protectivearts

CONTACT EXERCISES – Gyaku-hanmi katate-dori

With an influx of new students I have presented contact exercises. In each of the last two classes there was only one technique taught in each. Technique is a secondary expression that derives from feeling connection. Aikido is frustrating to learn because it is an energetic art – one must not only feel the internal movements but alsoContinue reading “CONTACT EXERCISES – Gyaku-hanmi katate-dori”

FLOW SEQUENCE

Update: create flow with neurostimulation – Radiolab 9-Volt Nirvana Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow is a good short-hand for what we should experience in moments of optimal performance. Moving-zen where the self dissolves. Aikido as an art aspires to the demonstration of effortless power – a visual presentation of flow. Resist teaching to the goal rather thanContinue reading “FLOW SEQUENCE”

MAKIOTOSHI

George Orwell advised against using any metaphor you were used to seeing in print – so rather than ‘like moths to a flame,’ Orwell suggested, ‘like bluebottles to a dead cat.’ His contention was that reflexive writing betrays non-critical evaluation: Poor habits of thinking when critical and sober reflection is required. So it is with anyContinue reading “MAKIOTOSHI”