My First night of Aikido was very stressful for me. A million thoughts ran through my head. The destructive gremlins of should not and can not were in full force that night. Let's face it... I am a gaijin (which has been brought up a few times and has been used to judge my abilities and potential in the martial arts, so it does matter), I have almost no experience in Asian Martial Arts, and I am wearing a navy blue jogging suit to start my first night. Also I am about as coordinated as a drunken child on riddlin. It was a long walk to the Ayukai Dojo.

I walked in and stood stupidly in the doorway as many, young and old, walked up and down the staircase next to the doorway. Now let me remind you that I am living in a tiny rural mountain town, so Gaijins (foreigners) are a bit rare to come by and even more rare are those that want to start a new Martial Art, so when I walked in and stood in the doorway, I attracted a lot of attention and stares from the regulars. I managed to mutter an "excuse me" to one of the higher ranked students marked by his black Hakame and asked him for Nomura-Sensei. He was very polite, nodded, guided me to the office that held my now present Aikido master.

I don't want to write too much about Nomura Sensei in case he ever sees this. I would be far too embarrassed to face him if he ever saw what I wrote about him. Nomura Sensei is a man who lives through his philosophy and his art. Every aspect of his life encompasses his believes. He is one of those rare human beings who has accumulated so much inner strength that he's intimidating and welcoming at the same time. The best way I can describe him is that he is like a mountain with a temple at the center and a path leading directly up to it. From the moment I met Nomura Sensei he has been kind and challenging. He truly has wanted the best for and from me.

Sitting in Nomura Sensei's office was another young man. This man is Japanese and Nomura Sensei introduced him to me as Mizushima-San. Mizushima, from what I have been able to learn, means "island of water." He's a very thin guy and I could tell he was very different from me, but similar to an old friend of mine. He has the kind of feminine long hair that has become popular especially in Japan. He has informed me since our first meeting that he initially joined Aikido because his girlfriend said he needed to get stronger. At that first meeting He was wearing a T-shirt and a blue pair of work out pants, and was a bit excited to see that someone else was joining the dojo on the same night. I admit I was also excited to see that I wouldnt be alone. We bowed and shook hand with each other and learned that not only were we starting at the same dojo, on the same night, but we were also almost exactly the same age. Both of us are at this moment 24.

I am a highly competitive individual, and find that I am at my best when I have an opponent who challenges me on as many levels as Mizushima has. He's someone who, if possible, makes me even more fired up to train at the dojo, and study at home the fine art of Aikido.

P.S. I am aware of the irony of a competitve person joining a martial art that is supposed to be completely non-competitive.