Category Archives: Sarete

Thoughts on the martial art “aikido” and the continuing search for peace in the face of conflict…

Hey, we forgot Uke…

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9uhkLC23h8]

You may of seen this video before but I have just started realizing why it caught my eye 6 months ago. This is one of the few lessons Saito Sensei or any other instructor focuses on “What if uke freaks out?” Sure, we look at what to do if a uke resists or counters but what about the uke that is just caught off guard and reacts erratically? In this instance the aikido should be all about uke because once they get it back together they are still coming for you. Continue reading Hey, we forgot Uke…

Riai… How Aikido Moves from Death to Resolution.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lqUVoLorWk]

Saito sensei breaks down O’sensei’s movements into a concrete starting point to understand the abstract and generative potential of aikido. The step-by-step approach also illuminates how a martial art can be peaceful and be an effective response to violence. Aikido’s roots are in the samurai and it is important to look at how something so lethal became the “Art of Peace;” riai is the place to start… Continue reading Riai… How Aikido Moves from Death to Resolution.

Promoting Executive Function; Teaching What Aikido Teaches #1

Dexter Dodgeball

Aikido practice coordinates physical and cognitive resources toward a common goal. Research shows that exercise improves executive function which is crucial to complex reasoning, memory, and skill mastery. Aikido practice provides the additional resource of meaning, the source of motivation required to sustain action. Continue reading Promoting Executive Function; Teaching What Aikido Teaches #1

Dropping your opposition

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How you use your body can facilitate or inhibit your goals. Blending in aikido or in personal interaction starts at the connection. If you look down and have a fist or a claw, you are holding onto opposition which certainly doesn’t support positive interaction or resolution. The following three elements are central to every aikido technique and are also movements that can profoundly change day to day experience. Continue reading Dropping your opposition

What is the meaning of practice today

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTgiKHQ_4E]

Aikido movements have meaning… or they should. Mary Heiny Sensei is the foremost example of teaching aikido through a broader metaphor of relationships and resolution. If you practice in this way aikido can be the place where you figure out what needs to change in your life to change the impact of stress, anxiety, and conflict. Continue reading What is the meaning of practice today