Aikido Yuishinkai – Shaken, not Stirred* This past week we learnt that Maruyama Sensei will be reducing his international seminar touring schedule next year, and unfortunately this means he won’t be visiting Australia in 2013. In the same week Williams Sensei also stepped down from his role as International Chief Instructor of Aikido Yuishinkai. Wot the? In one breath the… Read more →
Author: aikitaiyo
Jutta reflects on a home invasion
Dear Aikido Friends, Sometime ago you may have heard of the home invasion of Edwin and Jutta and the ensuing altercation. It was well reported in the media initially and followed up here, there was also considerable discussion in the Aikido community. Both Edwin and Jutta are well known in Brisbane aikido circles having practiced for many years, Edwin was a… Read more →
Special Class: Personal protection and core strength, Dec 4th 6:30pm+
Special Guest Class Catherine Schnell Sensei, Tuesday December 4th 6:30p – 7:30p An introduction to Personal Protection 7:45p – 9:30pm Aikido and the Core Location: across the road at the Hamlyn Harris Pavillion, Mt. Gravatt Show Ground www.aikidorepublic.com Its our pleasure to announce that long time budo buddy Catherine Schnell Sensei will be visiting our dojo on December 3rd. Sensei… Read more →
An Aikido Conversation in Melbourne
This past week I found myself in Melbourne for work and had opportunity to catch up with budo buddy Catherine Schnell Sensei at the Aiki-Centre, whom i met quite a few years ago during a Budo tour of Melbourne (See trip report Budo Bums Aikido in Melbourne here). During the course of that nights regular practice we shared some ‘conversation’… Read more →
Actioning ACT
I like to read, and I read from a wide spectrum of sources. Over the past 12 months I have been reading a lot about ACT: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The basis of ACT is that we find it challenging to find harmony and happiness in our lives when we constrict the space around our problems. The remedy, and it… Read more →
Opening an aikido dojo: Working the numbers in Brisbane and beyond
Our dojos been running a few years now (d!oh forgot the birthday), so part memory lane, part curiosity here’s a look at possibilities and how we are going so far . There are more than 20 aikido dojos in Brisbane. Its quite a large number (I’ve only gotten around to maybe 1/2 of them), but then the population of greater… Read more →
Three Pillars of Aikido Yuishinkai
Three Pillars of Aikido Yuishinkai A few months ago we learnt that Michael Williams Sensei was stepping down in many of the roles within Aikido Yuishinkai, though he remains our international chief instructor. In Australia, Williams Sensei has always been there at the front leading our aikido practice, and so the news was quite a shock, though on reflection perhaps… Read more →
Shobu, Shobu
I’ve just spent the week in the USA just outside of Boston for a sports technology conference. After some scouring of the web I discovered William Gleason Sensei’s Shobu Aikido dojo which seemed like too good an opportunity to miss and get a taste of something quite different. Fortuitously following the conference Gleason Sensei was running a weapons seminar. With… Read more →
Kuzushi on Contact – Ronin Shugyo Tuesday 26th June
On contact with Uke the conflict is over – the rest of aikido Kata is just exploration!. Kuzushi is a term for where Uke’s balance is taken and broken, where ukes centre is gathered and held. The techniques of Aiki are explorations of taking balance with pushing and pulling, and then leading Uke through movement to projection or pin. The… Read more →
I got my Black Belt, now what?
Being awarded a black belt in any martial art is often seen as a mark of proficiency. A black belt in some schools can take over ten years to achieve. Black belts today can be something of a commodity handed out in less than a year in some of the most commercial of dojo, in aikido dojo though black belt… Read more →
Business and Pleasure in Japan
Visiting Japan brings with it the pleasure of seeing old and new friends again, some indulgence in my favourite hobby of aikido (a kind of energy minimisation problem in a martial context) and the very serious business of sports and sports engineering. Last month was my most recent trip which might be of mild intrest. See Business and Pleasure for more Read more →
Core strength, internal strength and Aiki
Last week we looked at some core strength exercises as a major component of our warmups and integrated it into normal practice waza as well. Its something I’d like to pursue for the next little while and see how it goes. Ever since the winter camp I’ve been ruminating on an aspect of aikido called ‘internal strength’ which for some… Read more →
Inside the shell of Kata
Some thoughts from last weeks practice… Aikido practice is based on paired practice of techniques, which are the Kata of the art. Uke and Nage have defined roles. This differs somewhat from our perception of Kata gathered from arts like Karate, Taekwondo etc where Kata is usually a series of movements done solo. Our Kata are instead a Koryu concept… Read more →
Daito-Ryu with the Takumakai
Last weekend a few of us attended a Daito-Ryu day seminar with Grant Periott sensei and seniors from Tweed Takumakai ( http://aikinsw.com/ ), hosted by Redlands Aikido Yuishinkai ( http://www.redlandsaikido.com/ ). It was the first of what is hoped to be an ongoing dialogue and certainly was helpful in gaining further insights into Daito-Ryu, the fore runner of aikido and… Read more →
Internal Strength, Daito Ryu and Aiki
Having spent the past few weeks using weapons to understand aikido technique and developing appropriate power in the art (see beat them with a stick), its time to put the weapons away for a while. While we keep the body alignment, positioning and something of the intensity of mind we start to see something of more conventional aikido practice reemerge,… Read more →