AIKIDO

Aikidokas: Tim, Kim, Trey, and Brad. Ukemi: Normal set, I did take a couple of big falls with some extra padding out.The Walk: As usual. Once at a moderate pace and once at my more preferred slower pace. And I spent some timer with Tom working on the last three stones.Releases: with Brad.Techniques:Owaza Ju PonBrad and I did some work on his shomen-ate and his aigamae-ate.Koryu Dai San No KataT

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad and Tom. Ukemi: I helped Tom wokr on his ukemi for a while. He's getting better.The Walk: As usual. Once at a moderate pace and once at my more preferred slower pace. And I spent some timer with Tom working on the last three stones.Releases: with Tom, teaching him the first 4 releases.Techniques:Owaza Ju PonTrey and I did some work on his kote-gaeshi.Koryu Dai San No

Aikidokas: Tim, Greg, and Trey. Ukemi: The usual set. Pulled out another mat and took a big fall from TimThe Walk: As usualReleases: with GregTechniques:Owaza Ju PonWe did some work on kote-hineri and tenkai kote-hineri. I'd jump in as uke from time to time as a break from practicing my knee walking.Trey did some work with me on kote-gaeshi at the end.Koryu Dai San No KataTrey and I worked on o

Aikidokas: Tim, Kim, Trey and Brad. Ukemi: The usual set.The Walk: As usualReleases: not todayTechniques:Trey and I went through 6-13 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. We spent a lot of time on kote-gaeshi without much success. Trey's still having some issues.We did a little suwari waza work for meal.Kim and I went through 6-13 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. We spent a lot of time on kote-gaeshi without much success

A while back I wrote a short article about why aikido is a great martial art for older adults. As short as the article was, it elicited some controversy when I suggested that striking arts or grappling arts might (IMO) be of limited use for older adults. One commentator asked if I thought 80 year olds would be able to sustain the falling frequently associated with aikido. My response was,No, mo

So, how do you go about teaching kids aikido? The common view, at least in the judo world, is that you shouldn't teach young kids chokes or joint locking techniques because of the potential risk to growth plates in their long bones. Some jiujitsu teachers are able to work these techniques in relative safety with kids but I think if I were to teach a class of kids aikido, here's some of what I'd

Via SportzBlitz.Interesting video of Aikido being practised for street effectiveness. I think it looks good and the guy doing the moves looks sharp but at the end of the day, he is doing it on a co-operating partner.Does this matter THAT much? Im not sure. You can only do so much to a training partner before hurting them. I think it is good, but the element of Aliveness and a partner fighting back

Aikidokas: Trey. Sensei Tim was still under-the-weather, so I got to run another classUkemi: The usual set and we worked on some knee-walking to get Trey introduced to it.The Walk: Twice. Once with the eyes closed. I really messed up in the midst of one stone on the Walk and ended up 90 degrees from where I should.Releases: with Trey. I was not doing well: rushing and being late at different t

Aikidokas: Kim, Trey and Tom. Sensei Tim had a cold, so I got the opportunity to run my first class as a Black Belt. I knew it was coming, but I did not expect it so soon.Ukemi: I worked with Tom on his ukemi and took a brief set of falls to warm upThe Walk: Twice, as is the usual customReleases: worked with Tom on 1-4. He started to grok the stuffI worked with Tom on the Walk and releases on a

And while I'm talking about the aiki brushoff (again), here's a replay from an article from November 2006 in which I am starting to try to figure out what it is that we are really doing in aikido......And speaking of that "feeling of release," there's this article by Beth Shibata on throwing vs. releasing in aikido. I mentioned it in an earlier post on shihonage, but a while back I found this thr

Like the commentators on the YouTube site, I couldn't exactly describe what we're seeing here. But I have a feeling it has some things in common with the Aikitaiji video that I posted a few days ago. Interestingly, aikido is about harmony and yoga is about unity, and taiji is supposed to be the 'grand universal principle' or something like that. There should be some overlap between the domains of

Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Kim, and Trey. Ukemi: The usual setThe Walk: not todayReleases: not todayTechniques:Richard worked with me on starting the Koryu Dai San No Kata. I need to know the first 16 of the following. Suwari-waza (Kneeling Techniques)Uke KneelingTori Kneeling1. Oshi-Taoshi2. Gyaku-game-ate3. Kote-Gaeshi4. Ryote-mochi-sukui-nageUke StandingTori Knee

Aikidokas: Tim, Kim, Trey and a new student whose name I've forgotten. Ukemi: I worked with the new student, introducing him to rolls on the crash pad.The Walk: as usual, with our new student in the middle of the rest of usReleases: none tonightTechniques:I oversaw Kim and Trey learning: Kote-Hineri, Kote-gaeshi, and Tenkai Kote-Hineri. I'd demonstrate it and then they'd work on it alternating ro

Judo with ToddROM, ukemi footsweep to control with emphasis on bumping uke to get his front foot floating and then reaching out and touching his foot to see if he is really floating or not. deashibarai uchikomi early and late deashibarai uchikomi - 2 of any variation on one side and one on the other.  This really develops the feel of randori because of the type of synchronization osotogari -

The word, shibboleth was originally a botanical term referring to a part of a plant, but it came to mean a pass-phrase or a practice that identifies a member of a group.  The word comes from the Biblical account of a battle between the Ephraimites and the Gileadites in which the Gileadites were able to use the word as a pass-phrase to identify Ephraimite enemies because the Ephraimite dialect

Aikidokas: Tim, Greg, and Trey. Ukemi: A normal set.The Walk: as usual.Releases: With Tim. Some tweaks.Techniques:We started introducing them to the next 4 of Ju Nana Han Kata. We had time to work on Kote Hineri and Tenkai Kote Hineri. They did really well.Aftermath: None of note.

Aikidokas: Tim, Kim, and Trey. This was a night of demonstrations. Kim and Trey both demonstrated for their 3rd Brown Belts, or Sankyu.They did fabulous jobs. It was the most consistent set of demonstrations I've seen.Congratulations to both of themAftermath: None of note

Aikidokas: Tim, Kim, and Trey. Ukemi: A normal set.The Walk: I counted this out for Kim and Trey. They were of the opinion that I counted waaaaay too slowly. They're probably right.Releases: With Trey. Very smoothTechniques:We ran through a 3 iterations of Trey's demonstration syllabus. He's doing great. I notice some stuff each time around, but it's really not worth correcting at this poi

Aikidokas: Tim, Kim, Trey, Greg and C. Ukemi: Helped C. with her falls.The Walk: Went ok.Releases: With Greg.Techniques:We ran through a couple of iterations of Trey's demonstration syllabus. And I worked with Greg on exposing him to 11-14 of Ju Nana Hon Kata.Trey's reps went very well. He's going to do exceptionally well this Friday.Greg and I worked on #11 and #13, exploring the off-balance

The Shodan test in Aikido is an opportunity for the Sensei of the dojo and the Aikidoka taking the test to evaluate their work and progress by receiving feedback from a senior Sensei of Dan 6 and above. Translated as "the Way of unifying (with) life energy" or "the Way of harmonious spirit" Aikido (合気道) is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba in order to create an art that

Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Trey, Brad, and C. Ukemi: I spent the ukemi portion of the night working with C. We're still using the crash pad, but she started falling from an upright position instead of just her knees. She's making great progressThe Walk: No issues.Releases: With Trey.Techniques:Trey and I ran through his demonstration 3 times: Releases and Ju Nana Hon Kata (1-10). Even the th

Aikidokas: Tim, K., Trey, and C. (a new student). Ukemi: Normal routine.The Walk: Went ok. Slowed down at spots to allow C. to better see what's happeningReleases: With Trey.Techniques:Trey and I went through a couple of repetitions of what his Sankyu demonstration would be: Walk, Releases and 1-10 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. It went really well.After that, I spent some time with C. showing her the

Aikidokas: Tim, Brad, and C. (a new student). Ukemi: Took a few big falls with no aftereffects.The Walk: Went ok.Releases: With Brad.Techniques:Brad and I worked on 1-5 Shomen-ate and Aigamae-ate for him.Aftermath: None of note.

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and C. (a new student). Ukemi: No big falls.The Walk: Went ok.Releases: With Trey.Techniques:Trey and I worked on 1-5 for each of us and then 6-10 for him and #6 for me.Relearning Shomen-ate and working on Aigamae-ate (left-sided) occupied most of my time as tori. I'm at a bit of a plateau with those techniques at the moment.I'm also having to correct some footwork on Osh

Aikidokas: Tim, and Trey. Ukemi: No big falls.The Walk: Went ok.Releases: With Trey.Techniques:Trey and I worked on 1-10 for each of us and then 11-17 for me.It was an ok night. Hurricane Ike had an impact on our performance. We all spent most of the previous week dealing with the aftermath, so he made his presence known on the mat.I certainly don't feel I'll be ready for Shodan demonstration

OK, ok!  I got the picture.  As Kel mentioned in the comment to the previous post, Nick Lowry's book really is much better than any of the six that I recommended.  The only reason that I didn't link to Nick's book was that for some reason, Amazon didn't have a cover image, so I figured my link would look shabby.  Thanks to Kyle Sloan for sending me the cover image, so if you ar

A few days ago I posted a list of absolute must-read judo books and since then several readers have responded saying that they loved those books and appreciated the recommendations.  I figured I'd post a similar list of aikido books.  Following are five great aikido books and a sixth - a little lagniappe if you will.

Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Brad. Trey was leaving early, because of the Aggie game, so we had to work him out early.Ukemi: No big falls.The Walk: Went ok.Releases: With Trey.Techniques:We spent a lot of time working on shomen-ate this afternoon. We're all having trouble with the new version, but we're slowly getting a handle on it. I think I've crossed the line from confused to competent.We pl

Aikidokas: Tim, and Trey. We had some visitors watching the session this evening. Potential students. Mature women. So, Sensei Tim spent some time talking to them while Trey and I did the usual things, with a bit of an ear out for stuff Sensei Tim wanted us to show.As they left, they implied they'd be back next week. We'll see.Ukemi: No big falls.The Walk: Went ok.Releases: With Trey.Techni

Sensei Tim arranged with Jeff in Killeen to come out and hold a seminar this past weekend. He wanted me along, with an ulterior motive, so I arranged my schedule and was his passenger on the trip to and from.He picked me up at 10am Friday and we made it into Killeen by around 3pm, I think. We recuperated at the hotel until around 5 and then joined Jeff and Gail for dinner at a nice little Mexica

This is the third in a series of reviews on Rory Miller's excellent new book, Meditations on Violence. The previous reviews can be found here and here. .I really ought to try harder to find something to gripe about in this book just so I won't seem like some sort of kool-aid drinking Rory Miller sycophant when I tell you that you really, really need to buy this book. Hmmm... Let's see... How about

When an attacker is approaching, the person only has a split second to decide whether to dodge or block the move of the opponent. There is no point thinking about what this happened in the first place but the concern now is just to stop it. In a fight, the person can make a counter attack [...]

Aikido means “The Way of Harmony with the Spirit” and is considered a non-violent form of martial art. However, don’t be fooled. Aikido when used correctly is very powerful often are able to block and neutralize strong attacks and counter them with an equal force. Morihei Ueshiba, now known as O-sensei to the world of Aikido, [...]

Dr. Lee Ah Loi literally wrote the book on Tomikiryu Koryunokata - the set of six "advanced" exercises in Tomiki's school of aikido. Here she has a nice, crisp demonstration of the begnning of Koryu Daisan, which kata is also known as Goshin no kata and which, as she remarks, bears great semblance to kodokan Judo's Goshin Jitsu (also developed by Tomiki Sensei).This book makes an excellent referen

The name aikido is formed by the combination of three characters in the Japanese language. Ai, which means joining; ki, which means spirit and do, which means way. These three words actually summarize the essence of aikido as a form of martial art— the joining of the spirit to find the way. It was only [...]

Charlie Badenhop from Seishindo shares his posts about Aikido Philosophy: An Oriental Concept of Energy, Self, and MindAikido Philosophy: An Oriental Concept of Energy, Self, and Mind PrefaceThere are many different ways to understand Aikido philosophy and perceive, utilize, and benefit from energy. What I offer here is one of many ways. Indeed when I do other kinds of activities I perceive of an

Nathan at TDA Training has a lot of good info on boxing, including articles on boxing for self-defense, boxing combinations, and such… One of his more popular articles describes 3 C’s of boxing defense and 3 C’s of boxing offense – good rules of thumb that make things a lot better better during sparring. In this article, Nathan says that for defense, you should Circle, Cover, and Counter and that for offense, you should Close, Cover, and Clear. Read his article for details.I’d say this is all mighty good advice but just as a thought exercise what if we change a thing or two ….The line between offense and defense is blurry at best most times, so, what if we combined the two groups into one?Cover appears twice. Maybe it is twice as important, but what if we replaced one Cover wit

This post is about Aikido history and development. Aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, was born in Japan on December 14, 1883. As a boy, he often saw local thugs beat up his father for political reasons. He set out to make himself strong so that he could take revenge. He devoted himself to hard physical conditioning and eventually to the practice of martial arts, receiving certificates of mastery in several styles of jujitsu, fencing, and spear fighting. In spite of his impressive physical and martial capabilities, however, he felt very dissatisfied. He began delving into religions in hopes of finding a deeper significance to life, all the while continuing to pursue his studies of budo, or the martial arts. By combining his martial training with his religious and political ideologies, he cr

Jodo with MytchiKoReviewed moving from pencil grip, which is her normal mode of holding the cane, into honte, gyakute, and sakate postures and measuring the distance to the opponent. She is improving on the measuring stick idea.Worked some strikes - pencil→sakate→ushirotsuke, pencil→gyakute→gyakuteuchi (to shin or knee or extended wrist)Worked on moving from pencil to sakate and using the structure of the forearms and stick like a cowcatcher to brush off and roll the ball.Showed her a cool addition to the stab-the-foot move that she has been working on - if you miss, use the stick as a reference and step forward onto their foot, then use their reaction to roll the ball and brush them off.I took out a quarterstave and worked some of the same concepts against Woodreaux.Aiki with Ric

The origin of Aikido can be traced back to the Jiu Jitsu School of Daito. According to the records concerning the secrets of marshal arts, the Aiki Jiu Jitsu, as it was called during the Kamakura period in about the 12th century, was founded by Yoshimitsu Minamoto. This marshal art was handed down from generation [...]

A while back I had a very popular set of articles on eye contact in martial arts. You can find them here and here. Several of my readers gave points of view that differed somewhat. I think what is happening here is we are talking about part of the same phenomenon from different points of view (pun intended).My contention is that you want to point your field of vision at the centerline of the opponent and keep it there, unshifting. My commentators bring up the point that peripheral vision works better and that we process better unconsciously when we are de-focussed instead of locked on a focal point.We're talking about the same elephant here. You want to do both. you want to direct your field of vision on their centerline (perhaps nasion or suprasternal notch) and you also want to defocus i

Aikido with Knox, Quin, Rick, and KelWarmed up with the kids with a contest to see who could runn across the mat in the silliest way. There was a lot of arm flailing and head wagging, hopping, and wiggling of butts. In short, food warmup.Ukemi with me throwing/spotting the kids into the crash pad for about 20 minutes before class started. Then the kids bailed and the grownups showed up and continued with the ukemi in the crash pad, emphasizing forward roll falling from a reflexed position.Tegatana emphasizing rapid recovery, bringing the back side of the body with you, and doing it as near-instantaneously as possible.hanasu #1-4 emphasizing tori staying centered on the power hand and uke flowing with tori.knife evasions, aiki brush-off, and stab-twice.The brush-off led into the tantodori s

Over the past 23 or so years I have studied taekwando, karate, judo, aikido, hapkido, and jujitsu and I can honestly say that of the martial arts I have experienced, aikido appears to me to be the best self defense there is. The following are a handful of aspects of aikido that I think make it particularly suitable for self-protection purposes.Ukemi – the art of falling safely – particularly the simple side fall and the forward roll. Proper reflexive falling skills will likely save you from many more hazards during your lifetime than any other martial arts technique or skill. Check here for a collection of good articles on proper falling.Evasion and the aiki brush-off – the ability to efficiently get out of the way of an incoming force and push the opponent off of you or push yoursel

Kid's judo with Gavin, Whit, Knox, Emma, and QuinUkemi - and lots of it with me throwing/spotting Whit, Knox, and Quin for about 30 minutes before class started. Then the others arrived and we went through the ukemi routine for the parents' demo in about a month.osotogari into kesagatamequiet sitting counting sounds that we can hear. Aikido with Keltegatana with emphasis on taking small enough steps that the heels fo not strike or lift off the mat.hanasu with emphasis on 'stay-off-me' hands.chain #1, including shihonage, iriminage, and ushiroatesome various interesting techniques from Sankata as the cool ninja techniques of the night.I am exhausted from the three workouts today. Elise, my darling wife, has gone to purchase me a bottle of whiskey to drink while I lie in a scalding hot bat

Aikido with John J. and VincentROM, ukemitegatana with emphasis on heel-toe, shoulder-width stance, walking on the balls of the feet, complete recovery steps, and relaxed unbendable arm.hanasu #1 and #2chain #1, including release #1 resisted into release #2, which can lead to a reverse kotegaeshi. This gave us the opportunity to talk about covering uke's hands to damp or supress his potential.Short lecture on the four main backup plans in aikido: 1) get behind uke, 2) disengage and move away, 3) move with uke, and 4) hit uke in the face.We worked on shomenate as an example of backup plan #4 when we (for whatever reason) stepped inside and parried with the lead hand (a terrible, awkward mistake).

Aikido with Patrick M., Rick, and MytchiJodo with Mytchi. We worked on rolling the cane from pencil grip to honte, gyakute, and sakate grips. We also worked on #1 and #6 seiteikata as separation events against unarmed attackers.Tegatana emphasizing using ideokinesis to release into shizentai by visualizing forces drawing the crown of the head and the balls of the feet apart (is that enough jargon for you or what?). This was an amazing, relaxing postural fix.Hanasu #1-4Randori as a game of random releases. Everyone was doing great on this.Oshitaoshi (irimi omote and tenkan) emphasizing sidestepping into uke's blind spot and staying there with feelers until you can separate or execute a technique. We also got to play with good locking posture in pins.We talked about several really disor

We had no 5AM class this morning - Rob had a test to study for.. Kid's judo with Gavin, Whit, Mason, and EmmaWarmup, ukemi, spider-crawling alternated with big falls (teguruma) with a spotterOsotogari uchikomi "by the numbers" sets of theee throwing on the last rep and trading partners. Whit was doing especially good on the osotogari, and hammered Gavin once. Gavin tried to whine about it but then started laughing.Osotogari into kesagatameUphill escape from kesagatame. Mason was majorly out-doing the others on this escape with an excellent bridging action.Crawling manAiki with Ricktegatana emphasizing balls of the feet and short, conservative steps.hanasu #1-4 emphasizing the feeling of release.partner evasion exercises using release motions to evase and brush off lunges.suwari kokyuho (kn

Aiki with Kel and RickTegatanaHanasu #1 and #2Chain #2 emphasizing moving the butt so that the hands work correctly without articulating the wrists or elbows.several variants of maeotoshi as "cool ninja technique of the day"

Aikido with RobTegatanaShichihon no kuzushiYonkata part B - Shichihon ura (responses for Shichihon gone bad)Sankata suwariwaza 1-3 and tachiwaza 9-16We will begin next week doing Tuesday 5:00 am classes in addition to our now-regular Thursday mornings.

"The way of the harmonious spirit," or Aikido, is an unusual form in the world of martial arts. Relatively young, having been developed in the beginning of this century, Aikido seeks to integrate the body and mind and find ultimate peace, both externally and internally. Aikido's creator, Morihei Ueshiba, had a simple goal: to combine his martial arts studies, his personal philosophy, and his religious beliefs into one unified system for daily living. As Ueshiba said, "to control Aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace"      That belief of not injuring one's opponent is the central focus on this martial art form steeped in samurai traditions and updated to suit modern lives. In fact, there are no offensive moves in Aikido. Instead, this martial art form focuses on entering into the opponent's attack and re-directing their energy rather than meeting force with force. Along these lines, Aikido consists mainly of body throws, to remove the opponent for

Here at age 72 Strephon demonstrates Spiritual Aikido Sword.Strephon has developed Spiritual Aikido from regular Aikido. He has trained in regular dojo Aikido since he was 46. Strephon has used his Spiritual Aikido practices in his professional trainings in dreamwork psychology as a regular practice, and in his own life. He has taught Spiritual Aikido courses to adults in spiritual centers.Here in this ten minute film Strephon shows himself in action with a live Japanese, metal, practice sword.The Spiritual Aikido principles emphasized are:- follow the sword, do not lead it- harmonize your being and body with universal laws of motion.- do not impose traditional sword moves onto the natural swing and flow of the body holding a live sword- practice effortlessly with the sword moving you in free and harmonious motion- do not use muscle strength in your movements- transfer your weight effortlessly up through the ground into your body and out your sword tip- practice not by repetition but b

See it on MySpaceHere at age 72 Strephon demonstrates Spiritual Aikido Sword.Strephon has developed Spiritual Aikido from regular Aikido. He has trained in regular dojo Aikido since he was 46. Strephon has used his Spiritual Aikido practices in his professional trainings in dreamwork psychology as a regular practice, and in his own life. He has taught Spiritual Aikido courses to adults in spiritual centers.Read more...This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.

Video: Ovidiu Brazdau See the videocast See this video on YouTube See this video on Google VideoStrephon trains his Romanian Psychology Students in Spiritual Aikido Practice and term Strephon uses for teaching Universal Energy Principles that show up in dreams and life.Here you will see Strephon's students learning not to resist the  stick coming at then but to move with it, adapting to its motion.The opposite is resisting the force and the weapon coming at you in a defensive, rather than blending way. This principle in practice in life and martial arts can make you rigid and therefore susceptible to being broken more easily than if you are flexible and flow with energy coming your way.Students get to experience directly what their attitudes are as seen in their use of their bodies.Strephon always has training sessions for students in Spiritual Aikido to use during breaks from the intellectual work and in special sessions.You do not have to be good at martial arts or spo

Video: Ovidiu Brazdau See the videocast See this video on Google VideoStrephon trains his Romanian Psychology Students in Spiritual Aikido Practice and term Strephon uses for teaching Universal Energy Principles that show up in dreams and life.Read more...