Aikido World

A little footage from the 2006 World of Games in Chicago, IL

Here’s a few photos from the rank test held this March.

Note: All photo credit goes to a fellow Tenshinkan student.

Here is a clip from a 1997 Aikido demonstration with Fumio Toyoda Shihan.

Aikido. The Way of Harmony. The Way of Harmonizing with Energy.

Ever since I began studying aikido, four years ago, many people I encounter often ask me to show them a technique. Many a time after I have shown them something, that person may retort, saying “That is not an aikido technique” or “That wouldn’t really work.” My question then becomes, “Why not?” Because something does not necessarily hurt does not mean that it does not work.

The essence of aikido, harmonizing, proves itself in many different aspects. There are many specific techniques a student of aikido learns as they grow within the art, but most importantly, they learn how to learn. In doing so, their technique and knowledge of aikido progresses. When this happens, the student realized that a technique does not have to be displayed to display aikido. On the other hand, sometimes it may need to be.

Part of the importance and value of aikido is that one can disable another without necessarily hurting them. Many times I have heard that aikido is worthless or useless. Nothing could be further from the truth. When faced with these comments, I ask, “Why?” Many times the response is that it is not aggressive enough or it is purely defensive. This leads me to believe that these people have never truly studied aikido. Part of why aikido is so great is that it does not have to be aggressive or offensive… but it can be.

There are countless aikido techniques that can be used to gently disable a person or gently force them to the ground. These same techniques can be used to very aggressively disable a person and very aggressively force them to the ground as a debilitating pin can be used as well. That is a large reason why aikido is so great. As mentioned before, a technique need not be used to display aikido. Just moving aside of an attack or escaping a grasp is also displaying the act of harmonizing with energy.

When given the statement, “That does not work” or “That is not an aikido technique,” a slight grin emerges on my face. Aikido is a very adaptive art, which is another quality of The Way of Harmony. Certain ideas or physical displays may not be conventional nor orthodox; however, they are still harmonizing with energy, blending with the surroundings. It can be easy to beat up another person. Controlling that person as well as the circumstance and what is happening around you all the while still protecting that person, when needs be, is something different all together and much more difficult. That is aikido.

To study aikido one does not need to be young or old, big or small, strong or weak, fast or slow. You cannot learn to be a certain age nor a certain size that is unattainable. What can be learned and gained is timing. Timing is a quality that will continue to grow within a person and serve them throughout their lives the more they study and learn.

At the other end of the spectrum, aikido is a valuable attribute that grows beyond physicality as it may consciously and subconsciously creep into one’s mindset as they harmonize with energy and blend with their surroundings avoiding and solving conflicts in daily life: practicing on the mat, work, school, relationships, etc.

That is why AIKIDO is great!

Luke Bahar is a Shodan and Assistant Instructor at University of Houston Aikido.

Here are a few pictures from the West Coast Instructor Seminar, held last weekend in San Diego, California.

Additional pictures can be found here.

The Aikido International Foundation (AIF), the charitable arm of the AAA/AAI, will be hosting a 4-hour workshop this Sunday at Tenshinkan dojo in Chicago, IL.

The workshop is called “90 Degrees to Save Time” and will focus on the techniques of Shihonage, Iriminage, and Tenchinage, and their relationship to each other, as well as the role of yoko ukemi (side fall).

Instruction is provided by Leslie Parks-Casey, yondan. All proceeds from the workshop will go to the AIF, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit educational organization whose purpose is to promote the principles of aikido to local communities.

For more information, see the flier above or contact the AIF at AikidoAIF (at) gmail.com.

The Aikido Journal recently posted an article recalling Koichi Tohei’s 10th dan promotion, which includes a group picture with Fumio Toyoda Shihan (second from left).

Click the link above to read the article.

The AAA is hosting seminars the next two weekends, in Chicago and San Diego.

This weekend, February 22-24, Western Region Director James Nakayama Sensei is instructing the Kangeiko winter training seminar at Ryoshinkan Dojo in Palatine, IL (outside Chicago). Kangeiko is open to all martial arts students of any rank and affiliation.

If you are attending, please take note that Ryoshinkan Dojo has moved. See the AAA web site or seminar flyer for directions to the new location.

The following weekend, February 29 - March 2 is the Western Region Instructor Seminar at Ryushinkan Dojo in San Diego, CA. Instruction will be by the Western Regional Teaching Committee, including Sensei James Nakayama, Martin Katz, Ken MacBeth, and Christine Dyer. This seminar is for 3rd kyu and above Aikidoka only.

The seminar fliers have more information on both seminars.

Somewhere in my years of training, I’ve found myself to have become an Aikido Seminar “Junkie”. I just can’t get enough. Living my life from one Aikido seminar to the next, I’ve found myself asking the question “What is it about Southern California Aikido that keeps me coming back for more?”

Many Aikidoka welcomed the arrival of 2008 with unforgiving winter temperatures and ice-cold mats. However, a group of warm and happy southern Californians met on Saturday, January 12th to celebrate the arrival of the New Year with a one day Aikido seminar hosted by Ken MacBeth Sensei, dojocho of Kenshinkan dojo, and taught by Nakayama Sensei, Aikido Association of America Western Regional Director and Dojo Cho of Chushinkan Dojo.
Read the rest of this entry »

Here is more information regarding the seminar by Stephen Rehrauer Sensei in Madrid. The seminar will be March 15-16, 2008 in Villa del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

The seminar is hosted by Aikisur, online at www.aikisur.es.

A seminar flyer is also available here.