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 →