protectivearts

SOLO TRAINING

When I began training, I was told that the minimum time commitment to earn shodan in Aikido is to train three classes per week for a period of five years – and this presumes progress through time on the mat under competent instruction with honest training partners. If you do the math, however, the USAFContinue reading “SOLO TRAINING”

Witches, Populism, Aikido

In the 19th century, anthropology’s great achievement was humility. Cultural relativism and structure-functionalism arose as correctives to imperial arrogance; a way to see “the native” not as savage, but as human within a coherent order. Yet in the 21st century, those same theories can feel dangerous. When all practices are deemed culturally valid, cruelty masqueradesContinue reading “Witches, Populism, Aikido”

IKKYO TO SANYKO

This is not a kihon-level presentation. The sequence of development presumes competency in basic lock-flow dexterity drills, the ability to keep connected pressure, and a familiarity with vectors. It is a play off a standard shomenunchi – irimi tai sabaki exercise incorporating both the font hand and back hand intercept. The hand work is not necessarily tied to, norContinue reading “IKKYO TO SANYKO”