Naka Ima Aikikai - Toronto - Grand Opening Seminar

A group of us are going out to Toronto to support Greg Angus sensei and his group as they open their new location. Matti Jonesuu, 6th dan and student of Endo Shihan is the featured instructor and it looks to be a fun filled aiki-tastic weekend. Looking forward to getting some good training in. More info here: Naka Ima Aikikai - News

Aikdio Montreal Gallery is back!

It's been over a year, but I finally have the gallery back up and running on the dojo's website:

http://aikidomontreal.com/gallery It's not perfect, but for the time being, it will do. Pictures are quite dated, I'm working on getting some more recent ones online.

Dan in California 2005

Another good video of Dan Messisco sensei. Lots of similarities to what we were working on at the Endo seminar.

Endo Shihan - Seminar Recap

Yikes. Talk about beginner's mind. After 6 days of training with Endo Shihan, I feel like I've just had an aikido reboot. My body feels looser, my ukemi better, my feeling more pure. Last year Endo sensei asked us to think about what make a good uke. This year, his theme seemed to be "How do you train." And I really took a lot home from his messages. If you always train in a manner that is stiff and rigid, what are you training your body to be? Definitely not fast and supple. As usual, Endo shihan had very little trouble moving his own body, and trained with virtually everyone who was on the mat. If you didn't get a chance to grab onto him, it was not because he wasn't avaialble. By the end of the day, he was sweating just as much as the rest of us. I can't wait for my next opportunity to grab on to this amazing teacher.

Endo Shihan - Montreal - April 7 - 9 2009

Yes, it is confirmed. Endo Shihan will be in Montreal April 7 - 9 of this year, just before his weekend seminar in Toronto. Details are on the website: http://aikidomontreal.com/events This is an excellent opportunity to get 6 days of continuous training with one of the foremost aikido instructors in the world. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Kisshomaru and the dirty funk!

Some old school stylings from Kisshomaru as well. This is from 1975, short synopsis from IMDB:

"An action movie that illustrates the struggle of Morihei Ueshiba who was born in a farming family in Wakayama (an area in Japan) on his way of pursuing the heart of martial arts until he finally created his own well-polished martial arts Aikido in which he included the strengths of other martial arts such as old-style Judo, Kendo, and spearmanship. It was the first time that Shinichi Chibas younger brother Jiro tooks the leading role in a movie."

I think this clip is just the pre-title teaser... Anyway, nice randori. And the music... My god... The music... :-D I would love to see the full thing!

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba 1935

Wow. Awesome clip of Morihei Ueshiba, O'Sensei. Old school.