Blogging at Aikido Westchester NY
The Martial Art of Peace
Here we have a video of ki no nagare practice in Aikido: Let’s talk about how the training method of Sugano Sensei works here vis a vis Saito Sensei. Saito Sensei said that there are many great teachers in Aikido and you can learn a lot from them. This is certainly true of Sugano Sensei. …
Continue reading “Comparing Saito Sensei with Sugano Sensei – Ki no Nagare 1”
As human beings, generally we are pleasure seekers and pain avoiders. As such, it should come as no surprise that most of us do not enjoy being physically beaten, abused or even killed. In fact, avoiding these outcomes are the top priorities in our lives. If you look at various codes of ethical conduct, not …
Continue reading “Self Defense Training as a Meaningful Practice”
We are all very busy in our lives. We need to earn a living, take care of family, etc. In the midst of our busy lives, we suddenly stumble upon a practice that teaches us viscerally to respond to violence with compassion, and not just on a superficial level. As we have seen in previous …
Continue reading “What Exactly have we Stumbled upon Here? by Steve Kanney”
This realization captures the feeling the founder had after the profound experience of gaining genuine insight into the discipline of his art. Yet, for most of us who read this statement, we will think of it in very idealistic terms. The founder’s realization, however, was anything but idealistic. If we take our ordinary state and …
Continue reading ““True Budo is love” – Morehei Ueshiba…was O’Sensei just some kinda hippie?”
As for the actual practice of Aikido, think about the first act in every class. As soon as we enter the dojo, we bow. When we get on the mats, we bow. When we start class, we bow and when we engage a partner, we bow. Aside from exercising our hip joints, what is the …
Continue reading “Respect – The First Step Towards Practice”
This entry continues to lay the foundation for how Aikido training works, and we will begin to go into the actual training itself next. So the first step in determining how to find happiness through Aikido training is to figure out the source of the problem. An inspection of the simple sentence, “I wish happiness,” …
Continue reading “Back on Track…Targeting the Source of the Problem”
After training about 20 years, my teacher told me that part of the practice of Aikido is to figure out why you are doing it. Why did he wait so long to tell me, I wondered… There are two factors that all beings have in common: a wish to live and a wish to be …