What's a skenny?

In March 2006, shortly after I joined the YMCA Shodokan aikido club, I received an e-mail saying that there was an "annual [aikido] course" in Skenfrith on 26-29 May 2006 and that there were only a few spots left. I guessed that this was the moral equivalent of those TV ads that say, "so you don't forget, order before midnight tonight!" Still, I remembered other club members saying how much time they had "at Skenny" in years past, and now I figured out that Skenny was really Skenfrith, a town in Wales.

Fast forward to May...

Eventually, May rolled around, and by that time I'd been involved in aikido less than three months. On Friday afternoon, five of us from our club travelled from Paddington station in London through Newport in South Wales to our ultimate destination: the town of Abergavenny, Wales, where we were to be put up in a bed & breakfast, named Ty'r Morwydd, that caters to groups.

On Saturday, we made our way to the dojo in the (relatively) nearby town of Skenfrith. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by lots of aikidoka from all over the UK, plus some from abroad. And, gulp, I was the only ungraded person there.

But, I must say, it was an excellent experience. Still at the stage where I was completely self-conscious about the fact that I didn't know [insert the name of whatever was being taught at the time], Skenfrith was great both for my aikido (total overload) and for my ability to socialize with other people who were interested in the same thing (lots of interesting people from all over).

Special mention to my friend Keith Harry who, then a 5th kyuu, laid on one of the most effective shomen ate I'd ever experienced to date. We were in the midst of an ukeme drill, where whoever was at the head of the line had to throw everyone in the line as quickly as possible using straight shomen ate. After everyone had circulated through, the head of the line changed to the next person. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Anyway, everyone in the line was a dan grade, except yours truly. So when I was next in line to be thrown, Keith turned and threw me before he realized that I was not one of the dan grades. That's to say, he didn't "take it easy" on me. That was the moment when I gained confidence that my ukeme worked!

Hills and dales and Skirrid

Skenfrith is a beautiful place nestled in the hills of south Wales. The dojo we used for the course was a small church with an all-wood façade, the interior of which had been removed of seating. The floor of the main hall was covered wall-to-wall by the type of thick tatami mats found in judo dojos. What's more, the location was situated almost immediately adjacent to the ancient Skenfrith Castle, which added a bit of colour to the setting.

The course was actually divided up between two dojos, one in Skenfrith and the other in the nearby town of Monmouth. This latter venue was made from a ball court inside a modern sports facility there. While it didn't have the same charm as the more historic Skenfrith venue, it did provide a bit more space.

One of the natural in the local area is Skirrid Hill, also known by its Welsh name, Ysgyryd Fawr. On Sunday, after the training sessions had ended, but before the evening's dinner, a small group of us (including fellow clubmate Sonia, shown in the photo running to the summit, a mere hundred metres away) decided to join in a run up to the top of Skirrid Hill.

Okay, for all but a couple of people it was more of a "fast walk to the top" than a run. But, in any event, the view from on top of that landmark hill is worth the effort: on a clear day you can see as far south as the ocean ports around Newport, and you can get a good view of all the surrounding towns. If you go up there, remember to take a good jacket, as the wind is quite stiff year-round.