Ok, ok, so my last blog was a little bit poetic. Sorry, its been so long since I've written anything creative, its just how my thoughts spilled out at the time. So you're thinking about joining our little group and your wondering what we are all about or what to expect, so I'll try to brief you based on my experience. 

First of all, I'd imagine that you are a little nervous or shy. Perhaps you have some unfounded apprehension that Sensei will yell at you and berate you for some minor breach of etiquette. Well, I assure you it won't happen. The only time I was ever yelled at by a Sensei (not Sensei Dease) was when he yelled, "ARE YOU HAVING A GOOD TIME????"

"HAI (YES) SENSEI" I replied.

"WELL THEN SMILE!!!"  He bellowed.

No one will yell at you. So don't worry about the etiquette right now. We practice a very traditional art and there are very specific ways in which we bow, enter and exit the mat, begin and end our practice. Even the way in which we stand up or sit down is exacting. But it all has a reason, and one day someone will explain to you why we bow a certain way and why we stand up a certain way; All of our etiquette has a purpose and that purpose it to preserve the tradtions of our art. But don't worry about the details, we'll guide you through them.

The next thing you may notice is that on the mat we speak different languages. One of these is traditional Japanese. Aikido techniques and concepts are described in a few Japanese words. "Ona gi shi mas", "Arigato go zae mashista" and "Ki" are common. They mean "Please let me train with you", "Thank you very much" and "Energy". The Japanese names for the various techniques and concepts you'll pick up later. The second language is a little more esoteric. Its English, but the concepts may be strange. Sometimes we may talk about a corner or a hole where we lead our partners. Other times we talk about drawing our partner out. But again, don't worry, this will all make sense to you later.

We begin every class the same way. All the students line up on one side of the mat in order of rank and we all sit in contemplation for a few moments. Then sensei will bow in and come to the front and center of the class to lead us in a traditional bow. Afterwards, we bow to sensei and he bows to us as we utter the traditional "Ona gi shi mas". 

Next sensei will lead us in our usual stretching exercise. The stretching is usually fairly light and easy. Don't worry about stretching too far or working into some absurd yoga-like pose. Aikido stretching is supposed to be a warm up, not an exercise in pain. After stretching, we usually do some Ukemi practice. Ukemi (another Japanese word) is an art of learing to give and recieve energy. One aspect of Ukemi is learing to fall. To learn how to fall, we first practice learning how to roll along the ground. Then we graduate to a higher and higher falls, until finally we are confident enough to take falls from high off the ground and not get hurt.

To be continued....