Month: October 2008

I believe this may be helpful to anyone interested in becoming an uchi-deshi at New York Aikikai. 1. Practice Aikido as often as your home dojo allows. Come in early, stay late and be involved. 2. Try to keep the complaining to a minimum. In New York they will make you train anyway. (unless it’s… Continue reading Tips to Becoming a Good Uchi-Deshi

The first thing that comes to mind is he deserves his title as a shihan. I have trouble remembering a specific technique. One was a shomenuchi kokyunage. Mike Jones described it to us the day after as raising both arms and attacking the uke with the butt of the sword. The move was a very… Continue reading Yokota Sensei

Its been hard work around New York Aikikai. The uchi deshi are tearing down a wall to make the downstairs office bigger. We’re fixing up all the toilets. I am getting rid of unnamed items in the women’s locker room. Its a constant battle upstairs to keep the sink free of dishes. There is also… Continue reading First Month

Today was fun. First I took the 12:15 class with Hal Lehrman. It was a relaxing first class as I trained with a beginner. My first task in moving in was to clean out my room, which was full of junk from other deshi that stayed there. Then I washed the sheets and put away… Continue reading first day as an uchi deshi