Archive

 
 
 
 
aikido with bokken" class="attachment-single wp-post-image" alt="Aikido image" scale="0">

"You are here for no other purpose than to realise your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment.
Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter"
— Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido.

  • Freedom is precious and time is irreplaceable. With this in mind, how does one achieve that ever elusive work-life balance? Long work hours and domestic chaos can leave us in a spin, not quite knowing where all the time went. Maybe it’s time to take time out and harness the inner depths of the imagination.

    A person needs space, but also new opportunities and challenges. We want to be respected, to be encouraged to grow and discover the world for ourselves, but we are all prone to stress and stimulation fatigue and need to be able to relax completely and recharge. Ki-aikido may well be your path to rehabilitation and harmony.

    Aikido is a traditional martial art originating from Japan and the name can roughly be translated as, the path towards harmony with the universe. The founder was Morihei Ueshiba, (1883-1969). He based the art on principles of ju-jitsu and several other traditional samurai martial art techniques and later developed it into the form we know today as aikido. He continued to practice and refine the art his whole life, constantly promoting the way of peace. It has developed steadily and branched out across the globe into several styles, ki-aikido being arguably the most harmonious in terms of technique and philosophy. The ‘ki’ prefix in ki-aikido refers to a kind of special perception without clear definition that is manifest when mind and body unify in harmonious equilibrium beyond thought.

    The training of the art is reward in itself, it nurtures the soul, develops the body and clears the mind. It is an art that anyone can train, both young and old. The physical side of the training involves a series of techniques using various types of locks, holds, throws and other subtle ways to neutralise an attack. All techniques are executed with harmony and respect towards one’s partner and function as a way to understand the relationship between the mind and body and not to dominate or cause pain. Weapons are also used for training, the bokken (wooden sword), Jo (wooden staff) and tanto (wooden knife).

    Probably the most influential ability learned in ki-aikido is meditation and the use of ki-breathing (kokyuho). This unifies the mind and body and promotes calm and relaxation as well as bringing into being a complete perception of stability and strength. →

→  1 2
 
 

[ 1 Comment » ] in chronological order

Comments

“In Budapest, surgeons operated on printer's apprentice Gyoergyi Szabo, 17, who, brooding over the loss of a sweetheart, had set her name in type and swollowed the type.”
Time Magazine 1936. From the book  Just My Type,
by Simon Garfield.