What do you know about Koichi Tohei? →

Published March 4, 2014  ·  All posts on Mar 4

Relaxation alone—even a specialized form of it—is not aikidō, however. If this internal power is a foundational skill—one largely abandoned today—the techniques of aikidō are its delivery system. Even with remarkable power, without a delivery system, one is no more able to fight than a power lifter is able to win in a boxing ring, just because he can bench press six hundred pounds.

~ Ellis Amdur from, «http://www.guillaumeerard.com/aikido/articles/it-aint-necessarily-so-rendez-vous-with-adventure»

Aikidoka: We talk a lot about Tohei Sensei, but how much time have you spent actually reading about him?

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The Cambridge →

Published March 2, 2014  ·  All posts on Mar 2

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The right state of mind →

Published February 28, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 28  ·  

Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. When I believe I can, I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.

~ Mohandas Gandhi

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Systemic Evil →

Published February 26, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 26

Clearly, there is a moral principle at work in the actions of the leakers, whistle-blowers and hacktivists and those who support them. I would also argue that that moral principle has been clearly articulated, and it may just save us from a dystopian future.

~ Peter Ludlow from, The Banality of Systemic Evil

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…and I would argue that four, (number of examples he presents) is not a number which can be reasonably extrapolated to describe “the millennial generation.” The millenials I know are currently the “me” generation. Currently, meaning that for NOW, they’re focused on themselves. They are not going to buy into the national health care rigamarole, they are not going to buy life insurance, they are not going to carefully lay out their course with a moral compass.

Just like me, (and the members of my generation) when we were the age the millenials are currently. Also see: Generations.

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Rose Shumbata →

Published February 24, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 24

My maternal grandmother, Rose Shumbata.
Oct 11, 1914 – May 18, 2010 (…thats 95!)

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Prove yourself →

Published February 22, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 22  ·  ,

No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.

~ Seneca

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Generations →

Published February 20, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 20

Strauss and Howe argue that the last five centuries of Anglo-American history can be explained by the existence of four generational archetypes that repeat sequentially in a fixed pattern every 80-100 years, the length of a long human life, or what the ancients called a “saeculum.” These generational archetypes are: Prophet, Nomad, Hero, and Artist. Each generation consists of those born during a roughly 20 year period. As each generation moves up the ladder of age and takes a different place in society, the mood of the culture greatly changes.

~ Brett McKay from, The Generations of Men

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This is some deep stuff; Deep, like Harry Seldon/Foundation deep.

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Ice Crystals →

Published February 18, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 18

Caught these ice crystals forming on glass; The whole area of glass was initially frosted, and as the car warmed up, the evaporating frost fed the growth of these ice crystals. I was just fast enough to catch this one photo. A moment later, the crystals, and all the frost, melted.

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Create something →

Published February 16, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 16  ·  

If you want to really hurt you parents … the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.

~ Kurt Vonnegut

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Dogs and Wolves →

Published February 14, 2014  ·  All posts on Feb 14

The thing is, the DNA of dogs and wolves are over 99 percent similar. … So while they do have physical differences, …what’s there to stop a dog from attacking the same herd it is supposed to guard? It’s breeding and training. In the human counterpart, it’s attitude, ethos and goals. Predators and protectors are totally different kinds of people, although they share many different traits. The sharing of traits, however, is the danger zone for protectors.

Or, as one friend in self-defense training joked about it to me, “The closest thing to criminals are cops. Both like to drive around in cars all day scoping out the joints, both carry guns, boss people around, and drink a lot of coffee.”

~ Wayne Muromoto from, 88. Dogs and Wolves and Budo

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It’s definitely worth thinking through the “sharing of traits” being discussed. That whole attitude/goals thing is critical for you to turn out a decent human being after a few years of your martial arts training. If you haven’t thought about your attitude/goals, you are on the good-intentions-paved road to Bad Times. If you haven’t made conscious choices about what you want to internalize, you are careening along without intentionally steering.

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