00;00;00;00 - 00;00;15;25
Unknown
Every seminar that I attend as a student leaves me feeling like my Aikido has changed, or that it's the beginning of a change if I want to go in that direction. Then I get back to my dojo. And so many times
00;00;15;25 - 00;00;21;25
Unknown
I feel like a fish out of water. The first regular class back after a big seminar.
00;00;21;25 - 00;00;26;01
Unknown
In the early days. This kind of concerned me. I thought this was a problem.
00;00;26;01 - 00;00;38;05
Unknown
So let's take a look at this. First of all, just last July, my sempai from Japan came for our 30th anniversary in Los Angeles. It was wonderful.
00;00;38;08 - 00;00;53;10
Unknown
he teaches a different way than I do. Of course, he's a different human. We co-taught the seminar, and it really made me think, as it always does. It really made me think, oh, he explains this that way.
00;00;53;11 - 00;01;02;14
Unknown
And oh, his foot. He places his right foot, you know, his front foot, a little differently than I do on that technique and things like that. So
00;01;02;14 - 00;01;07;00
Unknown
it was really, really interesting afterwards. And after any seminar,
00;01;07;01 - 00;01;18;07
Unknown
I always want to try to review some of the stuff that we've done at the seminar. And, and it's funny because I always tell my students, now, your job is to forget everything at the end of a seminar.
00;01;18;07 - 00;01;28;19
Unknown
I tell them, forget everything now, and then I go home and I'm like, what was that really cool one that we did? So it's human nature to kind of want to review things, but
00;01;28;19 - 00;01;43;09
Unknown
not for the reason you might be thinking. Not so that I can remember this cool throw, this cool move know, so that I can harness this new feeling that I got from doing it in this way or that way.
00;01;43;11 - 00;02;13;16
Unknown
A new kind of connection, a new quality to a connection, or just a new feeling within myself. Better alignment, whatever it was. So this is why I like reviewing after a seminar, and this is why I encourage people to go to seminars, whether they're my seminars or somebody else's. So anyway, that was so interesting. To teach my regular classes again after Numata sensei had gone back to Japan.
00;02;13;16 - 00;02;29;17
Unknown
So let's take a look at this at a seminar you're learning in an optimized environment. There's a high level teacher. There is structured instruction. Your nervous system is on alert.
00;02;29;19 - 00;02;37;14
Unknown
Have you ever gone to a seminar and the teacher says something, gives you some advice, and then you go back to your home dojo and you tell your sensei.
00;02;37;18 - 00;02;59;09
Unknown
Oh my gosh. They told me such and such, such. And your sensei goes. I've been telling you that for three years. But when you're at the seminar and there's this sensei that you that you don't get to see very often or you've never met before, you're you're on high alert. Your nervous system is like, it's ready to soak up everything.
00;02;59;12 - 00;03;19;27
Unknown
Also, at a seminar integrating new ideas, new movements requires breaking down old patterns. So before the new one can establish itself, before you can make these new neural pathways, you've got to get rid of the current neural pathway.
00;03;19;27 - 00;03;51;16
Unknown
So you might be feeling during the seminar or immediately after the seminar that you're regressing. You're not even you're not even on a plateau. You're certainly not progressing. You feel like, oh my gosh, I'm regressing. My Aikido got worse since that seminar. Not necessarily your. It probably means that you did a great job at the seminar. And so now you need to demolish.
00;03;51;18 - 00;03;58;03
Unknown
You need to demolish the current neural pathways. So that's why it feels like regression.
00;03;58;03 - 00;04;00;05
Unknown
And if you want to build something new
00;04;00;05 - 00;04;14;22
Unknown
somewhere on a build site, you've got to demolish what's already there, right? If you want to make a brand new building, but there's an old dilapidated building right there, you got to demolish that first. Then you build the new building,
00;04;14;22 - 00;04;16;26
Unknown
then you go back to your own dojo.
00;04;16;28 - 00;04;38;22
Unknown
You're training with someone. Let's say that the uke comes running at you really fast. And so. And then your body goes back into the old way of doing it, because there was that pressure there and you hadn't yet really solidified or strongly established the new neural pathway. So it takes time.
00;04;38;22 - 00;05;04;18
Unknown
And this is why seminars can be so beneficial, can be. So you of course need to use some criteria to pick which seminars you want to go to, but seminars that challenge you to move in a new way and have a stronger, higher quality connection with your partners, which these can leave you feeling really confused, but it can be so helpful.
00;05;04;18 - 00;05;28;27
Unknown
And this is why I do seminars. This is why I teach seminars and I'm teaching them more and more. And by the way, if you want to join me for one of my seminars, just look for the link in the description below. But back to our topic. So what is actually going on the week after the seminar is your nervous system is comparing the old pattern against the new information
00;05;28;29 - 00;05;30;06
Unknown
and it's beginning.
00;05;30;08 - 00;05;39;21
Unknown
This sometimes slow process of rebuilding, rebuilding and building a new neural pathway.
00;05;39;21 - 00;05;49;23
Unknown
So if you just like fight through it and you keep trying to use force, you're probably going to make that awkward period take even longer.
00;05;49;24 - 00;05;55;05
Unknown
But if you try to move from connection
00;05;55;05 - 00;06;11;25
Unknown
and work on improving your connection, then you might give your body and your nervous system the space or or permission to build this new way, this new way of doing things.
00;06;11;27 - 00;06;12;22
Unknown
If you.
00;06;12;22 - 00;06;22;16
Unknown
If you insist on forcing, then this new information sits unused. It goes to waste quite literally.
00;06;22;16 - 00;06;43;12
Unknown
So then the next question is, okay, so what do I do? The week after seminar, I feel like a fish out of water. What do I do? So and that's why these these videos, these training videos that I have are so important, I think I think my aim is to help people through things like this, not just where to put your front foot when you do.
00;06;43;14 - 00;06;55;23
Unknown
Shiho Nagi. Right. So that's why I try to share these, these insights here in this newsletter format. So how to use the post seminar week intentionally?
00;06;55;25 - 00;07;02;28
Unknown
Decrease the force, decrease the physical force, loosen up your body.
00;07;02;28 - 00;07;19;05
Unknown
And you can try doing things slowly as well. And when you do all of this, pay attention to where the confusion actually lives in your body. Where does your body kind of get stuck? Or where do you trigger to tighten up?
00;07;19;08 - 00;07;26;17
Unknown
So if you do it slowly, then you'll be able to find some of these clues and then you can work on those moments.
00;07;26;17 - 00;07;50;25
Unknown
And of course, if you pick just 1 or 2 things from the seminar, at first at least I think that'll be a little bit better. You won't have to digest so much. So just think of like 1 or 2 concepts. Maybe these concepts were shown in various techniques, or maybe these concepts were shown in just one technique. Whatever it is.
00;07;50;27 - 00;08;01;22
Unknown
Just 1 or 2 concepts or 1 or 2 techniques and try those slowly and try to remain loose through the entire technique, loose and aligned.
00;08;01;22 - 00;08;02;04
Unknown
00;08;02;04 - 00;08;06;27
Unknown
And then third, in this post seminar week, be patient.
00;08;06;27 - 00;08;22;00
Unknown
Just keep practicing these things. You know, sometimes we go shopping. We find a shirt. Oh my gosh I love this shirt. And you don't change your mind. Five years later you're like, oh my gosh, this is all worn out, but I don't want to throw it out. I love this shirt.
00;08;22;06 - 00;08;42;17
Unknown
Right. Other times you're not quite sure right away, right? You're like, I don't know, maybe try it on. You look in the mirror. Yes. No, it's not so easy to tell. You need some time. So with the shirt, I don't know. Do you need five minutes to figure it out? Do you need ten minutes? Do you need a week?
00;08;42;17 - 00;09;05;11
Unknown
And then you take it back to the store and return it? Hey, I've decided I don't like it. You know, it's going to take some time, so I recommend to to give it at least 2 or 3 weeks before you decide if continuing to work on one of these concepts is worth it for you or not. I'm not saying you're going to get it in 2 or 3 weeks.
00;09;05;11 - 00;09;26;14
Unknown
I'm saying delay your decision for 2 or 3 weeks. Like, okay, the teacher showed A, B, C, and I don't know, I don't quite get it. I'm going to practice it with my friend after class and you try it one time. A no, it doesn't make sense. Forget it. I'm not going to think any more about that concept.
00;09;26;19 - 00;09;49;26
Unknown
I would not recommend that. I would recommend that you play with it for 2 or 3 weeks after the seminar, and then if it still doesn't make sense or it's not fun or, you know, doesn't seem worthwhile, then a okay, maybe it means it's just not going to be beneficial to you, but also maybe it means that you're not ready yet for that.
00;09;49;27 - 00;10;17;14
Unknown
You haven't gotten to the point where that movement or that concept makes sense in your Aikido. And maybe once you've progressed another year or two, it will make sense. So don't write it off forever, but you can just like, toss it aside and maybe you'll want to bring it back in eventually or not. In conclusion, the week after the seminar is the seminar.
00;10;17;16 - 00;10;41;05
Unknown
That's the real seminar. So what you do with the confusion, the inconsistency, the feeling that something you had is now gone? Oh my gosh, that's where the learning actually becomes yours. That's where you can start to own some of these concepts and methods.
00;10;41;07 - 00;11;11;18
Unknown
Thanks so much for joining me today. And if you're interested, I'll be teaching in Pennsylvania very soon. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, I'll be teaching there November 20th through the 22nd, and I'll also be teaching in Los Angeles and Redlands, California, both of those locations in January. Then in 2027, I've got numerous seminars coming up, and I've got three tours that I'm doing in 2027.
00;11;11;19 - 00;11;36;04
Unknown
The first tour will be at the end of March, and that'll be cherry blossom viewing and training, of course, and hot spring visits, and in Japan. And then the second tour will be in May in Japan, will be going to Tokyo, dojos in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kamakura. And then the third tour of 2027 will be in September in Germany and the Netherlands.
00;11;36;06 - 00;11;51;23
Unknown
If you'd like more information on any of those tours, just find the link in the description below and join the waitlist and I'll give you all the info you need as it becomes available. Thanks so much! Looking forward to training together soon. Bye bye.
