I will go for the 4th kyu test this Saturday and then almost immediately head to what could be the last trip to Oklahoma to clean out the parent's house. So between getting back from Spain, catching up with work and figuring out how to handle the weekend...it's been hard to concentrate on preparing for the test.
It is now past midnight so officially I leave for Madrid tomorrow (the 14th). I skipped Aikido tonight to buy a few things for the trip and I've already packed most of what I'm planning to take.
I never heard back from my email to one of the Madrid Aikido dojos, but it is probably for the best. I only have a week and as I've never been to Europe, so I hope to be very busy being a clumsy but pleasant American. I will be staying near the Puerta Del Sol and although it is sure to be fill with fellow tourists I'm still hoping it will will be appropriately foreign.
Tonight we worked mostly from yokomenuchi (strike to the side of the head) but toward the end we switched to koshinage from shomenuchi (overhead strike to the top of the head). I quickly found a partner who wouldn't be troubled by full weight. It had been a while since we worked on koshinage so it was treat.
We only worked on the type where you start off as if you were doing ikkyo and then you step in and put your arm around their back as you step in for the throw. I actually felt like I was getting the hang of it tonight, but I think this way of getting to the throw forces you to put your center below uke's center.
Anyway I suppose it is not a coincidence that the one of the first results from you tube shows Christian Tissier demostrating the version of koshinage we worked on. Since Christian Tissier was our sensei's sensei.
