So, You Want To Start Aikido?: Chapter 39: I'm going to be very honest with myself...It would seem my short break from Aiki has made me more crazy then before!

About The Following Blog

The following blog has been written purely for those wanting a first hand knowledge of what it is like to step into the dojo for the first time as a complete beginner as a Martial Artist. Through practising a Martial Art, you will gain many things such as self-confidence, self-respect and life-long and good friends. I hope this helps you to see into an amazing world of which you have never seen before and that I have had the privilege of belonging to and knowing.
Although I have not put my name or any name to this blog, it does deserve a dedication- a dedication to those who help people to train, who teach, reassure and most important of all- those who never give up, no matter how many times they hit the ground or a mental brick wall, with themselves or others. But above all- those who are ready to begin their own journey, it begins with one step….

https://twitter.com/Aikilass

Tuesday, 5 August 2008

Chapter 39: I'm going to be very honest with myself...It would seem my short break from Aiki has made me more crazy then before!

Yes, it would seem I am now an official 'Aikiaddict'. Seriously. After only one month returning to training and seven weeks post-op, I decided to enrol for summer school again. Apparently, I should have taken six weeks off training not three so that my muscles could 'knit' back together- but I was told three! (Honest). So you guess I was a little nervous about going as I was still healing but I'd 'survived' two club sessions a week for a month so was ready and rearing to go.
This year was fantastic. It really was. There was a huge variety of different aspects of Aikido covered so we covered a fair bit over the two days that I was there.
But it came to me that I definitely an 'Aikiaddict' when I sign up for two days of pain. It would seem that there are two aspects to the pain associated with martial arts- mental and physical pain. I've found summer school to be both. It's an absolute out of this world experience as you can train with many different people and learn different techniques and skills not covered at club level but at the same time you have to fight physical and mental exhaustion. After the first day, you tend to be a bit sore and stiff. By lunchtime of the second day, you feel that you may never breakfall again. And I will be very very honest here- there are times when you don't want to get back on that mat, but you know you have to as the moment you stop you stiffen up, so it's far less painful to keep going.
Funnily enough, I was less sore this year. But I don't think this anything to do with me being 'tougher'- last year I experimented with Deep Heat and found it useful. This year I was prepared- I used Deep Heat before and after each day and found it really helped. So, why did I do it? Well, I really enjoyed last year and wanted to meet up with everyone I had trained with-but I also wanted to see if I could do it again and 'survive' the pain.
My advice is if you get the chance at training at a summer camp or any camp for that matter, do it. You won't regret it. At the time you may feel that you never ever want to do anything like that again, but you will recover...and find that the physical and mental pain that you endured during that time was worth it.