Nidan to Yondan Aikido Grading

Aikido gradings are tense affairs for those who are grading but happy affairs for those who are watching. It is a spectacle of technique and nerve, more the former than the latter since most are more than ready to meet the grade. The last grading at my dojo was no exception but this one brought its own surprise. Two very senior women, both of whom have been practising for 15 years and showed up to watch and take ukemi, were called up to the testers' table and asked to grade on the spot.

Needless to say they did extremely well and were duly double-promoted from nidan to yondan, an extremely rare event and certainly the only one I've ever seen or heard of. Being double promoted is rare enough at junior grades but at this level, skipping sandan is virtually unheard of. However as these two women number among the best aikidoka in our dojo, I'm not surprised. After all, one's skill at an art is always obvious rather like how a good cook is recognised simply through the eating of his/her food. It's hardly necessary to grade to achieve recognition.

It amused me to watch one of the women deal with one of the men who volunteered to ukemi for her. He got a light backslap in the face for his efforts as he failed to anticipate her atemi (strike) as she was turning back and has a tendency to resist which in this case, is simply asking for trouble. But that of course simply displayed her mastery all the more since she being a petite under 5 foot woman could easily take down this guy who towers more than a foot above her.

Skill in this case trumps being thick.

Aikido Bag

My aikido sensei gave me a bag! I was quite taken by surprise and it was actually very nice of him to do so. I think it's meant to be a sign of appreciation for helping out here and there with classes ie showing up regularly, helping with mats, adminstrative work on Fridays etc. Still, I don't really do that much actual work so it's kinda nice of him to do that.

Stretch and Ache

My tummy has been noticabely expanding and so I finally decided to stop being in denial and return to the gym. Aikido is great and I do not want to have to cut down on my thrice weekly practices but it simply doesn't keep me in shape enough.

So I signed up at Amore Fitness which is a gym just for women. It's not that I demand an exclusively female atmosphere but I was looking for a combination of convenience in terms of location and a selection of classes I would like to go to at the right time. Amore fitted that bill this time and offered a once a week package which is costing me S$70 a month for a year. It's expensive but I'm hoping that after a year I will be in decent shape and can go back to just aikido.

I was sold 20 minutes into the Belly Blitz class which is a class based on belly dance movements because I was having sooo much fun with it. I figure it's good for my sense of coordination and my belly but I noticed that it was not my abdomen that ached the next day but my shoulders. I've since tried another Belly Blitz class with my brand new hip scarf which shimmers and jingles along with the music but sadly I was a lot less coordinated that day so despite the adornment, I'm sure I looked more clumsy than sensuous. And this is one class I'm glad is being held in a women's only gym since I'd be a lot more self conscious if there were men around.

So I then decided I should experiment around with the other classes to see what else would suit me and tried out the pilates class yesterday. It was a slow moving workout concentrating on a lot of the smaller muscles which was interesting. I discovered that my lower abs are very weak and some of the muscles which help with my balance in my legs also need strengthening. But oddly enough my left shoulder is very free of tension which surprised me since I spend a lot of time on the computer...must be all those nikyo pins during aikido have stretched that joint out nicely. My right shoulder joint is also nice and loose but is slightly more tense than my left. It's actually very useful doing this class because now it gives me a better idea of what areas of the body I really need to work on and lower abs is really one thing I'd like to improve. Other than of course overall fat reduction and toning.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to try out the yoga class and the abs, hips and thighs session as well.