Remember to breathe!
This weekend is the Kyu gradings at Phoenix Aikido Club. There is an extra class on Saturday, to which everyone who is grading or acting as Uke is expected (which you can read as required) to attend. The gradings themselves will take place on Sunday 20th March.
Good luck to everyone taking a grading, and congratulations to those chosen to be Uke. It is always a pleasure and an honour to have someone choose you as Uke for a grading.
Luckily, I’m not going to be grading this time so I can just sit and enjoy watching everyone else sweat and panic their way through the techniques. I only started back to Aikido in June 2004, after a break of nearly 3 years, and I still don’t think I’m back to the same level of skill I had before my hips decided to stop working properly. So it’s probably going to be at least another 12 months before I attempt my brown belt.
I just know my knees are going to be killing me following the grading, after spending 3 or 4 hours sitting in Seiza.