Category: aikido

Fiddler Dan Violins and Workshop

Aiki insights: learning an instrument

I’ve enjoyed learning aikidō for over 25 years so far. It’s a fascinating art, filled with intellectual and experiential joy. I continue to be intrigued by the subtle nuances, the quest for perfection and the creative space afforded by taninzūgake (free practice with one or more training partners). Lately I’ve returned to the violin, which I played as a younger man. As I… Read more →

training online at home

Training online at home

We’re establishing good routines of regular training online from home while we’re unable to train together at the dojo. Below are some guidelines on how to set up at home to enjoy online training sessions safely. Choose a space with: adequate light for you to see what you’re doing and be seen on video adequate ventilation sufficient floor space to… Read more →

Why I do aikido by Ray B

Why I do aikido by Ray B

I had a catastrophic car accident in 2014 and after 18 months of rehab in the gym I was no longer seeing any progress. Looking for other options, I contacted an aikido school and a sabre school (I’d trained both previously) and asked how they felt about taking on someone recovering from serious injury, who did not have full control… Read more →

Grading grats

Congratulations to all students who graded last week! 2017 has been a great year of training with a new cohort of students coming through. Everyone has made fantastic progress by simply turning up regularly and doing their best to make small improvements to their performance at every repetition. It’s been a lot of fun and that’s of course a really… Read more →

gradings and pizza

Gradings and pizza

This Thursday 7 December we’ll hold our end of year gradings and go out for pizza after. There was excellent preparation on Monday night and I think everyone is looking forward to showing what they can do. A highlight will be Bob Withers (3-dan) putting in an appearance to do a bit of teaching and inspire our cohort of new… Read more →

Terrorism, self defence and training

Anyone who has watched TV recently might well believe their best option is to lock the door and never set foot outside again! It may be a pretty tough world we live in, but that’s a long way from reality. Australia, like many countries in the developed world, is a really safe place to live. Terror attacks are highly unlikely,… Read more →

Aikido and the fundamental forces of the Universe

Aikido, like many an art form has been subjected to much scrutiny through combat effectiveness, ancient writings, opinion and more recently the sciences. Using the prism of western sciences it has been both praised or reviled. Many an attempt has been made by the Aiki/scientific community to successfully explain Aiki in this manner. There are the tawdry explanations of the… Read more →

AIki as an energy minimisation problem

Just back from a weekend in Sydney, where Andrew Sunter Sensei’s dojo held some inspirational gradings (see  Sydney Aikido facebook group for more info). Congratulations to one and all, and Brett from Grafton dojo who also graded. The day before there was some opportunity to share a little something we have been working on up here in Brisbane. I’ve been… Read more →

Toppling Aiki

Chris Li’s Part 3 of Analysing Aiki is a terrific read on unbalancing and the mental/physical connection between uke and nage. I think there might even be seeing some support for the humble Aikiphysics Base of Support and Topple theory, but this time from a credible source Mr. Yoshimaru’s heels are floating, the center of gravity of the triangular body… Read more →

What is Aiki?

Chris Li of Sangenkai, Hawaii provides a multipart brilliant translation of a Japanese work analysing Aiki, by a prominent student of the Daito Ryu’s Sagawa Sensei. Read on for more http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/ Its terrific food for thought with our own humble efforts to date looking decidedly shabby. Read more →

Andrew Sunter Sensei, Guest classes Thursday April 25th (ANZAC Day)

UPDATE: We will be at the Mt. Gravatt Showgrounds for this event – from 6:30pm. See http://www.aikidorepublic.com/dojo-alternate-location     On ANZAC day, Thursday April 25th we will have good friend and senior aikido instructor Andrew Sunter Sensei as guest of the dojo (see brief bio ) to teach two classes. Sunter sensei is one of Aikido Yuishinkai’s most senior instructors and a… Read more →