Japanese swords and smiths have an aura of the exotic, but the truth is a master smith in every culture is a wizard. The skill to transmute and forge raw materials into something beautiful and deadly is marvelous and magical. Bill Bagwell was an American mage of blade craft. He died February 17, 2021. TheContinue reading “Bill Bagwell”
Category Archives: Reference Materials
DISARMS
There are of course doubters. Typically those who doubt the efficacity of any given disarm are well-prepared to anticipate the technique. In short, they know the trick and therefore know how to defeat it. This is a false dichotomy because “disarms are accidental if not incidental.” Disarm techniques are taught because one must know whatContinue reading “DISARMS”
SELLING AIKIDO 2
Josh Gold is doing a yeoman’s job at keeping Aikido Journal (AJ) both timely and relevant (including an article by our own Mulligan Sensei). Nevertheless, the devaluation of Aikido’s currency is pronounced and continuing. The 2019 (pre-Covid) results of a AJ survey show that the typical Aikidoist is older (81% > 40 years), white, male,Continue reading “SELLING AIKIDO 2”