Well done Rachna, the first of our hardy winter crop of adult students to grade 7-kyu under our revised syllabus. It’s been a long cold winter and those who put in the effort are reaping the rewards as the weather warms up! Read more →
Author: Andrew Sunter
Aiki Teens first grading
Last night we held the first ever gradings in our Aiki Teens class. Congratulations, Niamh and Thomas, on a fantastic job – you’ve made phenomenal progress this term! Read more →
What’s the hurry?
David Lynch Sensei has had a long and remarkable career in aikido—55 years and counting. He’s also an accomplished writer and he has given me permission to reprint some of his editorials from the magazine Hakama, which he published for the aikido community in New Zealand between 1995 and 2005. On reading them it struck me how little issues in training change… Read more →
Engaging the core: “zip up and hollow”
Engaging your core muscles is essential for aikido and aiki body training. Below is a description that I found really helpful. Core muscles work optimally when engaged no more than 25–30%. This is really important. If you do more than this you recruit additional muscles and will no longer be doing this exercise. It should feel like no more than a gentle squeeze. The following… Read more →
Tying your belt
This is the best method of tying a belt I’ve found. It was taught to me nearly twenty years ago by Mike Allen. Click the images to see them full size. Place one end of the belt on your left hip and wrap it twice round your body. You can grip the three layers together at the front with your… Read more →
Keep looking under the basin
In mid-2012 I spent two months in the UK. While I was away my landlady renovated the bathroom. I wasn’t consulted on anything other than the timing. I returned to a new bathroom with every fitting replaced. There was just one niggly-naggly little problem: the new basin had a mixer tap and I couldn’t get more than a trickle of… Read more →
Kids and Teens sign-up for 2nd Term 2015
We are having a sign-up day for Term 2 for Kids and Teens from 5.30 to 6.30 pm on Monday 20 April 2015 at our Camperdown dojo. Aikido in Sydney is re-launching Aiki Kids classes from Thursday 23 April and our Aiki Teens class starts Monday 27 April. Read more →
Great Ocean Brisbane April 2015
On the Anzac Day weekend Bob and I are travelling to Brisbane for a couple of events. On Saturday we are attending a mini seminar and dan grading at Aikido Republic. Jim Nicholls Sensei, Alstonville Aikido and co-founder of Great Ocean Aikido Community, is also attending. On Sunday we’ll be training at a Shimamoto Shihan seminar hosted by Dave Kolb Sensei… Read more →