Open your shoulders. Open your mind.

I noticed Ron open his shoulders while I was throwing the circle of ukes.It was a subtle cue for me to open mine. I am always surprised when I think I have great posture. I take a correction and find that it could be fixed. I opened my shoulders and immediately felt more relaxed. My arms could now move freely as the shoulder joints were at their maximum expansion. The relaxation in my arms spread though my body. The whole exercise became easier and felt better for me and probably for my uke.

I had a hard time with correction after my 3rd dan test. I felt like had been training for ten years and was ready to do aikido. I was outwardly polite. Inwardly, I chafed at any suggestion that Ron made. I spent a few years like that. Then Ron started coming to my class as a student.

I loved the idea of Ron training in my class. The reality was another thing. He could be a grouchy student. I would ask him to do something a bit different. Not because he was wrong but because I wanted him to try it the way I was teaching. And mostly because any way he did something some of the other students in class unconsciously did it his way.

What I learned from these experiences is that Ron would think he was doing something exactly like I was demonstrating because he could not see himself. Comes the dawn. I then realized that I have a blindness to myself. We can’t see what technique looks while we are doing it. I started welcoming correction and aikido has become so fun again. When I am corrected it does not mean I am wrong. It is just guidance so I can ask my body to do something and then get help having it be the movement I have asked it to do. I can relax, do my technique and trust that Ron will help me if I need it. I no longer have to be stiff and perfect.

Video helps too. It is fun to do a round of techniques with a partner or a kata with a weapon and then watch myself and others. I am serious about my training but not strict with myself. I am learning to train and have fun. The things I learn are just as significant when I am enjoying myself as when I am suffering.