AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.
Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.
If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!
Having been to a good few seminars where weapons (wooden sticks, that is) were part of the training, I have some thoughts to share.
First, if you're organizing a seminar, for heaven's sake please be clear about whether participants should bring sticks or not. I have been left wondering many times, and either had to bring them just in case, or leave them home and hope they wouldn't be needed. I've been wrong both ways.
Please give abundant notice. I've been part of a large group flying to a seminar where we were all scrambling two days before the event to buy and/or build airline-appropriate carrying tubes. Given that we were trying to get other things handled before traveling it would have been a lot easier to have dealt with the stick-transportation problem weeks ahead of time instead of at the last minute.
And after all that, we didn't use them anyway. *headdesk*
Not everyone has their own weapons. Sometimes there are loaners available, sometimes not, and often not enough to go around. The first seminar I went to was actually a retreat, and was to be fairly weapons-centric. I rush-ordered an inexpensive set of weapons (and basically had to refinish them on arrival - the night before the event) to be sure I would be able to fully participate in the weekend's training.
It's great to have extras for participants to borrow. It's a pretty iffy prospect for the participants, though. Maybe they'll get one, maybe not. It seems there are always a few folks pantomimin
...More
Here are some photos from last weekend's Osensei Revisited camp. Each one is captioned (if you click through the photos you can see the captions). Enjoy.
Back from the 3rd annual O Sensei Revisited camp in Occidental, CA. It's an intense, intimate camp in a beautiful setting. The focus is on teaching/learning O Sensei's developmental process through experiential work - both technique and other exercises. It's a lot of training packed into 3 days!
A little achy here and there from lots of training (and sleeping on a weird mattress), but mostly rested and awake after a couple of good nights' sleep. It was great to see so many friends, hang out with my dojomate/roommate, Karen, and Sensei, and to meet a bunch of new folks. Pushed a few limits, learned a few new things, and was reminded of many more learnings that had faded. Lots to think about, embody, and incorporate into daily training. More inspired than ever about training for my upcoming (someday) shodan (first black belt) exam "later this year," and recommitting to studying (reading, reviewing notes, watching videos, and consciously learning), and to writing (both my blog and my next book), even in the midst of house renovation chaos.
Already looking forward to going again next year - I hear it's scheduled for the end of April. Check with City Aikido (Robert Nadeau Shihan's dojo) in San Francisco for details.
Back from the 3rd annual O Sensei Revisited camp in Occidental, CA. It's an intense, intimate camp in a beautiful setting. The focus is on teaching/learning O Sensei's developmental process through experiential work - both technique and other exercises. It's a lot of training packed into 3 days!
A little achy here and there from lots of training (and sleeping on a weird mattress), but mostly rested and awake after a couple of good nights' sleep. It was great to see so many friends, hang out with my dojomate/roommate, Karen, and Sensei, and to meet a bunch of new folks. Pushed a few limits, learned a few new things, and was reminded of many more learnings that had faded. Lots to think about, embody, and incorporate into daily training. More inspired than ever about training for my upcoming (someday) shodan (first black belt) exam "later this year," and recommitting to studying (reading, reviewing notes, watching videos, and consciously learning), and to writing (both my blog and my next book), even in the midst of house renovation chaos.
Already looking forward to going again next year - I hear it's scheduled for the end of April. Check with City Aikido (Robert Nadeau Shihan's dojo) in San Francisco for details.
04-17-2014 06:36 PM 
