I began my Aikido training yesterday at Multnomah Aikikai without much of a hitch. I had a pleasant conversation with a senior student who showed me some of the basic ukemi—the art of falling. Since the temperature was up into the mid-90s, the class was pretty small and I got a lot of personal attention from the Sensei. He would show me how to do forward rolls and other techniques, watch me do them a few times, correct mistakes, and once he seemed satisfied that I was getting the hang of it he would show the rest of the class an advance technique. Then he would watch them practice, come back to me, see that I was doing okay, and then show me something new. It was nice to get one-on-one attention from the Sensei, since I had only previously experienced more group-oriented lessons at my university.
Afterwards I was pretty exhausted and I had red marks on my shoulders and knees from all friction between my uniform (a loaner) and the impacts with the mat. Everything on the back of my body—neck, back, butt, legs—were pretty sore this morning, but I'm still planning on heading back for another lesson tonight after work. Yesterday was hot, sweaty, and repetitious, but it was also very fun.
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