Linda Eskin Writes About Aikido, Learning, Training, Discovery, and Connection
Benched with an injury? Stuck at home with a cold? Dojo closed for a COVID-19 quarantine? It can be disheartening to be off the mat … Read more …
This is the fifteenth in this series of 26 posts, one for each letter of the alphabet, that I am writing during the Blogging from A to … Read more …
My Chat with Frank Bloksberg Sensei, about the upcoming Aiki Summer Retreat 2013
I had the great opportunity to talk with Frank Bloksberg Sensei on Thursday, May 25, 2013. We had a really good time talking about my experiences as a newbie at the Retreat in 2011, and about what to expect at the upcoming Retreat the last week of June 2013. I really enjoyed chatting with Bloksberg Sensei, and we covered a lot of interesting details and some fun stories. Give it a listen – almost an hour long. Enjoy![Click the title of this post to go to the interview.]
Kabocha-wara
A bit of silliness (but also a fun way to get a feel for actually hitting/cutting with weapons).
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Steve Jobs
Commencement Address, Stanford University, June 12, 2005
Here’s a short video by Mark De Souza (who I finally got to meet here!) that’s a very representative bit of the 3-day seminar with Dan Messisco Sensei at Two Rivers Budo in Sacramento, California. When I signed up, I had no idea who Messisco Sensei was, or what his seminar might be like. I really enjoyed it, especially because the pace was very slow. By that I mean there was a lot of vigorous training, but plenty of time to absorb the information presented. Some seminars are very interesting, but there’s so much thrown at you that it’s hard to retain any of it. Here I felt I actually was able to experience, and experiment with, what we were working on, not just get a quick look and move on. I’ll definitely be looking for more opportunities to train with Dan Messisco Sensei.
This was the first seminar held at Geoff Yudien and Adam Fong’s new dojo. Three of us from Aikido of San Diego drove up, picking up a fourth friend along the way. We had a great time, start to finish. A classic road trip, with great truck stop food, long conversations, and amazing scenery. The whole Central Valley was in bloom (almonds, mostly). If you are planning to visit this dojo we would all highly recommend the Residence Inn, Cal Expo as a place to stay. They have big suites that are perfect for 3-5 people. Also, be sure to eat at Thai Chef’s House, near the dojo, and the Mongolian BBQ across from the Inn.
I’ll be going back to Two Rivers Budo when George Ledyard Sensei visits in September. Already looking forward to it.
As usual, here’s my exam video. You can watch it here, or go to YouTube (where you can post comments, if you like):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tin-jzgLmWI&hd=1
This link goes to the HD version – probably best watched full-screen. If you have a slower connection, change to one of the lower-res versions.
Feedback (which I know will be constructive, even if it’s critical!) is welcome. I’m pretty happy with how I did, but of course can see lots of things to work on for next time.
I figure now that I have 4 exam videos, they deserve their own playlist. So here it is, starting at 6th kyu (in case you have nothing better to do). LOL http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F5D81895C5E5A30
My 6th kyu exam has around 9,500 views so far. Every month or two I get a nice comment from someone who’s been encouraged in some way by my exam videos (usually a new student who is freaking out about taking their first test, as I was). One of my favorite comments came in a few hours ago, and just made my day:
“You’re amazing, Linda-sama. I started train Aikido last week, but before – I had lot of doubts: if I am too old, people are bad, everything will be bad. I’m waiting about two years for my first train. But i taste it, and became addicted of this art. Thank you, for recording. Good luck! (sorry about my english)”
This video, from MocaEnBoca.tv, in Spain (with English subtitles), is one of the best I’ve seen for introducing Aikido to friends. Enjoy.
I happened to stumble onto this video via iTunes today. It’s part of a video podcast series on culture in Spain. It simply and elegantly answers “what is Aikido?” in terms anyone (non-practitioners) can easily understand. Nicely done. I recommend Full Screen mode (click the little monitor icon).
