Friday at basingstoke

Hello all. To introduce myself my name is mark greenwood, i train at the basingstoke dojo. I will try to post what is happening at basingstoke. Firstly Sensei Brad, Sensei Mark and Sensei Andy were all given their next dan grades by Sensei Ellis and Sensei Eastman. Sensei Ellis then went through the knife technique he demonstrated at the Crystal Palace seminar.

We then practiced a moving nikkyo from first form, which i dont think i will ever ukemi out of properly. We then practiced third and fourth form shionage, both positive and negative. It was a great session, with the great start setting the theme of the night.

Question, everytime i step on the mat i really feel like a beginner. Everytime i see a technique that i have practiced a few hundred times, i feel like a beginner. Sometimes i feel my shionage is my best technique, then it falls apart. I used to think i was quite good at ukemi, untill friday. Is this part of the learning curve in Aikido, that you must constantly start again?

Chad is not...

This is Chad at Tower Bridge in London England.

-Chad is not adding to the graffitti on Tower Bridge.

-Chad is not scraping his daughter's name on the hand rail.

-Chad is not defacing London property.

-Chad is not doing anything to get himself deported.

-Chad stopped whatever he was doing when a Bobby came by and didn't turn around when the Bobby yelled at him to come back, but ran thru a crowd and lost the pursuing Bobby on his way back to the Tube Station.

Everyone's attention please..,

Paul Emel is in the house.

A fistful of Guiness

This is a promotional shot of an upcoming martial arts movie featuring Sensei Derek Eastman in "A fistful of Guiness". The story is a modern day remake of Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", but in this version it's just one Samurai who drinks enough Guiness for seven.

This photo was taken after the Kenshiro Abbe Jubilee Seminar, in the same pub up the huge hill from Crystal Palace. Many thanks to Dave Rogers for supplying the hat.

Everyone's attention please...,

Bill Loose is in the house.

Chad on Ice (Chad-cicle)

This is Chad freezing his bum off on the flight home across the pond. I was getting up to use the loo when I walked by seeing him shivering, and to be honest it was a little chilly on the plane, but I've got enough "natural insulation" aka "bodyfat" that I really didn't care, however Chad has no natural insulation and was shivering while trying to sip something hot. I was laughing while taking this picture and Chad tried to flip me off, but his fingers were too cold to move so I laughed even harder.