Aikido is unique among martial arts in that it teaches calmness and creativity in the midst of aggression .... compassion and non-violent responses towards violence .... and resolution of conflicts without harming others.                             
                                                                     Sensei Miles Kessler
Thomas        5° BB Iwama and Nishio Styles of Aikido, (35 years with 6 years in Japan)
Huffman      3° BB Iaido & Batto (30 years also with 6 years with the "Old" Masters in Japan)
                      2° BB Okinawan Karate & Kobudo (weapons) (40 years with 1 year on Okinawa)

     I have known for a long time that the main line of Aikido does not focus on truly effective techniques.  I experienced this in various seminars that some Hombu students attended while I was in Japan and some other Hombu style seminars I have trained in.   Their techniques look similar, but the results were not as consistent with lock-down efficiency.    Recently I have discovered that the headquarters dojo, the Aikikai Hombu Dojo,  deliberately changed how techniques were executed in order to spread Aikido around the world.   It worked, Aikdo is around the world but the changes frustrated the founder of Aikido, perhaps causing him to develop a cancer.   One day a student asked O'Sensei about the effectiveness of the techniques.   In a fit of frustration O'Sensei told him, "The Aikido being taught here in Tokyo is for exercise.  My Aikido is for the battlefield.  If you want to learn my Aikido go to Iwama and learn from Saito."  
     He was referring to Morihiro Saito Sensei.   He was the teacher of  three of the teachers I started Aikido under.   I managed to get the Navy to send me to Japan so I could study with him as well.  I also studied with his son Hitohiro Saito for three years on the south side of Tokyo.  Then the second three years I would train with Sensei Ryuji Sawa (formerly Inagaki Sensei), when the USS Independence was in port.  After three years at Atsugi Naval Air Station, I had to change duty stations, so I went to the USS Independence which was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, about  45 miles Southeast from Tokyo.  The first year I was on it, the Independence went into dry dock for major repairs.   So for practically the whole year the ship was in port.   The next two years the Independence was away from Yokosuka for 9 months of the year.  So my last two years around Japan, I became more of a visitor when the ship came back into home port.  
     Being stationed nearer to Yokohama, I also trained with Nishio Sensei on a number of nights.   My advancements came from Nishio Sensei who also advocated battlefield strong, effective, fast techniques.   I teach the Iwama Style as a basic foundation and the Nishio Style as advanced for flow and speed.   Nishio Style is more complex, so an understanding of the Iwama style basics makes it easier to comprehend.  I have been so fortunate to study the two styles of Aikido that maintain a sense of Budo (martial way) while the main line of Aikido has chosen to maintain an exercise way. The organization is much larger and the modified techniques that do not consistently work has given Aikido a poor reputation.

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Saturday 7/24/21, The Batto today was pretty good.  My sword is cutting spectacularly.  I started out with the Morinaga/Tokutomi Style Toyama-Ryu Pre-drawn  Walking Cuts set.  Then we started going through the 15 Kata pamphlet of Walking Draw Cut Katas I have both put together and designed.   I say that because there are a number of old Katas from the classes I attended in Japan as well as new Katas I have designed from both the Nishio Aiki-Toho System and Toyama-Ryu together to bring the count up to 15.   Some are kind of simple and some are downright difficult.  It's certainly a challenging set.  It's all video taped. So, I will be posting each Kata as I edit them with explanations and process them.                

This coming Saturday 7/24/21 we will be doing Batto (cutting rolled rice-straw mats) out in front of the dojo, under the trees, weather permitting.   I put 21 rolls of targets in a barrel by the dojo and filled it with water today.  So, they will be well soaked by Saturday.  We will start setting up, out front, at Noon.  Once we are set up we will start cutting.  We have been practicing with Iaido swords and pool noodles stuck in cones for target positioning for weeks.  I will be trying to go through 16 Katas.  Most of them are the same as we practiced in Japan.  I have developed some new Katas using the Aiki-Toho Iaido for inspiration and concepts from Toyama-Ryu Batto.  It's going to be interesting.                

Saturday 7/10/21,  I'm very proud of the showing from Aikido of Gainesville down in Orlando for the Japanese Sword Show put on by Bob Elder over the weekend.  On Saturday four of us from the Iaido class rode down together and met two families from the Aikido classes down there.  So altogether counting other family members as well we had 11 show up on Saturday.  Two other students said they would be going down on Sunday.  So this was the best showing on an out-of-town event since starting Aikido of Gainesville in 2002.  Terrific!  Also, this evening, July 12th, I'm showing the Iaido class a composite video of classes I video taped back in 1996 of Batto classes at the Tokutomi Dojo in Toyama village in Japan.   What was taught there, as far as the tame shigiri (cutting), is pretty different from the Tokyo Style Toyama-Ryu tame shigiri that is prevalent here in the U.S.  I am planning on a Batto class, with cutting, outdoors, on Saturday afternoon on the 24th, weather permitting.
                   
We will have some Saturday mornings coming up when the dojo will be closed.   On July 10th a number of the Iaido students are going down to Orlando for the big sword show at the Double Tree Hotel near the Orlando International Airport.  On July 17th we will be teaching a Women's Self Defense class from 9am to Noon.               

6/19/21 Thursday evening we had the second promotion since Governor DeSantos lifted the mask and contact restrictions.  Carlton passed his 5th Kyu test for Green Belt.  He did pretty good.  This morning we started working on his Green with black stripe test.  We began by expanding on concepts and techniques that were introduced in his last test.  He's pretty sharp and picks up quickly.              

We do have the free classes going again on Saturday mornings. It's open from 9am to Noon. When there are a number of kids coming we usually start with a warm-up game at 9am for those coming in not really just a 9am. Then we bow in and do the stretches and wrist warmups and break up to knowledge level groups. Often I have the more advanced students helping the new students, which promotes good learning for all. When the advanced students teach their juniors, they learn more in depth what they learned previously, which helps their advancement to more complex versions of the same techniques with different attacks and accelerating speed. If time and good attendance permits, I switch out the advanced students so I can teach them something to help their tests. Then often, the last 15 minutes, we play either some "Samurai" hockey or 10 strikes. This promotes teamwork with a lot of laughing and or fun with some competition.                  

6/10/21 We have had the first test and promotion since before the pandemic.    Jake started a number of months ago practicing weapons while we were still limited to no contact.  So, we just started the empty hand a few weeks ago and we just put the two first tests together and he blew through them.  He will already know weapons knowledge up through about the 6th test when he gets there.  So, I expect that Jake will advance pretty fast through the lower tests.  He's coming twice a week to both an empty hand and a weapons class, so he will advance much faster than the persons who only come to the free classes, once a week.  I now give both a free empty hand and weapons classes on Thursday nights, but still just one time a week doesn't trend to as good retention of knowledge as coming a second time during the week.   I found that to be the case with the Batto (cutting with a sword) classes that were only on Saturday afternoons and evenings while I was in Japan.  It was difficult to recall what I had learned the week before.  Once I started video recording classes and re-viewing them later, I could progress much better.  That second reinforcement did the trick.             

Aikido Summer Camps coming soon.   The first will be June 14th to 18th.  The second will be July 12-16 and the third will be August 2nd to 6th, before schools restart.  These will be half day camps covering similar education as the Women's Self Defense seminars.  There will be stretching and rest time breaks, some play, but the focus will be more self defense.   

5/23/21  It's been a good day, but a sad day.  The family from India has a flight date for a week from tomorrow.  Today was their last practice.   I gave them a weapons bag for the handmade Jo's I made for them.  The mother asked if she could be a teacher in India.   I told her what Sensei actually translates to.  Student who has gone before.  She and her daughters are obviously that, so of coarse she can be a Sensei.  They have recorded so many videos of various techniques I have taught them.  So, if they save those videos, they have a good library of explained techniques to use.  They also know the 31 and 13 kata movement kumijo's, both the defender and aggressor sides.   Yes, there is a kumijo for the 13 movement kata.  I developed it.  Her youngest daughter is 8 and she knows both sides of the katas.  There are lots of Sandans, 3rd Degree blackbelts who don't know the kumijo.  These girls are great.  Wonderful family.  I am going to miss them so much.                    


5/10/21  The Governor has opened up Florida, so we will be opening for FREE SATURDAY MORNING CLASSES this coming Saturday MAY 15TH.                 

4/2/21 The last Saturday of March, we went down to Orlando to Bob Elder's Toyama-Ryu class.  I demonstrated the walking draws set of the Toyama-Ryu style I learned in Japan, which I am teaching and to observe their practice.  Here is a video of what I was showing.  https://rumble.com/vfa1u1-toyama-hon-iaido-batto-walking-draws-set.html  I put it up on Rumble, because I don't trust what Youtube or Facebook might do with it.  I don't think there is much Batto here in the U.S. that is doing any cutting on the move. The normal target stands are not conducive to cutting on the move. You can not walk past the stand close to the target. So the stands you see me using are very different. Also the angle stand that holds the target at a 45degree angle is unheard of here in the states. I may have the only one existing now. I think Bob's students may want to build one now. My demonstration was radical compared to normal. The amount of time required to set up cuts made me think about the sequence of katas. I am re-arranging them now so I can accomplish more cuts on the same setting before moving stands around for the next cuts.                      
3/14/21 Sunday.  Today Bharathi's two older daughters were practicing back and forth on the aggressor side of the 31 movement Jo kata.  They were laughing and having just too much fun with it.  (I'm being fictitious)  They all so much enjoy what I have been teaching them.  And I certainly enjoy teaching such students.  Another great day!       

3/12/21 Rock, the student who moved up to Memphis so he and his mother would get to see Dad more often, was in last week.  His mother's parents live here, so they will be back down to visit now and then.  I got to meet his father.  He thanked me for being a kind of surrogate father/uncle to Rock while he was flying cargo around the world.  They have enrolled Rock in a Karate school.  I asked him how he liked it.  He said, "It's OK, but it's not as fun as Aikido."  So we had a lot of fun practicing the 13 movement Jo kata.  Then he wanted to put together the 13 movement kata and the 31 movement kata.  (He didn't really forget anything.)  So, that gave me a challenge of how to fix it so the 13th movement could go right into the first movement of the 31 movement kata.  Our normal finish of the 13 no Jo ends with the attack side moving right and the defender's Jo being on the left.  But the start of the 31 no Jo starts with the attacker reacting to the defender's first counter thrust being to the right of the attacker.  I had to create a left movement for the attacker with a response to the right.  I got it.  So we now have a 44 movement kata.   So we both learned something.  Good practice.          


2/22/21  Great classes the past two days.  On Sunday Bharathi and her daughters have been practicing on the 13 movment Jo kata and the counter kata kumijo that I developed to go with it.  I was going through it with her oldest daughter and she tells me, "This is fun".  They're getting what I have told people all along.  When you get into the more advanced stuff it becomes fun to practice. On Monday, Lydia (12, green belt, 6th test) and I were going through both the 31 and 13 movement Jo katas partner practices.  She is getting pretty proficient with the aggressor side of both katas.  While we were going through them at a pretty good pace, she just spontaneously started laughing.  It's a wonderful feedback that she is having fun with these katas also.  I love hearing laughter in the classes.        

1/29/21 Wednesday evening Iaido practice was good.  My students understand the Aikido Toho Iaido well so we have been going through the katas and just doing two each unless there are mistakes.  If there are mistakes we repeat those 4 times.   After we finish the 15 katas, we switch to the Toyama-Ryu katas.  Since I expect that at some point we will be actually using these katas for cutting, it is important for everyone to understand the positioning of targets for cutting.  The use of cones with short pool noodles positioned as targets makes the practice much more realistic.         

1/25/21 Good day yesterday!  Most of the time I only have one or two show up for the Sunday classes.  Yesterday I had 7 for the first class and 4 for the second class.  Wahoo with caution.  So many times I have had a bunch of people at one class and then it drops off to next to nothing.   Afterwards Keith took me to Matsuri Sushi for a 5th Dan congratulations dinner.  I don't have the certificate yet and it may take a while before it arrives because I have been informed that Japan has shut down nearly everything, including the mail, because of the China Virus flare up there.                      

 1/19/21 About a week ago Bill of the Iaido classes brought in some low cones with about 1.25" holes in the top.  It is big enough that a 1.5" short pool noodle can be pushed into the hole to represent the location of a "wata" (target) for Batto cutting.  So I have begun using these to give a better visualization of target placing for future Batto cutting.  Up to this point I could visualize where the targets would be when I have been teaching, but it is pretty abstract for students.  This will allow them to get a much better idea of what they are doing when I teach them about the Toyama-ryu Batto.   Also I got a really nice deal on a new canvas cover for the mats.  I've had it for over a year and a half, but there were too many other things that would mess it up that I wanted to get done before we put that cover on and I was waiting for the weather to cool because it's a hot job.  More on that as it progresses.    

1/10/2021 Wonderful news today.  I have been promoted to 5th Dan, 5th Degree black belt in Aikido after 20 + years as 4th Dan.  I will need to make new business cards.  What a terrible need.  Perhaps the 20 years time-in-grade pushed my name to second in line on the list.   I had three students for both weapons and the empty hand time today.  We changed weapons and kept going.  Good Day!                     

1/1/2021  Sensei Keith has been coming to practice weapons more now.  He came to one of the Kids & Teens classes or maybe it was a Thursday evening for the free classes and found out some of the kids are getting more advanced in weapons techniques than he is.  Not so good.  So I am overjoyed to be teaching him more weapons stuff.  He is getting more and more proficient with the attack side of the 31 movement Jo kata.   I believe he learned the attack side of the 13 movement kata about a year or two ago, but without practice, it's easy to forget.  I also had a new student come in yesterday.  He has practiced a number of other martial arts, but felt that they required too much aggression to use in  a real situation.   Aikido does not need the aggressiveness to respond and he likes that philosophy better.   That's the kind of student I want to teach lots of knowledge to.  I packed his brain with Bo, Boken and Jo techniques yesterday.  It's just a beginning.                      

Nov 25th, 2020.   This was a response to the facebook post of the story of the student moving away.
Bharathi Nakkalamitte
Thats true. Thanks to Sensai for doing such a wonderful job. We are glad to be in your classes.
Bharathi is Indian.  Her husband has finished a Doctorate degree here at University of Florida and they will be moving back to India soon.  Bharathi's three daughters were aggressively progressing through the belts before the China virus hit.  They would ask me how do you do this technique, teach us that technique.  Great students!  I so wanted to have them all advanced in self defense Aikido techniques before they go back to India, but all I can teach them now are the walking staff things.   It really hurts the dojo synchronicity (the draw of more students to classes) when a group like this has to leave.  I will miss them like I miss the Herron Family as well.  Such great students moving on.  

Nov 24th, 2020.       I lost a good student yesterday because he and his mother are moving up to Memphis so they can spend more time with the husband/Dad. Excellent reason. The Father is a pilot with Fedex. The mother and son have been living with her parents here in Gainesville and commuting up to Memphis on the weekends. Not a good way to spend time apart.
     When I was 8 or 9 my Dad went back to teaching music and directing the Eastwood High School Band near Bowling Green, Ohio, after the Huffman Flower business went broke. He spent at least one summer up in Michigan working on a Masters Degree in Music. Mom would take us kids up on the weekends to see him. Dad was within one semester, 9 credit hours, of finishing but went back to horticulture. He told me years later that Fridays would come and all he could think of was being outside growing various ornamentals.
      My student's mother told me she was so grateful to me that when her son would ask a question, I would sit down with him and discuss what ever the question was about. Or when I would discuss with him various subjects that relate to Aikido, or not, and pull out various books to show him something like Anatomy or history. Or show him pictures of various techniques and explain how the physics of the technique would work. If I taught him a big new word he had never heard before, we would pull out my mother's collegiate dictionary and look up the word. It's a great dictionary with lots of pictures in the margins which create curiosity to see what the picture represents. So we would look up one word and learn five or six. She said I was like a surrogate father or grandfather or uncle and he learned so much more than just a self defense.
     I will miss them. I miss so many of my students who have to leave or quit for various reasons. It is why I love teaching Aikido and Iaido so much. So many of my students have been so grateful for what I have taught.                              


Nov 8th, 2020.   About a week or so ago, one of my Iaido students gave me a really heart felt thank you for my teachings.  He said that the consistent intense focus in manipulating the sword straight really helps himself and the other students to focus as well and everybody improves quickly.  Sensei Keith has also thanked me in the past that these classes have been so beneficial and healing for his mind because of the  concussions and other head traumas he experienced over his years as a deputy sheriff.  We have had to go to all weapons classes because of the virus constraints and I have always maintained that practically everything we do builds neural pathways across the brain divide because you must use both sides of the brain to move and coordinate your appendages all the time.   The kids are beginning to really enjoy the classes as we get deeper and deeper into the partner practices.  When they are facing another weapon coming at them and deflecting it and responding back, things get exciting.  They recognize that this could get dangerous even though we are going slow as they learn things.  It gives them a little adrenaline pumping.   The time to think is very limited, so they must respond as taught.  Time and again I hear, "This is so cool!" and "I love this!" and "This is fun!"  I respond with, "See, I told you right from the beginning that Aikido is fun."               

We kept on the Tsuka Osai and Tekubi Osai katas during Iaido this week working on getting the angles right because the orientation of the student's body and the movement of the handle of the sword is so important to what makes the technique effective. I need to get some of the blue paint type masking tape to put down on the mat so the feet get oriented correctly because body stance and positioning is what is moving the sword handle around. Strong Nikyo technique can be executed with very little effort provided you use your body in a very unified coordinated movement. Otherwise, you may need to use much more strength or the technique may be weak or not work at all. When I got back from Japan, in 1997, I was moving and turning with very small tight hand movements and people would fly to the mat. I was even taking the Nikyo off before the full execution, yet they were so surprised by the strength, they thought I was being mean. The key is total body unification.  That was the level I practiced in Japan.       

Saturday Aug 29th, During Iaido class we analyzed the 7th Aiki Toho Iaido kata, Tekubi Osai  (wrist pin down), which is the right hand of the aggressor grabbing the end of the tsuka (sword handle) or grabbing the left wrist of the defender for empty hand attack.  The Katate Dori Nikyo Ura (take down to the rear) is pretty easy to see.   What we were analyzing was what was happening with the various positions we move the sword through as we execute the kata. There are a number of interesting effects to the aggressor's wrist and physics principles effecting the bodies that the movement presents.   Takemori Sensei would often sit beside me at the parties and he would often say, "Nishio Sensei is very clever."  He is right.  Nishio Sensei was a very clever man.  I believe Morihei Ueshiba Sensei, O'Sensei, ran a genius factory.  So many of his students became geniuses.   
                                  
8/19/20 Kids & Weapons Practice    
Wonderful morning class with Lydia (12, green belt, 6th test, nearly as tall as me, looks like she's 14 or 15) not her true name. I opened up for Kids & Teens classes about the 20th of June, but teaching only weapons classes. The kids who have been coming this summer are rather advanced and the virus has caused the curriculum to be all weapons this summer. It has been enlightening for them and after just two months practice, things are beginning to get more exciting for the them as well. The practice of weapons has a little bit of danger involved which focuses attention and requires honest (on target) aggressor moves and honest defender responses so nobody gets hurt. As we expand into partner practices with Kumi Jo and Kumi Tachi drills and partner katas, they are seeing the fundamentals of “Get-off-the-line-of-attack” and “Be Honest, also Attack-on-target-and respond-on-target”. They quickly learn that if the attack is not on target, you don't need to respond and if the response is off target, it's just worthless. This honesty in practice means they must use the fundamentals or things become dangerous very quickly even if we are going slow and stopping before anything harmful can happen. This honesty creates excitement in the whole routine. And the excitement is fun. So they are finally beginning to understand what I have told them all along, that the advanced stuff is FUN. Lydia also realized that she was becoming more relaxed and unable to think about any outside worries or stress, but must concentrate on what is immediately happening. That's focus and the relaxing allows the body to respond quicker to what is happening. That is what I have been trying to teach all along, but it does not show up till the student can handle the advanced stuff. Practically everybody quits too soon before they get to see it. Another thing Lydia realized was that she was getting tired. This is a product of the mind being stressed to remember what the movements are and how to respond. I told her that as she goes through this, she will get used to the stress and not get tired which is an increase in stamina. She will get to the point where she can just go and go and keep going and not get tired till she stops.  It's tremendously exciting and gratifying to me when I know the student has comprehended so much.

July revenue is coming up.  It's not where it was but it's lots better.  I was so lucky in all the arts I have studied that they have all had lots of weapons included.  So I can keep teaching weapons without having students touching each other unless they are in the same family.   With such a focus, students are advancing in the weapons stuff very quickly.  I'm also not teaching and drilling as long and as slow as the traditional approach.   We skip the "Start - Stop" level and go straight to "Mutual Movement with Pause".   I don't know if this is going to cause more students to stay or not.  That data will show up with time.  I think all Aikido will need to change in order to stay alive.                    
         

I am expecting to teach more weapons stuff until things open up some more. With the increased covid testing and finding more people contaminated, fear is causing a drive for a re-shutdown. I believe the media is driving the numbers to be scarier than the real threat. Nevertheless, I believe we can practice safely if we keep a distance while practicing the weapons stuff. The goal of weapons practice it to become proficient as an aggressor so I can teach the next level of take-aways. The idea was to be able to use a weapon against another weapon and stop the fight by removing the aggressor's ability to attack by taking away the weapon right in the middle of the fight. In really advanced training, Saito Sensei would teach how to snatch the aggressor's weapon every few moves throughout the 31 movement kata. It's quite an accomplishment to get in and take a weapon when the pace of the kumijo is flying. But then think about what you could accomplish if ever confronted with a real threat.

Thursday evening, Feb. 12th, we had 17 young ladies, college women, from the UF Women's Empowerment group, in for a Women's Self Defense class.  Along with them, we had 4 guys from the UF ROTC come to help with registration and we also used them as fall guys to demonstrate techniques we were teaching the girls.  There was a lot of laughing and surprise as to the power of the techniques we were showing them.  Judging from the amount of laughter and responses I think they all enjoyed the night immensely.  Keith and I certainly did.


I received this awesome message from my friend Mike Fowler about a night with Nishio Sensei after practice.   This was Nishio Sensei's deep philosophy.
    In Tokyo, one night after class, we all went out to Nishio Sensei's favorite yakitori place for dinner. There were 5 or 6 students with us; We ordered some things and after a while Nishio Sensei looks at me and said "Michael, I'm one of the best martial artists on the planet,  if you have a question for me, you can ask it now!”  That's called “Front Street.”  It's an unusual, direct way of Japanese speaking.
    I thought about it for a second and said, “Sensei, when you practice Ken Tai Ken, What do you feel when you meet your Uke without hurting them?”
    Sensei answered me in a deep voice, "Forgiveness.” “Most people have a hard time to forgive even once. I'm an aikido man.  I must do better than that. In the Aikido techniques we practice, there are many points of reflection where we have the chance to learn forgiveness for others and ourselves, even when they want to harm us!”
    "Sensei, How many times do we need to forgive in one technique?"
    Sensei said, “At least 3 to 5 time's is good, or until they feel the sharp part of my sword, after that it gets repetitive!”
    "Sensei, What do we think about when we practice cutting with our sword?"
     "We should think that we are cutting out the bad parts of ourselves, or our character that we don't like. With every cut we go deeper. The Aikido sword cuts in the correct way for people to follow and develop good character and spirit  to become strong and to help others to do the same.” “But first, we must work on ourselves!" “I believe in myself!" He said, “1000 Sword cuts for your heart!” “10,000 sword cuts for your spirit!”
     Sensei looked at me deep in the eye's for a minute and said, "Most students would not ask this kind of question of me Michael-san.”
     I looked at the other student's at the table. We all had tears in our eye's at that moment. We all said, “Kampai Sensei!”
    I always tried to pull things out of him in this way. Thank you Nakamichi Sensei, for reminding me of that moment in time.   I feel AIKIDO is the physical expression of love and compassion.  I miss you Sensei!”
Michael fowler 5th dan Nishio sensei.
Ronin,


This is a video of Saito Sensei teaching a seminar in Japan.  Maybe it's a university aikido club or perhaps multiple universities cause the average age looks like college student ages.  Probably you won't be able to understand the words, but you can still understand the teaching cause it goes more by demonstration than exactly what he says.  I linked it, so you should be able to just click on the url address here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzNa_7uufAs&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR16mgTh9-FqDmg1OPowQDP-lUQdXF0CRs8BNq0CbNwYm5rhjcD9VLwAGN0


I stumbled onto an old demonstration by Nishio Sensei.  It's the 11th All Japan Aikido demonstrations.  I think they are up to around 57 now so this must be back in the 1960's  I'm about 85-90% certain the Uke's are Nishimoto Sensei and Masuda Sensei.  Everyone is so much younger than when I practiced with them.  Nishimoto Sensei was my Uke and tested me for Sankyu at the old Matsuo Dojo.  He just called me up near the end of class and had me do techniques.  I didn't even know I was being tested.  How many white belts have a 7th Dan test and Uke for you at the same time.   That was special and I didn't even know it at the time.  I was still pretty clueless at the time.   This is the link to the video:   https://www.facebook.com/senseiaikidocom/videos/544548876016792/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTA0Njg4Njk3MzpWSzoyNDQ4NjUxNTQxODE2OTQw/                   


Sensei Keith was up in Virginia attending a Fukushidoin (assistant instructor seminar) in April.  To expand on Sensei Keith's experience of the weekend, he already knew much of what was being taught while many 2nd and 3rd Deg. blackbelts were seeing things as new.  It is always so gratifying to me when my students go somewhere and see that what I am teaching is spot on or even advanced to what others are teaching at the higher levels.  I know I'm a good sensei, but it's better when my students really recognize it for themselves.   Others may take my attitude as arrogant.  No, it's self awareness of what I was taught in Japan and what I continue to expand on and pass on. 
 

I received this wonderful Thank You from the woman who requested and coordinated bringing the children with Tourette Syndrome to the Saturday morning classes.  She said posting this was great with her.       
Simpson, Heather N.
Mon, March 2019
to Sensei Tom,
 
Thank you so much for welcoming our group this weekend.  I know that the children loved it and really enjoyed learning the activities.  In particular, while the kids were learning, the parents were bonding and connecting, which was a real bonus to Saturday.
 
I have taken your flyer and will hand it out whenever possible.
 
Your program is truly remarkable and I appreciate your kindness to the group.
 
Most sincerely,
 
Heather Simpson, OTD, MOT, OTR/L
Tourette Clinic Coordinator
Southeast Regional Centers of Excellence
UF Health Rehab Center at Fixel Center for Neurological Diseases

              
I received this great email complement from Nathaniel after his first class in Jodo, walking staff, last Thursday evening.  It's so nice I asked him if I could post it on the website.  He said he would be honored.  
Dear Sensei,
        Thank you for writing and for teaching a wonderful class. Having dabbled in various martial arts and numerous dojo’s over the years I have developed a good sense for quality instruction and found it in abundance on Thursday. And I feel very fortunate to be able to receive such a level of instruction within a small class (although I do not expect the class to remain small for long). The commute is a challenge but is what it is. I look forward to seeing you again on Thursday.
Best regards,
Nathaniel        

This video explains how to perform the first kata of the Aiki Toho Iaido developed by Shoji Nishio Sensei. I also explain about the cutting draw I was taught right from the start of my practice of Iaido. I did not need to change anything when I was introduced to Tasaburo Tokutomi Sensei, master of the Morinaga line of the Toyama-Ryu style of batto-jutsu, cutting of rolled rice straw matting.   Here is the URL of the first Aiki Toho kata  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBuEw99f3CE

The senior Kids students are not asking to play games at the beginning of class anymore.   They now realize that the Aikido is the "play" and they have graduated to a higher level of play.  I'm  hearing "I love this technique."  or  "This is my favorite Bo kata".    And just a few months ago the statements were "This is hard."  Now it has become "This is fun." 
 

 

   The primary question:  What constitutes a good dojo?  How do you recognize a good dojo?

1.   The Sensei (instructor) is knowledgeable, helpful and safe.
2.   The techniques work and can be powerful, but don't always need to be powerful.
3.   The senior students look out for and help the junior students and keep things safe.
4.   Everybody is learning a lot and having fun. 
There are Dojos that stand a lot on visual image and ritual because they can't stand on knowledge and there are Dojos that forego a lot of ritual and may not look like much but they have an abundance of knowledge.    We are in the latter group. 
                           TEST US!    There is an overwhelming abundance of knowledge here.
To see and learn more about the dojo, go across the top menu to "About".  On the drop down menu click on "Location".  On that page there are 10 videos showing the dojo with explanations of what I have on the walls. 

Under the videos menu I have added instructional videos for both Iwama Style and Nishio Style.  I will begin showing how I teach the techniques, as time allows.  You may find them very informative. 

If you want to get in contact with me, email;  sensei@aikidoofgainesville.com or 352-494-7816.
The more time spent in class becomes more learned which means the faster the advancement.

Free Saturday classes will remain in the mornings until further notice.
Kids    9am to 10:30am  and  
Teens  10:30am to Noon 

AOG web sites with information about Kids classes are;
Aikido Kids of Gainesville,
Stop the Bully Using Aikido and
Bully Defense Using Aikido
These sites have more information about what to  expect in Kids and Teens classes and Anti-Bully techniques.

Thursday Free Class times are 6:30-8:00pm. 
There is now a weapons class from   8:05 to 9:00pm following the free class.
 
The Nishio Sensei videos shown above here are advanced techniques.    I start practically everybody in the Iwama Style to build knowledge and a foundation of basic techniques.   After you have the knowledge to pass the third test, then you will better understand and appreciate the Nishio Style techniques which are strong and fast. 


Calendar of all Aikido of Gainesville Events

  For more class choices visit the
Aikido Lessons Store

Classes will be tracked by the use of a punch card.   The number of classes purchased will be written on the punch card and when the number of punches are completed a new card may be purchased.   There will be no time restrictions on the cards. 
Tom Huffman (352) 494-7816 sensei@aikidoofgainesville.com 4424 SW 35th Terrace Suite 4 Gainesville, FL 32608 Copyright © 2002-2017 Aikido of Gainesville, Inc. and Thomas C. Huffman, All Rights Reserved