Koshinage Felt Good

Had a great class tonight. By the time it was done I was all jazzed up as usual. We did ushiro sankyo, ushiro kotagaeshi and ended with an ushiro koshinage. For the koshinage I had Mark as a partner. He's a big, solid guy. When we started he was kind of tentative. He was throwing ok but he wasn't taking the ukemi too well. I finally got him to not bend over on me and relax. After doing 20 or so of these my koshinage got better and Mark was taking the ukemi for them really well.

I started getting into more of a groove, right or wrong I started giving him a floating hip. He was a big guy and I figured a little encouragement to help him get over would be good.

This was the second time in the past year that I had a partner come up to me after class and tell me that was the first time that they started feeling comfortable with taking hip throws. Glad I could be a part of that.

Hey... I Got a Knee Planted On My Head

A few classes back we were doing some kind of familiar technique. There was a newer person next to us working. My partner and I were being fairly careful about spacing. I was thrown and a quarter second later the guy next to me was as well. Before I knew it he had travelled about 5 feet offline and ended up with a knee on my head. Actually on my face. I had my usual reaction. I thought it was funny. He look horrified. So to get him to relax I asked him if he was ok. For me it was no worse than getting a slap in the face.

I've had so many good classes the past few weeks it's hard for me to remember them all. One particular class that stuck out in my mind was about three Mondays ago. Bob had us doing lots of centering exercises / techniques. My favorite part was one where nage had sort of a shihonage on uke but instead of finishing it... once uke is past, get your other arm up for an irimi nage like motion. At one point my rather strong partner decided to try and resist. I used no muscle whatsoever so I know I was doing something right.

Last night was great. Family was in town and I was needed home but I was able to make the later Beverly class. We did all kinds of unusual exercises. At one point the jo came out. All I can say is that I had mixed results. I'm fairly psyched that at one point I saw Matt turn the jo to wrap uke's hand in more. I noticed this before he pointed it out.

A lot of habits are hard to break. At one point Matt wanted us to do a sumiotoshi but instead of bringing the hand around at waist level, we brought the arm around and up before the throw. One or twice I caught myself doing the way I'm used to. I have to stop myself. After class I felt great as usual.

Call it what you will, ki flowing, endorphins, or just a good sweat, I always feel great after classes.