Dave's busy weekend

AIKIDO

Last weekend was a busy one for me. On Saturday, I got up at 5:30 am to go to the All-Japan Aikido Demonstration (全日本合気道演武大会). The demonstration was held at the Nihon Budokan in Tokyo.

About 50 people from my dojo went together on the shinkansen. Aikido is a martial art and not a sport, so there are no games or competitions and the demonstration is the biggest event of the year for Aikido. The shihan and shibucho of my dojo each had demonstrations and the dojo had a demonstration too. I didn't perform, I just went to watch, but I hope to be able to perform someday. I saw my old senpai Marc from Malta, who lives in Iwama now, as well as my old teacher from when I lived in Okazaki City and one American friend who practices at the Honbu Dojo in Tokyo. I wanted to stay in Tokyo and meet some friends, but I came back because I ran in the Shodoshima Marathon on Sunday.

 Shodoshima Marathon 

So I had to get up early in the morning again on Sunday at 5:45 am. My friend Susumu and I took a ferry over to Shodoshima Island and we were just in time for the race to begin at 9 am. Susumu ran in the half marathon and I did the 10k. I only trained twice for the run and the weather was terrible, but my time was Ok, I think. I ran 10k in 1 hour 9 minutes and 34 seconds. 

Two years ago I ran in 1h11m, so I was faster this time. Even though the weather was bad, a few thousand people came to run. We had a good time, but were so tired at the end of the day. On Monday, my friend had a party at his house. He is American and his parents are visiting him in Japan, so he had a party so they could meet all of his friends. So, my weekend was busy, but I met with a lot of friends.