Unless otherwise stated, the author’s views, musings, and opinions do not necessarily reflect the attitude of leadership within any of the various Nihon Goshin Aikido associations, or unaffiliated Nihon Goshin Aikido dojos.
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Inside Nihon Goshin Aikido ~ #39
5 June 2016
Greetings Nihon Goshin Aikido Aficionado!
May has arrived, and with it good weather. It's time to get my boat ready for the summer season. In the last few weeks, I've found myself looking at the water more and more when I drive across the Lake Murray Dam during my daily commute to get the boys to and from gymnastics practice. On the way to last Thursday's practice, I asked out loud, “Why am I not out there on the lake today? Look at that water.”
I looked at Ben in the passengers seat and said, “Look at that water Ben! It's as smooth as glass.” From the back seat, our newest and youngest gymnast, Jackson, chimed in, “Dad! You say that every day!”
Apparently I talk to myself a little bit more than I think I do.
On a related front, I was speaking with Jackson's gymnastics coach today and I asked him this question, “Do you think he will be ready to skip the beginner level of competition this fall.”
He replied, “We want him to. We tell all the boys, 'there are no levels in the summer - it's about working hard & getting new skills. When the summer is over, we put them where we think they'll be the most successful. He's still got plenty of time, but he doesn't want to skip a level just because we want him to skip the level. He wants to be ready, and we want him to know that he is ready.”
As I think about both of those situations, I marvel at how similar they are. In both instances ~ I want something that is slightly ahead of where I am currently.
Although my heart is in the right place, I'm no where near ready to head out on the lake. My problem is the vessel. The boat needs work ~ as it always does this time of year (for various and sundry reasons). This year, the neighborhood rats decided they liked the idea of living on a “house boat” over the winter, and moved into my newly restored Ski Nautique. In the process of getting comfy ~ they completely destroyed most of the newly recovered deck furniture, and a ton of the electrical wiring. Apparently rats think the insulation around a spark plug wire is food. While I've poisoned all the rats, replacing nearly every wire in the boat will take awhile.
So ~ things get held up... but we press on ~ we must make the decision to fight on when times get tough.
On a related front, I used to have a 300 pound bench press ~ as recently as just a few months ago. Then I tweaked my shoulder some how (Come Along Throw/ Pivot Take Down/ Hold Down/ Arm Over Shoulder/ ~~~~ insert shoulder devastating technique here), and my left shoulder has been acting up ever since. The result is that I've not been as strong on the bench press, and my numbers are down on that lift.
Now the standing question for anyone who works out is, “How much do you bench?” Historically when someone would ask me, “How much do you bench?” ~ I'd usually downplay the question and joke it off ~ often pretending to not even understand what they were asking me. Occasionally I'd give them a ridiculously low number, like 95 pounds.
Of course, with the injury I'm struggling a little bit on this exercise. So the last time someone asked me, I went away from my typical set of responses, and told him, “I bench about 300 pounds” ~ which was true in January, but not true today! Why am I so insecure about this issue? My current bench is not horrible (285-ish); it's just not as solid as it used to be.
Last year we got a Lakeland Terrier puppy, who has become an unbelievable athlete. Even though she stands just 18 inches off the ground, she is able to clear the 5 foot fence around our yard at will. Numerous times, I've had calls about Ella swimming in our next door neighbor's pool. Then she got into a neighbor's garage which held 2 vintage Corvettes. She was jumping up on the hoods of the cars for fun. At this point, it was quite obvious that I had to build a higher fence.
In the process of tearing down one perfectly functional fence, and replacing it with a taller fence, my dad wanted to know if I planned on staining the fence to protect the wood. I said, “Dad, I don't need the fence to outlive me, I just need it to outlive the dog.” Then my Dad said, “Well son, those numbers might not be too far apart. If the dog lives to be 15, you'll be 64 years old when she dies.”
Thanks Dad! Now I'm old too!
Onward!
Last month, I built a new computer system, and as you might expect, the computer program that I use to develop my website is having trouble finding things on the new hard drive ~ as they are no longer “where” they used to be. If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing, please contact me ~ as I'm L-O-S-T!
All that said, in the interest of circulating a timely newsletter, and with great optimism that I will be able to address these issues by next month, I will close here.
In lieu of a full blown article or two embedded inside the monthly rag, I decided to feature a couple of older articles, and let you head off and explore the rest of the site on your own. Did you know that there is more information on aikido at ngaexperience.com than you can shake a stick ~~~~ er Bokken ~~~ at?
Scroll down for links to articles ~ which are attached at the bottom of the email.
Wishing you all the best on this glorious day in May.
God Speed, and let's meet together on the mat ~ and soon.
Jonathan Wilson
ngaexperience.com
Links of Interest
An Analysis of Steven Seagal's Aikido Style
An Aikikai Guy Visits A Nihon Goshin Aikido Dojo and Writes A Review About His Experience
The Spillway Section of the Lake Murray Dam, with the lake in the backdrop.
This Will Take Me Awhile
