Comments for Alexiel's Heaven

Comment on Some progress by Eric Holcomb

Eric Holcomb — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:58:46 +0000

“Aha!” I *love* that feeling. Those moments are so rare that I replay them in mind over-and-over hoping to squeeze out any remaining drops of understanding.

One of my favorite “aha” experiences was about shomen uchi ikyo. I had been puzzling over a statement made by an instructor from another school (I respected him but could not train there so we talked Aikido a lot). He had said that the key to the perfect ikyo was CONFIDENCE and then executed a breezily perfect ikyo as though it were nothing. With that in mind, I was puzzling about how to aply it in my own Aikido. In fact, I got so distracted that when my uke started to strike I was a moment late in my thinking — but my body did the right thing anyway — pivot of the hips, extended arms, etc … and plonk! the most effortless ikyo I had ever executed in my life. My uke looked up with shock and asked “Where did that come from? How did you do it?” That “aha” has influenced every ikyo I have performed since.

Enjoy your “aha”, use it and grow with it until you have more. Share those too please!

Happy rolling,
e.

Comment on Flow drills and another individual training by alexielsheaven

alexielsheaven — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:14:58 +0000

Hi Eric,
Thanks for giving me the name, I look forward to learning this one, in five … or maybe ten… years!
(And by the way, it’s an honour that you’re commenting here… thanks again!)

Comment on Flow drills and another individual training by Eric R. C. Holcomb

Eric R. C. Holcomb — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:18:05 +0000

Howdy,

That is a form of Sutemi (捨て身) waza. “Suteru” means “to throw away” and “mi” means “body”. In English, it is called a “sacrifice” throw. The timing is hard for both uke and nage.

Happy rolling,
e.

Comment on Another epiphany for rolling by jershen

jershen — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:02:03 +0000

ukemi is also more than flipping or rolling. Try reaching a point where you are about to fall,while bending and stretching forward, before you kick in the roll or flip. This has helped me tons in my own ukemi practice.

Comment on Ki-Aikido seminar with Helmut Schweinzer by Another epiphany for rolling « Alexiel’s Heaven

Another epiphany for rolling « Alexiel’s Heaven — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:43:38 +0000

[...] this low position with the way my front rolls came out of a throw during the seminar this past weekend (some of those were really nice), I noticed that those started from a higher position and with more [...]

Comment on Should I or shouldn’t I? by Feeling good today « Alexiel’s Heaven

Feeling good today « Alexiel’s Heaven — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:07:18 +0000

[...] On top of that, I’m also really looking forward to tonight and the weekend, this is also lifting my spirits: tonight, I’m going to see a Musical show many of my friends are playing in, and it is going to be lots of fun! And on the weekend, we have finally decided to go to the Aikido seminar. A few other students from our dojo (German website) are thinking about going too, which lowers the inhibition threshold as well… =) (Thanks again, James, for your advice!) [...]

Comment on Musical “Wicked” in Stuttgart by alexielsheaven

alexielsheaven — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:59:56 +0000

Hi, sure there is, preferably by email: sarahpezzini (at) web.de. I’m curious…

Comment on Musical “Wicked” in Stuttgart by ZGM

ZGM — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:56:54 +0000

Hey is there an email or way to contact you?

Comment on Should I or shouldn’t I? by alexielsheaven

alexielsheaven — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:14:32 +0000

Hi James,
thank you so much for your encouraging words! I guess you’re right… and I probably shouldn’t worry so much anyway and just do it, to learn something and have fun. So thanks again, I think I’m decided to go. =)

Comment on Should I or shouldn’t I? by James

James — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:28:56 +0000

For me, aikido is about working outside my comfort zone, so I say go!

I have now been training for 3 years, and still regret missing a seminar I could have done when I was 3 months into my training.

You’ll be surprised at how accommodating most people are when training with beginners.