Yesterday morning a national TV crew came to Ibaraki Dojo and filmed a live piece about Aikido. It was strange to see it all going on knowing it was just up the road. The first 2 mins are us flicking through the channels as we didn't know which channel it was going to be on.
Last night there was a welcome party for two new arrivals, two more students from Myanmar have arrived. It went on quite late and was a lot of fun. Will post a clip or some photos to give you a taste shortly. Anyway getting to morning keiko became a challenge and there were a few fuzzy heads on the mat. There were in fact 34 people on the mat, which meant that it was very crowded. Compact ukemi training and awareness training. It was an interesting lesson, all techniques from Chudan Tsuki with sensei placing a lot of focus on how the technique can change according to the Maai.
Tonight will be my first training session with Robin training for his Shodan test. I am looking forward to going through all the techniques and should learn a lot.
Aikido Iwama Uchideshi
This Blog originally tracked a three month period during which time I undertook training in Iwama under the supervision of Nemoto Sensei. We also trained at the Shibu Dojo, O'Sensei's Dojo in Iwama located in the Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan.
I have returned this time for a shorter three week stint in January 2011.
