A couple of years ago I was watching a fascinating film, Into great Silence filmed at La Grande Chartreuse, a Carthusian monastery in the French Alps. The most striking thing about the film was the absence of any music or narration. The viewer only sees and hears the...
If there was ever an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms and an often over used word, it is ‘Relax!” Its use has morphed into a parody of sorts when heard in class for the umpteenth time. It is also undeniably true. If you watch good martial art, good boxing or dance,...
Many a myth would flourish in San Diego Aikikai. Most of these would be centred around Chiba Sensei’s past accomplishments, rumours, a lot of Chinese whispers and his inclination to perpetuate them. It was part of his “Brand”. There were many of these and one that...
Recollections Of My First 25 Years On The Mat: by Arthur C. Lockyear Anyone present at the 1991 Budo Sai Festival in Durham, England, would certainly remember the explosive demonstration given by Ichiro Shibata Sensei, 6th Dan of the of the Berkley Aikikai,...
“….Money for Gods sake” Isn’t that how the song goes? The root of the lyrics is older than the song itself where contrasting views about the purpose of art became a movement of thought. As one school approached art as something that had its own purpose and did not...
Jose Mosquera joins me for a second time to discuss Aikido as a martial art and what we mean by that. Jose delves into his past to include work as a bouncer in his younger days and today he works with world class Boxers and BJJ practitioners to give a broad idea of...