The challenges of applying Ki Aikido principles in daily life
Some thoughts on how you can apply principles learned in Ki Aikido in your daily life.
Category Archives: culture
Japanese audiobook review: “Lecture on Removing Ki Blockages” by Shin’ichi Tohei
Ki-Aikido is a martial art that focuses on learning to control your mind and body in order to perform at your best, whether it’s doing a technique in the dojo or undertaking some action in your daily life. I’ve been training in this for quite a while now and have written a few articles on… Read More »
The Power of Relaxation Off and On the Mat (discussions on Ki-Aikido)
“Just relax!” You’ve probably heard this phrase used before, often in situations when someone is stressed out or panicking due to stress or other factors. Or they may be overreacting about something that is in reality not a big deal. Just taking a few breaths can make a huge difference in our mood and outlook,… Read More »
Japanese book review: 活の入れ方 (“Techniques for Motivation”) by 藤平信一 (Shin’ichi Tohei)
This is a review of the latest book authored (in part) by Shin’ichi Tohei, the head of the world organization for Ki-Aikidio.
Japanesque 5: With recent AI advances, does learning a foreign language make sense anymore?
Ever since ChatGPT was released in late 2022, we have been seeing massive advances in various artificial intelligence technologies of the likes that eclipses the last few decades. Suddenly, it seems that computers can do things that it only seemed could be done by humans, such as complex image and text generation, and these new… Read More »
Portland Japanese Garden 2024: photo album
I visited the Portland Japanese Garden in April 2024 for the first time in quite awhile, where I was treated to its many beautiful views, further enhanced due to the light drizzle that made the colors that much brighter. I took a handful of pictures so I thought I would share some of them here… Read More »
Calligraphy brush unboxing: Ikkyuuen Umihotaru (“Sea Firefly”)
On a recent trip to Japan I stopped by a calligraphy studio in Kyoto and got a lesson with an expert. I talked about this in detail in this podcast episode here. In that studio I purchased a brush which is not available anywhere but in person, so I thought I would record video showing… Read More »
Studying calligraphy in Japan
On a recent trip to Japan, I took a 1-on-1 lesson with a skilled calligrapher in Kyoto (Chifumi Calligraphy Tokyo). Having primarily studied calligraphy without a teacher, it was an extremely educational experience, not to mention fun (the featured image shows the final artwork I produced from that class). While in Kyoto, I also stopped… Read More »
Japan travels: Shimadai Gallery (calligraphy photo collection)
On a recent trip to Japan I stopped by Kyoto, where there happened to be a calligraphy exhibit opened in the Shimadai Gallery, a relatively small museum located walking distance from Karasuma Oike Station. Having been into calligraphy (書道) pretty heavy as a hobby the last few months, I was really blown away by the… Read More »
Training Ki-Aikido in Osaka
Recently I discovered there was an extended Ki-Aikido training session being held in Osaka in the massive Asue Arena right around the time I had planned to be nearby on a family trip. While a bit nervous, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to practice Japanese in Japan while learning more about how… Read More »