When people find out I do a martial art, they often ask why I picked Aikido. I usually say it is because it isn’t competitive, and the uniform looks cool. Jokes aside, the first reason is important to me because I grew up in an environment that was too competitive,...
I think it may have been the summer intensive that was the catalyst for change this year. During my summer break from teaching music, a group of 5 Aikido of London members had the opportunity to participate in a week-long Aikido intensive, much needed after a year or...
My travels as a beginner and a woman in Aikido My teacher Ismail Hasan Sensei once said "One sign of a good dojo is when there is a healthy balance of men and women in it". When I reminded him of that, he said "Did I say that? I can't remember but it sounds good.”...
In Budo, it is commonly understood that sincerity, Kokoro or Spirit is the highest human virtue for practice. Beyond skill beyond smarts even beyond mastery, sincerity stands on its own as the pinnacle of human virtues within the martial arts path. The...
In the 30 years I have been practicing Aikido, I have attended approximately 8 seminars a year. When I started everything was shiny and new, every teacher more wonderful than the last, every lesson full of new things to try and workout. At that time Aikido was so...
I found Aikido when I thought it would be good for me to start learning some form of self-defence. I know a few girls at school who learn various different martial arts and they all speak very highly of it and so I thought it would be a good thing to look into...