"Off-The-Mat" Forum

Hi folks,

I've just created a new, experimental "Off-The-Mat" Forum here in the AikiWeb Forums, designed to allow discussion of using aikido principles outside of the regular dojo settings.

I'm hoping this forum will allow those folks to discuss how they've extended their aikido practice into areas such as mediation, law enforcement, spirituality, and such. Of course, discussions on "everyday" applications of "off-the-mat" aikido in everyday life are quite welcome, too.

However, please remember that this is still an aikido forum; the discussions in this forum should have explicit pertinence to aikido and its principles. If the topics veer too much, they'll be moved to the Open Discussions forum.

With that said, I hope this forum will enable some interesting discussions!

Best,

-- Jun

Thanks Jun!

I am extremely gratified that this forum has grown over the last year or so, after Jun allowed its conception, and to those who have shown interest, and to those who have mentored me personally in this work.

I have always thought it was part of traditional aikido and aikido's future. I invite all Aiki Web members to post, start threads and even challenge the worth of "off-mat" aikido

Warmly,
Mark

Dear Shihan and Sensei, The off-matt such involvement of Ai and Ki and experience, How to apply the theory to satisfy self defense? How thus these Aikido Kihon and Tore and Nage flow with these event certain at these moment when psychology and emotions and fear are with me?

This could certainly be a welcome forum! One concept that I have found, and also try to teach in my aikido classes, is 'developing an aikido body'. That is, whole body coordination.

In gassho,

Mark

Reynaldo L. Albano wrote: How to apply the theory to satisfy self defense? How thus these Aikido Kihon and Tore and Nage flow with these event certain at these moment when psychology and emotions and fear are with me?

IMHO, just like training the body, we need to train the mind. Its a body/mind harmony/unification thing I have.

Enter and blend, don't resist, your thoughts and emotions. Learn to take their balance and redirect them. Extend and see through them, transform them.

How you train will be how you fight (in body and mind). Do this now.

I believe that this thread should be the meat of Aikido. Dojo is just an expression of Aikido. Aikido is a way of life, a state of mind...this is the higher call of O Sensei.

Iking