We have just uploaded another video clip to the Aikido Journal channel on Youtube.com. Aikido Journal Editor Stanley Pranin talks about the making of Morihiro Saito Sensei’s “Lost Seminars” DVD series and his experiences as Saito Sensei’s interpreter. Have a look behind the scenes into the production of these outstanding DVDs!

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“A memorial video of Aikido Shihan, Mitsunari Kanai-Sensei, of the New England Aikikai.The images are from various sources.The soundtrack is “Red Dragonfly” from the CD “Song of The Seashore” by James Galway. “

Please click here to read entire article.

“The technique sometimes substitues strength. It’s difficult for someone to defeat me until today.”

Brian Kagen is an avid web researcher with a particular interest in martial arts. His training background includes both judo and aikido. He has contributed hundreds of article links over the years for AJ readers.

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We have just uploaded a new addition to the Aikido Journal channel on Youtube.com. Aikido Journal Editor Stanley Pranin describes the circumstances of how he began publication of Aiki News and Aikido Journal the forerunners of the aikidojournal.com website. Check it out to learn about the antecedents of the Aikido Journal website.

Click here to view video clip on youtube.com

It was a gamble building a dojo two and a half hours from the nearest city and 15 minutes from the nearest town. A gamble that would have made a real-estate agent with his ‘location, location, location’ rule shake his head.

But I thought there must be others sharing my enthusiasm for the spiritual affinity of aikido and Nature, who would appreciate being able to practice in one of the most beautiful places in the world and who would, therefore, find their way here if we waited patiently.

Terry Dobson was the best story teller I ever met. He mythologized himself, to be sure, but his stories, unlike the Baron Munchausens of the world, were true. These stories were a kind of passport through which he could charm, enthrall and inspire - and, truth be told, never let the room go silent.

Beyond story telling, however, is the alchemy of writing. Terry knew that a writer was far more than a teller of tales, someone who can take the raw material of life (think of ore), the story being merely a crude semi-crafted product (iron) and with heat, power and a tremendous amount of work, turn it into art (steel). He never succeeded in this last step, struggling with writer’s block of epic proportions. (Shortly before he died, he started a novel - in the middle - and that one chapter is jaw-droppingly brilliant - just as with his aikido, he left the stage just when he “got it.”) He did, however, leave a number of hours of tapes of his stories. He and his inamorata, Riki Moss, planned turning this material into some sort of book, but he died before getting very far. Riki spent the next ten years struggling with the stories, and with her own story - her life with this man, and her own life while being with this man.

“This was the picture of Jujutsu which the Swedish physiotherapist, boxer and elite-sportsman Viking Cronholm took with him when he travelled to South-Africa in 1904. It was there that a few years later he was taught Jujutsu by an English officer. He returned to Sweden, and immediately introduced Jujutsu to his old boxing friends.

The first official Jujutsu exhibition followed by a course in self-defence, was held in January 1908. Cronholm continued his studies with various Japanese Jujutsu masters, probably those who had started the Jujutsu institute in London. His first Jujutsu demonstration in Stockholm was given immense attention, and he gained great interest and support from the most prominent sporting leaders in Sweden, amongst others the “father of modern sport”, the General and head of the Central Gymnastic institute, Viktor Balck.”

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“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.

This video is a long time coming —- a belated Christmas gift to my fellow students at Open Sky Aikikai (formerly the North Winnipeg Aikikai) Aikido club.”

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Hiroshi Tada Sensei at the 2004 Aikikai All-Japan demonstration in Tokyo.

The Aikido Journal archives now include more than 100 video clips and 800 articles in twenty different languages. We are constantly adding new videos, articles and translations in our effort to document aikido and related disciplines past and present. If you would like to support us in this effort by taking out a subscription to the Online Aikido Journal we welcome you to do so by clicking this link. Remember that if you subscribe or renew for two years you will now receive the Aiki News / Aikido Journal Archival DVD absolutely free of charge. Don’t pass up this special offer!

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“Available for you all in our archives is a rare clip of Koichi Tohei Sensei in his prime. This footage was shot in Florida in 1967 during one of his early visits to the mainland USA. A very young Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei of the New York Aikikai is seen taking ukemi for Tohei Sensei. The latter demonstrates the basic techniques required for examination purposes in those days. There is also a spectacular jo demonstration the likes of which many younger aikidoka have never seen!

The Aikido Journal archives now include more than 100 video clips and 800 articles in twenty different languages. We are constantly adding new videos, articles and translations in our effort to document aikido and related disciplines past and present. If you would like to support us in this effort by taking out a subscription to the Online Aikido Journal we welcome you to do so by clicking this link. Remember that if you subscribe or renew for two years you will now receive the Aiki News / Aikido Journal Archival DVD absolutely free of charge. Don’t pass up this special offer!

Click here to view video clip.

One of the least known of the major Japanese aikido teachers who was highly regarded by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba is Kanshu Sunadomari Sensei of Kumamoto, Kyushu. He is a devout believer in the Omoto religion and has a large aikido organization centered in Kyushu. Sunadomari Sensei elicited an enthusiastic response for his performance in the 1st Aikido Friendship Demonstration held in 1985 in Tokyo.

Available in our film archives is a fascinating video clip of all of the six instructors—Yasuo Kobayashi, Mitsugi Saotome, Kanshu Sundadomari, Yoshio Kuroiwa, Shoji Nishio and Morihiro Saito—from that demonstration that will give you an idea of Sunadomari Sensei’s movements and techniques.

In addition, please have a look at this Interview with Kanshu Sunadomari.

Among the video clips in the Aikido Journal archives is one of Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba performing at the 1986 All-Japan Aikido Demonstration at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Doshu gave an especially energetic demonstration on this occasion and the three ukemi—Tsuruzo Miyamoto, Hayato Osawa, and Yoshiaki Yokota—are nothing short of phenomenal!

The Aikido Journal archives now include more than 100 video clips and 800 articles in twenty different languages. We are constantly adding new videos, articles and translations in our effort to document aikido and related disciplines past and present. If you would like to support us in this effort by taking out a subscription to the Online Aikido Journal we welcome you to do so by clicking this link. Remember that if you subscribe or renew for two years you will now receive the Aiki News / Aikido Journal Archival DVD absolutely free of charge. Don’t pass up this special offer!

Click here to view video clip.