I have decided to halt my class time at the Aikido dojo I practice at for a couple of months. Aikido is by and large a partner practice but the risk for me is too great, considering I have some health risks being a diabetic, my wife has respiratory challenges, and my mom is almost…
Category: budo
Connections to my Guitar and my Aikido
As a requirement for my upcoming Aikido nidan (2nd degree black belt) test, I have been asked to write an essay. I have written about music and aikido previously but this exercise gave me a chance to look a bit deeper at how the two arts of music and Aikido have crossed paths and…
Throw Far, Son
I see you line yourself up inside the circle. You are focused, your face full of intent. You hold the discus and spin it back and forth between both hands. You square up, wind up, unwind, step, step and hurl. The discus flies. You do this again and again. I don’t know your sport. I…
Starting my meditation practice
I’m finding that my meditation practice is as important as any work out. I wanted to share my thoughts about it and what some of what it’s doing for me. First, thank you to @leobabauta, a member of fitocracy.com for posting an excellent article on how to meditate: http://zenhabits.net/meditate/ I have made a gentle practice…
You can be attached for as long as you choose to be…
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending the last two hours of a seminar given by Dan Messisco Sensei. Dan Messisco has a very unique, flowing and relaxed style of Aikido and was wonderful to watch and be instructed by. There were a lot of things that he said at the seminar but…
Aiki
“The atoms that make up your body were once forged inside stars, and the causes of even the smallest event are virtually infinite and connected with the whole in incomprehensible ways.” – Eckhart Tolle I wanted to spend some time thinking about my shodan test today. Early this morning I went and grabbed some breakfast…
The First Precept
On a Saturday morning Aikido class a few years ago, Sensei brought in the book by Gichin Funakoshi, “The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate”. He read us the first precept in full: “karate-do begins and ends with rei” “Along with judo and kendo, karate-do is a representative Japanese martial art. And with it’s fellow martial…
Kata overload
From my cursory view of my twitter, facebook and Google+ friends there seems to be an interest of late in the 31 jo kata. I watched videos to learn the kata myself a few months ago but it wasn’t until a recent visit to Aikido of Cotati that it helped start to give me an understanding…
On fighting and farming
In “A life in Aikido”, Kisshomaru Ueshiba quotes O Sensei, saying “Fighting and Farming are one.” O Sensei spent a significant portion of his life farming. I believe that farming for O Sensei has particular and unique connotations regarding his being grounded with the land that he tilled and the harvest that he reaped….
Road to 1st Kyu – Week 1 Day 2
Originally uploaded by markdeso I started the book “A Life in Aikido: The Biography of Founder Morihei Ueshiba” by O’ Sensei’s son and the second doshu of the art, Kisshomaru Ueshiba . I only got through the preface and the first couple of pages. What was overwhelming for me was how much love and admiration…
Mark's Meanderings 