Entering the dojo for the first time was a surreal experience. I walked slowly up a narrow, wooden flight of stairs, the muffled sound of banging echoing from above. When I saw my future classmates training for the first time, I felt almost immediately out of place. They were executing on moves that I now … [Read more…]
(All photographs Copyright © Javier Domínguez, 2017)
Previously published in USAF Aikido News on August 10, 2015 The meaning of Aikido varies among the unique and different people who practice it. The meaning changes even for the same person. The reason we start something is often different from the reason we maintain it years later. Our initial purpose evolves and adapts to … [Read more…]
At the beginning, I didn’t get him. His aikido was different, so different from what I had seen in those early years practicing aikido. And I had barely heard of him. When I took my first class with him, I was there, at the New York Aikikai, to train as an uchi-deshi under Yamada Sensei. Oh, how things … [Read more…]
Getting your Shodan is like being a recent graduate. It is the culmination of a long process of dedicated study. Hours of practice, and lessons learned from your teachers. No wonder we feel so accomplished. The graduate gets a diploma, and a degree. We get a black belt, and a most precious hakama. And, for … [Read more…]