To all the Short-Sighted out There!

Beauty and Aikido ©

I am writing this post, to all the short-sighted out there who have been skeptical about contact lenses. So have I been for so many, many years. I started wearing glassed at around the age of 16. From that moment on I thought nobody would find me attractive. Paradoxically enough the same year I got to know my first big love, but that is another story.

Google out my goggles

So don't be silly, glasses do not make you look less attractive. You can have so much fun with different frames and styles. I must admit however, that as a teen having to wear glasses was tough. I always felt most people were seeing the frame and not the person behind it. To this day, I still feel like people I get into superficial contact with, remember me as somebody with glasses. This on the other hand it is kind of OK also, because you probably know the cliché: glasses make you look smarter.

In contact with the lenses

Contact lenses have been for long years a no go for me. I was really put off by the idea that I would have something applied directly on my retina. I din't really like the idea of having to pun my fingers into my eyes when putting it on and off. But there came that certain breakthrough point when I said I will try it.

Out of the fog, into the ligt

That certain point came because of aikido. At trainings I saw everything really blurry because I was not wearing glasses. There are people who wear glasses on the trainings. I personally felt it would hinder my freedom on movement and spoil the fun. I would have been concerned all the time about whether my glasses were about to fall off or not during a roll. So after briefly consulting with one of the senpai, I went there and bought those lenses. It opened a brand new dojo for me. The walls, the pictures, the clock in the dojo. The people's faces during the training: all these small thing became crystal clear. Training became a whole other experience. I am not sure how many of you can follow me, but I would persuade all the short sighted out there to give it a try.

I was mesmerized when I first put the lenses on. I could move my sight in all directions without being restricted by a frame. Because of that I could observe my environment in a different light. One of the most important teachings of aikido is indeed this perceiving of oneself in the context of one's environment. The lenses pushed me a small step forward towards progressing in that.

Beauty and Aikido ©

Glasses/Lenses/Glasses/Lenses/Glasses/Lenses...

All in all, I will not drop my glasses and wear lenses only. There are several reasons. On the one hand I work a lot on a computer, which dries my eyes. My eyes dry even quicker when I wear lenses. On the other hand were I to go to a job interview or i do a presentation, I might be tending to wear the glasses to have a more professional look (back to the smart-ass cliché, but watch out you might lose points in the team player category!) I adapt to my different activities:

Work and chilling at home, writing my blog (like right now),etc.- mostly glasses.

Free time, going for a walk on a sunny day in order to put on cute sunglasses, aikido training, date, whenever I want my make-up to stand out - lenses.

Ah...what the heck girls, the guys don't notice anyway... Sometimes I get the feeling we girls among ourselves notice it much better.

Katatedori: Ikkyo Ude Osae, Sumi-Otoshi, Kubinage

I am just reviewing some of the techniques we did on the last training. It was the first training where I had the contact lenses on. It barely bothered me as I was more masmarized by the fact that I can finally clearly see what was happening in the dojo.

At the beginning I was concerned the lenses could not remain in place at falls or something, but in the end it was all OK. It was really a new exciting feeling to get out of the blurry world I was training in.

We did a tough warm up, but I really loved the way senpai was leading it. She has some sort of freshness and positivity all around herself that maintains a pleasant atmosphere. She is also really good at catching the attention of kids and making them listen to her, which is, we must admit, not an easy task. Even though she still has some trouble tying her hakama she is the sweetest. So thanks to her kindly texting me on the next morning, I once again have the name of the techniques we did on that training:

1. Katatedori ikkyo ude osae, basis of all fixing techniques in aikido:

We always do the techniques from omote and ura. It was the case this time also.

2. Sumi-otoshi- omote, ura


I sill have to work on the uke part with the following while tori is doing the tenkans. Gentlemen (to quote this exquisite Sensei), let´s enjoy another demonstration of Kumaaikido´s Sensei. Still investigating his exact name as it did not become clear from the dojo´s site either.

3. Kubinage- omote, ura


This technique caused me a light injury I still have on the chin. Sensei was demonstrating on me and his gi rubbed to my chin and scratched it. I have not found the most suitable video that would give back the way we were doing the technique. Might be that its name is somewhat different. Do read my post on the aikido effect to see why at this stage I am still so unfamiliar with the names of the techniques. I am not sure what specific martial art is the following video demonstrating. However, it is the closest video I have found to how we were doing it, in aikikai without the fall of the tori together with the uke:

Should anybody have an aikikai aikido video for this technique (might be that the name of the technique is somewhat different that is why I have not found the right video) do not hesitate to write a comment or a message.

Thank you!