Articles
One evening some of the dojo members were invited to the Chiba household for dinner.…
The stress and pressure of training in San Diego Aikikai was a given, the norm.…
I was waiting in the main luggage area in the San Diego airport looking around…
I think it must have been 1992 and in the middle of a summer camp…
In all my years of training, I have rarely if ever gotten into fights. By this, I mean serious fights where someone has the intent to maim, not merely a punch-up. I think there are several reasons for this
Ever since Aikido of London was established a rich tapestry of people have come and…
What is basic training? It is what beginners are expected to learn. In time and as experience is gained the more advanced teaching is shown while the basic way of doing things is reduced if not abandoned entirely. This is very typical in approach to teaching but it does not explain what basics is and how important they are.
“Many of you practice as though you are doing it , the application, the technique, the training. You are not. Too late, too little, wrong place, wrong time, wrong teacher to be doing that kind of training.” Quite a shattering statement to anyone listening.
Learning to fall in Aikido, ukemi in Japanese, is half the training. Falling is not quite the right way to describe this aspect of training. Receiving would be more appropriate and much closer to the meaning. Receiving emphasises a way to take the throw, the pin and how to go with it, with the outcome that you still fall or get pinned etc. At first it seems awkward
