We can do better than “just relax” By Ania Small Ph.D. The chance is, that somewhere along your Aikido journey, you were told to “just relax”. If you are anything like me, hearing it made you instinctively tighten up. Relaxing on demand is not easy, especially when you are newer to the art.   The realization that we are doing something so simple as “staying relaxed” wrong usually does not help, and it makes beginners feel frustrated. The same goes for non-verbal messages of shaking and dropping shoulders, as well as shoulder massages meant to help with relaxation. I’m not saying ..read more

 By Ania Small PhD. Working with a partner and the practice of connection push us to understand others better. But what form does it take and how does it manifest in Aikido training? Empathy, sympathy and compassion share some similarities, but describe slightly different experiences. Empathy is defined as an ability to experience the feelings of another person. It entails being able to relate to them. Empathy is different from sympathy, involving acknowledging another person’s experience and feelings, without necessarily experiencing them yourself. Compassion involves sympathetic con ..read more

 By Ania Small PhD. Working with a partner and the practice of connection push us to understand others better. But what form does it take and how does it manifest in Aikido training? Empathy, sympathy and compassion share some similarities, but describe slightly different experiences. Empathy is defined as an ability to experience the feelings of another person. It entails being able to relate to them. Empathy is different from sympathy, involving acknowledging another person’s experience and feelings, without necessarily experiencing them yourself. Compassion involves sympathetic con ..read more

BECOMING BETTER STUDENTS OF AIKIDO By Ania Small Ph.D. Could we streamline our progress in Aikido? We all learn differently and simply sitting and watching a teacher silently demonstrate does not address individual differences. How would our trajectory be different, if we were aware of how we learn best and could communicate that to our teachers? The following are some thoughts on becoming better Aikido students.    GETTING TO KNOW HOW WE LEARN BEST: It helps to identify what works best for us. Kinesthetic learners learn through moving our bodi ..read more

BECOMING BETTER STUDENTS OF AIKIDO By Ania Small How can we streamline our progress in Aikido? We all learn differently and simply sitting and watching a teacher silently demonstrate does not address individual differences. How would our trajectory be different, if we were aware of how we learn best and could communicate that to our teachers? The following are some thoughts on becoming better Aikido students.    It helps to identify what works best for us. Kinesthetic learners learn through moving our bodies, visual learners respond to images ..read more

The ups and downs of adjusting to a new kind of practice. by: Ania Small Ph.D. Between practice, teaching, traveling to seminars and seeing friends Aikido has been a way of life for me for a long time. Here is the account of my experience of letting go of in-person training of Aikido at the dojo due to the pandemic. It describes the struggle and ups and downs of trying to adapt and find meaning in a new kind of practice. I’m writing it both as a student and teacher, responsible in part for running a dojo. I hope it can start conversations about our experience, so we ..read more

This is an article by Guy Hagen sensei from Aikido Chuseikan dojo.  Interviews with Saotome sensei from 2018 and 2019 The term koppojutsu (“bone technique”) is most frequently used in traditional Japanese martial arts to refer to “breaking” techniques.  They are the joint-breaking techniques of koryu Jujitsu and Ninjutsu, and the kicks and strikes of old form Karate designed to break bones and ribs.  For the purposes of this article, koppo specifically implies the intentional study and practice of the ability to harm and destroy, i ..read more

by Ania Small Ph.D. Looking for the right balance in Aikido practice   Being confident enough to embody Aikido principles while staying open to new information is a balancing act.  Finding the right mix of these attitudes creates a winning combination for learning. It allows us to own what we know, and be aware of how much else is there to learn. In fact, you need one to develop the other. Without humility, confidence c ..read more

This was originally posted on Gleason sensei’s Blog in 2018. If you can Join us for our seminar in November 1-3, 2019  Bill Gleason Sensei Aikido & the Eight Powers part 1 In the teachings of the founder we find. “Aikido is One Spirit, Four Souls, Three Origins and Eight Powers. Lacking an understanding of this Aikido cannot be grasped.” I have dealt at length with One Spirit, Four Souls, and Three Origins, yet it remains to clarify the meaning of the eight powers. The single ideograms (Kanji) representing ..read more

The“Aikido Koan” And It’s Implications For Our Practice By Ania Small Most everyone training Aikido is familiar with the famous O’Sensei quote: “There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within.” My teacher, Saotome Sensei frequently reminds us that “Aikido is Budo”, and we should treat each interaction on th ..read more