It is said that Yip Man, the reknowned master of Wing Chun and one of Bruce Lee’s main teachers, would only very rarely practice Chi Sao (“sticky hands” which is the sparring practice in Wing Chun) with his students claiming that doing so would lessen his skill. I have done a few years of Wing [...]
A funny thing happened when I got my Aikido first degree black belt. I was living at my dojo at the time, training 12 times a week and had spent seven months training for my test. The actual test passed in a sort of focused haze, but I am told I did very well. The [...]
December 6, 2009 – 10:13 pm
I was helping Daisy with de-installing an art show today and it reminded me of the time I became convinced of the importance, and usefulness of dedicated training in Aikido, and specifically the art of Ukemi (receiving.) In Aikido we learn Ukemi to take the techniques well and to practice our falling skills. This allows [...]
November 16, 2009 – 3:15 pm
I was listening to an episode of the BuddhsitGeeks podcat the other day, This Is Your Brain On Meditation (part 1 of a 2 part series), and it got me to thinking about Aikido. In the podcast, James Austin discusses the two primary types of attention that the brain engages in. top-down, and
bottom-up. In [...]
September 22, 2009 – 1:57 pm
Cross post from my Embrace Tiger, Return to Kitchen website.
Aikido – Engaging The Beginner’s Mind.
On the mat I had a small epiphany concerning why I love Aikido. In a nutshell – I don’t get it. After 13 years of training I can honestly say I don’t get it. I understand some of the principles, a [...]
