Chushinkan Dojo was lucky enough to receive a visit from Flat Stanley. We found Flat Stanley a uniform, and gave him an introductory lesson. The class starts with warm-up stretches. I learned how to do a basic back roll. Beginners can practice on a thick soft mat until they are, well, ready to roll.
Aikido techniques are either joint locks or throws.
Here I am being thrown by a navy police instructor who just ran the LA Marathon. They say that in Aikido, small people can easily throw big ones. I didn't believe this at first, but I found that I was easily able to flip this superfit guy whose idea of fun is an 80 mile bicycle ride in the rain. We did joint lock techniques too, and here I am doing a pin. The instructor, Nakayama Sensei, is giving me some helpful pointers.