"Aikido is circle": 8 Principles of Ukemi
I once asked Sugano Sensei what correct ukemi was. “There is alive and there is dead” he replied. When I asked him what he meant he...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- Aug 23
- 8 min
Why Sugano Sensei was Special
On August 29th, 2010 Sensei Seiichi Sugano passed into another existence. Though I was Yoshimitsu Yamada's uchideshi, we were fortunate...
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Brian Ericksen
- Feb 24
- 10 min
Yoshimitsu Yamada: Passing of the Most Important Aikido Teacher in the World
The New York Times obituary for Yamada Sensei read, “Yoshimitsu Yamada, Who Brought Aikido to the U.S., Dies at 84.” The headline was...
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Nick Nicholson
- Jan 13, 2022
- 2 min
Day 8 Sugano Sensei Remebrance/ "If Aikido is about love."
24 August 2007. Traveling with Sensei in cab. Sugano Sensei “In Aikido there is no relationship between words and pretty ideas of Aikido...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- Jan 12, 2022
- 2 min
Day 7 Sugano Sensei Remembrance/ "You must make Aikido for yourself."
(Continued from Day 6) BE- You spoke earlier on breathing exercise. We do it as part of the warm up but it is not an important part of...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- Jan 11, 2022
- 3 min
Day 6 Sugano Sensei Remembrance/ "Tsuki is proper use of sword."
(Continued from Day 5) BE- Something that has been very confusing to me has been that in the sword style I am learning they teach a very...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- Jan 10, 2022
- 2 min
Day 5 Sugano Sensei Remembrance/ "Aikido is not a martial art."
Brian Ericksen : Sensei, I started taking classes in Battodo. It has been very interesting to use a real sword and cut through things. As...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- May 6, 2021
- 1 min
Day 4 Sugano Sensei Remembrance: “Circle has no end and Aikido is a circle.”
On being a student. Sugano Sensei. Aikido is measured in years and minutes. When you start to learn you need years to see way. Student...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- May 6, 2021
- 1 min
"...but really technique is to kill.”
(Notes from 2007 Global Inner Aikido School (GIAS) discussion) Sugano Sensei. “There is a contradiction (in Aikido) between philosophy...
600
Tony Breda Sensei
- Apr 16, 2021
- 5 min
Self Defense: Does Aikido 'Work'?
Aiki Blog - Self Defense If you spend any time at all on the Internet searching discussions, videos and blogs regarding Aikido, the topic...
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Tony Breda Sensei
- Apr 9, 2021
- 2 min
Solo Training Part 1- Noren Giri
Last year I had the privilege of hosting the entire dojo for a training session that culminated in testing for a number of students at my...
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Sensei Brian Ericksen
- Jan 5, 2021
- 3 min
Philosophy of Aikido is Love
(2007 Global Inner Aikido Seminar (GIAS) in Belgium.) BE. Why do you do Aikido Sensei? Sugano Sensei. "Doing Aikido too long! (Laughs)...
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Tammy Bowcutt
- Jan 4, 2021
- 3 min
Being a Black Belt: Making room for those behind you.
What does it mean to be a yudansha (black belt) in a smaller dojo? When you cross that threshold, what does that transition begin to feel...
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Tony Breda Sensei
- Jan 4, 2021
- 2 min
Why Train?
The existential question for people studying Aikido, or the martial arts in general, in today’s society want to be, “why do we do this?...
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