A Bug's Life

So far, bokken - 'wooden katana' - and jo - spear without pointy bits a.k.a. a broom handle :-) A lot of regular, unarmed aikido is derived from traditional Japanese weapon arts. Not only does practicing with wooden sticks build some upper body strength, and make sense of some of the body art, it can also be very relaxing (solo practice) and rather exciting (pair work). Solo practice is at your own speed, the choreographed pair work can be very fast and furious with experts!

I did a lot of pretending to be a cross between a turkey and a policeman - these are my physiotherapy 'knee dips'.

I find that the train can be a good place to write contemplatively...