A reader wrote in recently asking if we could index the video clips in our archives to make it easier to find a specific clip. If we were to approach things that way, the solution to this problem would involve the allocation of resources in the form of programming to provide this capability.
The difficulty with creating a proprietary solution for a feature such as this is not simply that a programer’s services would be required. The more complexity that is introduced into the website, the more difficult it becomes to maintain it and make later changes. Also, sometimes when new features are added, especially of an ad hoc nature, something elsewhere in a website can break creating sort of a domino effect.
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“Aikido is non-competitive. That’s easy to say. The practice is not about defeating an opponent, but about both participants being victorious by finding a truly peaceful solution and growing as human beings in the process. That, too, is easy to say.
“The principles of Aikido, as with enlightenment is an elusive beast. Practitioners spend their entire life walking the path with the dream of attaining Satori.
“Every year, I participate in the Zen Nihon Aikido embutaikai- the All Japan Aikido Demonstration. Many onlookers say the same thing. “Mr. Yamano, is your style based on Ki?” I say “No”.
“Also known as the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Deshis”. Just to show that not all martial artists take themselves too seriously. We can’t always be as graceful as Sensei.
“We have covered many forms of Japanese martial arts on Hawaiian Focus, and tonight we shall pay a visit to the Nuuanu Aikido Club. We visited the Nuuanu YMCA on Pali Highway, where the Advanced Class was in session and Chief Instructor Sadao Yoshioka had the students do a number of demonstrations. On the Aikido segment, we will try to bring out the philosophy behind the art, and how it differs from other forms of martial arts. Aikido was introduced in Japan in 1925 by Morihei Uyeshiba. Uyeshiba taught that “the secret of Aikido is to harmonize ourselves with the movements of the universe, to bring ourselves into accord with the universe itself.” A number of techniques are identified by their Japanese terms. Though the language, culture, and discipline may sound foreign, a cross-culture of students are enrolled in Yoshioka’s class.
“I told the story the other day of how my teacher would have to perform 25 reps left and right of each groundwork technique before his teacher would show him the next thing. There’s sort of two schools of thought on drilling and repetitions. Some folks define an explicit goal – a number of reps – for their practice. Other teachers say, “Here’s this drill. Let’s do it for a while.”
Hiroshi Tada Sensei at the 2004 Aikikai All-Japan demonstration in Tokyo.
Another fascinating poster is our