This is the fourth 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. Recently, as I stepped onto the dojo’s mats, my mind began contemplating the overall role of uke in partner-based arts that I train. What is it … Continue reading A Layman’s Observations: The Role of Uke in Training
Anthony Buonomo explored the Eastern martial arts before finding historical fencing, though he was always interested in swords and the like. When he moved to Austin, Texas in 2012, he finally found a group and began teaching historical fencing after nine months of training, drawing on his previous martial arts training. This experience soon led … Continue reading Interview with Austin Historical Weapons Guild Founder Anthony Buonomo: Historical Fencing in Texas, Part I
Between volleyball and aikido – something she had never heard of before – Heather Gawlick chose aikido and has not looked back since. Over the years, she has learned from Nick Lowry of Kaze Uta Budo Kai and Karl Geis of Fugakukai. At Geis’ suggestion, she opened her first school in 1999 in Albuquerque, New … Continue reading Interview with Shinju Dojo Cofounder Heather Gawlick: Exploring Aikido and Karl Geis’ Legacy
After a friend described to him what aikido is, Roy Gawlick quickly searched for a dojo to find out more. He came across Karl Geis’ school in Houston, Texas and never left the art. In 2001, Gawlick opened his first school in Vancouver, British Columbia then, in 2018, helped his wife Heather establish Shinju Dojo. … Continue reading Interview with Shinju Dojo Cofounder Aikidoka Roy Gawlick: Karl Geis, Nick Lowry, and a Lifelong Study
This is the third 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. Since the early 2010s, there has been a movement that attempts to make aikido functional in a combat situation. The question of aikido’s effectiveness as a … Continue reading A Layman’s Observation: Aikido’s Aiki and Its Foundational Benefits
Siegel, Andrea. Women in Aikido. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1993. In performing background research for this book, I found a review of it plainly stating that the pages were filled with women complaining and whining about their lives and experiences. This struck me as odd and perhaps too extreme of a view on the … Continue reading Reflecting on Women in Aikido
Ralph Bryan experienced many different styles of aikido throughout his time before settling with Shizuo Imaizumi. He first started in Hawaii with Aikikai, and then with Bill Lee of Ki Society in Austin, Texas, and later with Mitsugi Saotome’s Aikido Schools of Ueshiba in Takoma Park, Maryland. He joined Shin-Budo Kai in 1994 with Wade … Continue reading Interview with Albuquerque Shin-Budo Kai Chief Instructor Ralph Bryan: Always Coming Back to Aikido
John Bieszk first started judo after going through not the nicest part of Chicago. After finding some time between schooling, he arrived at the Illinois Aikido Club under Akira Tohei. After taking a leave of absence due to college work, he found Fumio Toyoda in 1980 and he never stopped. Once he earned his shodan … Continue reading Interview with Longtime Aikidoka John Bieszk: Fumio Toyoda in the Midwest, Part II
John Bieszk first started judo after going through not the nicest part of Chicago. After finding some time between schooling, he arrived at the Illinois Aikido Club under Akira Tohei. After taking a leave of absence due to college work, he found Fumio Toyoda in 1980 and he never stopped. Once he earned his shodan … Continue reading Interview with Longtime Aikidoka John Bieszk: Fumio Toyoda in the Midwest, Part I
Hiroshi Ikeda first trained judo in his high school years before finding aikido at Kokugakuin University, in 1969. There, he began studying directly under Mitsugi Saotome, and soon enrolled in his Reimei Juku Dojo the next year. When an American aikidoka (Bill McIntyre) invited Saotome to teach in Florida in 1976, Ikeda followed him to … Continue reading Interview with Boulder Aikikai Founder Hiroshi Ikeda: A Journey with Mitsugi Saotome
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 