Everything is Keiko

This morning the Keiko started with getting out of bed, after a long day and a couple of hours of insomnia I probably managed to get ~2 hours sleep so getting into a waking, functional state was a challenge. So I dragged my body to the Budokan with my spirit following about 5 to 10 mins behind me.

Training actually went quite well. Yesterday Tuoya, one of the Myanmar uchideshi from shibu dojo who has recently started giving me a little bit of help with my ukemi, told me I needed to relax. (The first 6 weeks involved doing only the first step, on the ground, solo, and I seem to have this part down fairly well). So I considered that this morning training was a good way to take on board his advice to relax - as I didn't have the physical or mental energy to offer any sort of resistance whatsoever.

In the past couple of days we have covered some of techniques needed for the upcoming shodan tests. Kyokunage, Irimanage, Shihonage, Kotegaishi, Koshinage all three ways. We used the same attacks, katate dori, Shomen and Yokomen uchi. It has been confirmed that Robin will be taking his shodan test and that I will be his uke. Last Saturday we went through a mock test, another person being his uke. On this occasion he continually froze, couldn't remember which techniques to perform. He did not have clear in his mind which techniques he was going to use and clearly was not prepared. I am sure a lot of this has to do with his nervousness although if he was better prepared he would have less reason to get the jitters.

George, and Maria, 3 month uchideshi will leave on Friday and the four Russians will leave on Saturday, Nemoto Sensei also goes to Germany on Saturday, so this will leave only myself, Chris and Robin here for a couple of days until Sensei returns. It will be strange to have gone from being completely overcrowded to really quite quiet. The rest of my stay which is only another 5-6 weeks there will be four people. Sanna Shodan from Sweden, Chris and Robin both 1st Kyu, preparing for Shodan on 14th June and myself. This should present itself as a most excellent opportunity. I am starting to feel that I am absorbing what we have been doing and would like to revise what we have covered. Only if I can easily picture myself performing a technique in my minds eye do I consider that I might know it. I have been taking note of a lot of the techniques that we have been covering so will be able to go over them as the time to leave approaches. I find ordering them on paper then visualising them in my mind a helpful way to clarify what I do and do not know.