Good article on the effects of physical training as part of your Martial Arts training. Follow @ChiMAFitness in Twitter. As a martial arts practitioner you have probably heard this comment from non-practitioners. While this may have been true when you began your training, you probably found later on that your fitness level was not at the level you expected and was holding you back. |
When you begin your off-the-mat fitness program, the three basic areas of focus should be core strength, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. |
Most martial arts emphasize centering, or tanden. Core muscles in the abs, hips, back, and legs are key to maintaining a strong, balanced center, and any exercises that strengthen these muscles will translate into a strong foundation from which powerful throws, kicks, and strikes can be launched. Weight training, isometrics, yoga, Pilates, and body-weight exercises all contribute to core strength. |
Any serious athlete will tell you that cross-training off the field determines the level of performance on the field. The same holds true of performance on the mat or dojo floor. Read more at www.examiner.com |
Thoughts on Budo and Culture. The difference between subayai and hayai. When I was interpreting for my iaido sensei last month, he said something that made me think. While explaining the importance of speed in our waza, he said he wanted our movement to be “subayai” – not just “hayai.” |
If you look these two words up in a Japanese-English dictionary, chances are they are going to have the same definition: ‘fast,’ or ‘quick.’ However there is a subtle but vital nuance here that is easily lost in translation. Hayai (速い) merely describes speed – it tells us that the movement is fast. Subayai (素早い) on the other hand has a more complex meaning. It suggests skilful, relaxed, controlled speed and dexterity. ‘Swift’ or ‘agile’ are reasonable translations but I don’t think they cover it entirely. |
Excerpts from Saito M’s books and lectures on training compiling by Hans Goto Sensei, Bay Marin Aikido Dojo Cho. Tegatana can be used in numerous ways. As the basic rule, it is important to strike always from above the head of your partner.
In using Tegatana, keep the fingers apart, stretch the peripheral area out and arch semi circularly the shoulder-to-fingertip portion like the curve of the sword.
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The descending pattern of a circular strike should be the same as that of a straight strike. The motion peculiar to a circular strike is caused by a twist of the hips.
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| In Ken Holding, grip it first with the little finger, followed by the third finger, middle finger and forefinger in that order. When striking down from above your head, grip it mainly with your left hand using your right as an aid. |
Interesting article on how Aikido can affect self-reflection in Psychology Today Magazine.  Every night when I leave the house to go to the dojo to practice Aikido my sweetie Will calls out, “Don’t get hurt and don’t hurt anybody.” I’m not much of a danger to anyone, but some people are a danger to me.
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One Nage (the thrower or attacker) in particular is rough and strong. A few weeks ago he cracked every bone in my hand doing Nikyo “A technique which works through the wrist to lock the body”. We all heard it. Of course he was concerned. The instructor, a black belt student, admonished him to be more gentle. My hand ached for weeks. It still does. This Nage is super compact and dense, like a sack of cement. My feet have taken the brunt of his weight a number of times and they are black and blue. He always manages to step on my feet and, as a beginner, I’m not yet fast enough yet to get out of the way. |
Sometimes we need to look back and realize we’re not doing so bad after all. | Gleason: Fighting through life’s challenges |
Student Doug McGlynn of Middletown who has cerebral palsy, left, during a Marital Arts class with Ken Marvin, sensei, who has Parkinsons, center, and assistant Mannie Lopez, sankyu, at Proactive Health and Fitness in Washingtonville. 10-20-09Times Herald-Record/DOMINICK FIO |
WASHINGTONVILLE — They are some pair, these guys. One has Parkinson’s disease, the other cerebral palsy. One has hands that shake uncontrollably, the other has arms that give him power. One teaches martial arts across from the firehouse in this quaint town. The other learns martial arts from a wheelchair. |
By now you might wonder exactly how this works. This is how it works: A man named Ken Marvin refuses to give in to his disease. A man named Doug McGlynn refuses to give in to his condition. They are the perfect pair. |
Extract from an interview to Aikido Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba by Stanley Pranin in 1999 Interview with Moriteru Ueshiba |
Editor Stanley Pranin: When did you first begin to pursue aikido with an eye to your future as inheritor of the tradition?
Doshu: It was only once I’d become a university student that I began to pursue it with real consistency. I had to go to school, though, so I could only practice a couple hours a day, in the morning or evening, depending on my class schedule. I suppose I got in about two hours per day on average. During spring vacations and the like I did an extra hour, for example practicing an hour in the morning and two hours in the evening, or vice versa. Even after graduating the pace stayed about the same until I was almost thirty. Around 1979 my father fell ill for a while, and from that point on the teaching duties began shifting my way gradually. |
Would you say that your father Kisshomaru had the greatest influence on you? |
| He used to teach every morning and on Friday evenings, |
A syntesis of What’s Aikido according to the United States Aikido Federation. Aikido is a true budo or Martial Way that evolved in the historic tradition of Japanese warrior arts. Studied in earnest, budo is more than a science of tactics and self-defense - it is a discipline for perfecting the spirit.
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The essence of all Aikido techniques is spherical motion around a stable, energized center. Even when the direction appears to be straight forward or backward, close observation reveals the Aikidoist’s movements are in fact circular.
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The final aim of budo is personal transformation, the creation of an integrated human being. Yet philosophical discussion is rare in the dojo, or training hall. The focus is highly practical: constant repetition to master the fundamentals of movement, timing and breathing.
Read more at www.usaikifed.com |
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