Surrendering to Center – revisiting this

My first blog post was titled “Surrendering to Center”.  In describing this, I wrote: “What this means to me is that center happens. “Center” is that element of myself that I cannot avoid. it is me, the good, the bad, the ugly. Therefore, I happen. I happen everyday, whether I am alone, with my son,…

Quiet yourself and train!

I think that this is much better than “shut up and train”… maybe it’s the PC version… but it’s kind of on my mind right now.  A friend recently expressed interest in Aikido and I thought about the suggestions and advice that I wanted to give him.  Strangely, it was advice that I heard a…

What do you have planned for your Aikido in 2012?

We are closing out the year here in a few days, and I’ve been thinking a bit about the things I want to work on in the upcoming year.  I think that it’s good to have goals and to work on different aspects of an art.  While general comments like “I want to get faster/stronger/quicker”…

Preparing for Shodan

A couple of months ago Sensei Noha gave myself and two of my dojo mates the OK to test for Shodan (1st degree black belt) in the spring of 2012.  I am as scared as I am elated by this.  Scared because physically, my knees are not in great shape.  I have a hard time…

My Son

As I start to write this, my son is with the Rancho Cotate Cougers Varsity Football team to play his last game of the regular season.  This was his sophomore year and he moved straight from his freshman team to the Varsity squad. He is 15 years old and a hulking 5 foot 10 inch…

1000 Sword Cut challenge

Who’s in?  Including today we have 52 days left in the year. In 2010 I did 1000 cuts exactly one time and I’d like to do that again at least once this year.  Simply do the following: Pick up your sword, staff, nun chuks, escrima sticks, naginata, or broadsword and swing it a 1000 times….

Do you support this?

My friend on google+ posted this question and a link to this article: Michelle Malkin » More ugly Occupy Oakland pictures that won’t make MSM front pages and asked the question today, “Do you support this?” I do not feel qualified to speak regarding the validity of this movement or lack thereof.  However, I do…

My New Macbook Pro

I’ve always been a mac fan but never considered a macbook until recently.  I’m so amazed at my new mac notebook though.  The track pad and the multi fingered gestures are awesome.  Some things like “pushing” the page up with a two finger gesture vs “pulling” the page down with a mouse pointer on a…

Fall in the leaves – Marion IA

Fall in the leaves – Marion IA, a set on Flickr. This was the first time I’ve been able to experience the majesty of fall in the Midwest. I missed it by a couple of weeks last year. It is truly a spectacular site. The leaves on the trees turn an amazing hue of gold,…

Like you would catch a baby

I remember that a few years ago one of our teachers, Sasun spoke about a statue of O Sensei that depicts him standing in hanmi with his arms out stretched.  The figure shows O Sensei as if he’s just finished Tai No Henko.  Tai No Henko is a fundamental exercise in Aikido.  The video below…