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
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
What is leadership and how does it benefit those whom we lead? The essence of real leadership is the ability to inspire others to achieve greatness. Greatness, being a relative term, is the best that anyone can be and often great leaders, by example, have the capability to release that power in those they serve. … Continue reading True Leadership by Michael Aloia
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
There isn’t much more that can be said about 2020 and the effects it had on the world that hasn’t already been thought of, spoken about, argued, or even presented. Everyone has had their own choice words to describe 2020. As equally relayed are the emotions attached to what we have been saying and thinking … Continue reading Reflection: A Road Less Traveled By, by Michael Aloia
Time is a very valuable thing to most of us. One way that I use my time, when I am not working, training, researching, or writing, is to read. Recently, I grabbed one slim, white book that I know I read years prior: Joe Hyams’ Zen in the Martial Arts. I remember one of the … Continue reading Time and Training
I was recently left without the use of my eyes for a few days, and boy was it frustrating. I could not enjoy reading, watching television, or the multitude of activities that we use our eyes for. While I slowly moved around the home, trying to find the refrigerator for something to eat, or navigating … Continue reading Positioning: Between You and Your Partner
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 