Aikido - The Way of Harmony Podcast

 Interview with David Shaner Sensei - Ki Aikido [81:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We haven’t had a chance to interview anyone from the Ki-Aikido realm, so we decided to remedy that with this podcast! David Shaner is the Chief Instructor of the Eastern Ki Federation and is Japan Headquarter’s Advisor to Eastern Europe and Western Russia. He has been training with Tohei sensei for 38 years and was an uchi deshi (live-in student). Shaner sensei has been teaching at Furman University for 26 years and serves as the Gordon Poteat Professor of Philosophy and Asian Studies, as well as Chair of the Department of Philosophy.You can learn more about David Shaner Sensei at the Eastern Ki Federation website:

http://www.easternkifederation.com/index.html

It was a wonderful interview and we are definitely going to have to go to a part 2, because we didn’t have enough time to get into all of the subjects we wanted to touch on!  Special thanks to Shaner Sensei for giving us so much of his time and to Greg Gardner for helping us make this connection!

 Interview with Ellis Amdur [47:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bob King and I met Ellis Amdur at his Seminar in Oberlin, Ohio a few weeks ago. We had a blast and learned a lot. The Oberlin club was a great host and we hope to get back there again very soon. While we were there, we began to interview Ellis about Aikido and Budo and we realized that we needed much more time to really get into this stuff, so we decided to speak by phone to really get deeper into these subjects. This was really a fantastic discussion and I hope we have a chance to meet Ellis again soon! Here are some links that will might be useful to those listening to the podcast.
Koryu.com - access to historical information on Japanese Martial Arts.
Books by Ellis Amdur - Including “Dueling with O-Sensei”
Edgework - Ellis Amdur’s Crisis Intervention Resource
Aunkai - Mentioned by Ellis as a good internal art resource
Link to John Coltrane (mentioned in the podcast)

 Sensei Jon Cameron interview [22:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sensei Bob King interviews Sensei Jon Cameron 5th Dan instructor from the Japan Aikido Association about his time training with Nariyama Shihan and about competition in Aikido. It’s a fascinating interview with someone who has been training in Tomiki Aikido for 35 years.

Sit back and enjoy this wonderful and insightful interview! Please feel free to comment in the forum area on the site or leave a comment under this entry.

 Aikido - Shihan Nadeau interview [66:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since our last podcast. This one will definitely make it worth the wait. Shihan Robert Nadeau was kind enough to speak with us for a bit in this episode. Shihan Nadeau is a 7th degree in Aikikai style and is the founder of City Aikido in San Francisco. Shihan Nadeau studied directly under the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba! He has been teaching Aikido for over 35 years and is very well respected in the Aikido world for “teaching the Aikido that cannot be seen with the human eye”. His focus is on the internal, philosophical and spiritual aspects of the art.

Please feel free to email us and let us know your thoughts. We always appreciate feedback.

 Ledyard Sensei - Part 2 [25:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’re back with the second half of the Sensei Ledyard interview. It was a real pleasure speaking with Sensei Ledyard… his knowledge and insight were very enlightening and I really appreciate his time.

Please let us know what you think of the podcast! You can get a hold of us through the contact area or in the forum. We appreciate all of the support and kind words we’ve gotten so far.

 George Ledyard Sensei - Interview 1 of 2 [36:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello everyone… sorry it’s been a little while since our last podcast. We are extremely fortunate to be able to bring you an interview with Sensei George Ledyard of Aikido Eastside, which is just outside of Seattle, Washington. We’ve broken up this interview into 2 parts and the second part will be posted in a few weeks.
Ledyard Sensei began his Aikido studies in 1976 under the direct instruction of Mitsugi Saotome Sensei and has continued this association ever since. Ledyard Sensei currently holds the rank of 6th Dan in Aikido.

He is also the founder of Defensive Tactics Options… a system of police and security training which specializes in less-than-lethal force alternatives and options for protective control. He also teaches seminars across the United States and Canada. In addition to all of those things, he’s also a regular contributor to Aikidojournal.com and Aikiweb.com (two of our favorite sites around here).

You can get videos and other learning tools from Ledyard Sensei here. There are some wonderful tools here and I would highly recommend them!

 Aikido Podcast 2.5 [31:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello everyone. We’ve got a new podcast up. In our first podcast we spoke with Tanaka Sensei (Shihan of the JAA/USA) Tomiki Aikido. We only gave about half of his interview in the first podcast and we wanted everyone to have the opportunity to hear the rest of his comments. He discusses a lot of very interesting subjects in addition to some of his personal philosophy and his personal experiences with Tomiki Sensei.

We are hard at work on our next podcast, but we are always open to other ideas for interviews and shows. If you have someone who you think might be a good fit for our show, please email us! We’d love to hear from many different styles and schools of thought, so please drop us a note.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy this newest interview.

 Aikido - The Way of Harmony - Episode 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello everyone… sorry it’s been a little over a month since our last podcast, but I promise it’s been worth the wait! Sensei Bob King and I had a great discussion with Sensei Kevin Blok from the Chudokan Aikido Dojo in Canada. It’s a fascinating interview that delves into the physical, the mental and the philosophical. Blok Sensei comes from the Yoshinkai Aikido style and received his 1st grade teaching license (the highest level) directly from Gozo Shioda! Click here if you’ve never seen any video of Shioda Sensei in action. It’s amazing.

 The discussion ranges from the practical physical use of Aikido in a martial sense (for law enforcement, etc.) to the OTMA (off the mat Aikido) ideas that come from studying Aikido.

Please feel free to drop us an email or post something in the talkback if you have any suggestions, comments, criticisms (or if you just want to say hello)! We’d love to hear from you.

 Aikido Podcast Episode 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hello everyone. Our first Aikido Podcast is now up and available! We have an introduction and some commentary from Bob King and Jeff Davidson, followed by an interview with Seiji Tanaka (8th Dan Tomiki Aikido) and from Dr. Paul Linden (6th Dan, United States Aikido Federation).

 There is some fascinating history and philosophy of Tomiki style Aikido from Tanaka Sensei and a very thought provoking discussion on the use of Aikido for peacemaking and the connection between Aikido and gardening from Dr. Paul Linden! Make sure not to miss it!

 The Aikido podcast is open to all styles of Aikido and we look forward to delving into many other areas of Aikido in future podcasts.

Feel free to email us (check the contact us section) if you have any suggestions for future discussions. If you would like to discuss this particular episode, please do so in our discussion forum.

Thanks and we hope you enjoy the Aikido Podcast!

Aikido is very different from most other martial arts. It doesn’t really have punches or kicks like traditional martial arts. At it’s essence, it is learning to flow with the energy of the attacker. It has joint locks and throws, similar to Judo, but part of the art is also “Ukemi” where you learn to be thrown.

Aikido is a moving style. It is very circular in it’s movements. Not straight and hard, but circular and supple. One great demonstration of this principle can be shown in this way. Hold a jo or a staff in one hand so that the bottom of the pole is touching the ground and the pole is sticking straight up. Then hold a rope or a long belt in the other hand so that the end is touching the ground. Now let go of them both and see which one hits the ground first. Karate and Tae Kwon Do could be considered more “hard” styles like the pole. Aikido would be a “softer” style like the rope. We will be discussing the question “What is Aikido?” in our coming interviews.

Stay tuned!