Last night’s workout was really good. Since the summer, there have been fewer members in class, but there was a good crowd of about 14 people so there was a lot of energy in the air. If martial arts involves any one thing, it involves repetition. It doesn’t matter what art you study or how good you are. You have to repeat movements over and over again until they become second nature. That means everyone has to practice. And for me it means I have to rediscover what someone has already tried to teach me a hundred or even a thousand times before.
A few of the points I’d like to remember from last night…
Legs, center and connection points should move in unison.
Techniques don’t have to be forced if you have proper movement, kokyu, positioning, etc. For example, it isn’t necessary to wrench uke’s neck/head/body around when executing iriminage. It can be done just as easily with a soft touch.
I need to offer my arms to be grabbed and have a lower stance.
Rise with my knees, not my hands.
Keep working on yonkyo.
Fall is here and it’s time for the colors to change as they always do, repeating the movement of the seasons. Here’s hoping that all my falling in the dojo leads to colorful changes in my aikido. 
MUSIC MONSTER
I was asked to lend vocals on a song so over the weekend I stopped by Dan’s place and we put my voice into the digital realm. Dan’s got a great set-up for recording. Not only does he have assorted instruments all over the place, he’s got some pretty serious recording gear at the center of which is a 24 track multitrack recorder. I was really impressed with how he had everything laid out/set-up to easily record. One thing I’m definitely going to do is get a little pocket wall hanger like he has to hold individual cables and adapters of different sizes.
I moved the lap top and 19″ monitor into the Roland KR-577 digital piano room and hooked up the new Zoom audio interface and PC. I laid down 3 tracks on the piano’s internal sequencer, then fed it into Reaper recording software and added a 4th track. I then played a simple drum pattern from the piano live alongside the already recorded 3 tracks. I could have done that on the piano as well, but I didn’t think of it until afterwards.
The whole process was simpler than I thought. I think I might utilize the Roland in more recordings so I’m thinking of relocating all of my music gear to the same downstairs room in hopes it all might pro-create something interesting.
My new electronic drum kit arrived today. Yeah for me! 
While I was researching on-line, I failed to find a user manual anywhere. So, just in case you’re thinking of buying these drums, this should make it easier. I’ll write a bit more about the kit after I set it up and play with it a while.
Awowo ROCK-Drum Pro User Manual
I tested some new recording gear with a cover of Jack Johnson’s Angel. I fought tooth and nail to get a Zoom USB audio interface, the s2t with ZFX plug-ins, running on my pc. It came with software, Cubase and Guitar Rig, they failed to install so I installed Reaper, different audio recording software.
I recorded my Larrivee D03 with an MXL 991 condenser mic and vocals with the MXL 990 condenser. No effects and no mixing. Recorded in 24 bit @ 48kHz and rendered down to 16 bit @44.1kHz. I think recording on the pc might have some promise. There were a few crackles or pops on the recording, but I might be able to tweak those out later.
Where was that one point again?
In the post, Off-Centered, I mentioned not moving from my center for a particular technique, ikkyo. That may be true just as much as it may not be true. Tonight at aikido workout, I was “schooled” in ikkyo. Apparently, there is the basic ikkyo typical of Aikikai that takes the attacker back and past his/her own center and down to the mat. That style of ikkyo rarely seems to work at my dojo and I’ve narrowed it down to people being just too good. Everyone has a naturally strong and low stance and it is just too difficult to move their entire bodies in this way. At the extra-curricula dojo I visit, it works on all but perhaps two people there. They prefer the same exact technique but with a more centered focus. And that seemed to work for the two stronger aikidoka. It even seemed to work on someone at my dojo, below me in rank. However, it did not work on those above me.
Tonight a light was switched on and I caught a glimpse/feel for my dojo’s style of ikkyo. It starts out the same and finishes the same. And it probably looks the same from the outside. But it feels completely different.(It actually felt like yonkyo in a way.) It’s a remarkable thing when the difference between ineffective and effective aikido is changing your own mind. And THAT’S why I love this stuff!
So, it takes an infinite amount of time to get it right? Swell.
