“At the 1997 French Summer Camp in Mejannes le Clap, one of the senior French instructors asked me to give a name to an international Aikido community whose size was growing rapidly with each passing year. The community has coming into being naturally. It has progressed into an international family with a strong and distinguishable character through an interchange of instructors from the USAF Western Region, British Aikikai, and various French dojos along with their associate members in Greece, Switzerland, and Germany.

Naming this community was needed partly because of the European political situation where organizational control is very rigid surrounding Aikido. It includes control by the government which tends to kill the free and open flow of the students-teacher relationship which of the utmost priority in our Aikido activity. Because of that situation, many concerned members have been looking for a new direction away from the current state of confusion and unhappiness there. They have been looking for a sense of identity in their Aikido lives. “

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“In 1959 I visited a yoga school in Tokyo, the Kiyamizu temple of Kyoto and a Nichiren Buddhist monastry in Minobu, on the slopes of the Mt. Fuji”

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“Training on the mat is not realistic, and nor is it meant to be. It is important to understand the ins and outs of the mat to get the most out of your training.

In training, the tori attempts to perform a very specific technique. In essence, they are very restricted in what they can do to the uke’s attack. For this reason the attack must be very specific. It also must simulate a situation where the attacker is unaware of what the thrower will do. You would be surprised how exact an attack needs to be - changing a grip a few degrees can make a world of difference.”

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“John Rogers (Seán Mac Ruairí) is the senior instructor of the Irish Aikido Federation – Ireland Aikikai. He holds the rank of 6th dan awarded on the recommendation by the Aikikai Hombu dojo. On the occasion of Ireland Aikikai’s annual spring course, he granted me an interview and spoke of his involvement in Aikido and the history of Aikido in Ireland. This year, Kuribayashi shihan was the guest instructor of Ireland Aikikai on the occasion of its 30th annual spring course. 2007 also marks the 35th anniversary of Aikido practice in Ireland as well as the 20th anniversary of Rogers sensei’s establishment of a fulltime aikido dojo in Dublin. “

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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.

Still, there’s a lot of competing going on in aikido. Numerous aikido students hurry along the way in an effort to surpass their fellow trainees, in skills as well as grades, eager to take a teaching role when working with whatever partner, reluctant to learn as equals.”

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“In Japanese martial arts, the term atemi (当て身?) designates blows to the body, [1] as opposed to twisting of joints, strangleholds, holding techniques and throws. Atemi can be delivered by any part of the body to any part of the opponents body. They can be percussive or use ‘soft’ power. Karate is a typical martial art focusing on percussive atemi. The location of nerve and pressure points, such as might be used for certain acupressure methods, also often informs the choice of targets for atemi (see kyusho-jitsu).

Some strikes against vital parts of the body can kill or incapacitate the opponent: on the solar plexus, at the temple, under the nose, in the eyes, genitals, or under the chin. Traditional Japanese martial arts (the ancestors of judo, jujutsu and aikido) do not commonly practice atemi, since they were supposed to be used on the battlefield against armoured opponents. However, there are certain exceptions.”

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“The history of aikido had not been systematically recorded. In 1977, the second Doshu, Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei, published the founder’s biography which is the first extensive biography of his father. But, certain very important areas were not really dealt with in-depth and certain people who had fallen out of favor with the Aikikai were neglected or not even mentioned. I don’t think it was something I could call a “balanced” biography although the book really is essential for anyone interested in the history of aikido.

I found the history for me to be a way of organizing a body of material and establishing its roots. It’s like an anchor-point for the activity, the discipline, the family, and so forth. It gives you a tie to some focal point that can help you guide and give you a sense of belonging or the desire to want to contribute to that extended family.”

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“What is Aikido? One could simply say that all Aikido, regardless of style, has a certain basic set of techniques and movement principles which make the art “Aikido” as distinct from aikijutsu or jiujutsu or any other martial art. But, as any person who has trained widely in the Aikido community can tell you, there is such a wide range of interpretation with regard to how these techniques are practiced and executed that the surface similarities get outweighed by these inherent differences.

In Japan there is the traditional faction that believes that the art is the sole creation of Morihei Ueshiba and that Aikido is essentially the property of the Ueshiba family. Whereas, this might be the attitude of certain members of the Aikikai Honbu Dojo in Tokyo, I don’t think one can effectively maintain this as a point of view. Unlike the koryu, or classical martial styles of Japan, Aikido has had no set curriculum or any narrowly defined standards for the certification of its teachers. Even before the term “Aikido” came into common usage in the 1940’s, a wide gulf existed between the interpretations taken by various early instructors. The Yoseikan, Yoshinkan, Shudokan, Aikibudo (later Shin’ei Taido) systems emerged as distinct styles of what was just becoming known generally as “Aikido”.”

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“If you can deeply and profoundly accept that your body is by its nature completely connected, you are able to keep your joints free which facilitate good aikido. Some of this acceptance comes from exploring the physical nature of one’s joints – understanding the ligaments, tendons and muscles, and their relationship to range of movement. By allowing your arms and legs to simply be, and driving movement from your core we are able to produce force without the sensation of doing so. This can be disconcerting, especially from the standpoint of living in a society where success is synonymous with putting in hard long effort at work, and study.

It takes a bit of a leap of faith to accept that at the instant we are born, we are connected to the universe and everyone in it. However, when you contemplate upon this matter, this fact is no less deniable than our limbs being connected to our torso. This relationship with others may feel tentative however when confronted with hostility, it feels very real.”

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“When I arrived in Fredericksburg in 2001, there were four core students in the club. The Club was subleasing from a jujitsu club that had subleased from a karate school. As the class grew we began to look around for alternative space and the moving decision was accelerated by an eviction of the jujitsu club! We trained for a while at a gymnastics school until we leased our own 48-mat space in 2002 where we now have 14 classes per week. Aikido in Fredericksburg was organized in 2004 as a non-profit educational corporation.

We are now in the process of finalizing the construction of our own dojo building on a twenty-acre parcel of land. Many have commented that the “feel” of the land is similar to the feel at the Iwama Dojo in Japan. The plants in the landscape and garden are indeed similar. The new dojo will have at least twice daily classes, a traditional uchideshi program, and be able to host large seminars on a 102-mat training area. The program there will be modeled after the program that existed at the Iwama Dojo while Saito Morihiro Shihan was still alive.”

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“Yoga instructor Bette Calman may be 83, but she’s still bending over backwards to spread the benefits of the ancient Indian discipline.

The nimble grandmother can really pull some shapes and with her set hair and pearl earrings she looks as glamorous as Greta Garbo in a pink jumpsuit.

“If you are too eager to throw you will meet your opponent’s resistance like a brick wall and discover that your own centre is lacking. Make sure that throughout the technique your weight presses strongly into your feet, and that you are standing independently. The beginner aikidoka will often find themselves too keen to throw and end up leaning on their uke. With their balance so compromised the power that can be generated is greatly reduced.

You may also discover that without the benefit of a good connection to your attacker that you clash with their power as soon as you try to throw them. This is most likely caused by a linear application of force towards your thrower. When you are able to use the mobility of your arms in the throw, the lack of movement in your hips and torso is disguised. Take care to place your feet correctly and rotate your hips in a spherical motion.”

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