The Greatest Reward

I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.
— Jonas Salk

THE RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK’S TEST ARE IN, and Jon and I are now 2^nd Kyu! That puts us just three tests away from black belt. (For an illustration of where 2^nd Kyu is in our school’s rankings, see my Aikido page.) We’d made a last-minute decision to test; Jon because he’d just recently achieved the previous rank, while I hadn’t had the time to focus on testing, due to other goals. But we’d both decided it was worth trying for, and I’d taken it as a good sign when I told Sensei that I would test and he didn’t wince.

Aikido - throw #2 — Jon sends me to the mat. (I am doing a back breakfall.)

In the spirit of moving forward (in Aikido, both a principle of technique and a philosophy) we worked on form improvement tonight, in particular on how Shite should clearly lead Uke. I got a great example of the difference between just doing a technique and really leading it last week at the main dojo. A senior black belt was helping us prepare for our test, and when he was Shite, I felt basically at his mercy.

Aikido - reverse hand throw — I return the favor.

He wasn’t using strength; instead, his balance and coordination ensured that I went where he led me. And I didn’t have to “go along” with the final throw – my launch was the inevitable outcome of what led up to it. I got a real glimpse of how Aikido can work in a practical sense if necessary.

Aikido - Step-in-Throw — Getting set for a step-in throw.

This was our final class of the year, and thankfully Sensei did not celebrate it by making it a conditioning class. My legs are tired from the additional running I’m doing this month, so breakfalls were a bit challenging. But by the end of class I was feeling much better, as usually happens.

These photos are from tonight’s class (Thursday), courtesy of our instructor. Jon and I are the two brown belts. The third student is Isaac, who passed his pre-5^thKyu test. Congrats again, Jon and Isaac!