Month: May 2024

Interview with Longtime Aikidoka Corky Quakenbush: Intention, Performance, and Takemusu Aiki, Part II

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Corky Quakenbush first saw aikido when he was learning how to fence and hoped to see the demonstration again the next week, but to no avail. He then saw the art again while in Los Angeles, where he was asked to participate and felt a powerful and painful nikyo, something that did not fully sit … Continue reading Interview with Longtime Aikidoka Corky Quakenbush: Intention, Performance, and Takemusu Aiki, Part II

Interview with Longtime Aikidoka Corky Quakenbush: Intention, Performance, and Takemusu Aiki, Part I

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Corky Quakenbush first saw aikido when he was learning how to fence and hoped to see the demonstration again the next week, but to no avail. He then saw the art again while in Los Angeles, where he was asked to participate and felt a powerful and painful nikyo, something that did not fully sit … Continue reading Interview with Longtime Aikidoka Corky Quakenbush: Intention, Performance, and Takemusu Aiki, Part I

Interview with Ram’s Head Fencing Founder Josias Arcadia: Lineages and Competitions, Part II

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

He had to train in secret at first, but after a move to Minnesota, Josias Arcadia found a school to practice historical fencing. In an effort to learn more of the German tradition of longsword, Arcadia began his Ram’s Head Fencing and began training with James Riley in the Kunst des Fechtens tradition. Recently, he … Continue reading Interview with Ram’s Head Fencing Founder Josias Arcadia: Lineages and Competitions, Part II

Interview with Ram’s Head Fencing Founder Josias Arcadia: Lineages and Competitions, Part I

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

He had to train in secret at first, but after a move to Minnesota, Josias Arcadia found a school to practice historical fencing. In an effort to learn more of the German tradition of longsword, Arcadia began his Ram’s Head Fencing and began training with James Riley in the Kunst des Fechtens tradition. Recently, he … Continue reading Interview with Ram’s Head Fencing Founder Josias Arcadia: Lineages and Competitions, Part I

Interview with Futabakai Founder Nobukazu Miura: Teaching Kendo and Iaido

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Nobukazu Miura first studied kendo as part of a physical education program in high school. After moving to North Carolina to open a Japanese restaurant, Miura restarted training kendo in 2000. He then relocated to Washington, DC, began teaching there, then moved to Pennsylvania and opened another Japanese restaurant. There, he met aikidoka Todd Kupper, … Continue reading Interview with Futabakai Founder Nobukazu Miura: Teaching Kendo and Iaido

Interview with Shodokan Instructor Bob Whelan: The Legacies of Mitsunari Kanai and Bernie Mulligan

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

After moving back to the Boston Area in 1977, Bob Whelan began training under Mitsunari Kanai in his New England Aikikai. There, he started to learn to steal the technique from Kanai. Later, Whelan trained under Bernie Mulligan at what is now Shodokan School of Martial Arts. As of now, Whelan continues the legacies of … Continue reading Interview with Shodokan Instructor Bob Whelan: The Legacies of Mitsunari Kanai and Bernie Mulligan

Martial Arts Tourism: A Small Aspect with Big Effects

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Originally written for an International Economic course during my graduate career, the following is a study that explores the relatively unknown field of Martial Arts Tourism. Pinning down exactly what martial arts tourism does for a city, region, or country is more difficult than it may seem, as it flies under the radar of the … Continue reading Martial Arts Tourism: A Small Aspect with Big Effects

Interview with Longtime Aiki Practitioner Nathan Himes: Aiki in Aikido and Daito-ryu

~ Antonio Aloia ~ Leave a comment

Nathan Himes began training Kihara Aikido in Fort Worth, Texas after a schoolteacher told his father about aikido after a school altercation. Later on. it was through Windsong Dojo that he discovered Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, finding teachers and friends in Howard Popkins, Roy Goldberg, Eric Pearson, and Jack Bieler. He has since continued his research into … Continue reading Interview with Longtime Aiki Practitioner Nathan Himes: Aiki in Aikido and Daito-ryu