Happy Brithday to AKR!

October 12th, 2019, the Mayor of Rochester, Lovely Warren, designated as "Aikido Kokikai of Rochester Day" in honor of our 35th year serving the community of Rochester, NY. Our dojo started as a club at the Rochester Institute of Technology. It has not only grown and persevered as the oldest/longest continuously operating martial arts school in the area, but it has spawned several dojos across the country as students moved for work and family. Our members have started dojos in Los Angeles, Maryland, Queens, Ithaca, as well as our local sister dojos in Pittsford and at RIT.  Many thanks to visiting Sensei Rick Goodman, 8th Dan, for helping us celebrate with an excellent seminar.

We are proud of our service to our community and of the family that we have built. More over, we would love to have you help us write our next chapter.
 

#aikido #aikidoroc #kokikai #rochesterny #rochester #monroecounty #RIT

Aikido Kokikai of Rochester Day!

As part of our ongoing 35th Anniversary celebration, the City of Rochester has proclaimed Saturday, October 12, 2019 "Aikido Kokikai of Rochester Day"!

To celebrate we are having a seminar on Saturday, October 12, 2019 with Rick Goodman Sensei, 8th Dan.

To kick things off, a representative from City Hall will be at the dojo at 10:00 am to present the "Aikido Kokikai of Rochester Day" proclamation to us.

Please join us for the presentation and/or the seminar!

Footloose

One of the things I am forcing myself as a teacher to consider more often of late is footwork.  One of our dojo sayings is "Don't fix with your hands what you should fix with your feet."  But that requires to teach what or feet are doing and more importantly how.  Our traditional garb, the hakama, actually obscures details of our movement, no doubt a tactical consideration in the evolution of the garment.  As instructors we need to remove barriers to learning such that our students can not only replace us, but exceed us and elevate the art.

Here's an exercise to play with for the initial movement in response to a shomen attack.  In the case we were playing with at the moment of realization, was bokken tori, so consider that distance in the description.   Begin in hanmi, assume left for the discussion.   The desire is to move slightly offline to the left,  avoiding the downward slice of the weapon.  Rather than stepping, which disrupts the alignment of the hips and pelvis, we want to slide the forward foot over while doing about an quarter to half tenkan turn.  If we slide by telling to forward foot to move, it will have similar effects on balance to stepping.  Solution? Lighten the weight on the forward foot, leaving the only contact at the ball of the foot.  Now push off with turn back (right) foot, allowing some "stickiness" of the ball of the forward foot to cause drag and therefore turn the foot, allowing the heel to swing out.  The heel position dictates the distance the body moves off line.   The push from the opposite foot produces a slide that doesn't upset the hips and therefore helping maintain balance and posture. The push also create a spring loading effect that can be used for a forward 3rd foot kote gaeshi.

Try it.    Like it, keep it.  Hate it, improve it!

:)

String Theory

Think of uke (your attacker) as a taut thread.  Pull too harshly, and your connection to them will break, releasing them to repress their attack.  Push them, and you will become entangled.  But draw on them properly, and you can lead them anywhere.

Congratulations on Testing and a Welcoming a Visitor!

Congratulations to Tim Seitz (now 6th kyu) and Elizabeth Mahoney (now 5th kyu) on their successful tests tonight.  We had a great turn out for class to cheer them on and uke for them.  As an extra special treat, we had a visitor, Dillon, from our sister dojo in Seattle!  It's always great to work with students from other dojos.

Thanks to all who came out and to Tim and Elizabeth for their continued commitment to their practice.