necama, posts by tag: aikido - LiveJournal (original) (raw)

Recovery

Jan. 18th, 2009 | 09:16 pm

mood: hopeful
music: Kano Yokko -- Rise
location: home

I know I haven't posted much about my recovery from surgery, so here's a short update.

I can now comfortably walk on the foot for probably about a mile of distance, without the aid of an orthopedic boot or crutches/cane. I still can't force my foot into a shoe, but my Tevas have enough adjustability built into them that I can wear them in the mean time. Thank the gods the weather here in San Diego has been, well, warm for the past couple of weeks. Other than occasional Tylenol for pain, I'm on no further medication at this point, and my doctor's instructions are to "walk as much as possible" in order to prevent scar tissue from building up in my foot, with compression and ice to help with the swelling.

All in all, it's not so bad, but every now and then I take a step that takes my breath away. Also, I went to Aikido and spent a few minutes before class throwing another student around. I can't quite push off the foot properly yet, and I definitely can't pivot on it as it is. But I mostly had no problems.

As to other injuries, my right hip appears to be correcting itself as I force myself to use a proper walking motion, so it appears that it is indeed a condition that was caused by my walking motion, and probably exacerbated by the car that hit me a couple of years ago.

So full recovery is in sight! I can't wait to start training again!

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Hiking

Feb. 10th, 2008 | 08:09 pm

mood: tired

Kathryn and I went hiking at Cuyamaca State Park today after she got back from church. It was a pleasant 70 degrees F and a lovely four mile hike around 7,000 feet above sea level. The surprising thing is that there was snow on the ground for quite a bit of the hike, and even some frozen mud on the trail.

Also, we got a scale, finally. My initial weigh in (after two weeks on the diet) is 290 pounds. Looks like I have a ways to go before the end of June. On the other hand, I'm back in Aikido, and having a real blast.

In other news, I have an interview tomorrow with a local company. We'll see how it goes.

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So I did one of the things I never thought I'd do....

Jul. 2nd, 2006 | 10:50 pm

mood: Thinkin' about things
music: Reuben Kee, pixietricks -- To Far Away Times

... I went to church today. A number of years ago, I went to a Christmas service that turned my stomach. I swore after that night I would never return to that particular church, and it's a promise I've managed to keep. Since my parents have moved to Oregon, it's likely to remain true.

But since I've started going out with Kathryn (on the night that almost involved rubber chickens), I've come to realize what a wonderful person she is. Heck, she even helped me plan some upcoming gift-giving madness today. Kathryn came to see an Aikido class; she wanted to see what I get out of it. I was just as curious about Kathryn's church.

So I went to church this morning. I'm not quite sure what I think about it -- it's much less traditional than Centerville Presbyterian was -- but overall, I believe it was a positive experience: the message in the sermon was more about personal introspection and self-realized honesty than about how to form a better society through conversion. And everybody I talked to was very friendly. I'm not sure if this will become a continuing pursuit of mine, and Kathryn understands that. But now, I understand what she gets out of it, and I respect that she needs it, as she understands my Aikido, and what I get out of that. I'm also beginning to realize that my next major hurdles at Aikido are going to involve the mental game far more than the physical one. I have physical problems to overcome, but I believe the blocks in my head are going to be a much larger impediment to progress.

It's time to start meditating again. And it's time to start asking deep, personal questions of myself.

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Tests

Jun. 1st, 2006 | 12:41 pm

music: Nickel Creek - Tomorrow Is A Long Time
mood: sore

So on Tuesday night I had my ikkyu test. Last test before Shodan. And the last time I test in the privacy of my own dojo.

Before my test, we had about an hour's worth of technique practice. Sensei asked me if there was anything I wanted to work on. "No requests, Sensei."

Then, at 8:00, Sensei calls for my test. We start, and we bow. I remember little of what followed. I remember breathing, and I remember Ed almost losing his pants while he was my uke, but other than that, for the basic technique portion of my test, I remember very little.

I remember the weapons portion of my test quite well -- mostly because doing kata is painful due to the precise way you are supposed to move and set your feet. In technique, I can get around that by making very minute adjustments. With the weapons, I haven't found a way to do that.

After all of that, there was the questions portion. "What is Aikido?"

And to be honest, there's only one answer I feel in my heart now. "Aikido is." There's nothing else to say about it. I mumbled something about O Sensei's statement that Aikido is a way to reconcile the world, and how it provides me with options besides smashing the crap out of somebody else. But there's so much more there that I can't quite put into words yet. I think I need to write a more complete answer to that someday soon. Hell, I need to write that essay for shodan.

Teresa asked me what the hardest part about training is. For me, it's forgetting my cares in the outside world when I step on the mat. It's forgetting that I have a review session to teach tonight. It's forgetting that I'm desperately trying to finish my Ph.D. before hitting hard time limits. When you step on the mat, those cares are supposed to stop existing. It takes me about an hour to forget them usually.

Tom asked me about dealing with injuries -- they happen to me quite often. And the answer there is, I need the training more for the mental aspects than for the physical benefits. I need the goofiness of the kids. I need the serenity that I feel during and after practice. And I feel a strong connection to the group. It's important in so many ways.

Then there's the randori. And we bow. And the test is over. All 35 minutes of it.

It honestly didn't feel that long to me. A few years ago, I would have never survived doing that test. But now, it's not that big a deal. I don't know if it's because my movements are becoming more economical, or if I'm simply in better shape. But I felt as though I could have taken a test twice as long without losing my wind.

Officially, I don't find out if I passed until next Tuesday, but I'm fairly sure I did. Sensei didn't find too many excuses to scream at me during the test. After class, we talked about what was going to be my challenge as I approach shodan. And we both agreed it wasn't the Aikido itself. It was going to be finding ways around the injuries I have, and recovery from surgery for my arthritis.

And I'm looking forward to getting pictures and limited video taken by ouraboros's S.O. I've never seen myself do Aikido; I'm faintly curious. And it will give me a way to share it with other people, too.

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It's testing time at Aikido again!

May. 24th, 2006 | 03:05 pm

mood: calm
location: Cleanroom, waiting for some chemicals to do their thing

... except this time, I'm forewarned, and that's something I'm not used to.

My ikkyu exam is scheduled for next Tuesday. And judging from the one that Mike just had, it's going to be a lulu. Oh, well. I'm probably as ready for it as I'll ever be. But you just don't know how it'll go until the test, well, starts.

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April Fool's Day

Apr. 2nd, 2006 | 01:30 am

mood: silly

I couldn't tell you why, but I love April Fool's Day. Somebody I know will either (a) take good direction from me and pull a joke that I thought up (and then not remember for a few weeks that it was I who put the thought there), or (b) take their own initiative and do something silly, like arranging for everybody at Aikido to be carrying a rubber chicken in their gi for the entire class just so we can later throw them at the poor, unsuspecting Stephanie who had just taken her test for nikyu. :-)

That includes one with a voice box in it that simply emitted a pathetic squawk as it hit the mat. :-D

The upshot from this is that I am now the owner of not just one, but a plethora of rubber chickens, some of which are even juggle-able. Many of the people at Aikido even suggested I should take one on my date tonight, because they figured it would be better to find out up front if I was going out with somebody who could "handle a rubber chicken." And, for the record, I did not take a chicken with me, but I did mention the shenanigans of the day to her while we drank our tea and talked. Neither of us could stop smiling, either.

Also see ouraboros's take on the rubber chickens. I think I feel a new LJ user pic coming on....

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Aaaaahhhhhhh.

Mar. 7th, 2006 | 11:46 pm

mood: chipper
music: 菅野よう子 -- Inner Universe

First night back on the mat after an injury is always bliss. The joy of flying returns.

The first day after the first night back on the mat is hell. The soreness of muscles not used to working that way.

But in between the two, just before bed after class is the best; the rush of endorphins and the feeling that once again, everything is right with the world.

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Turning 30

Feb. 11th, 2006 | 11:09 pm

music: Loreena McKennitt - All Souls Night
mood: contemplative

Everybody has a body that can be trained, and a soul that can be refined. Your only purpose on this planet is to realize your own divinity.

Ueshiba Morihei Sensei

So here I am, having survived yet another revolution on this rock of a planet we call Earth. Yikes, that sounds depressing, doesn't it? Truth be told, I'm not really depressed about it this year. There was a time where the mere mention of my birthday would send me running for the hills. Black Celebration was my anthem, and ignoring it entirely was my modus operandi.

Not so much this year, though. A lot has happened this last year, and I can't look at my life and say I'm disappointed with the way things have turned out. In the last year, I've started dating again, hit the mat at Aikido a little harder, witnessed good friends getting married, and gotten closer to my family, despite the distances between all of us. At the same time, though, I've failed to graduate by my self-imposed goal of tomorrow. But that doesn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would.

This last year, I realized that for the first time in a long time, I don't hate myself. And it's a wonderful thing to be able to say, with an open mind and a light heart.

And so, I begin another decade tomorrow. Today, I was at an instructor's seminar for Aikido, and I realized that no matter where I end up, this stuff is not only important to me, but it's part of my quintessential self-definition at this point. I need to know more, and I'm nearing the point where the best tool for better understanding is the enforced codification of ideas you get only from teaching others. I need to talk to Alan about getting into the Saturday teaching rotation. But it's going to be hard to fit me in. There's a lot of yudansha at our dojo now, and I'm not at their level yet. And sometimes, watching them move, I think I never will be.

And the thought passes, and I continue to train. And breathe. Through that breath, I continue to live, and work, and play. And that thought alone is enough to make me smile.

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Teaching!

Apr. 30th, 2005 | 12:04 am

mood: thankful
music: Liquid Tension Experiment - Biaxident

Sensei and Alan were out of town on Thursday at the national instructor's seminar for AAA, so I taught my first official Aikido class -- to the advanced children's class.

Sensei asked me if I could teach this class a couple of weeks ago, and I said of course, and asked what I should teach. He smiled at me, and said, "I'm sure you'll think of something." So I racked my brains on the subject, and decided that a simple lesson on balance was called for. After all, this was the advanced kids class, and I thought that I should teach them what I would teach the adults. The only real problem is that adult classes are 2 hours long, versus the hour with the kids, and the kids will want to play a game at the end of class. Better to send them home to their parents tired. :-)

So, with the help of Mark, a wonderful blue belt who also works with the kids, I taught a small part of my piece on balance. I cut out the section on physics that I'm preparing to go with the adult class, but the kids reacted well to the class, and afterwards, many of them told me they had fun. So I'm going to finish trying to put this into perspective for an adult class, and teach it at some point. But I'm glad I got to try it with the kids first. As always, I think I learned more from them than they learned from me.

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Injuries, injuries, injuries. sigh.

Apr. 29th, 2005 | 11:43 pm

music: Chris Thile - Waltz for Dewayne Pomeroy
mood: aggravated

Injuries happen. It's something you accept when you step on the mat. I just wish I understood what happened last Thursday.

I was taking ukemi for Teresa, who is preparing for her nidan exam in June. The basic scenario was defense from five attackers. She entered in with a wonderful iriminage -- think about me getting a face full of open hand that makes me fall backwards -- and my foot got caught in between two mats. So I fell down, and folded my foot between the first and second metatarsel. I didn't think much about it at the time.

Then Friday rolled around, and my foot hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. So I went to student health. They took xrays, and told me that I hadn't broken a toe, but that I had what looked like arthritis around the big toe on my right foot.

So I got an appointment to see a podiatrist, and sucked down pain pills for the weekend. On Monday, I saw the podiatrist, and he told me that my right foot was basically crushed about 15 years ago, and at some point, I will need to have surgery to correct the problem -- basically, somebody needs to remove about a quarter inch of bone from the first metatarsel, and I had only sprained my foot in the already injured area.

So now, I'm off the mat for learning. I can still teach and assistant teach -- provided I limit the type and numer of falls -- but I cannot do the adult class for at least another week.

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