The Trojan Horse
Our dojo has a fun tradition called the Birthday Toss. Any member having his birthday may choose to take ukemi the number of times as their age plus one. Other dojo members will be nages . It is a great way for Aikido fanatics to celebrate birthdays. Since I am over 50, I am eligible for the "senior discount" and only do (100 - my age) +1 time. My hard-headed conviction is that, for as long as I can, I will stick to my real number. Today, I survived my 57- ukemi challenge. Last week, I was talking to a few students about my upcoming birthday toss. I was game. I thought it must be exciting for students to throw their instructors around. I was a little surprised when a student said, "Oh, we try. But, it is actually quite a challenge for us, too . . . " She laughed and then mimicked having her technique reversed and she ended up being thrown. Oh. Right. When people are too sloppy or leave too big an opening, I sometimes reverse their technique and toss t
