This is aiki-ken. It assumes coherence: both players recognize initiative, distance, and line. Real encounters do not grant that clarity. Entries will be broken, timing will be stolen, and the first mistake will often be the last. The 4th kumitachi teaches a specific response to a thrust. A straight thrust can be decisive, but itContinue reading “4th KUMITACHI”
Category Archives: Class Notes
KNIFE TRAPPING
In the past several articles, I have argued that Aikido’s strength and aesthetic lies not merely in technique, but in deportment: the cultivation of calm, structural integrity, and presence under pressure (shizentai). I have also raised concerns about how knives are addressed within Aikido training, our treatment of tanto-dori is under-developed given the realities ofContinue reading “KNIFE TRAPPING”
KALI AND AIKIDO: SANGFROID AND THE AXIS
Deportment is never neutral. How one stands, how one moves, and – most critically – how one does not react are constant signals. In other posts I have argued that sangfroid is not merely an affect but a form of power: the capacity to enter any encounter, including conflict, with an unflappable calm that communicatesContinue reading “KALI AND AIKIDO: SANGFROID AND THE AXIS”
