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Old 04-22-2012, 07:40 PM   #2
Tom Verhoeven
Dojo: Aikido Auvergne Kumano dojo
Location: Auvergne
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 295
France
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Re: Aikido for horsemen

Quote:
Cherie Cornmesser wrote: View Post
Not sure exactly where this belongs...

Last weekend I attended a horse expo specifically to see clinics by horse trainer Mark Rashid. Marks books and seeing him at this same event three years ago was what inspired me to try aikido. Since I know I am not the only aikidoka who also rides horses and that several here have also been inspired by Mark's work I thought I would share the video I shot of his, aikido exercises for rider body balance, seminar.

Apologies for the poor quality as this was taken with my cell phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwL7FprTi18
Thank you for sharing this video!
I did it the other way around, practiced Aikido for a long time before I climbed on a horse. It felt quite natural and I am sure that the years of Aikido practice had a lot to do with that. In both arts I see body balance and the emphasis on not trying to dominate or control the other, be it human or horse, as essential.
The question that I have (and it is not an opinion, I am genuinely asking about this) is if these basic Aikido exercises are really helping a beginning rider? Does Aikido really make this principle of body balance clearer to a rider then say the common way of learning riding a horse? If it does then I would like to know more about it.
kind regards,
Tom
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