Click here to watch video
As O-Sensei sat down Abe immediately placed a cushion down for him. He really moved fast to help O-Sensei. Sensei stared at me and asked, “Why do you want to learn aikido?” When I replied that I’d like to learn if he would teach me, he asked, “Do you know what aikido is?” There was no way I could have known what aikido was. Then Sensei added, “I’ll teach you how to serve society and people with this martial art.”
May
22
Morihei Ueshiba to Morihiro Saito: “Why do you want to learn aikido?”
May
22
Morihiro Saito: “Learning to fight for the benefit of society”
Click here to watch video
There was this old man doing strange techniques up in the mountains near Iwama. Some people said he did karate, while a judo teacher told me his art was called “Ueshiba-ryu judo.” It was frightening up there and I was afraid to go. I had a very strange feeling about the place. It was eerie, but some of my friends and I agreed to go up and have a look. However, my friends got cold feet and failed to show up. So I went alone…
May
22
Free hi-res download: “Morihei Ueshiba wielding the Nuboko”
Click here to read more
We are pleased to offer readers an extraordinary action image of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba for your collection. This unusual photo shows O-Sensei performing a type of misogi purification practice that reflects his Omoto-inspired Shinto beliefs, the lens through which the Founder viewed the world, and his mission in creating and spreading aikido…
May
22
“Morotedori Kokyuho starts from gyaku hanmi and you must extend ki through your arm!”
Click here to watch video
Raise your hands upward, pulling your partner off balance and enter behind him with your left foot. Shift your weight to your left foot and extend your arms towards your partner’s head to execute
the throw. Be sure that your eyes continue to look forward to avoid a possible kicking counter….
May
22
Where to look to take your kokyunage to the expert level?
Click here to read more
Focus your training on one of Aikido’s trademark throwing techniques: Kokyunage. You need to internalize these movements to raise your art to the next level. Takemusu Aikido, Volume 4: Kokyunage presents some 80 variations of kokyunage that will acquaint your with the essential details of this technique…
May
21
“Do not look at uke when executing Morotedori Kokyuho!”
Click here to watch video
The spacing, or maai, between you and your partner will be wrong if you look at him. If you face the same direction with the feeling of enveloping him, you will stay close to him and he will be unable to escape. If you look at your partner even slightly, his body will separate from you and there will be too much space between you…
May
21
“Do not look at uke when executing Morotedori Kokyuho!”
Click here to watch video
The spacing, or maai, between you and your partner will be wrong if you look at him. If you face the same direction with the feeling of enveloping him, you will stay close to him and he will be unable to escape. If you look at your partner even slightly, his body will separate from you and there will be too much space between you…
May
21
Must watch… Rumiko Hayes — “More Martial Magic of the Diminutive Ninja Lady!”
Click here to watch video
This video presents another inspiring display of this incredible martial artist. Rumiko Hayes’ perfectly timed soft-style manuevers take advantage of positional and anatomical weaknesses to control her opponent. These movements are beyond style and much martial wisdom awaits the careful observer!…
May
21
“Envelop uke to prevent his escape!” Morihiro Saito’s Morotedori Kokyuho
Click here to watch video
Learn how to neutralize uke’s power with this blending move taught by O-Sensei during every class. “When your partner stands in right hanmi and grabs your left hand, move your left foot to your partner’s right foot and turn your hips to change from left to right hanmi. Do this movement with the feeling of dropping your shoulder, elbows, and hips slightly. Turn to a position beside your partner, looking in the same direction. This is basic for all kokyuho exercises. The spacing, or maai, between you and your partner will be wrong if you look at him…”
May
21
The Martial Artist’s Dilemma: “Traditionalism vs. Innovation,” by Charles Humphrey
“Ueshiba had a powerful physique in his youth. He wasn’t born doing this quasi-no-touch stuff. He went through a whole process to that eventual end.”
I would like to address an issue in martial arts training in general that has bugged my subconscious for some time. It was only recently that I understood it well enough to articulate it clearly. Many of my realizations came, of all places, from undertaking a program of strength training. Shifting my paradigm a little and learning a whole new skill set with which I was relatively unfamiliar helped me get a new perspective on the skill set with which I am more familiar — my core martial arts training.
The issue is one that can only be described as the lack of innovation and logical progression in most training methodologies in the classical martial arts. I have been very frustrated with my training for some years now. Because of this, and I am in the process of trying to recruit training friends who share my perspective with whom I can pursue from my experience and body of personal research into neuroscience, exercise and sport science. This research is by no means extensive, but it doesn’t need to be. The correct approach to martial arts training, indeed any physical skill set, should be obvious. However, I have never found a single group that was following the basic principles of sound training. The closest group I’ve come across that does something close to this is the Systema school and I think this explains the frequently-reported rapid skill increase in Systema.
Russian Systema with Vladimir Vasiliev
[Read more...]
May
21
Video: “Tai no henko… O-Sensei first did this exercise with one hand, but then later with two hands”
Click here to watch video
Daily practice begins with tai no henko. First open your fingers. The basis of ura movements is footwork. Bring the toes of your left foot to meet the toes of your partner’s right foot. Turn in a circular movement into a position along your partner’s side. When pivoting, open your fingers fully and extend your ki…
May
21
“An Overview of Koichi Tohei’s Early Aikido Career,” by Stanley Pranin
Click here to read more
From the viewpoint of the Aikikai, Tohei’s actions and attempts to dictate the technical curriculum and teaching methodology were unacceptable. In Tohei’s eyes, the aikido headquarters had snubbed his leadership and failed to sufficiently acknowledge his many accomplishments and contributions to the postwar spread of aikido, both in Japan and abroad. The contentious issue was further complicated by a web of long-standing personal relationships that had gone sour…
