Real Stories

From: "David F. Bosco"

>> Wonder if it wasn't surpressed with medication if I'd be doing Aikido moves
>> while asleep. Sounds od...I know...watch it if you can.

>> Ummm.. well, from what I understand of the dreaming mechanism, your body releases a chemical that paralyses your muscular groups to prevent you wandering about in your sleep. So, I don't think the nurses have to worry about a sudden nikkyo being applied by a snoring patient ;)

Or maybe not. A few years ago, waking up from general anaesthesia after out-patient surgery, I came to flat on my back and looking up at a nurse who had a rather puzzled and concerned look on her face. She and a few colleagues had been gently shaking me to bring me around, and I had unconsciously taken her wrist in a kotegaeshi grip and begun slowly to apply some pressure. Some louder voices from the nurses, however, alerted me to what I was doing. Fortunately I was too out of it to feel too embarased.

Perhaps there is such a thing as too much free style practice against wrist grabs with nage's eyes closed?

David

From: Rick Clark

>>As an aside, anyone start to bow outside the dojo? While I don't > actually
>>BOW I do tend to sometimes give slightly aggresive nods of > confirmation whe
>>I really agree with what someone has to say. Perhaps they think I > have a
>>problem? Hehe

I have a great one:-) I was in Chinatown in Chicago, I opened a door for an old Chinese man, without thinking I bowed as he came in, he gave a short nod/bow and walked in real fast like. Wooppps, he stops dead in his tracks just after passing me and turns around and sees it's not a Chinese guy you should have seen the look in his face. Words can not describe his face:-) So much for the inscrutable (sp?) oriental:-) I had to walk about a block before I could let out a laugh........his face was great.

From: Roni Burrows

Krystal responded.
> My Sensei, Michael Friedl, was teaching a seminar somewhere, . . .forgot his black belt, . . . put on his spare white belt, . . . (newbie) proceded to tell Michael how to tie his belt! . . . He said the look on the guy's face as he saw the newbie he helped dress come out of the dressing room, everyone stop and bow to him, and clap to get the class to line up.

Similar story (not really Aikido related) - A colleague was invited to give a presentation at a chemical company. Entered the conference room, was asked by a Company engineer, who was early, to please get him some coffee, black. Imagine HIS surprise when 5 minutes later she was introduced as "our invited speaker, Dr. Kunz".

Another story - Aikido related. At a small Aikido group training at a Y, a stranger showed up, bowed politely, asked if he could train. The instructors asked his experience in Aikido. He claimed 6th dan. The instructors politely hid their skepticism, and were only moderately surprised when he came out of the locker room wearing a brand new gi, brand new black belt, and no hakama. The funny thing was, he wore his gi top right-over-left. When asked why he wore it that way, he responded that at 1st dan the gi is worn left over right, then at 2nd dan it's right over left, and so on. He trained, didn't get hurt (they thought he might have had 3 or 4 years experience. After the practice was over he left quickly. Folks who left later found, in the locker room, an abandoned brand new gi and black belt.

Ain't life funny?

From: Neil McKellar

Cady asks:
>Let me pose a slightly different question: How many sensei/shihan have had a difficult time keeping a straight, serious, sensei-like face when one of their students "let one rip" during a particularly sensitive and stressful moment -- say, during his promotion test? :-)

Ok. Once at a karate tournament, a group of children were competing in the kata division. So one of the kids is struggling mightily with his kata, and at just the moment when he should have given a loud kiai he let one rip instead. Then it was the judges' turn to struggle mightily. :-)

(Jeez, I've been telling more karate stories on this list than Aikido ones lately...gotta stop that.)

From: Fred Litle

Hmmm....well, Saotome Sensei was talking about Summer Camp this weekend. As with the last year or two, he's doing a weapons intensive. Anticipating a certain amount of grumbling (Only weapons? A whole week? Oh, Maaaaan!) He said, "I know, some people don't like that much weapons training. Everybody likes to have a steak, but nobody wants a potato." So later, in the dressing room, a question occurred to me and I muttered out loud: "If taijutsu is the steak, and weapons work is the potato, then what's the broccoli?"

My old friend Neil turned around and said: "You mean the green stuff that's good for you but nobody ever wants to eat? That's got to be the philosophy."

From: Oaks Charles

Our assistant instructor was helping the local police practice arrest techniques(no, this isn't a joke), using nonlethal ammunition and safety goggles.

Practicing officer had him get out of the car and get on his knees, the arresting officer was reaching for his wrist to start the handcuff procedure. So assistant instructor thinks `sawariwaza katate dori kotegaishi' and goes for it. Cop pulls trigger, planting a wax 9mm slug in assistant instructor's sternum. Both were surprised at the speed of the event.

Assistant instructor showed us this nice deadcenter, nicklesize bruise the next day in class.

From: Christopher Li
> After testing today sensei said, "today I saw your true self." Any ideas what sensei meant by that statement?

Well, I like the explanation that Frank Hreha sensei used to give. It goes something like this:

Question: What do you get when you squeeze an orange? Answer: You get what's inside the orange!

That is, there may be orange juice inside, or there may be rocks, there's no way to know for sure until you try sqeezing it. Testing is supposed to squeeze you a little bit - hopefully Aikido comes out, but you never know :-).

From: Margo Ballou

So, Sunday was the semiannual Aikido potluck. (I brought the kokyunage... I had actually intended to design chicken katatetori for the event, but I now live in a house where no meat is allowed, so I settled for pasta salad and a peach-almond torte.) There was a 6th dan at the party, and after all the stories had died down, I asked him what the name of my mystery throw was. Although he did verify that the throw _has_ some other name besides morotetori kokyunage, he couldn't remember the name either.

Then he made me grab his shoulder repeatedly while he demonstrated the art of redirecting my attention. :) I'm going to remember that trick! "The exact date of the formation of the Council of State under Alexander I? Here, grab my wrist."