Today (Proofread!)
Hello everyone! Sorry it's taken awhile for me to be able to post on here; a lot has happened in just a few days, and there has been virtually no down time. I did get one post up during a brief downtime stint (where I talked about my time in Los Angeles), but I fell asleep several times while typing that and was only going to get five hours of sleep when I was done, so I ended it there. Anyway, due to the limited down time I'm not sure when I'll be able to fill you all in on the first few days (though I hope to do it soon before I forget, and there were some fun stories), but I at least want to start by chatting about today, which was my first class at Hombu dojo.
The day started quite early--about 4AM--with me debating whether or not to go to Hombu as I'd originally planned. I was asleep in the men's changing room at Tokorozawa dojo on a couple of pads on a hardwood floor in my clothes from yesterday. I had only gotten five hours of sleep (as usual), and my knees were very sore from the large amount of suwariwaza, sitting seiza during tea and shoto etc./the general lifestyle here (those of you who've stayed in Tenshinkan kind of know what I mean--it's great to have chairs after that stay; this is like that with much more knee techniques and long stints serving tea in seiza as a bonus). The rest of my body was mostly sore from my sleeping arrangements. The tatami-ish thing I take into the room with me is made of some kind of hard foam and isn't much softer than the hardwood floor--the ground pad on top should hypothetically help, but it really doesn't. Each morning so far I tend to wake up in a bit of pain from sleeping, but after moving it quickly dissipates (which is actually good motivation to get up).
I ultimately let my stubborn side win, even though I knew that I was cutting it close time-wise as I hadn't folded my hakama or prepared my backpack with my tightly bundled gi, my phone was almost out of charge and was my emergency "where is hombu?" device if I couldn't get there from the Google Map I'd studied, and I had to put up all the bedding and get to the station before the 4:47AM train. After scrambling out quickly, I jogged to the station only to find out the train was delayed until 4:57AM. As such, I went to a drink dispenser (like a soda machine with WAY more options) and bought a Boss Coffee Espresso drink from Rainbow Mountain (yes, those of you in my dojo, I bought it when I saw it because of those silly commercials we watched in the U.S. and this was the first one I'd seen in one of these machines: I had seen numerous other Boss coffee products, but not the one on the commercials). To my extreme surprise, it came out almost too hot to hold in its aluminum can. Trust Japan to come up with a drink dispenser that even dishes out hot espresso in a soda can!
After boarding the train, I rode for about an hour to Shinjuku, where I hopped out and began my rushed trek to Hombu. On the way a nice lady stopped me to offer me a 3,000 yen massage--I had to politely decline because I was in a hurry to hombu. Also, though my aching body would have loved a massage, this part of town near Shinjuku station likely meant that it was much more than just a regular massage, though I digress. I followed the signs and hurried--afraid I'd be late as I had never been to hombu and knew it required a few different etiquette things be done, including being on the mats ready 5 minutes before the Doshu (global head instructor of Aikido) was ready to teach. It was already 6:00AM and class was at 6:30AM, and the walk looked long on the map.
I ultimately made it to the tiny side street I thought hombu was on and headed up it. There was one office building with many bikes, motorcycles, and cars near it and people hurrying in that LOOKED like what I'd seen of Hombu on the Internet. I walked in, said 'Good morning' in Japanese as I bowed, and asked the fellow dressed in a very nice suit at the check in desk in Japanese if this was, indeed, Hombu dojo. He said it was, and I apologized in Japanese for not speaking much Japanese, then I proceeded to pay one day's training fee. The Doshu was further behind the check in counter and made eye contact a couple of times--I think he could tell I was new and was curious about me. After putting my shoes in the rack, I stopped near a drink dispenser down the hall to hop on my phone to look up online which floor the men's changing room was on. I thought it was the third floor, but there were no signs in English, and while I can now read hirigana and katakana (two Japanese writing forms), I cannot read Kanji, and many of the signs were in Kanji. Under the 'for foreign visitors to hombu section' I double checked some etiquette and headed to the changing room.
Once there, I silently observed how the coin lockers operated and opened one with a 100 yen coin. I then changed and listened to the largely Japanese conversations as I did. One of the fellows to my left spoke in English to someone else, so I politely asked him where to put my coin locker key. He told me and I headed into the third floor tatami/mat space. Once in the dojo, I had to debate where to sit. My uchideshi friend, Kevin, who is 20 and in great shape recommended the far right where the youngest and fastest people who will 'annihilate you' sit; he said the Doshu is often more on that side, too. The left is supposedly where the older folks go. I was tempted by the middle, but I decided to try the far right.
The tatami (mats) were drastically harder than ours at my home dojo, which are pretty firm. I was a bit startled by this and hoped my knees, which were quite sore, would survive. Doshu stepped on after some time, and we all paired up to practice. I had been hoping to train with the seemingly fit yudansha to my left, but she quickly snagged her pre-planned partner, and the loud American fellow from the locker room who helped me find my key snagged me. As he was all that was left, I didn't have much choice, but I had a slightly bad feeling about him.
It turns out, that my feelings were justified. I'm fairly certain he thought I was new and in poor shape so that I'd be a good candidate for him to have an easy workout with. He also seemed to want to 'show me the ropes', which was occasionally helpful, but also slightly annoying and a definite etiquette breach (no loud talking while training). What's worse, he was quite rude to those around; if you haven't been to hombu, there are a tremendous number of people practicing on a very limited mat space for the Doshu's classes--in this instance we had about two regular tatami max to work with; people were practicing all around on all sides. He originally moved me to the hardwood, but Doshu dropped by and told him to practice on the tatami (I got the feeling he's done this before). On the tatami, he went out of his was to take bigger falls than necessary so he could tap the legs of those nearby with his hands or feet so they knew they were about to step on him. This was only after he'd originally shooed them over a tatami width saying (in English) 'more space, more space!' not one, but three times! I was cringing inside and silently apologizing to everyone he was rude to--I was also forcing him to NOT fall toward them, which he didn't like. He then began correcting my form. His Aikido was also not connected and relied on strength--he was heavier than me by a good 100 pounds or more and was shorter than me. Whenever something he did was not working, he would use every ounce of force he had to make it work. If my ukemi (falling skill) was where it was 6 years ago, I would have been severely injured by several of his wristlocks; as it was, my wrist is slightly stiff but seems generally ok (I was able to move my body quickly enough or straight resist on two occasions to protect myself; you never normally resist a technique, but if I had let him compromise the joint more it would have broken, so I changed center and stopped him). Anyway, some of his tips at least were useful to doing it Aikikai style, so I took what I could get and got looser and looser as he threw so that I would remain uninjured. I also used less and less strength and began speeding up--bringing a better ukemi game. At first he sped up to keep up, but in actuality he was in much worse physical shape than me, so he began sweating, breathing hard, and losing all strength in his arms. He then told me I could slow down if I wanted to if I was tired. I replied 'no, thanks--I'm enjoying the pace' and kept pushing him. It helped a lot as far as my joints were concerned--as he became more exhausted I was also able to throw him more how I was supposed to. It was at this point that doshu stopped by our group and asked who I was and where I was from. I told him I was from America, but I could tell he knew that so I added Kansas. It turns out his English is actually quite good. He smiled and asked how long I was here, how often I might train, and where I was staying. I told him 5 weeks and that I was staying at Kobayashi Dojo as an uchideshi, and that I hoped to make Mondays and maybe Tuesdays (the only days I am allowed to train there). He smiled again and welcomed me to Japan. My partner tried to introduce himself and the doshu said 'I know who you are', though I don't think it was in a good way.
This visit from the doshu had a miraculous effect on my partner--he gained a bunch of energy, lost all pretense at being nice, and he began throwing me as viciously and forcefully as he could. I was actually quite surprised that anyone would react that way to their partner getting welcomed or to their anger at the doshu's response to them (I'm not sure which part of it made him mad), but he was out to hurt me for some reason. Thankfully my ukemi level made it largely impossible for him to do--though he really did try. Due to his lack of physical fitness and previous exhaustion, this only lasted for about ten to twelve throws--then he was weak in the arms again and became nicer as my throws were still quite effective (though in no way was I throwing like he was--forcefully and to cause harm--I was throwing at a normal pace that he could not keep up with due to his fitness).
After an interval, we had free class--my partner explained to me that it was 'break time' or time to workout if people wanted, so it was 'break time'. I asked how I joined a group and he said we only practice with our partners during this time. I said I didn't really need a break but was willing to wait until he was ready if he did; thankfully, this made his large ego get in the way so we got ten minutes more of practice (I didn't get up at 4AM to train 50 minutes when I could get 60--even if it was with this guy).
Once we bowed out, I quickly changed, took an ice-cold shower (the water is unheated there) and left in a much better mood than I went in with. The doshu has a tremendous positive energy, and the pace of the class was quite fast--quicker than at Kobayashi dojo and very similar to the pace at Asai Shihan in Dusseldorf's school. I was also happy that I had responded politely to the fellow, with calm and relaxation against his aggression, and I'd managed to get my pride down and go the better route instead of getting into an ego contest with him (which is fundamentally not what Aikido is about but is what he wanted).
I did reflect on it on the train ride back to Tokorozawa. Part of me wanted to call the guy a poor Aikido practitioner and some other choice words (and that part wanted to be angry and upset about how he represents Americans)--especially in regards to his rudeness to the other people practicing--but I knew I shouldn't think of it that way. I realized he was the LAST Aikido practitioner I wanted to practice with in hombu, so in a sense he was the best for me (because he was the most challenging to do good Aikido with--just in a different way). I also got to meet Doshu twice, when I might have only met him once if at all otherwise, so there was a random plus. I further reflected that his pride and need to be superior and noticed by everyone around him was part of why he was so miserable (he also complained to me about his family and a number of other things on the mat that led to me to believe he was pretty unhappy). If he could let go and be humble and learn, the Doshu might even notice him the way he wants to be noticed. Should I point something out like that? It would probably create instant hostility, but it might wake him up. A friend once woke me up to my pride and its consequences that way. That said, such a wake up would only work if he listened, and I didn't know him very well. Either way it was irrelevant as I was now sleepily on the train, but in my tired state that's where my mind was on the way home.
Now one update done, on to running errands and hopefully typing more tonight! (Sorry--no time to proofread this so I hope it's ok: update--proofread just now!)!
The day started quite early--about 4AM--with me debating whether or not to go to Hombu as I'd originally planned. I was asleep in the men's changing room at Tokorozawa dojo on a couple of pads on a hardwood floor in my clothes from yesterday. I had only gotten five hours of sleep (as usual), and my knees were very sore from the large amount of suwariwaza, sitting seiza during tea and shoto etc./the general lifestyle here (those of you who've stayed in Tenshinkan kind of know what I mean--it's great to have chairs after that stay; this is like that with much more knee techniques and long stints serving tea in seiza as a bonus). The rest of my body was mostly sore from my sleeping arrangements. The tatami-ish thing I take into the room with me is made of some kind of hard foam and isn't much softer than the hardwood floor--the ground pad on top should hypothetically help, but it really doesn't. Each morning so far I tend to wake up in a bit of pain from sleeping, but after moving it quickly dissipates (which is actually good motivation to get up).
I ultimately let my stubborn side win, even though I knew that I was cutting it close time-wise as I hadn't folded my hakama or prepared my backpack with my tightly bundled gi, my phone was almost out of charge and was my emergency "where is hombu?" device if I couldn't get there from the Google Map I'd studied, and I had to put up all the bedding and get to the station before the 4:47AM train. After scrambling out quickly, I jogged to the station only to find out the train was delayed until 4:57AM. As such, I went to a drink dispenser (like a soda machine with WAY more options) and bought a Boss Coffee Espresso drink from Rainbow Mountain (yes, those of you in my dojo, I bought it when I saw it because of those silly commercials we watched in the U.S. and this was the first one I'd seen in one of these machines: I had seen numerous other Boss coffee products, but not the one on the commercials). To my extreme surprise, it came out almost too hot to hold in its aluminum can. Trust Japan to come up with a drink dispenser that even dishes out hot espresso in a soda can!
After boarding the train, I rode for about an hour to Shinjuku, where I hopped out and began my rushed trek to Hombu. On the way a nice lady stopped me to offer me a 3,000 yen massage--I had to politely decline because I was in a hurry to hombu. Also, though my aching body would have loved a massage, this part of town near Shinjuku station likely meant that it was much more than just a regular massage, though I digress. I followed the signs and hurried--afraid I'd be late as I had never been to hombu and knew it required a few different etiquette things be done, including being on the mats ready 5 minutes before the Doshu (global head instructor of Aikido) was ready to teach. It was already 6:00AM and class was at 6:30AM, and the walk looked long on the map.
I ultimately made it to the tiny side street I thought hombu was on and headed up it. There was one office building with many bikes, motorcycles, and cars near it and people hurrying in that LOOKED like what I'd seen of Hombu on the Internet. I walked in, said 'Good morning' in Japanese as I bowed, and asked the fellow dressed in a very nice suit at the check in desk in Japanese if this was, indeed, Hombu dojo. He said it was, and I apologized in Japanese for not speaking much Japanese, then I proceeded to pay one day's training fee. The Doshu was further behind the check in counter and made eye contact a couple of times--I think he could tell I was new and was curious about me. After putting my shoes in the rack, I stopped near a drink dispenser down the hall to hop on my phone to look up online which floor the men's changing room was on. I thought it was the third floor, but there were no signs in English, and while I can now read hirigana and katakana (two Japanese writing forms), I cannot read Kanji, and many of the signs were in Kanji. Under the 'for foreign visitors to hombu section' I double checked some etiquette and headed to the changing room.
Once there, I silently observed how the coin lockers operated and opened one with a 100 yen coin. I then changed and listened to the largely Japanese conversations as I did. One of the fellows to my left spoke in English to someone else, so I politely asked him where to put my coin locker key. He told me and I headed into the third floor tatami/mat space. Once in the dojo, I had to debate where to sit. My uchideshi friend, Kevin, who is 20 and in great shape recommended the far right where the youngest and fastest people who will 'annihilate you' sit; he said the Doshu is often more on that side, too. The left is supposedly where the older folks go. I was tempted by the middle, but I decided to try the far right.
The tatami (mats) were drastically harder than ours at my home dojo, which are pretty firm. I was a bit startled by this and hoped my knees, which were quite sore, would survive. Doshu stepped on after some time, and we all paired up to practice. I had been hoping to train with the seemingly fit yudansha to my left, but she quickly snagged her pre-planned partner, and the loud American fellow from the locker room who helped me find my key snagged me. As he was all that was left, I didn't have much choice, but I had a slightly bad feeling about him.
It turns out, that my feelings were justified. I'm fairly certain he thought I was new and in poor shape so that I'd be a good candidate for him to have an easy workout with. He also seemed to want to 'show me the ropes', which was occasionally helpful, but also slightly annoying and a definite etiquette breach (no loud talking while training). What's worse, he was quite rude to those around; if you haven't been to hombu, there are a tremendous number of people practicing on a very limited mat space for the Doshu's classes--in this instance we had about two regular tatami max to work with; people were practicing all around on all sides. He originally moved me to the hardwood, but Doshu dropped by and told him to practice on the tatami (I got the feeling he's done this before). On the tatami, he went out of his was to take bigger falls than necessary so he could tap the legs of those nearby with his hands or feet so they knew they were about to step on him. This was only after he'd originally shooed them over a tatami width saying (in English) 'more space, more space!' not one, but three times! I was cringing inside and silently apologizing to everyone he was rude to--I was also forcing him to NOT fall toward them, which he didn't like. He then began correcting my form. His Aikido was also not connected and relied on strength--he was heavier than me by a good 100 pounds or more and was shorter than me. Whenever something he did was not working, he would use every ounce of force he had to make it work. If my ukemi (falling skill) was where it was 6 years ago, I would have been severely injured by several of his wristlocks; as it was, my wrist is slightly stiff but seems generally ok (I was able to move my body quickly enough or straight resist on two occasions to protect myself; you never normally resist a technique, but if I had let him compromise the joint more it would have broken, so I changed center and stopped him). Anyway, some of his tips at least were useful to doing it Aikikai style, so I took what I could get and got looser and looser as he threw so that I would remain uninjured. I also used less and less strength and began speeding up--bringing a better ukemi game. At first he sped up to keep up, but in actuality he was in much worse physical shape than me, so he began sweating, breathing hard, and losing all strength in his arms. He then told me I could slow down if I wanted to if I was tired. I replied 'no, thanks--I'm enjoying the pace' and kept pushing him. It helped a lot as far as my joints were concerned--as he became more exhausted I was also able to throw him more how I was supposed to. It was at this point that doshu stopped by our group and asked who I was and where I was from. I told him I was from America, but I could tell he knew that so I added Kansas. It turns out his English is actually quite good. He smiled and asked how long I was here, how often I might train, and where I was staying. I told him 5 weeks and that I was staying at Kobayashi Dojo as an uchideshi, and that I hoped to make Mondays and maybe Tuesdays (the only days I am allowed to train there). He smiled again and welcomed me to Japan. My partner tried to introduce himself and the doshu said 'I know who you are', though I don't think it was in a good way.
This visit from the doshu had a miraculous effect on my partner--he gained a bunch of energy, lost all pretense at being nice, and he began throwing me as viciously and forcefully as he could. I was actually quite surprised that anyone would react that way to their partner getting welcomed or to their anger at the doshu's response to them (I'm not sure which part of it made him mad), but he was out to hurt me for some reason. Thankfully my ukemi level made it largely impossible for him to do--though he really did try. Due to his lack of physical fitness and previous exhaustion, this only lasted for about ten to twelve throws--then he was weak in the arms again and became nicer as my throws were still quite effective (though in no way was I throwing like he was--forcefully and to cause harm--I was throwing at a normal pace that he could not keep up with due to his fitness).
After an interval, we had free class--my partner explained to me that it was 'break time' or time to workout if people wanted, so it was 'break time'. I asked how I joined a group and he said we only practice with our partners during this time. I said I didn't really need a break but was willing to wait until he was ready if he did; thankfully, this made his large ego get in the way so we got ten minutes more of practice (I didn't get up at 4AM to train 50 minutes when I could get 60--even if it was with this guy).
Once we bowed out, I quickly changed, took an ice-cold shower (the water is unheated there) and left in a much better mood than I went in with. The doshu has a tremendous positive energy, and the pace of the class was quite fast--quicker than at Kobayashi dojo and very similar to the pace at Asai Shihan in Dusseldorf's school. I was also happy that I had responded politely to the fellow, with calm and relaxation against his aggression, and I'd managed to get my pride down and go the better route instead of getting into an ego contest with him (which is fundamentally not what Aikido is about but is what he wanted).
I did reflect on it on the train ride back to Tokorozawa. Part of me wanted to call the guy a poor Aikido practitioner and some other choice words (and that part wanted to be angry and upset about how he represents Americans)--especially in regards to his rudeness to the other people practicing--but I knew I shouldn't think of it that way. I realized he was the LAST Aikido practitioner I wanted to practice with in hombu, so in a sense he was the best for me (because he was the most challenging to do good Aikido with--just in a different way). I also got to meet Doshu twice, when I might have only met him once if at all otherwise, so there was a random plus. I further reflected that his pride and need to be superior and noticed by everyone around him was part of why he was so miserable (he also complained to me about his family and a number of other things on the mat that led to me to believe he was pretty unhappy). If he could let go and be humble and learn, the Doshu might even notice him the way he wants to be noticed. Should I point something out like that? It would probably create instant hostility, but it might wake him up. A friend once woke me up to my pride and its consequences that way. That said, such a wake up would only work if he listened, and I didn't know him very well. Either way it was irrelevant as I was now sleepily on the train, but in my tired state that's where my mind was on the way home.
Now one update done, on to running errands and hopefully typing more tonight! (Sorry--no time to proofread this so I hope it's ok: update--proofread just now!)!
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