kivioq

My dad, in addition to having a regular job, just became an aikido master. Well, not a master, but a teacher -- a sandan in the parlance of aikido ranking. I grew up with a preference for more brute force-type recreation -kickboxing mostly. I am not that good -- I am very weak on my left side as a result of an accident about 10 years ago, and despite efforts to build up that arm and hip, there is just too much damage to make a ton of progress. Nevertheless, I pushed on, relying on good positioning and nice overhand right to get by. Plus, even getting your ass beat in a gym can be a positive experience -- somehow, the minor everyday problems of life don't seem so important when you are trying to survive a pummeling.

Anyway, after talks with my dad about aikido a couple of weeks ago, I decided to give it a try. The experiment turned out to be something of a revelation. I was a lot more adept at it, and got a lot more satisfaction out of it, then I thought I would. It's funny how I never tried it, even though my dad has been at it for about 20 years. As I stood there, running through the basic roll moves with the beginner class, I began to wonder if my lack of interest in aikido said more about my relationship with my father than my preference for contact sports. I think my new year's resolution will be to listen to him more . . . .