2010 Resolutions

As I think about the person I want to be for 2010 (what are resolutions but our attempt at projecting ourselves as better people in the future ). While I am continuing a resolution from last year, my resolutions this year focus on my internal and social life for the most part and not about my physicality. My plan is continue running and increase my physical activity routines. I guess I could argue that my Aikido resolutions are physical but Aikido practice is much more integrative, I am not sure I can separate the mental, spiritual, and physical aspects of my Aikido practice into nice and neat categories. Regardless, here are my 2010 resolutions:

• Improve my diet by reducing fatty food consumption, increasing the percentage of legumes, vegetables, and whole grains in my diet compared to animal products and high processed foods (Same as last year)
• My Aikido goals for 2010 are practice and preparation
• Be more social, in particular with the opposite gender
• Increase my Japanese vocabulary and comprehension to 250 words/phrases
• Complete four paintings

I'll try to keep better track these aspirations for 2010 and instead of just doing an end-of-year review, do a quarterly review of my resolutions. My general hope for everyone is that their 2010 meets and exceeds their wishes. Happy New Years!

How did I do in 2009?

As this is the second to last day of the year, I decided to go back and see how I did on my 2009 resolutions.

• In 2009 I did not improve my diet in dramatic fashion, I did not keep a food diary but I did try to lessen my fat intake, this is a good resolution that I'll carry-over to 2010 (I'll blog my 2010 resolutions tomorrow) minus the paperwork requirement.
• I exceeded my expectations regarding my second resolution for 2009, I really made an effort in my Aikido practice this year, from teaching three times a week, to attending various seminars, Aikido travel trips to Boulder, to completing the paper-work for my Shodon rank.
• I'll rate my third resolution as a qualified success for 2009. I did increase my activity level by running although I haven't been doing it as much with the winter weather.
• My forth resolution for 2009 (writing/editing on my SLC novel) did not happen at all, I didn't have the will or desire to tackle this project, I did try to keep up my writing through my professional work and this blog. I am not sure I'll carry this resolution over to next year, maybe this novel needs to remain in limbo until I feel ready to tackle it again.
• My final resolution of finding some outside consulting work was a limited success, I am currently working as a consultant on a local library's website that I'll finish up in 2010.

End-of-year Update

This past holiday weekend my brother Jarrett drove up from Grand Junction for a weekend of fun. On Christmas day, we drove up to Crested Butte and spent the day snowboarding. Although we didn't have the best snow, I had a great time improving my boarding skills. We then drove back to Gunnison at the end of the day and had dinner at one of the only open restaurants in town. On Saturday we went to Blue Mesa Reservoir and spent the day ice fishing. I caught two and kept two trout while Jarrett was pulling smaller trout left and right and finally kept the two largest trout for dinner. Here is a photo of Jarrett at the lake:
We were fishing along the North bank of the lake along with a number of other people. I took this photo of the groups just to the East of us.I cooked the trout using the Mushroom and lemon recipe from my trout cook-book.


I haven't taught any Aikido classes this winter break as there hasn't been the interest. I am getting ready for my January trip to Boulder Aikikai for Ikeda Sensei's 60th birthday party/seminar. I am also finalizing my plans for the Aikido Bridge Seminar in San Diego the following week. Finally, I mailed my Shodon paperwork the week before Christmas so I will likely be testing in the upcoming new year.

No Aikido for 12/16/2009

Last night I showed up and stuck around for 15 minutes. After nobody showed, I went back home. I had a migraine last night and even with medicine, I was glad I didn't have to teach with a hurting noggin.

I am headed to Grand Junction on Friday for the weekend. My plan is to get back in time for the 2pm class at the Escalante Fitness Center in case anyone shows up for class.

Aikido for 12/14/2009

I was the only person at practice, given finals are this week, I'm not too surprised. I practiced the 13-step jo kata and then went through the 1-4 kumitachi.

Aikido for 12/13/2009

Mike and I warmed and with no one in the multi-purpose room during most of today's practice, we were able to do forward and backward ukemi across the room. We then practiced the following techniques:

• shomenuchi kokyunage
• yokomenuchi hijinage omote
• katatetori soto-style kokyunage omote and ura
• katatetori ikkyo-style kokyunage omote and ura

We then practiced the first and second kumitachi after doing one hundred bokken cuts. I didn't my bokken to block enought of an unexpected yokomen strike from Mike so I got a nice bokken strike to may right upper eye socket.

I have included the lastest snapshot of my Irimi painting. I added white to all of the practice gis and I painted the mat a first layer of light green, I am trying to replicate the color of the tatami mats of Boulder Aikikai.

Aikido for 12/09/2009

Last night Mike and I warmed-up and after ukemi practice, worked on the following techniques:

• shomenuchi iriminage two variations
• shomenuchi ikkyo omote and ura
• tanto-tori tsuki iriminage
• tanto-tori tsuki ikkyo omote and ura

Mike had some questions about how nage would respond to different types of tanto (knife) attacks. We worked through a couple of kokyunages, specificly when attacked with circular slash attack across nage's midsection required nage to step-in and to trap the tanto with doing a elbow atemi to uke's midsection (taking inspiration from Saotome Sensei's direct atemi style from the Halloween Seminar). I try to encourage Mike and in all of my classes of asking questions and then working on the movements to respond to novel or different attack vectors On one of the ikkyo-style tanto-tori, Mike and I ended up grappling because I lost leverage by applying an ineffective ikkyo-pin. It is a rare Aikido class where we work on any grappling techniques other than the standard seated pins and maybe sura-waza techniques. I showed Mike a couple of easy openings for an arm-bar or elbow pin. In the future of my martial arts training, I may take some classes with more a grappling focus to improve this dimension of my Aikido.

Aikido for 12/07/2009

Tonight after warming up and ukemi practice, Mike, Heather, and I practiced the following techniques:

• kosadori kokyunage (2 variations)
• ushiro katatetori kokyunage
• kosadori ikkyo omote and ura
• two-uke katatetori kokyunage, do to the space issues, nage wasn't able to throw both ukes effectively so we'll some of these multiple-uke techniques on Sunday where we have more room.

We finished class with kokyu-ho exercise. Wednesday class and next week classes should be at the same time and place. Classes over the Winter break may need to be adjusted for Escalante Fitness Center's holiday schedule.

Aikido for 12/06/2009

Heather and I started with warm-up and ukemi practice for today's class. We then practiced the following techniques:

• shomenuchi shihonage omote and ura, both from ai and gakyu hamni
• yokomenuchi shihonage omote and ura, both from ai and gakyu hamni
• tsuki shihonage shihonage omote and ura, both from and gakyu hamni

We then practiced the first and second kumitachi with bokkens. Teaching the kumitachi made think harder and understand theses kata better. I studied both kumitachis before class and had created a cheat-sheet with stick-figures that diagrammed both kumitachi. I wish there was a vocabulary to describe Aikido techniques, this may be a use case for a better descriptive, community defined visual vocabulary that could be used as a bibliographic subject authority. (As I slip into library world, goes to show how programming on the eCataloger bleeds into my Aikido life.)

Iriminage Painting...

I have started a new painting, one tentitively titled irimi, or entering, and it is a snapshot of a couple of uke-nage pairs practicing irimi-nage on a mat. When I start a new painting, I first sketch out the major shapes on the canvas with a pencil and then paint into the drawings, building up the painting layer-by-oil paint layer. In this first photo, I first sketched the Aikido kanji in the top right corner using my right forearm tattoo as the first model. Underneath I sketched a profile self-portrait from behind and to the side of me on the mat in my hakama. To the side I created a cube, with pyramid, and a sphere. I knew I wanted to an Aikido themed painting but this first pass lacked a focus.

This second photo I decided to expand from just a single person to multile people practicing irimi variations in an imaginary Aikido class. In the upper left pair, an older man is getting ready for an overhead shomen cut and a younger women is just preparing to to step in for an irimi. For my self-portrait, I am in the midst of the irimi technique and getting ready to throw my male Japanese uke who is directly facing the painting's viewer. In the upper right corner, another self-portait is where I doing a back ukemi.

In this final photo, I started on the first black oil layer by blocking out the hakimas. The painting is coming together more as a snapshot of an iriminage technique in a class.

Aikido for 12/02/2009

Last night Heather and I practiced the following techniques after warming-up and ukemi practice:

• ushiro ryohijitori iriminage
• ushiro ryohijitori sankyo omote and ura
• ushiro ryohijitori kotegaeshi (two variations: the first nage slide in front and then performs the kotegaeshi movement, the second nage slides behind uke and then turns tenkan before applying the kotegaeshi)
• ushiro ryohijitori free-style, uke attacks nage 8 times, nage responds. In this exercise, I tried to do each of the techniques we practiced

This weekend I am filling out my shodon paperwork and for Sunday's class, I plan on working on the first three kumi tachi katas.