on 30 May 2004 : 11:41, Liz sez:
on 30 May 2004 : 17:37, ben sez:
on 31 May 2004 : 09:02, Jason sez:
Yo, that looks like a pretty vicious fight in the first picture. You have that poor lady on the ground while twisting her hand.
on 31 May 2004 : 20:01, judy rheingold sez:
on 1 June 2004 : 14:07, justin sez:
Thanks for the congratulations! Nice of you guys to say so.
It wasn't actually that hard to get to the point of taking my green belt test. The dojo was a fun place to visit! I enjoyed the techniques, dancing with other smiling faces. So in that way, the green belt test was less of a test, and more like a birthday - "Hey, you stuck around long enough and you're still awake, let's mark the occasion."
Jason, the techniques may look painful from photos. Or even from on the mat! But ideally, they don't hurt, they just restrain. They only hurt if the person is pushing against them, struggling to get away. When I train with Candace, or with nearly anyone else at the dojo, we are largely gentle with each other. We learn how to move together to maximize flow and minimize pain. Besides, before my test I had seen Candace take her brown belt examination; if you look at her techniques, you can see she's far more accomplished than I! So even if I wanted to cross her, she'd have my face sucking vinyl in short order.
on 2 June 2004 : 20:06, brian sez:
[Aikido skill levelled up!] Congratulations!
I agree that it's really a lot calmer than most think; one of the larger instructors will have his attackers grab his fingers, to demonstrate that he's using the technique and not strongarming them.
Coincidentally my 5th kyu test is next Saturday, and of course I hurt my back this past weekend. Ice and rest until then!