Shifts

No training log per se this week. I didn't go to class today, for a handful of reasons. I decided to sleep in, and spend a lazy morning with the wife and baby. I did however, pratice tegatana no kata 6 or 8 times, focusing on different things throughout. I can't be sure, but I think I've been making more of the first turning motions than they need to be (not the goblet step, but the first 180 degree turns). I also played with "linking" some of the steps like Pat and I discussed a few weeks back.

I practiced releases 1-8, but had to do them with my imaginary friend. He's a good uke, but he whines incessantly! Just kidding. Sometimes I find visualization/imaginary uke helpful, but it does lack that crucial element of feedback, no matter how disciplined I try to make my mind so that I imagine what my motions would be doing to a real person. It's tough! Release 8 was bothering me more than any others today.

Back at the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about how Judo was replacing Aikido as my favorite art. At the time, I was willing to all but abandon Aikido to devote more time to Judo. It's funny how things change from time to time. For the past few weeks, the pendulum has been swinging back the other direction. Maybe I was excited about Judo because I found that I liked it more than I originally thought I would. I don't know. In any case, I am just so in love with Aikido these days. I feel like I'm settling back into my original areas of interest, with a slight modification. My affections lie pretty much like this now:

58% Aikido
20% Judo
10% Karate-do
7% Jodo, as it relates to improving my aikido
5% Jodo, as budo/koryu in and of itself

So I'm feeling more like "majoring" in Aikido with a "minor" in Judo, and special studies in the rest. I can be fickle at times, so these numbers may be different another 3 months from now, but right now, I've got Aiki-fever.