Todd Jones, founder of American Butokukan, began his martial arts journey in 1971 with taekwondo, moving to aikido two years later. This is a transcript of an interview conducted the fall of 2018 for research of my upcoming American aikido history book. Here, we discuss his time under Thomas “Doc” Walker, the early days of … Continue reading Interview with Todd Jones: Thomas “Doc” Walker and Growing Aikido in Florida
Evolene Premillieu began training aikido in France when she was eleven, under Mariano Aristin Sensei. Once he retired, Evolene moved to Boulder, Colorado to train under Hiroshi Ikeda Sensei and Tres Hofmeister Sensei and pursue a degree in science. It was the encouragement of Ikeda Sensei that pushed Evolene to start Aikido for Tomorrow, a … Continue reading Interview with Evolene Premillieu: Aikido for Tomorrow
With schools, clubs, and workout spaces closed for the COVID-19 lockdown/quarantine, many aikidoka are forced to train within the safety of their homes. Seeing such an opportunity to assist the many practitioners homebound throughout the world, Aikido Shimbokukai hosted the first virtual bridge seminar, via Zoom. With over 130 participants joining the groundbreaking seminar, six … Continue reading The COVID-19 Aikido Bridge Seminar
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 