Once again Perry Lambert Sensei was kind enough to invite my crew to a five hour training session at his new home at Chintokan Martial Arts. SoShihan Sakumakai and everyone there were gracious hosts. Tolbert Sensei went over some fundamental drills from Panantukan and showed how they can add diversity to classical Aikido training methods. These are some hard training, open minded people truly doing Budo in Jacksonville credit.
You really had to be there. He gave a very impressive presentation of Kali with the amount of detail one could expect from an expert authority. He emphasized economy of motion, use of the stick as it were a blade, striking with the x-pattern, and technical versus tactical training. It was truly an amazing training session!
At AHSOTA, we train hard and with articulation. There are a lot of details I try to pass on in the classes. Today we did some testing and I'm proud to announce that everyone performed well.
From left to right: Dustin Duncan, Ben Johnson, Luis Cruz, Tony Peters.
I'm pleased to announce our next upcoming seminar will be with Tribe-K instructors Sean Hurst and me, Autrelle Holland. Hurst Sensei will be teaching Kali and going over the following areas: Single stick, double stick, stick and dagger, Panantukan (Filipino boxing), joint locks, and more. I'll be going over some ideas that allow Aikido techniques to be used for weapon retention. I'll look at empty hand, stick, knife, and gun variations.
This seminar is open to the public. Cost is $40 for the day. We will start at 10 a.m. and break for lunch at noon. We'll continue training from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a hang out session with Sean Hurst! Feel free to contact me for details and more information!
Huffman Sensei truly brought the heat! A very good first Aikido Seminar at the Art School, as well as a first breaking in of the newly installed mats. The seminar was in three parts. The first part was taijutsu. Sensei taught tai no henka, morotedori kokyo ho, katatedori ikkyo, katatedori nikyo, katatedori sankyo, and katatedori gyaku sankyo kara yonkyo (ouch!). He emphasized clear and precise technique that stress efficiency and effectiveness. He taught each technique with an unusually articulate attention to detail that matched the complex nature of his waza.
After lunch, the next two sessions were at a nearby park. The first part of aiki jo. He taught the 20 jo suburi and the 31 jo kata. With the suburi, as with the taijutsu, he taught a lot of details that are not usually taught. He also showed some variations to the suburi that reflect his personal practice over the years. He said that as a student, you should always ask "Why?" and if you don't get a good answer, keep searching until you do! Instruction in the 31 jo kata contained a variation that will certainly catch uchijo by surprise on moves 7 and 8! He then demonstrated his kumi kata for the 31 jo kata as well as a full kumi kata for the 13 jo kata.
The aiki ken class consisted of the 7 ken suburi, go no awase, and shichi no awase. Each lesson was sprinkled with gems in the form of anecdotes, personal insights, training tips, and jokes from Sensei. I would like to thank him and his students for coming to Jacksonville and doing such a wonderful Aikido intensive seminar!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 6:07PM 
