Here's how this went:
- I got to learn how to kick my own ass
- I got to watch people kick other people's asses
- I got my ass kicked
- I tried to kick some ass
Rinse, repeat. Add some stretching and a whole lot of sweating in there and you've essentially got it.
So the coolest parts about this so far are that the classes seem to be fairly small (6-12 students, from what I've seen) and the instructors are great. I got a big kick out of the lesson, and I feel better than I've felt in a long damned time.
The downside to this is that Aikido is a fairly complicated art and it could take quite a while for me to figure it out. The average timeline (according to the instructors) is that I'll sortof get the feel for it in six months, really figure it out in about two years, and then realize I've got it all wrong around the third year. From there, I'll actually get better.
My local DNS server finally updated with your new IP. Anyway, I've been interested in doing Aikido for a while, but haven't yet because I've yet to live in a place that has an instructor. NMSU is supposed to have some sort of Aikido club. I could also drive to El Crapo, but why the hell would I want to do that at the end of the day?
Anyway, I'm looking into it more now that you've reminded me. Keep the info coming. I'm interested in hearing how it goes. Did you check out different schools of martial arts to determin that Aikido is the one that best fits? It sounds the most interesting to me.
So wow, that's awesome.
Poking around on the web, I haven't found anything near Cruces. I've found that dojos tend to be connected with people far more than on the web, so you may just want to find a local martial arts academy and ask if they know anyone who teaches Aikido. The Arizona people here mention Cruces, too—so they may be able to help.
There are a few different things that attracted me to Aikido in the first place; there's enough information there to turn it into an article.
Rob, there's something on Lowman - Gusman something or other. It might be Karate tho.
Raven, Indeed there is Guzman's Kickboxing or Karate something or other. That may very well be a good place to ask around for Aikido people. Did you also notice that there are a couple of Guzman's Nursery's? That's right, those Guzmans are kicking people's asses and then handing 'em an assortment of herb bushes. Now that's style.
Bwaa ha ha ha