Josh GoldAs we near the end of 2022, I wanted to share what I, and Aikido Journal, have been up to since our last update in May – and what lies ahead.
Aikido Pioneers: Postwar Era
I’m excited to announce that we’ve completed Aikido Pioneers: Postwar Era and will begin taking preorders next week. This is a project I’m very proud of, and one that would not be possible without the backers of Aikido Pioneers: Prewar Era.
Aikido Pioneers: Postwar Era is an expansive hardbound volume containing Stanley Pranin’s interviews with many of the closest prostwar students of the founder of Aikido, published for the first time in book form. Stan dreamed of publishing this book, but illness took him before he could bring it to completion. I’m so glad that together, we can finally bring that dream to life.
You’ll receive an email from us next week with details and instructions to preorder the book. We’ll accept preorders until December, after which we’ll print these numbered, limited edition books. We expect to deliver the books in March 2023.
Aikido Journal Physical Archives
In partnership with Yoshiko Pranin, Stanley Pranin’s widow, we’ve begun the process of taking possession of, and indexing, the vast physical archives of Aikido Journal. Stan collected 8mm films, handwritten notes, scrolls, and many other artifacts related to the history of Aikido.
As a first step, we’ve begun digitizing the 350+ hours of raw interview footage that Stan recorded on cassette tapes – many dating back to the 1970s. This is formidable project has been made possible by a few members of the Aikido community who have brought valuable resources to the endeavor.
Aikido Journal Members Site
We’ve received a number of inquiries about the old Aikido Journal Members site. When I first took the helm at Aikido Journal, I communicated that the site was not viable for us to support, but that we would leave it up for as long as we could. The time has come for us to take the site down. It was built on 20-year-old technology, had a number of interwoven services that disappeared, and the site was impossible to defend against malware attacks.
All of the articles on the Members site have been, or will be published, on our free public site. We are slowly converting the old instructional courses over to our new platform (Aikido Journal Academy). If you purchased a course on the old Members site, you’ll get a free copy of the updated version of that course when it’s released. We’ve already relaunched Ki Aikido with Koichi Tohei, and Nishio Aikido with Shoji Nishio. Over time, we plan on converting the Morihiro Saito course, as well as Stan Pranin’s Zone Theory courses. We have no expected release date for these right now.
Budo Accelerator
It’s hard for me not to mention Budo Accelerator because so much of my focus is on it right now. We’ve made great progress in 2022 and now have a proven model that uses Budo as a platform for education and social impact – in a way that is repeatable, measurable, and scalable.
Some of the world’s leading universities have taken serious interest in our programs and we have more young people interested than we can support. Our fall programs for first-gen students at UC Irvine were oversubscribed within an hour of announcing them. By the end of 2022, we will have run programs for over 350 high school and college students.
In 2023, we will begin pilot testing with 1-2 partner dojos in other geographic regions. After we test and refine our partnership model, we’ll be ready to scale our programs more broadly. We hope you’ll consider working with us when we’re ready to support a larger number of dojo partnerships. It’s a wonderful way to bring youth and diversity into your dojos, and to create real social impact in your community.
In the interim, the best way to support us is through tax deductible donations. Every donor and every dollar builds momentum and opportunity for Budo Accelerator, and for the art of Aikido itself. Please consider making a donation. Together we can do something amazing for young people – and for the art of Aikido.
I’ve so grateful for the support and insights I’ve received from the Aikido community this year. The tenacity and resilience the community demonstrated as we’ve all emerged from the pandemic has been truly inspiring for me.
A new year lies ahead. I’m optimistic about the future of Aikido, and our community.
Great work Josh.
Bob Noha
Hi. One of the advantages and challenges of Aikido today is that in the last half century or so there have been so many students, many of whom earned dan status. I’m one of them. Have never practiced politics nor attached myself to a particular high ranking teacher, so have been a 3rd dan for decades. Well as my old mentor Tom Everett used to say, “They aren’t going to make your belt any blacker”. Nor have I had the salesmanship, charisma, or financial clout to become a popular teacher. Oh well. I started Aikido to improve my skills and have proven the validity of my training “on the street” on a few occasions. So call that a success. The advantage of the large number with my seniority is both depth and variety of experience. The challenge is accessing it. Stan Sensei used to have what was basically a chat room which may have sought to address that…
‘and have proven the validity of my training “on the street”’
Dear me. Haven’t you learned that Aikido doesn’t work on the street? Everyone on You Tube says so, so it must be true. Don’t do it again.
Hi Josh!
Thanks for all you do. What a wonderful project. I’m sure Stan would be so proud to see this project come to fruition. I’m excited to see what the new site will look like.
Greetings to the everyone back home!
Cheers,
Beto
Great Josh !!! Congratulations
Stan was a remarkable person. He was a gaijin who managed to win the cooperation of some pretty traditional Japanese. He collected and analysed masses of material that would otherwise have been lost. Those of us who have even a passing interest in the history of Aikido are in his debt.
Yes, his life’s worth of research constitutes a life’s work very, very well done. I am one of those with at least a passing interest in Aikido and its history, and have found so much material Mr. Pranin went out and found (and made available). Great comment.