New Idear!

So I know I'm obviously not the best at posting, mainly because I don't have all that much to say. Well all that much that I think people would like to read anyway. I have been told to ignore that and post anyway, but most of the time if I have something to say I tell Beth early on, then just move on with whatever shiny object distracts me at the time :-p

So now I have an idea that came to me on Wednesday night. I can blog about Aikido and martial arts things that I do and find interesting. I have always tried to look at one thing during a class that I find new, or neat, or different. I'm generally pretty good at finding something, but generally pretty bad at remembering it. So maybe if I write it down here, I'll have a running review, and you all can read the philosophy I'll attach, or get a take on the physical aspect. Whatever floats your boat.

I'll start out this one with one of the coolest workout ideas (even if it's not martial arts oriented) that I've ever heard. It's one that my teacher here in Indy said shortly after I started.

Take a period of time, a few months, between belt tests, something, and focus on just one thing during that period. Don't stop doing anything else, but whenever that one thing comes up in class, pay extra special attention, and give it extra effort.

I tried this with a technique called Iriminage (pretty good example seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PVqgTNmIzQ) first, cause it was a common technique in Aikido, and second, because I completely sucked at it. I was amazed after 3 months at the progress I made. I have since concentrated on falling (and I now have far fewer painful falls, perhaps one per month, rather than 2 per class), and on focus (this one's not going so well, but I have noticed clarity in general movement... probably should have saved it for later :-p). It's really quite cool.

I would imagine that this idea would work with just about anything, and while you may not get better after you stop the focus period, you generally don't regress. I started doing it (albeit less regularly) with my guitar playing, and have been generally pleased with the results.

So given that this one was philosophy in general, I don't have all that much to add to it at this point. But maybe this can keep me in the blogs twice a week or so.

Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky? I think so Brain, but why would you want a metric ton of pine cones?