Day 36 Thursday 27 May – 2nd Aikido practice

Thursday has become my typical Aikido day in Guayaquil. This time I go on my own to the main road to take a taxi. The traffic is pretty hectic, so it takes a while until we get to the college of architects, where I cross the road to the dojo. I am still a bit early so I wait a little while. We get dressed and sit on the mat on our knees. Each of us has a specific place, though the logic escapes me. We start with the meditation, which is longer than in Sankaku training. And then the stretching, which we do almost completely in a kneeling position. We don’t do any breathing exercises like we normally do at home, but we do a lot of stretching of the legs. Which explains why most of the others are more flexible than I am.

The rest of the lesson is more familiar than the week before. Irimi nage with different techniques, though at times it is not meant to let the uke* fall, but to let him stretch the back and breath out slowly, then pull him up again. The technique is a little bit different, where you put your knee in the back. But sensei tells me that this is exactly what Irimi means: to enter (your leg in the back of uke).

At other times, the lesson seems wilder. It seems only, because most of the times it is uke who decides whether to fall like a brick, or take a roll. Only one technique required me to take a drop forward, but the supervision was right and I dropped without hurting myself: a koshi nage, with dropping to the knees, a technique I hadn’t learned before.

At the end we did the familiar kokyo ho, but with the arms relaxed. The exercise here is more meant to relax, than as a real technique. We hold on to the wrists of the other and don’t let go. When tori *gets back into position, uke rolls back into position too. This way, we can go real fast. Then we close off with stretching each other’s backs, like I have done before. Hold each other’s hands, turn the back on one another and chicken kneel to lift the other with the bum. Stretch! Crack! I actually hear my spine crack and I wonder if that’s a good thing. But afterwards it feels good, so I stop worrying. My partner is a bit heavier than me, so I don’t really get it right with him.

We close off like last time: meditation; bowing and thanking; shaking each other’s hands. I pay Herbert $20. The actual price is $50 per month, but since I’m not staying that long and don’t take lessons every day, we agreed on 20. The normal price seems a bit on the high side, but for this money you can train every morning and every Monday to Thursday evening. I’m just going to train Tuesday and Thursday. One of my fellow students takes me and one of the sensei’s home, because it is on his way. On the way they explain me something about double meanings in the Spanish idiom. I think I will stop using words like bolsa and cola, and forget the other words they thought me (mojón).

*Uke is the attacker who undergoes the technique / Tori is the defender who uses the technique

Herbert Chock, Sensei
Sandan, Fukoshidoin
Centro Cultural Aikido Guayaquil
Nueva Kennedy Calle 1era Este y D esquina
Guayaquil Ecuador