my car had had similar problems, it's hard getting it into 1st and reverse at first but after a while it gets noticeably better/smoother, also shifting into third it has a small grind. I brought the car to honda and they told me I need a new clutch ($950) with labor! This didn't make sense to me because my car is an '01 with 23,000 miles on it it runs great and I bought it used but the overall mileage and condition of the car seems truly mint like it was really taken care of. I'm not a mechanic but To me it feels like the gearbox is not aligned right because it has difficulty getting into 1st but if you put it in 3rd,4th,5th while still at a dead stop it seems to loosen the gearbox and it will smoothly go into 1st after I go through the gears from a stop. Either way, I'm going to bring it to another honda or maybe a normal mechanic to see what they say the problem is. Any info or similar problems please PM me with any help - thanks or e-mail (smjpcny@yahoo.com)

 

This is pretty normal. What you are doing is stopping the gearbox from spinning by putting it into another gear first. You don't have to go through all those gears. Just push the clutch when you are ready to engage 1st, but put it into 2nd for a moment (one second will do), then immediately go into 1st.
As for the rest of your questions and post, I've answered you in your post in that other thread.

 

I agree as I did have some similiar problems

 

like Xviper said, one second will do the trick...