“Martial artists discover that their discipline and effort has paid off handsomely and, in the bargain, provided benefits which spill over into other areas of their lives.” Aikido Journal #103 (1995) Self...
Archive - December 2015
Josh GoldPaolo Corallini: “Following in Morihiro Saito Sensei’s Footsteps” by Stanley Pranin
Paolo Corallini and Morihiro Saito Sensei practicing the Aiki Ken in Iwama c. 1987I would like to dedicate this article to Paolo Corallini Sensei one of my closest aikido friends, among Morihiro Saito’s most...
Gozo Shioda: “Aikido’s Little Giant” by Stanley Pranin
“Gozo Shioda (1915-1994), Founder of Yoshinkan Aikido” When it came to showing aikido to the general public in a way both attractive and easy to understand, Gozo Shioda stood alone. He combined a lucid...
Pat Hendricks’ Incredible Aikido Odyssey by Stanley Pranin
“As someone who has overcome incredible odds to achieve world-class status as an Aikido Shihan, Pat Hendricks remains a shining example of the seemingly impossible things that can be accomplished personally and...
The “Co-founder of Aikido” Ignored by History by Stanley Pranin
After World War II, a small group of martial artists centered around a man named Noriaki Inoue was active in Tokyo practicing a little known martial art called Shinwa Taido. This oddity would be largely irrelevant to...
How Christian Tissier conquered the racial barrier to achieve equal status with Japanese Shihan by Stanley Pranin
“Christian Tissier became the first official non-Japanese to be awarded Shihan status after years of blatant racial discrimination” The story of Christian Tissier’s aikido odyssey is one of storybook...
Executing the perfect Shomenuchi omote ikkyo… Morihiro Saito demonstrates how!
“THE ART’S FINEST TECHNICIAN EXPLORES THE DETAILS OF ONE OF AIKIDO’S MOST IMPORTANT BASIC TECHNIQUES!” Attaining a high level of technique in aikido depends upon mastering basic techniques...
Historian as a CSI Investigator by David Brown
These remarks were submitted as comments to the post titled Former Aikikai Employees… by Stanley Pranin. I felt they were worthy of being published as a separate blog. Particularly interesting to me was David...
Morihiro Saito: Expunged from the History of the Iwama Dojo! by Stanley Pranin
“Only in one instance is there any substantial mention of this important teacher whose name was synonymous with the Iwama Dojo for 33 years” Since 2003, the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo has been in direct...
If O-Sensei were alive today he would be a rock star, by Stanley Pranin
This post is about you and your aikido. If you are like many practitioners, your involvement in aikido consists mainly of your dojo experience. Good workouts… good friends… generally a sense of having spent...