Aikido and Me

Most of our kokyu Nage techniques are similar with Ken techniques. Start by using from short then the middle and last with the jo. When practice, the difficulty is increasing from short to long due to where your ki flows.

Second day getting back to practice with sticks (no contact) during COVID. Preferably being a practitioner to condition the body after a long break. Kokyu Nage was a good start. More with Jo and Ken will be next.

There is a question "Dear Sempai, I'm a 25 year old, I'm currently Shodan of Aikido. What can I do to contribute to Aikido in general?" Please share your thought. Thanks

Ultimate goal for training any martial art either Judo, Aikido, Kungfu,.... is to train yourself a calm mind before thing can harm you, to act and react accordingly to keep yourself out of harm way. The best is when you are out of harm, you also keep the attacker also out of harm! Destroy the attacker is already hard, keep him/her safe is harder. That’s also the philosophy behind Aikido.

Celebrate 70 years of Martial Art teaching - Dang Thong Phong - Sensei

Traditional irimi nage from Sensei Phong. Westminster Nov 16,2019

Both uke and nage keeled bowed to O' sensei, turned face to face with each other, bowed again. Both stood up and ready to exchange techniques. A sharp critique eyes could see quite obviously who is in more control one from the other. One of them showed the eager to wrap to strike to cut while the other just walk one step forward, lower the body a bit, then raised his hands curly over his hara. A wrestler is different from a samurai on the state of mind. Everyone knows when the wrestler is ready to fight but might not for the samurai. The samurai is always ready on their daily activity like walking, sitting....they trained for physically strong, mentally alert and morally straight. Being closed to samurai is the whole purpose of my training, not become a wrestler.

Action and Reaction. "There's always reaction for every action." This law is true and (I believe) applicable to martial artist as well. If practicing martial art to improve your health, to lengthen your longevity and to increase your confidence then it's worth to consider. A punch to the opponent's chin to knock him out makes the doer feel good but the force from the punch reacted by the punch also goes to the doer's body. That force will collectively stays and adds up with time. It sounds silly but it's there and it finds the way to the brain un-notice and deadly silence.

Each empty handed technique in Aikido has developed from Ken's technique. Therefore, the ken practice is very much needed along your training.

Deflecting or blending? I would try to blend. That's my choice and I believe there's deflecting in blending but there's no blending in deflecting. My goal is to receive uke's attack as smooth as s/he strikes to the mud. I experienced this when I practiced with Roberto, a long time student of Master Dang Thong Phong - Tenshinkai Westminster CA. This requires flexibility, timing, and blending. If uke commits the attack, he will loose his balance at the end of his attack. If uke doesn't commit the attack, he won't see where his target is.... It's my choice and it's only my goal. Happy training.

Not sure that what the nage learned is only a half of the technique! The other half comes from the Uke!. The purpose of coming to the dojo is to learn. learn from your sensei, your senior fellows and also from the beginners. The concept of being a good uke is always forgotten. Uke needs to learn how to HELP and not to GIVE IN. This will be result of how good the nage would be. If you give in all the time, it will be more harm than help. The nage also need to sense what need to be done to complete the technique. That's why Aikido is the study of self improvement. Don't let the empty power foul your mind of how cool you are. Happy Trainning.

Saturday Oct 27, 2018 - Seminar with Sawada Shihan Big thanks to Masuoka Sensei and his staff to make the seminar available. Kudo: Slow down - Sphere - First time to meet the daughter (Second line, second from left) of Aikido legendary Yamada Shihan of New York.

Proper dojo etiquette from Boulder Aikikai Aikido is not a relatonship, but the education and refinement of the spirit. You will not be asked to adhere to any religious doctrine, but only to remain spiritually open. When we bow it is not a religious performance, but a sign of respect for the same spirit of universal creative intelligence within us all. The opening and closing ceremony of each Aikido practice is a formal bow directed to the shomen, two claps, another bow to th...Continue reading