Aikido for 4/23/2008 and Blog Changes..

Last night I brought my jo to class. After warm-up, Jake and I practiced the following techniques:

• jo waza katatetori ikkyo omote and ura (jo waza is where nage has the jo and uke attempts to take the jo away. This practice was fairly common when I was a member at Central Illinois Aikikai when Knut taught class)
• katatetori ikkyo omote and ura (we switch to open-hand version of the same jo waza technique to reinforce the hip and arm connection that is more apparent when practicing with jo)
  
• jo waza katatetori nikkyo omote and ura
• jo waza katatetori kokyunage 2 variations
• jo waza ryotetori kokyunage 2 variations
  

This was a good class because Jake wanted to focus on uke's specific reaction and likely response to stopping an incoming tsuki stike with the jo. After working on the variations of the uke's response to block and then strike nage with the other hand, I found that the jo waza that was most effective and smooth were the kokyunages (breath throws), a whole series of techniques that I didn't practice that much when I lived in Salt Lake.

On an entirely different topic from Aikido, I have changed the theme of the blog to more of a green spring mood. All of the cold and white of this winter is slowly being driven out of the Gunnison Valley so I hope all this green will speed the process. I would love to see the trees and shrubs start budding. I am leaving for Grand Junction as soon as I get off work today. Tomorrow is technically my nephew Keegan's birthday but we (all of us non-Jehovah Witnesses in the family) are celebrating on Saturday with a party in a park behind Central High School in Clifton Colorado. I plan on taking a ton of photographs and posting them to blog when I get back next week.