Osensei memorial training & a new Tojima sensei video

Sunday April 27th we will be having our Osensei Memorial Training honoring the founder of Aikido Ueshiba Morihei Osensei.Training will start at noon and go to 4 pm. The final hour will be a discussion hosted by the instructors about the founder's message 40 years after his passing. Please attend.If you are relatively new and don't feel confident on the mat yet for a training like this, please come and watch. Even though by our counting this is the 39th year since his passing, by Japanese count it is the 40th year. Truly a milestone. For those wanting to make it an aikido weekend, there will be training and a ceremony Saturday the 26th at Aikido of Santa Cruz.

I am also in this blog attaching a new Tojima sensei video. This one highlights his bo or long staff movements. In Shingu the 5 foot bo was taught instead of the more widely used aiki jo. Notice how precise Tojima sensei's movements are yet how at the same time they are fluid, natural, and explosive. I am also describing the man himself. I also provided a sound background for this video. I am not attempting to play music at all. I am simply trying to express through sound the energy shapes that Tojima sensei is producing with his movement. The horn is very much fire, so I mixed in a flute background to convey water.