I think many of the students (and instructors!) were still on a bit of a high after the ‘art of kata’ session on the Saturday just gone, as there was a great attendance and a real buzz in all the classes this week, despite those warm evenings!
It was also lovely to welcome D.Farid back into the dojo again after a years break in training, his bouncing back after many setbacks is a great tribute to his determination and spirit!
Well here was the week in wisewarrior….
Monday night was a hot one, thank god for an air conditioned dojo!! James and Dave san added yet another routine to the repertoire. No body fainted! Thanks to the compulsory water breaks before, during and after!!
Only one more routine to go now before we take those skills into partner training. Next Monday will be quite a session!
BAMA Advanced Class, Mondays 7.45pm
Kicks was the theme this Monday, or rather how to stop them! Richard san got the ball rolling with a variety of defences geared toward causing the kicker to have a very bad day, and a very sore leg! Then the instructing tag team swapped over and tim san continued with more ‘attacks’ precisely aimed at the by now poor kickers.
Kicks are such a big and powerful weapon in an attacker’s arsenal, its always handy to know how to defeat them.
Not the planned in-depth aikido flow lesson, promised by Richard san then, clearly he was in a different mood. Maybe next week!!! 
Tim San started of the lesson checking over the Battle kata for the students doing Blue belt in sword, and a basic cut lesson for the lower grades.
Things changed a little when Richard San took over the class and expanded the cut test lesson that the lower grades were working on, putting in some advanced hip rotation cuts that challenged the whole class!
Reflective Aikido, Tuesdays, 8.30pm
It was great to see you all at the dojo on this Tuesdays aikido session! Many of you are now seeing how the connectivity and movement lessons taught in Tuesdays Reflective Aikido can really benefit all aspects of your martial arts, from BAMA Karate to Aikido Te.
So on this theme Richard San and Tim San devoted the full session to understanding the fluid mindset that creates the fluid body movements needed when attacker meets defender. A great multiple partner session that was so rewarding because of the positive mindsets you students brought into the room.
Japanese Sword, Tuesdays, 9.30pm
The theme of ‘mindset’ and body movement spilled over from the Reflective Aikido session, into our Japanese Sword Class. Tim San explored the concept of the feeling of sword work, in particular the sense of urgency in a cut. The class moved through a number of cuts and sequences, each time trying to add this sense of urgency and immediacy that makes sword such a dynamic yet graceful art form.
BAMA Karate and Aikido Te Class, Wednesdays, 6.45pm
Having only 2 more sessions before the gradings made this a very lively and upbeat session! A good supply of black belts enabled every one to get personal tuition in all their subjects; from Aikido to Karate and from Blackbelt to Yellow belt! All were either practising new forms or perfecting the patterns needed for the upcoming gradings.
The last quarter of the night was the group session, all were brought on to their toes with a tempo exercise, speed of response means success in all self defence movements, and this class were on the button!!
The space ‘in-between’, caused the most fun in this weeks Philosophy group discussions; so often our focus is directed to the object, the ‘thing’, the label if you like, and we ignore the space that lies around the object. This is the very stuff of Zen, as in trying as a fish, to comprehend the ocean it swims and lives in, it can’t! For it can’t comprehend the very medium and vastness It moves through and is supported by. Just think, there is more space than ‘stuff’, but it’s this ‘stuff’ that always occupies our days!!
Richard. S
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