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Reaching new levels of Craptitude...
Sep. 7th, 2007 06:51 pmHad a long day at work yesterday, accompanied by a too hot and stuffy office and the beginnings of a sucky headache. By early evening my head was not a happy head, took some ibuprofen and went to Aikido anyway, on the basis that if it was mostly a tension headache then bouncing peoples off the floor and hitting them with big sticks would cure it. And so it did... the therapeutic powers of violence - someone should write a book... Healthier Living Through Violence perhaps, it could have helpful little bullet points like:
-Feeling stressed? Just close your eyes, breathe deeply and on the exhale, imagine the sound of someone twice your size bouncing off the floor in your wake.
However, while the headache-curing powers were awesome, I did do some of the crappest Aikido I've done in ages. Every time I tried to do push-hands, I tensed up and sensei pushed me over. I couldn't do even about the first technique you're ever taught (the one you then spend the next 50 million years refining). And I couldn't even blame it on the headache, since that had gone. Craptastic basically. In fact I think I did my best stuff yesterday when the headache was still blinding me and Sensei was attacking me full-speed or near enough with a big stick. Then I could do stuff.
Speaking of which, I have been kind of invited to an Aikido Winter School in the Netherlands in January. The host asked me, told me I'd not have to pay the course fee as I'd be my Sensei's Uke for the course (Bring Your Own Uke teaching - much prestige, also many bruises) and they'd put me up with someone and so on. And last night, despite my impressive lack of any kind of skill, Sensei reiterated that he would like me to go as he wanted to show them the Jo Kata we've been doing and it's a bit too difficult to demonstrate with someone not familiar with it as it's rather complicated. So I suspect I'll be doing that. And I shouldn't be too down about last night's craptitude I suppose, as the end of the session featured a bit of a free-for-all practise and I didn't do too badly in that I think.
In other news, conference for work next week - terribly exciting I'm sure. I needed some more smart tops for it, went shopping, bought 1 skirt, 1 pair cargos and 3 graphic novels - go me! So Monday we'll spend trying to get everything as clear as possible and make sure we've got everthing for the conference. Tues-Wed-Thurs at the conference, having to be nice to random academics and trying not to catch up on my sleep during the lectures. On the plus side, it is all expenses paid, so if nothing else I should get some nice meals out of it. Then coming back Friday to 3-days' backlog of work. *Then* my parents head off to Prague and I have to catsit, plus my boss is having that week off too, so I can't even skip the odd day of work and of course any backlog undealt with on Friday will carry over into that week. It's all fun and only the cats to talk to and while they are great talkers, what they usually say is FOOD! in varying tones and volumes :-\ Anyone free to entertain me then?
Anyway, I have just eaten vast quantities of chinese takeaway and feeling really stuffed - argh. Will go lie in an untidy heap and watch tv now I think...
-Feeling stressed? Just close your eyes, breathe deeply and on the exhale, imagine the sound of someone twice your size bouncing off the floor in your wake.
However, while the headache-curing powers were awesome, I did do some of the crappest Aikido I've done in ages. Every time I tried to do push-hands, I tensed up and sensei pushed me over. I couldn't do even about the first technique you're ever taught (the one you then spend the next 50 million years refining). And I couldn't even blame it on the headache, since that had gone. Craptastic basically. In fact I think I did my best stuff yesterday when the headache was still blinding me and Sensei was attacking me full-speed or near enough with a big stick. Then I could do stuff.
Speaking of which, I have been kind of invited to an Aikido Winter School in the Netherlands in January. The host asked me, told me I'd not have to pay the course fee as I'd be my Sensei's Uke for the course (Bring Your Own Uke teaching - much prestige, also many bruises) and they'd put me up with someone and so on. And last night, despite my impressive lack of any kind of skill, Sensei reiterated that he would like me to go as he wanted to show them the Jo Kata we've been doing and it's a bit too difficult to demonstrate with someone not familiar with it as it's rather complicated. So I suspect I'll be doing that. And I shouldn't be too down about last night's craptitude I suppose, as the end of the session featured a bit of a free-for-all practise and I didn't do too badly in that I think.
In other news, conference for work next week - terribly exciting I'm sure. I needed some more smart tops for it, went shopping, bought 1 skirt, 1 pair cargos and 3 graphic novels - go me! So Monday we'll spend trying to get everything as clear as possible and make sure we've got everthing for the conference. Tues-Wed-Thurs at the conference, having to be nice to random academics and trying not to catch up on my sleep during the lectures. On the plus side, it is all expenses paid, so if nothing else I should get some nice meals out of it. Then coming back Friday to 3-days' backlog of work. *Then* my parents head off to Prague and I have to catsit, plus my boss is having that week off too, so I can't even skip the odd day of work and of course any backlog undealt with on Friday will carry over into that week. It's all fun and only the cats to talk to and while they are great talkers, what they usually say is FOOD! in varying tones and volumes :-\ Anyone free to entertain me then?
Anyway, I have just eaten vast quantities of chinese takeaway and feeling really stuffed - argh. Will go lie in an untidy heap and watch tv now I think...