The 1024 Transitions and Counters of Aikido, day Seminars, begin on Saturday 14th March 2009 with IKKYO and will continue, one day each month, over the following 15 months at Katoomba, Australia.
The book: “FOUR DIAMONDS 1024 Basic Transitions and Counters of Aikido,” is based on the content which will be revealed in the seminars. The secret of Transitions (Henka waza) and Counters (Kaeshi waza) is that you do not need to learn and memorize them. All you need to know are the basic kihon waza. Once identified by the body memory in this method of training, the henka and kaeshi flows arise naturally as a result of innate reflex instincts responding to the ki of the moment. The opponent falls into them as a result of his attack or action. Relax and let the technique flow.
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Ya know, every time I see a demonstration there are always a number of people in the audience, or the class, who are amazed at the proficiency of the demonstrator. But, every time I see something I can’t understand I just keep looking, thinking, searching for years on end sometimes, until I discover what the secrets are that let that person do what they do.
“Traditional Wisdom” exists in every culture. Any ancient activity pursued as some sort of personal development or spiritual practices designed to give insight into the nature of things have some wisdom accumulated from hundreds, if not thousands, of years of transmission. Warrior arts in traditional cultures always had a spiritual component.
“I’m going to grab your wrist and not let you move. No matter what you try to do, I’m going to try to keep my feet anchored where I’m standing. Have you ever trained with someone like this? Sure, sometimes it’s appropriate to test your partner by “holding with ki” and making sure they move correctly. But what kind of an attack is this? Just to grab someone and hold them there? Aikido should be a dialogue. An exchange of energy. When you grab your partner and lower your weight with the intention of just stopping your partner’s movements then your attack has died.”
Brian Kagen is an avid web researcher with a particular interest in martial arts. His training background includes both judo and aikido. He has contributed hundreds of article links over the years for AJ readers.
I recently had a class with a friend of mine from California who has been a student of Aikido for about 16 years now. My Sensei, Mr. Stan Pranin, was gracious enough to allow him to attend one of our classes here in Las Vegas. It was interesting to hear the two of them talk about the different variations and history of Aikido as well seeing his practice. We went over a few basic techniques and I was focused on the details of each movement. I’m new to this art and find myself going over the moves in my head away from class and then when I get back to class I get mildly frustrated by my lack of skill. 
Among the video clips in the Aikido Journal archives is one of Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba performing at the 1986 All-Japan Aikido Demonstration at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Doshu gave an especially energetic demonstration on this occasion and the three ukemi–Tsuruzo Miyamoto, Hayato Osawa, and Yoshiaki Yokota–are nothing short of phenomenal!
“Here is a topic that comes up alot in Threads on various martial arts Website Boards. “my (enter art) does not do well against (enter art). How do I use “My art” to defeat the other art?” Well I think there is a huge problem with this way of thinking as all “arts” are simply training methodologies defined by a set of training parameters that someone or some group established and identify with to teach us how to do the same thing “fight”. Why would you limit yourselff to the constraints of that methodology,? Lets hope you have a good match of methodology to the situation presented!”
The following post by Jorge Garcia is excerpted from a thread currently in progress in the Aikido Journal forums:
“A Leon Cheval Production Old Man Sensei was made in 2006 and submitted to Tropfest in 2007. Actors are Nev Sagiba and Darryl Stebbing/Phillips (Manik Jones).”
“If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.”
Every young boy at some stage wants to become the “champeen of all the word.” He dreams of it, pushes himself and is driven by young hormones. And then he grows up. Well most do. Others become cynical, accumulate fat and if they continue in that vein, become old, bitter, twisted and acrimonious. But it’s not the world’s fault. Change starts from within and has to be generated by more than wishing, but also active persistence. Others become “too busy” and still others have other excuses and become tame drones, office or cannon fodder or other hiding places. These are not warriors. These will most usually experience a mid-life-crisis in the form of a breakdown of some kind.