When you give yourself, you receive more than you give. Antoine de Saint-Exupery The act of giving a gift is a far more complicated undertaking than it might first appear. At a glance, it seems to be a fairly one-sided … Continued
Merci, Guy Lafleur. Guy Lafleur passed away last week … A sad day for hockey. When I heard the news, my thoughts immediately turned towards my childhood. I could see Lafleur charging down the ice — he played right wing … Continued
One of the martial arts terms that has always resonated with me is “Agatsu”. A term that has much to do with mindfulness in martial arts and unlocking the real power in our training. I remember discovering the term at … Continued
An Open Letter to Members and Supporters In these times of emergency related to the world-wide novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic we are all faced with challenging decisions. Some of these require contemplation and others are beyond question. Let me start … Continued
In my previous blog post I spoke about how to perform a basic breath meditation circuit. This time I would like to look at how this type of breath training is relevant to Aikido training. Developing a relaxed breathing pattern … Continued
One of the most succinct answers to the question of why study aikido (or any other budo for that matter) can be paraphrased as follows: To learn about tradition and to improve ourselves. (I have to admit I cannot remember … Continued
In Yoshinkan Aikido, the Kihon Dosa are considered to be a distillation of the key physical skills and principles inherent in everything we do. They include: Tai no Henko, Hiriki no Yosei, and Shumatsu Dosa. Each of these has a … Continued
Why would anyone study something like Aikido? It’s an interesting question in a world inundated with martial arts clubs that profess to turn you into a back-alley bruiser or that dazzle you with tall shiny trophies all lined up attractively … Continued
