The plaque placed by NASA on the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes captured the imagination of us kids born in the seventies and eighties. It had it all: the mystery of space exploration; technology making giant leaps; the curiosity, mixed with hope and fears, of wondering whether we are alone in this Universe. The plaque […]
Wingy è uno dei sei passeri che abitano sotto le tegole del tetto del nostro ufficio. Lo chiamiamo così perché ha una piccola striscia bianca su entrambe le ali, che lo rende ben riconoscibile in mezzo agli altri. In foto potete vedere il Dojo in cui Wingy e i suoi compagni si esercitano. Il Dojo […]
Wingy is one of six sparrows living under the tiles of the roof of our office. We call it that because it has a small white stripe on both wings, making it easily recognizable among the others. In the photo, you can see the Dojo where Wingy and its companions practice—the balcony where they scatter […]
If this post had moralistic intentions, it would have the advantage of being very short. A few impactful sentences, spiced with some platitudes, and that’s it. We train in a martial discipline not to learn how to slap a hypothetical aggressor but to face the many daily challenges. Because the real fight is making ends […]
Let’s try to look at the practice of a martial discipline from the perspective of balance. As training progresses, we soon realize that posture gradually changes and with it the ability to keep a certain balance. Over time, the two concepts somehow overlap and represent our ability to manage the body in the most functional […]
Teaching, first of all, is receiving. When you have the privilege to be in contact with children, it often happens that you receive some gift from them. A drawing (where that “thing” with very long legs and black pants is you, next to children drawn with a thousand colors). Two candies. A colored pencil. These […]
In June 2024, Makoto Saito presented a thesis of dissertation at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology titled “Learning Ecosystems for Club Organizations Promoting Member Retention: Personal Networks in Group Training at an Aikido Dojo – Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis.” We are always interested in a broad perspective on Aikido and Martial disciplines, […]
Learning reishiki (礼式), the etiquette that regulates interactions on the tatami, is not that complicated. Those who observe as visitors an Aikido class are usually very impressed: you can feel commitment, you can see order. From the outside, a Dojo appears to be a world as we would like, especially outside the tatami. Reishiki and […]
Among other noticeable publications, Cardiff University Press stands out for promoting a Journal of Martial Arts Studies, a publication exclusively dedicated to studies and academic publications dedicated to the world of Martial Arts. Last July, a contribution by Greet De Baets, professor and researcher of Business Communication at the University of Ghent, Belgium, was published. […]
When we go to the Dojo, we say we are going to train. Or that we are “going to keiko“. Saying “going to keiko” sounds very much like a professional in the Martial Arts. That kind of person who starts to interject an English word for every two Japanese words and who tears his/her clothes […]
