Aikido, 1

So yesterday we had an aikidoist from another dojo come by and had something of a seminar. I stayed for the first two hours, which is the normal amount of time I spend there anyway; but those two hours I was worked more than I ever have been in my entire life. Accumulatively.

Not to say that it was bad - it was fantastic! David Helpner-Shihan handled the second hour. It was interesting, his contrast to Birdsong-Sensei's very rambunctious kind of teaching. The first technique, he showed once - then it was our turn.

He got more into the swing of things as time progressed - spent more time showing techniques (well, the first was a stretch, which accounts for it), and showed beginner versions of the techniques that otherwise involved slamming on the ground. We have a very soft mat (apparently) but I was definitely not ready for that.

Only real problem was that I messed up a fall in the first hour and whacked my head (then hit it again on the uber-hard arm of the dojo couch during the break). I spent the rest of the day with a headache...and then woke up this morning with a lighter, but equally pervasive, encore. I also did some koshi, which involved holding someone across the small of my back (I did not do the slamming bit). It's kind of hard to get right, and I think my already hurting spine suffered. In short, I'm hoping the chiropractor's open tomorrow.

It was still a lot of fun. A bit intimidating for an 8-A kyu-er to come in with so many black belts and other adults (the adult class is usually five to fifteen people, not thirty or so), but overall very helpful. If you've never tried Aikido, it might be a good idea to at least look into it.

Working

Some people have a particular way of working. The closest word I can think of is a 'groove' - when we're interrupted, we stop, and are stuck.

Working in a groove is generally really useful, and easy to notice when on the computer. I now realize I do it while doing essays in English class (which probably explains why I always finish in half the time or less). One major problem is that once you lose your steam, it can take forever to get it back. Moreso if you used it up - once I finish an essay, I can spend an hour staring at the page, KNOWING I could make it better, and never be able to change a thing.

Fact is, I'm not in a posting groove right now, which is probably why this is so disjointed. What I really want to say is this - if you find someone working, whether you think they're in a groove or not, wait until they get up and interrupt themselves before asking them to do something, please.