Aikido as a way of life.

Last class we practiced kata tori ikkyo, kata tori kote geishe, kata tori irimi nage and kata tori kokyu nage the traditional way first. Then we envisioned holding a large ball in our arms and practiced those techniques again, concentrating on extending energy and weight under side. Training with an invisible uke has made us dig deep to find ways to strengthen our aikido principles. Ron and I are blessed that we can train together but some of our students are practicing with their own invisible uke.  Some techniques like ushiro tekubitori kokyu nage are harder to visualize and feel than others, like, tsuki kote giesha. Most of the folks that train with us are very experienced and rise to the challenge. We have one student who is an orange belt and  is just thriving in this practice. I am grateful we still are gathering and training with the circumstances that are presented to us in this now.