Giving In

This afternoon, I thought it would be a brilliant idea if I headed out and took a nice bike ride. The weather was beautiful. I hadn't been out on my road bike since late November last year and it was high time that I got back in the saddle. The boys were set. M was busy in the garden planting tomatoes with little P as his trusty assistant. D was watching the As play the Giants in a pre-season game.

I pumped up the depleted tires and headed out. Crunch. Not the sound I was hoping to hear. The gears were grinding a bit after the almost four months of disuse. I hoped that riding would work the kinks out and I was right.

Then, I ran right into It - The Headwind that Would Not Die. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Say, was that three feet I just moved forward? Pedal, pedal, pedal. Still not moving very far. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Say, this isn't very much fun. I'm struggling against the elements, my ears are getting cold, I can't really appreciate the scenery because I'm trying too hard to get moving.

"Quit whining." I thought to myself, "Keep going."

Two seconds later...

"Hang on. I came out to have fun. If I'm not enjoying myself, why am I still out here?"

So I turned around and coasted back home with the wind at my back.

Sometimes, you just need to give in, quit swimming against the stream and go with the flow.

Progress

• katate tori shihonage
  
• yokomen uchi shihonage
  
• tsuki kotegaeshi
  
• ryote dori tenchinage
  
• suwariwaza ryote dori tenchinage
  

What do all these techniques have in common?

At the very end of class today, R Sensei called on me to get up in front of the class and, with CC as my uke, demonstrate them, one after the other. I had no idea I was going to be asked to do this.

I should have been petrified, but I wasn't. I recognized the words, knew what techniques they represented and did them. I didn't do them perfectly but I didn't hesitate either. It just felt good and natural and not scary. In fact, it was fun.

What a great way to break up my crazy-busy work day.

(And now, back to writing my talk for tomorrow...)

Keeping Me Honest

Just when I think I'm getting the hang of things in aikido, stuff happens to remind me that I still have a long way to go. Like landing on my head instead of rolling out of a fall cleanly. It was kind of a kerthunk, roll, plop. No ill aftereffects, thank goodness. It was a good reminder that I really need to work on my ukemi.

Got to keep practicing, got to keep learning. Hmmmm, that applies to a lot of things, doesn't it? And it keeps life interesting.