By Jeff Albright, the sensei (pronounced sen-say), or teacher at Castle Rock Aikido in Castle Rock, Colorado I am often asked why I practice Aikido . I always pause for a moment before I answer, and I think back to all of my experiences in Aikido, both in Japan and the United States. I tell them it comes down to connections. It's the connections to wonderful people from all over the world and the relationships that one builds in their Aikido journey. It's the feeling of being at home and... Read Full Story
There is a great new form of stress relief available in Castle Rock . It's called Aikido (pronounced 'eye'-'key'-do'). Aikido is a unique form of Japanese exercise that fully engages your mind and body providing an excellent outlet for stress relief. Aikido is a martial art , but can be practiced at any level of intensity according to the needs or physical capabilities of the student. Unlike most martial arts, there are no punches or kicks in Aikido so injury is extremely rare. A student... Read Full Story
This is a quite remarkable video. Well worth seven minutes of your life. Watch it and consider it. ____________ Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282 ____________ Subscribe now for free updates from the Mokuren Dojo blog Read Full Story
Kenji Tomiki developed the Junana Hon Kata (Seventeen Fundamental Forms) based upon the countless aikido techniques that he'd been taught by Ueshiba. These seventeen basic aikido moves form the core of Tomiki aikido in most clubs in the Tomiki lineage. Following is an outline of the seventeen techniques, along with some pointers to articles I've written over the years about each technique. . atemiwaza - striking techniques shomenate two common variations on shomenate Five hints for a better... Read Full Story
Over the past few years, Aikido Journal has picked up and reprinted several of my articles from here at Mokuren Dojo. Thanks Aiki Journal guys, for the attention! I've enjoyed the increased exposure and it has allowed a much larger group of people to enjoy my ideas here on the blog (or at least a larger group is laughing at my ignorance now).
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Following is a list of the articles that Aikido Journal has published. You might enjoy perusing these and reading or re-reading them.
Ego... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of OoohOooh I've talked in a couple of posts this past week about defining and measuring ma-ai very precisely so that you can build up a good intuitive sense of that distance and so that you can ingrain the habit of stepping aside whenever someone is at that distance. We talk about measuring precisely and doing it consistently, but as Kyle pointed out in a comment to that post, we actually use that ma-ai sense much more loosely in a more complex way when both players are... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of Abolotnov This month we've been talking about evasion - particularly in the context of aikido. Even if you evade out of the way of the first attack, if you are still within the attacker's reach (especially if you are in front of him) then you are in trouble. You have to evade off the line of attack AND try to regain ma-ai distance between you and the attacker. The easiest way to do this that we've found is what we call the aiki brush-off. evade off the line of attack as he... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of Tranchis Other than the excellent blog at Gisoku Budo , Mokuren Dojo is the only blog I know of that has dedicated a significant number of posts to the topic of martial arts for people with physical disabilities (or perhaps just other-abilities). These posts come from the perspective of having taught a blind aikido/jodo student, a one-armed aikido student, and a lot of older students ranging in age from their 50's to their 80's. Now I'm not saying that aging=disability, but... Read Full Story
Photo courtesy of Tharso Kata takes a bad rap, in many ways undeserved. I've heard it said, but haven't seen the source, that Ueshiba said that there is no kata in aikido because kata is basically not aiki-like - not real aikido. Tomiki, on the other hand, structured his aikido teaching around a set of kata. . It occurred to me last night that kata is actually harder than randori or shiai because tori has to call his shots, just like calling your shots in pool. When you define ahead of time... Read Full Story
