Sensei Saw It… Sempai Heard It… Uke Wore It! Most times I fail to move off the line completely and then wonder why I have

Use the hand to move the hip Use the hip to move the hand But don’t stand.

A story from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (compiled by Paul Reps):  When Zen master, Gasan was studying under Tekisui, his teacher was very severe.  Sometimes

Many people when starting Aikido, find the techniques extremely painful. Techniques like Nikkyo, Sankyo and Yonkyo apply pressure directly into the nervous system. They cause

People tie their obi (belt) in different ways depending the art they are practising and the school they are learning with. This is how we

And avoid getting a Granny Knot (the information below is extracted from Wikipedia and other sources.) A Reef knot is formed by tying a left-handed

Stanley Pranin of Aikido Journal, has published a series of quotations by  the late Saito Sensei about his teacher, the Founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba.

I had heard about this story before, but never from someone who was there.  Stanley Pranin of Aikido Journal, recently re-published an interview with Shoji

The following article is copied from Stanley Pranin’s Aikido Journal website. You can find the full article and accompaying slideshow here: http://blog.aikidojournal.com/2012/09/05/slideshow-great-stills-of-morihiro-saito-9th-dan-in-class-teaching/ One of the things

There is a current “debate” as to the value/need for weapon training in Aikido and its importance. Our dojo follows the training curriculum from O’sensei’s

The departure of Frédéric and his family back to France occasioned the need for a party and a sayonara-nikkyo. David Alexander Sensei tells the story of this

David Alexander Sensei was a foundation student at the Iwama Ibaraki Dojo and his stories are legendary. Here is one of my favourites from his

David Alexander Sensei spent over 10 years training in Iwama under Saito Sensei, in the old days when understanding was obtained from vigorous and rigorous

David Alexander Sensei was my sempai when I trained at Iwama in 1980. He had the rare experience of spending over 10 years training under

Aikido is difficult to learn – the path is long and winding. As with many endeavours one constantly struggles with levels of understanding. Each achievement

When entering or turning which move first, the hips or the feet? O’Sensei’s Kuden (Saito, M., Traditional Aikido, Vol 1, p. 4) says: The rotation of

Students often say, “why is it important to do the technique ‘precisely’ surely everyone is different – we can do it in our own way”,