As the year winds down and the holidays are in full effect, I usually take some time to reflect on the past twelve months. Training is one of the many aspects that I ponder as I go about this exercise. As I dive deep into my training, I separate it into a few different categories; … Continue reading Yearly Training: Another Kind of Reflection
Aikido’s role and purpose in today’s age has become a bit of a conundrum with such vast perspectives on its form and function. Is aikido supposed to be a meditative art or something that someone can use in a self-defense scenario? Is the art just used as a teaching method for personal development or self-improvement? … Continue reading Thoughts on Aikido in the Modern World
This is a second installment in an ongoing series of "A Layman's Observations" where I discuss my observations on martial arts and combat sports. Read the prior installment here. At the start of this year, I began learning how to fence the Olympic way and the beginning of May that I had the opportunity to … Continue reading A Layman’s Observation: Fencing and Japanese Martial Arts Principles
The jo; the short staff; a long stick. Not sharp but blunt. It can’t cut a limb off, but it can bludgeon and injure one, rendering the limb useless. However, several direct blows to the head could have a grave outcome as well. The jo is a weapon wielded in aikido training. But what do … Continue reading The Jo and Aikido by Antonio Aloia and Michael Aloia
Recently, I had the opportunity to watch a local fencing tournament. The participants were beginners of the sport who had just finished their ten-week introductory course. Being beginners, the fencers competed with the foil, where only the torso was the valid scoring area. Throughout the experience, being new to the sport, both the newly inducted … Continue reading Fencing and Kendo: A Layman’s Observation
Traditionally, within the context of modern times, martial arts have served as a way for the everyday person to participate in what's considered an ethnically and culture-based – even stylized – form or system of self-empowerment. The benefits have always included a level of better fitness, health, and well-being to physically and mentally live fuller … Continue reading The Misrepresentation of Martial Arts by Michael Aloia
Skill is a combination of time, technique, and training of the basics. Most things we do in life are a series of procedures or methods. Even the simplest of tasks involves a procedure to activate an additional series of actions and achieve an end result. Those tasks that are involuntary or natural and those that … Continue reading Essentially the Basics by Michael Aloia
Though it has been five years since its release, and critics and fans have already passed their judgement and gave opinions on it, I finally had the chance to watch 2016’s Birth of the Dragon over a rainy weekend. The film covered Bruce Lee’s duel with Wong Jack Man in 1964, differing from other Bruce … Continue reading Reflecting on Birth of the Dragon
What is oral history? In the most literal sense, it is a narrative, or parts of a narrative, that is never written down but passed onto the next generation through the spoken word. For the oral historian, it is their job (and part of my job too) to track down certain people and essentially archive … Continue reading Martial Arts and Conducting Oral History
Your definition or personal interpretation of tactical response, of course, would have a great bearing on many levels and weigh on one's own history, experience and exposure, association, and level of understanding and ability to apply concepts and procedures related to such endeavors. Experience ranging from military duty, law enforcement service, and/or medical field involvement … Continue reading Tactical Response: How it Pertains to the Individual by Michael Aloia
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 