Aikido

Over the past couple months I've had the opportunity to take martial arts classes again. An Aikido program opened up in North Conway , about a 45 minute drive away, at a local health club.

The instructor, Jack Henry, is a second degree black belt Aikido. He and his wife moved up from Baltimore to the N.Conway area to semi-retire. Jack is a former school teacher, and he definitely looks the part. While he and his wife enjoy northern NH, he really started to miss his Aikido classes, so why not start teaching?

The classes are held at 121 Fit. One hour classes every Thursday evening and Saturday morning. I'm one of only a few regular students. The price is $50 a month, which basically just pays for the fees to use the rooms and mats at the club. Basically means Jack is doing this pretty much non-profit, and mainly so he can spread the art he's come to enjoy with others.

Aikido is unique in that there are very few, if any strikes, including kicks/punches. The philosophy by it's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, was to harmonize with one's opponent, to blend with an attacker's energy and take control of their "center".  A person's center, or "Hara" is located approx two inches below the naval. A big part of the manipulations focuses on one's center, and being in control of it. The best way I can describe it, is that with it's focus on protecting your opponent, it's an ideal martial art for hippies!

One thing that makes it easy to converse with Jack Sensei, is that he also has a 2nd degree black belt in Kempo, the style that formed the biggest aspect of Ninpo Chuan Fa, the style that I'm a 3rd degree black belt in. Strangely enough, the only other regular student , Jeff, is also a former practitioner of Kempo, with a first degree black belt.

One of the more fun classes have involved a couple of my fellow black belts from the old school joining me for class. Leane was able to go to a few classes, and Tim joined us for one as well. While they both enjoyed it, they both lead busy lives, so have not made it a regular thing. That particular class which had Leane, Time and I was particularly fun, especially for Jack. He was very impressed with all of us, and appreciated how open we were to learning.

Also, just recently, my young friend and author Kyle, who has also learned from John, has started attending classes, car-pooling with me. I could see the doubt in his eyes as I explained how Aikido works. Aikido can look pretty fake and impractical to the outside observer, particularly if they've studied other arts before ( I know I did).  After his first class, I could see how excited he was, and he plans on being a regular student. Kinda cool that I have a kindred spirit to car-pool with.

The Aikido 3D program has actually come in handy pretty well! It's helped me to understand the moves I'd been learning from all angles. An excellent purchase that was. It's particularly helping me prepare for June 30th, when I'll take my first test, for 5th Kyu. In contrast, the last martial arts test I took was for my 3rd Degree Black Belt, eleven years ago!

In Aikido schools, there are 5 Kyu levels to obtain before testing for 1st Dan, or 1st degree Black Belt. In most of these schools, all Kyu levels are white belts. I ordered myself a new Gi with white belt. Kinda neat to put on a new uniform, and particularly a white belt!

I'm enjoying my time with the class, and will definitely be sticking with it. I do still miss studying Ninpo Chuan Fa with John, and I will be sending him an email soon to check back if he'd be up for teaching again, even if it was just teaching me private lessons.

After a year of reading multiple books on various martial arts and missing the practice, it's quite satisfying to to be back in groove again, even if studying something new!

Konnichiwa