Just Take the Fall
Submitted for Shodan Examination, July 2018 As everyone who practices aikido knows, it quite literally has its ups and downs, and ups and downs. In TRead More…
Year: 2018
The Basics
Dennis Bandiero, Tomiki Aikido Raleigh
SHODAN ESSAY
“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.âRead More…
Vassar Aikido Festival
These videos will be visible only if you are signed in with a valid TAA membership. Read More…
Professor Tomiki and kenkyuu (research)
Recently Bob Dziubla Sensei gave me the opportunity to digitize his personal copy of an out of print book Professor Tomiki wrote in 1956. The work isRead More…
An Introspective Study of Kuzushi no Ri
On my journey with Aikido over the past few years I have discovered a structural strength that I never imagined could be reached by a 5’2″ woman whoRead More…
US Nationals, July 26-29, 2018
Mesa College in San Diego, California, played host to the TAA US Nationals this past July. With about forty-five players assembled from across the cRead More…
Growing Up in the Dojo
My experience in Aikido began when I was twelve years old in my own basement…due to my dojo being located there! It was a small dojo of seven studRead More…
Aikido Beyond Randori
Competition style tanto randori should never be thought of as the pinnacle of aikido. Randori competitions are defining aspects of Tomiki Aikido, but Read More…
Bushido and Aikido, Part 2
In the first article in this series, I began with the observation that one of the fundamental sources of Bushido is Buddhism, and in particular Zen BuRead More…
Analyzing the Mindset of an Inexperienced Uke and the Importance of Losing
During my first few years practicing Aikido, I was considered a difficult uke. When being uke for gedan-ate I would step back if the initial kuzushi wRead More…