I went back to Aikido on Tuesday 14th Feb, after being away for about a week and a half with work and social events.
Talk about losing fitness, I was worn out about halfway through.
We did a Shomen-tsuki (to the head) Irimi-nage technique, similiar to the 5th kyu grading but it felt better than how I felt in my 5th kyu grading.
I had paired with black belts for working on the technique, all had different iinterpretations of what Sensei demostrated when it came to the block, both seemed effective, where one said take the blocked arm down to the belt, the other keep it at chest level and slide in. I think the middle ground is weak so either seemed ok.
I plan on asking Sensei at an appropriate time which is correct with his style.
We went onto a renzoku variation of this technique, and I didn’t roll properly and dinged my left shoulder, normally my right is the dodgy one.
Halfway through I felt very drained, but I managed to get to the end of class, but I really felt the fact I didn’t do enough exercise whilst away, as well as eating too much 
I need to to do more Aikido and get my fitness up, so I’m going tonight after kids class, it’ll be my last class before 4th kyu grading training starts on Saturday, so I need to get fit again for next week, as I’ll be doing about 7 hours of training on the mat.
I got back early Saturday morning from Nhulunbuy, 650 Klm East of Darwin at the western end of the Gove Peninsula in the north-east corner of Arnhem land.
I was gathering requirements with others on the team for a project that I’m involved in for work.
It was a very pleasant week, except for the accomodation, that’s another story, but at least I had somewhere to put my head 
Photos for the area can be found at www.nhulunbuy.com I have some photos I took as well on my CameraPhone (SE 750i) that I’ll put onto flickr and link to from here.
I started back at Aikido with commitment as of September 2005, after a 2 year hiatus.
I’m now 15kg lighter and can handle the ukemi’s, they aren’t pretty but I’m not dazed as a result
Saturday just gone was my fourth grading, I graded for 5th Kyu, although I know I didn’t do everything right, I’m confident that I was within the acceptable band.
My Suwari-waza Shoman-uchi Ikkajo-osae Ichi was a little weak in the first step out after the atemi.
I didn’t do a very good Shomen-uchi Shomen Irimi-nage Ichi, a big thing for me to work on.
And I didn’t do the Shumatsu-Dosa Sotaidosa ichi/ni very well, I didn’t account for my uke’s height.
My uke was a tall brown belt and was very gracious and commented my Yokomen-uchi Kote-gaeshi Renzoku had a strong Kote-gaeshi.
This all ratifies my belief that this grading was my “slow down and think” grading, I have 4th and Jun-3rd kyus ahead of me before grading for brown belt, so I need to start to revisit what I have learnt in previous grading training weeks and normal classes.
Reading this all back sounds like I didn’t do too good, but I think I did well enough to pass as I tried to ensure I had as much spirit in my grading that I could muster, ensuring I got off the mat faster than I have ever done before, and ensuring I used strong kiai and loud osu.
I’ll do up a glossary to explain the terms I use here as well as put up more links for Aikido.
Cheers,
Mark
Hi, this is where I’ll start in the new year, I have moved from MSN Spaces http://spaces.msn.com/aussiecolemans looking for a cleanier, leaner, simpler experience.
I’ll be mostly talking about Technology, Aikido and other items that interest, frustrate or excite me.
Cheers,
Mark