Western Masters Martial Arts, Inc. 1979

Godan Promotion, Shihan Dai Promotion and Kenshu ceremony. 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇯🇵🙏🦅🥋

Summer Synergy 2024 - Aikido Canada 🇨🇦.
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Summer Synergy 2024 - Aikido Canada. Summer Synergy is an annual charity event sponsored by Aikido Canada and the Chudokan Aikido International Dojo in Windsor Ontario. This is the 16th year in...

See everyone at the Karate College on June 27-28-29! I’ll be teaching Saturday morning at 11:00 AM! The Karate College is one of the most prestigious seminar events in martial arts - Join us there - Great training, fun and fellowship!

Bocu’ju was a Chinese monk who thought of mountains as mountains and ocean as ocean…he had never been to the ocean or the mountains. He decided to travel and he saw the majesty and Rainey mists - snow capped peaks, felt the cool air, its dryness, the cobalt blue skies and his labored breath…he then travelled to the sea - he tasted the salt, felt the moist ocean air - the warmth - the waves and their calming sounds and the seagulls…sand…Sun.

He now had a different view and a deeper understanding as he thought of mountains as mountains and ocean as ocean…now the same but different because of his experiences with each.

I often hear people debate about the effectiveness, or lack thereof - in regard to traditional martial arts and specifically aikido. This story reflects well on these opinions…we study warrior arts that have been distilled over centuries.

Ineffective - in what way? Have the antagonists experienced warfare? Locked an arm felt it breaking, Smelled the iron sulfer taste after a round hit a fellow warrior…have you ever heard the echos, the screams…the dentine taste in your mouth from your teeth - as you’re knocked nearly unconscious - squeezed the trigger, or dressed the wounds - what do you really know of war, or warrior ways…

What do we really know, or appreciate - in regard to the healing nature of classical martial arts…the spiritual nature of its power…the core of its effectiveness - it’s real profoind ability to help defend and ultimately heal?? Is it literal or spiritual - maybe it’s meant to be both.

So many people - teachers included - speak from their study of others experiences and or - their own inexperience - but a few speak from having swam in the sea and climbed on the mountains - a lifetime dedicated not just to studying, but from practicing and living the classical ways of martial art…of the highly effective traditions within classical martial arts training…it’s not a requirement that you go to literal warzones - war can be experienced - in many forms…through classical training we are better equipped to fight back - perhaps it’s Bosnia,
Iraq, or Afghanistan - or it could be a child fighting a cancerous war for their life, perhaps an experience with personal violence - and struggle…or just the war of
Life itself…traditional martial arts and specifically Aikido gives us the tools to fight back - exquisitely distilled by the history of our teachers and experiences.

We all suffer, it is often our greatest teacher…and we learn.

I’ll finish with Bruce.

Bruce Lee once paraphrased this story in his famous - “a kick is a kick and a punch is a punch story”…

War and warrior ways…this lesson learned and shared through Buddhism and Zen studies by Bocu’ju - the Monk.

A deeper meaning - in my “experience”.

OSU!!

I’ll see you there - I’m teaching Chudokan Aikido at the Karate College. Here are the details!

Training Event - Zen.

Recomended online studies course with my friend and fellow aikidoist Guillermo Gomez. For my Black Belts - seriously consider this studies session.

OSU!!

AIKIDO SARASOTA AIKIKAI | MARTIAL FUSION ZENBU DOJO Aikido Sarasota Aikikai | Martial Fusion Zenbu Dojo | Martial Arts Classes and Training for Adults in Florida, USA.

Tai Chi by the ocean at 0500 AM - Just me a heron and two cranes…no breeze at all - quiet. Peace. This is my fifty fourth year of consistent martial arts training and the longer I train the more I appreciate the internal styles of martial art like aikido and tai chi…yes they are difficult to effect and yes I understand the nay sayers - but after half a century of this - experiencing war and combat multiple times - real death and destruction - different then a ring, which I’ve done as well - nay sayers just listen - for once - there is something spiritual and rejuvenating about these practices for a grey haired Colonel and Sensei - fifty four years is a good start…Ki…life’s energies pass through us all - share your energy.

OSU!

You really don’t have to dig to deeply to see the similarities of Bushido and African warriorship. The rather square mask is a classic example of a “Bete” tribal war mask - that was meant to invoke the concepts of “ethical battle and Warrior ship”…in other words “honorable” conduct. It’s made of Ivory and is shaped like a square, meant to infer stability within the warriors conduct (irony) - further, it was taken from the forest of their enemies - taking away the powers in the forest. It was meant to invoke the spirits or Gods…much like the Japanese war helmets and no masks invoked the kami…I shared some time training with a young Masai man - showed him Nikkyo -
Which he really liked and in turn he show me a few spear techniques - very similar in nature to our Jo Tori skills…so interesting!