Okamoto sensei was in San Francisco for the January seminar which, historically, was the time Yamada sensei made his annual visit. It was a well-attended seminar with instructors from Mexico City and Montreal in attendance. Mike Napoli, Russ Gorman, Oscar Johnson and I represented Portland Aikikai. Okamoto sensei focused on connection and presented very fewContinue reading “OKAMOTO SHIHAN SEMINAR 2025”
Tag Archives: artifact of training
ARTIFACTS OF TRAINING
I have used the phrase ‘artifacts of training’ sporadically to refer to conditioned responses that result from improper training assumptions and methods. One of the most notable is the ‘sensei effect.’ The sensei effect works on both teacher and student – the student ‘over-reacts’ to the instructor’s input (making any given technique look more effective)Continue reading “ARTIFACTS OF TRAINING”
TACTICS – BEYOND THE ONE HIT KILL
“There are no primary attacks in a knife fight.” This is an important reminder for Aikidoka who are habituated to the one-hit one-kill training mentality. In a knife fight attacks can be gambits, ploys, set-ups to elicit responses. Boxers must contend with similar complex encounters. Stratagems of deception and non-linear methods of attack are not Aikido’s forte. Aikido’s premise narrows theContinue reading “TACTICS – BEYOND THE ONE HIT KILL”
Protective Arts 