Review of “The Heart of Aikido, The Philosophy of Takemusu Aiki”
By Morihei Ueshiba
Foreword by Moriteru Ueshiba
Originally Edited by Hideo Takasahi
Compiled and Translated by John Stevens
Published by Kodansha International
ISBN 978-4-7700-3114-3
144 Pages
Publication Date March 10th, 2010
Review by Robert Noha
Introduction
This is the newest installment in a series of recent books about the life and teaching of Morihei Ueshiba, O-Sensei, Founder of Aikido. These books include the “Secret Teachings of Aikido,” “A Life in Aikido” (both published by Kodansha) and “Aikido Pioneers” published by Aiki News.
[Read more...]

“A couple of post back I was discussing Boyd’s OODA loop and how it applied to fighting. Within that loop we have to make a DECISION (the ‘D’ in OODA). In getting ahead of our opponent in the OODA loop we need to make a fast, instantaneous decision. The more choices or options we have to reach a decision, the slower we will ACT on that decision. In a fight where split second decisions must be made, do we really have room to make a conscious decision at all?”
“Many businesses try to change…but few succeed. At best, a few buzzwords and new reports become part of the company’s structure. At worst, programs crash and burn, and everyone becomes irreparably disillusioned with the revolving door of new-mission statements. According to David Shaner—a business consultant with a 100% success rate of change at companies including Duracell, Frito-Lay, Ryobi, and Gillette—the problem is that the implemented changes don’t address either individuals or the corporate culture. They’re only on the surface.
“I find that recently I have been having frustrating feelings towards the budo I practice.
“Introduction
“Meet my dog, K. I introduced him (here) about a year ago, but today I learned a valuable lesson while walking the dog I didn’t want: the importance of using your voice and how necessary it is to sometimes stand your ground.”
We apologize to all of those who look forward to our daily newsletter in the form of a digest containing links to the latest blogs, dojos, events, etc. The last newsletter to go out was on October 22. The culprit turned out to be our ISP which recently merged with another company and changed all of their DNS servers. The code triggering the newsletter was pointing to a server that no longer existed! If all goes well, you will get your newsletter today, and then normally thereafter.
The article below has been selected from the
“This is the first of two posts that describe the wonders of the human response to stress. Many people in martial arts refer to the stress response (or freeze, fight or flight) in a pretty negative manner. ‘Adrenaline dump’ is a term used to highlight a detrimental natural phenomenon that needs to be overcome during a self-defense situation. In fact, the stress response involves a complex integration of the body’s systems involving a powerful mix of neural and hormonal factors, preparing the system for survival.”