Day Six, Training Day Three

Today we did our Sunday training which consists of :30 minutes of Mediation, :30 minutes of Yoga and 1:00 hour of Sword/ staff training. This is the end of the first week of the journey. So far, we have both completed three days of training participating in at least two hours each day. We are still learning the basic moves as well as the language. In Aikido, prior to each move, all aikidoka are to pronounce the name of the move in Japanese. We haven't quite mastered this yet, but we're getting there. There are no more scheduled classes today and the next one will begin tomorrow evening at 4:40pm with the childrens class. I am beginning to understand what this is all about and the more I learn the more I am intrigued and look forward to more. We have such a wonderful community here and I am very happy to be surrounded by such wonderful people. Each of us has our own ideals and beliefs but we are drawn together by one very strong thread of aikido. We come from all parts of the world with different experiences and backgrounds. But we have joined here together in harmony to seek peace and wisdom.