Is That History?
What has come to pass for “Aikido history” today is a sham. It seems that all one needs to be considered a historian or a researcher of...
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Budo is a matter of intense physical training coupled with deep contemplation and introspection. These writings are here shared to assist the reader in their own necessary reflections and to provide further insight in our dojo for the potential student.
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The Martial Way
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David M. Valadez
- Jul 8, 2020
The Long Question
I think beyond martial considerations, there remain questions that should be asked of the so-called shihan and higher ranks, one long one...
David M. Valadez
- Jul 8, 2020
Deltoid Over-Dependency
Movement that has you moving the hand from one side of the body to the other side of the body and does so outside of the inward or...
David M. Valadez
- Jul 8, 2020
Big-Guy Aikido
Today’s Aikidoka cannot recognize “big guy” technique, technique that functions only through a choreographed Uke and/or through a...
David M. Valadez
- Jul 8, 2020
The Silent Void
There is a roar to silence. The birds sing to it, and when they do the silence sings through the birds. Behind all movement, there is a...
David M. Valadez
- Jul 8, 2020
Intention is Upaya
The imagination is often used to point the inexperienced, that is to say, “the person who has had not experientially felt the given...
David M. Valadez
- Jun 22, 2020
Agency in Ukemi
There are what can be called problematic key concepts in Aikido ukemi, concepts that have only recently become key. These are concepts...
David M. Valadez
- Jun 21, 2020
Recommended Book
The art of Aikido is grounded firmly within both the particular cultural context of Budo and also within the larger historical context of...
David M. Valadez
- Jun 20, 2020
Beginning Weapons Training
by David M. Valadez Weapons, as ancient as song and myth in the history of Man, have always been the artifacts by which the warrior is...
David M. Valadez
- Jun 20, 2020
Seeing
As I look within, so I see without, but also through. As I look without, so I become blind within, and what I see is what others have...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 18, 2019
A Blog Series: Reflections on Operating An Aikido Dojo
David M. Valadez Reflections on Operating An Aikido Dojo: How to Be Financially Stable With A Dojo True To The Way. Part 1: General...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 17, 2019
A Retransliteration of Osensei's "Kannagara no Jutsu"
by David M. Valadez "The Art that is in Accordance with God" 1 This evening I would like to give a simple talk in response to some...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 17, 2019
Reflections, 2018
David M. Valadez January, 2018 You have to see through things, to the futility of excess, exaggeration, and flamboyancy, to the weakness...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 17, 2019
Reflections, 2017
David M. Valadez January, 2017 Upaya is matter of seeing instantly where the deshi is and what there is to work with inside of them to...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 16, 2019
Reflections, 2016
David M. Valadez January, 2016 It is so telling how current practitioners tend to gravitate toward photographs of past masters smiling or...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 15, 2019
Reflections, 2015
David M. Valadez May, 2015 An important part of training is to look beyond the obvious and the superficial, past technique and the...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 14, 2019
Reflections, 2014
David M. Valadez January, 2014 Here are the four problem areas I see in Aikido today: 1. The politicization of the art: Wherein...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 13, 2019
Reflections, 2013
David M. Valadez January, 2013 The only mistake you can make in Budo is quitting. All else are markers of The Way and watersheds of your...
David M. Valadez
- Mar 12, 2019
Reflections, 2012
David M. Valadez April, 2012 Walking behind and following the Patriarchs, so the Path is traveled. 4/2/12 We must remain steadfast - like...
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