Reflecting the past and pondering the future is a common practice and tradition around the end of a current year and the start of a new one. Such reflection seems to affect me more so this season than any other time of year. It is one more year finished; one more year older; and one … Continue reading Reflecting and Pondering the Past and Future: Taking Inspiration
I initially wrote this short article in preparation for my shodan exam, answering the question: "What is aikido?" Below are some of my thoughts around shodan. What is aikido? You could say aikido is an art that was created by Morihei Ueshiba in the early 1900s and was later used by actor Steven Seagal in … Continue reading What is Aikido?
In preparation of a test, I was tasked to write my thoughts on one of the types of training found in aikido. Below are some of my thoughts on the concept of shugyo. Shugyo, by rough translation, means “determined training that fosters enlightenment.” To me, shugyo is in other words, a very intense and rigorous … Continue reading What is Shugyo?
In preparation for my nidan test in 2014, I was required to compose an essay in how aikido has positively effected my life. Below is how I felt aikido effected my life during that time. Aikido has changed me in many different ways. For starters, aikido has given me an opportunity to take my frustration … Continue reading How Aikido Changed My Life
For several years now, I have taken up Olympic Fencing, learning the three weapons: foil, epee, and sabre. Coming from a martial arts background where the training revolves around the concepts of avoidance and proper position, I have found that the sporting culture of fencing does not yet synthesize all that well. For me, in … Continue reading Martial Mindset Versus a Sports Mindset
Even during its formation, Aikido has taken on many permutations and multiple interpretations. In brief, its origins are a mixture of physical movements, battlefield ideologies, cultural philosophies, and religious beliefs. More than 80 years after its coining, Aikido continues to take on many forms and interpretations. With the art now moving into a new era … Continue reading A Distinctive Dilemma: How Aikido Struggles to Find an Identity in the Modern World by Michael Aloia
The reasons why we take a martial art (or many) varies from person to person. One person may want to learn the inner workings of themselves, another may want to find a decent form of exercise, and someone else may want to learn to fight and compete. Each person uses an art for their own … Continue reading The “Do” in the Martial Arts
As a regular reader here at Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, many are well aware that what inspires people to enter into their first martial arts class varies greatly, from movies to books and from political reasons to family tradition. What, perhaps, has been overlooked is the power of cartoons, more specifically anime. … Continue reading Inspirations: Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball Z
What is the point of doing weapons work, especially what some may perceive as outdated weapons work? Not many people carry swords, sticks, staves, clubs, shields, bucklers, polearms, or even daggers. Not in 2024. Not in the developed world. While the practical applications of such weapons are not the most socially acceptable (or the easiest … Continue reading A Layman’s Observation: Weapons, Distance, and Application
I recently completed the necessary education and received the proper certification for entering into a new career field. As I am applying for jobs, I have already received a handful of responses that contain the unfortunate words of, “We have decided to offer the position to another candidate,” that so many jobseekers’ dread. In this … Continue reading Ukemi: Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight; Life Begins Now
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 