A Sensei is many things – janitor, nurse, counsellor, accountant, career guidance coach, wailing wall, mentor, caterer, event manager, teacher and role model. Even when we don’t want to be, we are always in a gi.
Tag: Aikido
Late Bloomers Welcome
I got an email from a possible student the other day, asking if we offered adult classes, or if we… Read more Late Bloomers Welcome
The Launch of Martial Heart
It is with this in mind that I finally started an initiative that I have been thinking about for a long time. It is a small start, but I hope it will grow over time.
Vygotsky and the Sempai
Lev Vygotsky offers a way for us to understand the value of peer teaching, which appears in all good dojos around the world: the sempai-kouhai relationship.
How to look after your gi
They say the suit maketh the man, and while that’s a bit narrow, it is helpful to paraphrase it as the… Read more How to look after your gi
Returning to the Dojo
One missed class can easily become three. Three classes becomes a month. Then six. Then a year. And then there’s a day when you open your cupboard and there is your gi, hanging up and gathering dust. Waiting. (And silently judging you.)
Five Reasons Why Kids Need Karate
As a partner piece to my perennial classic Eight Reasons Why Women Should Do a Martial Art, read on to see all the benefits a martial art can bring your kids.
Obituary: Kazuo Chiba, 1940 – 2015
Even though I no longer formally practice Aikido, it is a martial art that still matters to me, and one… Read more Obituary: Kazuo Chiba, 1940 – 2015
Dear Adult Beginners: It Gets Better
But as an adult beginner, the constant corrections are overwhelming, and sometimes humiliating. It’s hard not to feel like a failure, and to think that no one else has ever been this bad at karate, or aikido, or judo, or whatever you choose to do. But you know what? There isn’t a senior who wasn’t a junior, and who doesn’t learn every day from the junior students they teach. You’re not slowing anyone down by asking for help.
Something I wrote a while ago…
Here’s a piece I wrote after a particularly rough training session at Aikido. I thought it might be a good… Read more Something I wrote a while ago…
Zojo Dojo 