Jim Ellison When I first stumbled onto aikido in 1979, I was looking for little more than a way to keep in shape and possibly learn a few self-defense moves. One of my students recently asked me why I’m still practicing…wouldn’t I be bored with aikido by this point? This question got me to thinking…
Jim Ellison (original post from Spiritual Gravity blog) In our dojo, we have four levels between white and black belts: yonkyu (green belt), sankyu (brown belt), nikyu (brown belt), and ikkyu (brown belt with black stripe). While these are still considered beginner ranks, students in this range have been exposed to the basic principles of…
Jim Ellison (Spiritual Gravity blog) Life is full of small miracles. Some people like to call them “coincidences”, but I think that “small miracles” is a much more fitting term. For me, Aikido has been a life-changing journey that has shaped me as a martial artist as well as a person, and has heavily influenced…
As an aikido practitioner and teacher for almost 4 decades, I occasionally get asked what advice I would give to someone who is just starting out in aikido. Probably the hardest thing to get used to as a new aikido student is learning how to move differently than how you are used to. In my…
Jim Ellison (Spiritual Gravity blog) and Tammy Epperson Have you ever watched martial artists on TV or in the movies and wanted to try it for yourself? Or maybe you have recently started taking a martial art, and are frustrated with your perceived slow progress and could use some advice or encouragement. Jim Ellison has…
Jim Ellison (from the Spiritual Gravity blog)
by Nick Lowry I state the following based on my decades of teaching, my experiences, my training, and personal observations. These are strictly my opinions. I trained directly and indirectly under Karl Geis in the arts of Aikido, Judo and Jodo from 1982 to 2009. At the time of my departure from his organization (Fugakukai)…
by Nick Lowry To understand what our ranking means and how we arrive at our ranking you have to understand that we are primarily a teaching institution- The initial ranks, kyu grades up through the dan grades Shodan , Nidan and Sandan all carry a set of technical requirements — particular katas, kihons, and waza,…
by Nick Lowry Don’t take a step you don’t have to take. Don’t put pressure in your hands unintentionally. Once you do have to step, try to keep at least one foot pointed at your target at all times. Invest in loss…repeat the pattern that is causing you a problem so many times that your…
by Nick Lowry Thinking back to the aikido I learned in the 1980s ….The ukemi and the Walking are mostly identical to what we do today. The 17 was very linear and clunky, but still very strong. Movement and angles were narrow and prescriptive, with precise and minimal handwork (two handed balance breaks) and homolateral…