Aikido Test and Enbukai

I had my second aikido test, last month. This one was for 4th kyu. I was completely stressed out, beforehand. Would I have to lead the bok-to (wooden-sword) suburi (swings) counting? Last time, I had to do some counting and although I've been able to count to ten, since my elementary school goju karate class, I got a little confused. How much ukemi (protective falling) would I have to take? We always do a burnout session at the end of our classes and our tests are no different. In fact, we usually have to do more. Last time, I had to do sixty and it completely zapped me.

To answer those questions: I did not have to any counting. However, the test emcee did try to tell me to join in with the others in the kiai (shout) with each cut. We never practice kiai in our dojo so I feel a little self-conscious when I try to sound off with an "OI! or "UUU!" during techniques. Regarding the ukemi, I only had to do forty. I was a little surprised as I still had some get up and go left. No complaints though. Doing ukemi in rapid succession is very tiring.

Also, today was the Yokosuka City Aikido Kenkyukai International Enbukai. An enbukai is basically an exhibition or demonstration. Numata Sensei is the main teacher for Yokosuka so this was his day. Other "shihan" (master teacher) have their own enbukai for their respective areas. Twice a year, we have a large enbukai with all of the AKI dojo in attendance.

At the moment, Misakikai Dojo is comprised of myself, Nishimura Sensei, and sometimes, Aoki Sensei. While it's beneficial to train with many partners, I'm getting some benefit from my circumstantial private lessons.

The Misakikai Dojo portion of the enbukai was Nishimura Sensei and myself doing some techniques to a short musical piece. We did:

Nishimura Nage/Me Uke:

Suwari Shomenuchi Ikkyo Omote and Ura(2x)

Suwari Shomenuchi Nikkyo Omote and Ura (2x)

Suwari Shomenuchi Nikkyo Omote and Ura (2x)

Suwari Shomenuchi Kokyu Nage that turned into a Tachi Iriminage

Tachi Shomenuchi Iriminage (2x)

Me Nage/Nishimura Uke:

Katate Kokyunage (4x)

Katate Shihonage (4x)

Nishimura Nage/Me Uke:

Shomenuchi Kokyunage (3x)

View of Students Warming Up

I did have one surprise during the day. I'm only a member of Misakikai Dojo. Occasionally, I train at Numata Sensei's dojo. One dojo lined up for their demo and realized they were one person short. One of the guys (the emcee from the testing day) told me "Mo hitori!" I jumped to my feet and ran to the empty spot. I didn't know the song or how long it lasted. When things are unexpected there's no time to be stressed out.