Jude Blitz Sensei started off class with a tenkan exercise and then we worked a number of kokyunages and hijinages. Jude Sensei's tenkan (and all of Ikeda Sensei's senior students) is strong and solid at the point of connection.
In Mark Reeder Sensei session, he emphasized connecting and moving to the right place for the technique before uke can completely attack nage. I was able to practice with Tres Hofmeister during this session and I really enjoyed how we were able to be creative and spontaneous in our attacks and responses during the back-and-forth between nage and uke during a tsuki kokyunage technique.
Lee Crawford Sensei session focused on nage entering directly into uke's attack. During a yokomenuchi attack, I wasn't moving my feet, just my head, and Crawford Sensei came over and showed me what I was doing. I didn't notice myself, but not moving my feet broke my balance and center too much. I sometimes get too solid in a position and having her remind me of the need to move all of my body out of the way of the attack is good teaching and observation.
Tom McIntyre Sensei's session was lighthearted and fun. We worked on blending between uke and nage and the flow of attack and response. As with most of the instructors, McIntyre Sensei talked about training with Ikeda Sensei in decades past and how great of influence Ikeda Sensei has been to McIntyre's training.
Warren Little Sensei began his session by relating how he met Ikeda Sensei in Washington DC after Little Sensei retired from law enforcement in 1980. Little Sensei mentioned he started training Aikido in 1964 with Doran Sensei but before he also trained in Judo. Little Sensei started by saying when he practices a technique he always thinks how effective it would be with some of the criminals he dealt with in his career. He showed us how to apply a kotegaeshi technique properly so that uke cannot do a reverse arm bar (it was great to see Little Sensei demonstrate how quickly uke can reverse to an arm-bar). Little Sensei also mentioned how important it is to properly tie your gi belt and to take pride in having your gi and hakama mended and tidy, not dirty and in rags. I really enjoyed his class and I was privileged to practice with Warren in later instructor's classes.
Darren McKee Sensei's didn't speak much but we worked on the type of broader kokyunage's that other said Ikeda Sensei taught more of in the past.
Dan Messisco Sensei's session was interesting in that he started class by confessing that he was an "Aikido junkie" (an affliction I may share). Messisco Sensei related how one time in Florida he came to practice and other students wanted to go to breakfest but Ikeda Sensei, realizing Messisco Sensei's desire to train, practiced with Messisco Sensei one-on-one. Messisco Sensei's main point in his practice was to change the dynamics between uke and nage. Nage should not lose center, the ai or harmony with the universe, but move so that uke is forced to change to nage's position.
Kevin Choate Sensei session was the second to last and he demonstrated and then we practiced the soft touch to throw and pin uke. Choate Sensei talked about how if we as nage are aggressive, uke's reaction is to tense up, but if our approach is not with force, uke is much easier to pin.
The final session was taught by Ikeda Sensei. Ikeda Sensei related a number of other stories about the instructors. He then worked on a series of technqiues where nage did not move off the line to casual observer, but that move was done internally with nage's center. One of the technqiues was an ikkyo block from uke's shomen strike. Normally, we don't practice blocking but the point was that in confined space, you might not have the luxury of making large movements out of the line of attack but that Aikido principles are still the same.
After class, my friend Steve and I went down and had pizza and beer at a restaurant on Pearl street before going back for the coffee mixer at the dojo. Later that night, I went to the formal dinner and enjoyed mixing with everyone from the day's practice.
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