July 2010
1 post
1 tag
Paradoxoliscous v.04
Personal crisis has taught me many things. At the top of the list is…
Hang in there, let go.
May 2010
1 post
2 tags
Aikido of San Diego is Moving!
This entry is originally from the Aikido of San Diego Newsletter:
This summer we will be moving to a new facility very close to our present dojo (6356 Riverdale St, 92120). The new dojo will be in a very nice street-side location walking distance to many of the places our members go to regularly. It’s definitely a more “polished” and visible location, and the facility itself will reflect that. As...
April 2010
1 post
1 tag
Paradoxoliscious v.03
When we “mind” the Uke-Nage relationship we can say truthfully that each role is set up to be opposite and complementary to the other. When we “body” the Uke-Nage relationship we are truthful in complementing the other, and “opposite” has no meaning. It is pure presence—oneness in a world of twos.
March 2010
5 posts
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
Most of us learn the hard way that “controlling” violence starts with yourself. I’m no exception. Aikido, if you’re practicing consciously, teaches us that lesson more exponentially. The more centered You are in engagement, the less force you’ll find need for.
1 tag
1 tag
1 tag
Sho-Dan as Rite of Passage
I just returned from a long weekend in Maine. My cousin’s daughter, Jasmine, had her Bat-Mitzvah and just about everyone from the family was there. It was not as I remember mine or my sister’s, or any others from my generation. This was an actual rite of passage—an opportunity for Jasmine to be presented to the community as a ready and complete participant. I was impressed by the...
1 tag
Nadeau Shihan at Aikido of San Diego April 9-11
Please join us for a weekend with Robert Nadeau Shihan as Aikido of San Diego celebrates its ten-year anniversary.
All seminar information, and secure online registration is found on our website at: http://aikidosd.com/nadeau_seminar.htm
February 2010
5 posts
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
Your motivations are co-piloting the journey. Check in with co-pilot in order to avoid crashes.
1 tag
Zen and the Art of Blowing Off "Aikido" Nut Jobs
This is a message to my friends who fruitlessly engage the online (and offline) martial artists and “Aikido” practitioners who whine about fighting, aikido training, and “street worthiness.” You know who and what I’m talking about:
Despite the tendancy of a true Aikidoka to include, evolving sometimes means distancing yourself from people who wish to challenge growth...
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
Being the “Free” in your FREEstyle doesn’t have to mean “turning off the mind.” You just have to BE IN your BODY.
1 tag
Paradoxoliscious v.02 (more ironical, really)
Ultimately, the idea is to be Aikido’s principle in action. So you’re practicing shihonage. Okay, then. Time to let go of shihonage. Are you practicing nikkyo? Okay, then. Time to let go of nikkyo. The techniques haven’t gone anywhere. You’re just noticing what made them worthwhile, meaningful, and yes, even effective. Yes, you need a vehicle, but don’t trade the...
1 tag
Time to Learn Something from the Kids
In our older kids’ class (8-13) it’s not uncommon for some after-school slack, slop, and goofiness to occasionally visit some of the children during training (imagine that). I have discovered a great line that works almost every time. It goes like this… “That failed to express your greatness.” If you say it right, the child doesn’t hear that they failed. They...
January 2010
5 posts
1 tag
Paradoxoliscious v.01 (more ironical, really)
In keeping on a path of discovery, and guiding my students on one as best as I can, it seems there is a never-ending pattern of conditioning—deconditioning—conditioning—deconditioning… Learning just to forget down the road.
1 tag
Aikido of San Diego's Winter 2010 Newsletter...
…is now out. This issue’s S.O.S. (Subject of the Season) is Ukemi. You can read the newsletter at: http://www.aikidosd.com/wint10.htm
Sign up to receive them automatically at: http://www.aikidosd.com/newsletter.htm
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
FlowTegrity: The high level of function and expression that spontaneously results from the conscious blending of form and energy. It is not the best of two different aspects. It is its own aspect revealing the best of the moment in action.
1 tag
Remembering Keo
A few days ago I got a phone call with news that my old friend, Keo Power, had committed suicide. I was shocked at first. Less than a day later I was remembering the times he had said that he’d rather put a bullet in his head than…die slowly of some horrible disease or be incapacitated, or whatever condition of perceived hopelessness it was at that moment. It’s hard to say this,...
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
In response to a student’s question about beginning their path…
Your path didin’t really have a beginning, and it’s questionable if it ever ends. It’s just that you’re noticing that you’re on it.
December 2009
4 posts
1 tag
1 tag
1 tag
Seeing the Bigger Picture at a Holiday Party
Aikido of San Diego had it’s holiday party at my home this past Saturday afternoon after a fun and vigorous class at the dojo. Like most parties, it started slowly with a few early arrivals. About an hour later I looked over the back yard and thought, “Yes, this is the most well-attended one we’ve ever had. Good sign. I hope there’s enough food (that’s my Jewish mom...
I am committed to even creamier Aikido in 2010. Mmmm…, yummie. How would that be? There’s only one way to find out. Stay tuned.
November 2009
7 posts
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
Being “centered” means to be in a place where you can spontaneously be in any other place.
1 tag
Looking for "Aikido" on a Cruise
Me and my family just came back from a cruise. I had never been on one of this magnitute. Let’s get to the point. It was hard to find the “Aikido.” If you’ve ever been to a loud, crowded party and came to a point where it was just too much, that’s where I was at after about an hour or so. There we were…jamming through the ocean in a big can built to be a...
1 tag
"One"
At the dojo we’ve been focusing lately on the quality of initial contact when engaging Uke. I’ve been calling it “One,” as in step one. It seems to be helping a lot with peoples’ integrity of form and application. Here’s the basic outline. Upon initial contact Nage has a base with a center line extending out of it, and that base-center is in deliberate relation to...
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
Aikido is much about change—dealing with it effectively, creating it, being it. It’s inevitable, and so our training should contain focus on appropriate perspective so that our actions are authentic and effective. This means challenging the perspective that has taken us to where we are today for better and for worse.
1 tag
“A problem cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness in which it was...”
– Albert Einstein
1 tag
“Don’t ask how to do this. Ask who you need to be where this is possible.”
– Robert Nadeau Shihan
http://www.cityaikido.com/nadeau.html
1 tag
http://www.grabmywrist.com/post/229450097/teacher-i... →
A smart and conscious post by Linda Eskin on her blog, Grab My Wrist.
October 2009
11 posts
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
Not everyone will be flexible in their body. It’s a quality that for most people will come and go, and be met with real limitations. Everyone, though, can be loose. It’s just a matter of the inherent spaciousness of Big Mind including the body as it already is. It seems that when I’m in that Space my body ceases to be a container for all the shit I hold on to. In the context of...
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
The purpose of technique is to give us context for practicing aikido principle in a way that sheds light on our development. Technique is our vehicle for exploring the spirit in physical form, and an instrument for cultivating harmony. It is never the end game.
1 tag
The Case for More Body Awareness
The underlying principle that points to a true expression of Aikido is non-resistance, and that implies receptive values. That doesn’t mean we don’t take action, but simply that we’re not in opposition to what is. Aikido is obviously an art form that is expressed through the body, which gets information from our sensory awareness. That means feeling. Feeling is a physical form of receptivity...
1 tag
"Aikido in Focus" Workshop Series →
I’m kind of excited about this next one coming up on Sunday, December 20. We’re gonna work on opening up the body in our aikido practice for better results. You know, everyone comes to aikido with the body they have, and each one has different strengths and limitations. I have never encountered a body, though, that couldn’t “open up” some more and get better...
1 tag
1 tag
A Dream
My teacher, Robert Nadeau Shihan, told me over the summer that I should watch for any O-Sensei dreams. I didn’t have one until very recently. It was short, but kind of cool. O-Sensei and Einstein were hanging out (I know, it sounds like the beginning of a joke), talking and laughing like kindred spirits. Einstein suddenly turns to O-Sensei and asks, “Really, what is one plus one...
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
It’s not that we stop laughing because we’re getting older. It’s that we’re getting older because we stop laughing. I saw something like that on a bumper sticker this morning when I was driving my boys to school. I believe the expression of joy is part of quality aikido training. I don’t mean that we should laugh our way through class—just that we should make...
1 tag
“Practice the Art of Peace in a vibrant and joyful manner.”
– Morihei Ueshiba
1 tag
1 tag
Today's "So-desu-ne" Moment
There’s no limit to how much you can relax, so long as it’s supported by integrity. The faster you realize this and train these aspects to complement one another, the sooner you’ll become a spontaneously creative and effective expression of Aikido.
