly sore back as it provides more back support than a gi does.

At the Movies: 3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma : 3

A western starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, and Alan Tudyk. The story of a man trying to make it in Arizona as a rancher. Beset by all sorts of trouble, his only hope of saving his ranch is by hiring out to escort Russell Crowe's character to a train to send him to prison. Both characters grow through the movie and it's a fun little jaunt.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido

Saturday:

Slept late
Aikido
Started working on a pot of ranch style beans, from scratch

Sunday:

Ranch-style beans
2 Peach pies
Fuddrucker's hamburger buns
Burgers for grilling out
Grilled out

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 8/29/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Jeff, Gail, Trey, Brad, and Paul. Three folks from Killeen in to see the demonstration.

Ukemi: I did a light workout of ukemi, both sides.

Trey and I ran through the techniques once and decided any more work would be detrimental.

Shortly thereafter, we were called up for his demonstration and the the Walk, Releases and 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. He did a great job and was awarded his Ikkyu.

Brad was called up afterwards and was awarded his Yonkyu. We had a stealth demonstration for him a week ago.

I then helped Brad work with Paul on his releases and some other basics.

Aftermath: I was beat. Six of us went out for Mexican afterward and had a good time, as is tradition when folks from Killeen come to town.

Aikido Friday Night - 8/28/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Tom and Sal.

Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups and did a little warm-up of my own

The Walk: Twice, as usual. Tom got to count once.

Trey and I worked on the stuff for his demonstration. We went through 1-17 and spent some time on problems that popped up. Problems always pop up the night before a demonstration, it's just the way things work. There were no show-stoppers, though.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Still trouble for suwari waza and some of the big falls.

Weekend update

Friday:

Aikido
Thunderstorm that probably killed our central a/c

Saturday:

No a/c
Out to the local seafood markets for fresh fish and shrimp
Aikido
Cooked out the seafood
Watched a couple of dvds

Sunday:

No a/c
Baked some more ciabatta. It turned out better.
Grilled out chicken
Cards with the in-laws

Aikido Saturday Afternoon - 8/22/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Tom.

Ukemi: I did a light workout of ukemi, both sides.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Tom and I worked on releases. Sensei Tim came in and made some corrections on my releases.

Techniques:

We had Tom and Brad show us what they know of the first 5 techniques. They look pretty good.

Trey and I went through 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. A pretty good run through. Did not do big falls with #17.

Aftermath: A tough workout. Ibuprofen was necessary afterwards.

Aikido Friday Night - 8/21/09

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey and Sal.

Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups. Still improving.

The Walk: Twice, as usual.

Releases: Sal and I worked on releases.

Techniques:

I was the uke for some "strike the dummy" work for Sal.

Trey and I went through 1-8, and 10-12 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. Pretty good. His demonstration's coming up in one week.

Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. It is feeling better, but I can still tell it's there.