To Whom it may concern,

I am looking for someone to teach me Aikido but I after checking your dojo listings, I can not find a dojo near my town. What should I do?

Chief
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Dear Chief

If there is no US Aikido Federation dojo in your town, the best thing to do is to contact the nearest one and ask for a recommendation and advice. Unfortunately, the quality of dojos varies greatly so the best thing to do is consult with a dojo recognized by the USAF.

Hi,

I have a question for you: I'm in the UK and have recently returned to Aikido after a year out (I was a yellow belt).

Now that I've admitted to being bitten by the bug, I'd like to train more often (I've started on twice a week), but the only way I can placate my husband about me being out so much is by suggesting that one day I could become a teacher, hence my question: what level, in terms of grading, does one have to reach to be able to teach Aikido?

I like what I've seen of your site and look forward to exploring it further.

Regards,
Carolyn
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Dear Carolyn,

There is no rule about what grade level one must have in order to teach. There are many variables, for example, some people find themselves in a rural area where the only way to have a dojo is if they teach. On the other hand, in major dojos, one would have to have a high rank before teaching. In a general way, you should probably think in terms of having a black belt before teaching.

You definitely can become a teacher, and it would be completely accurate to tell your husband that you can one day do that. The main thing is to train seriously and learn as much as you possibly can. We also recommend going to seminars with the Shihan so that you learn from the best and have a benchmark to compare other things you learn.

Thanks for the kind words about our site. Please let us know if you have other questions.

To Aikido Online,

I am moving to Japan this summer to teach English. I am an Aikido student here in California, and I am looking for a new dojo in Osaka, but have found limited information online, can you recommend any particular dojos in Osaka-shi?

Thank you,
Rick
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Dear Rick

Thanks for writing.

For dojos in Japan, our best advice is to contact Yamada Sensei at New York Aikikai, or Hombu Dojo in Tokyo.

We hope this helps.

To Aikido Online

I am a cop who is small in stature, and often deals with combative arrestees. I am looking for an art to teach me how to quickly subdue resistant subjects. Can Aikido be applied to police work? Please let me know..

Matthew
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Dear Mathew,

Aikido should be ideal for you. If you look in the Aikido Online archives, there is an article by one practitioner who is also a policeman entitled "Aikido Works". Many police practice Aikido and it has also been adopted in specialized courses. If you are looking for a dojo, check our dojo listings, or you can write and tell us where you are located.

Good luck.

Hi there!

I am very interested in your videos of Aikido. I wondering if you the videos you sell in the Aikido Online Market Place are in VCD or DVD form? Are they compatible with NTSC or PAL formats?

Edwin
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Hi Edwin,

Thanks for writing. Our videos are all in the United States VHS format. We now have DVDs available for many titles and over the next several months more will be available in that format.

Hello,

My wife and I are working on a business plan in preparation for starting our own dojo. We're trying to track down information on the growth of Aikido, worldwide, in the US, and in California. Do you have any such data, or can you direct us to a resource?

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Also, thank you for the resource that Aikido Online is for our community as a whole. Arigato Gozaimasu

David
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Dear David,

We also tried to put together that data at one point. It turns out it's not so easy to do. First there is the issue of all the different organizations and unaffiliated dojos (both in the US and abroad) having separate information. Even within single organizations, the number of students is I believe pretty inaccurate, and understated on the low side.

If you make any progress with this, we'd love to know about it, and we'd be happy to offer any advice to help you as you go along. If at any point you would be willing to share the business plan, we would also be most interested in reading it. The whole issue of dojo management is a big one that we plan on tackling in the near future.

Thanks also for the kind words about Aikido Online.

To Aikido Online:

I am a 49 year old male starting Aikido. I do not have the health concerns of Robert (see previous letter) but there are some things I cannot do. Certain of the stretching exercises are not possible and the neither are forward rolls and their variants. What hope do I have to grow in Aikido given these limitations? Can I progress in knowledge and in rank? Please advise.

Jim
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Dear Jim:

Thanks for writing.

I think our answer would basically be the same as the answer to Robert. If you cannot do forward rolls, that would present a potential constraint on your ability to grow in Aikido over the long term.

The key point is that we have seen people start Aikido with different kinds of physical issues, and, over time, through some combination of physical and mental development, have significantly exceeded the initial expectations about how much they could progress.

When you are a beginner, and for some time, you can practice without doing forward rolls. Ditto for some of the stretches. If you really want to practice, we'd advise you to give it a go! See what happens over time.

It is nonetheless important to add several caveats. First, is that given we don't have any knowledge about your specific physical issues, we can only answer in general. Second, you must talk this over with the instructor at the dojo where you plan to practice. finally, you should likewise go over this carefully with your doctors and health care professionals.

Dear Editor,

I am taking a month off to do some aiki-travelling and am looking for some suggestions on where I should go, whom I should visit and why.

I though an interesting way to gather this information would be to say, "If you could visit and train with 5 persons (living!), who would they be and why?" I think the responses would be interesting.

If you have suggestions I would appreciate hearing from you.

Best regards
Peter
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Dear Peter:

Thanks for the message. We think the answer is pretty straightforward. Our recommendation would be to concentrate on the major teachers who have been O-Sensei's uchi deshi and are now teaching in the west. So, we recommend you visit the dojos of the Shihan, i.e. Yamada Sensei and Sugano Sensei at New York Aikikai, and Chiba Sensei at San Diego Aikikai. Also you should visit Kanai Sensei's dojo at New England Aikikai, and Tohei Sensei's Midwest Aikido Center where the senior students of these Shihan continue to teach. I don't know if Europe is within your venue, but practicing with Tamura Sensei would be on the list; he is based in France.

That's five, with four right here in the USA.

The next rung of Shihan would be Shibata Sensei in Berkeley, CA, Kawahara Sensei in BC, Canada, and Kurita Sensei in Mexico City.

After that, we'd recommend the senior USAF Shidoin: Claude Berthiaume at Aikido de la Montagne in Montreal, Peter Bernath at Florida Aikikai in Ft. Lauderdale, Donovan Waite at Aikido of Center City in Philadelphia, Harvey Konigsberg at Aikido of Woodstock, Clyde Takeguchi at Capital Aikikai in the DC area, Robert Zimmermann at Toronto Aikikai, and David Halprin at Framingham (Mass.) Aikikai and New England Aikikai.

Let us know if this helps.

Hi,

my name is Lorenzo and I come from Colombia. I have practiced Aikido for 7 months and I'm about to be 6th kyu. I would like to thank you for the information in Aikido Online, it has been very interesting for me to learn more about Aikido. I have a question: if Aikido Online can tell me how to contact some sensei to visit and do seminars it would be great for a city which is growing, and for my mates who are learning Aikido with me.
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Dear Lorenzo:

The best thing would be to either write to Yamada Sensei at New York Aikikai in New York City, or Peter Bernath of Florida Aikikai in Ft. Lauderdale, FL who is a student of Yamada Sensei's and often travels to South America.

You can also check the dojo listings on Aikido Online and look at the listings under the Federacion Latino Americana de Aikido, which is an affiliated organization.

To Aikido Online:

My name is Matthew, I'm a former Marine and soon to be Para-rescue stationed in anchorage Alaska. I'm also 26 years old and have little martial arts background. I have always been fascinated by Aikido and read about Morihei Ueshiba before. My question for you is, what is my best course of action to seriously study Aikido and is 26 too late. I really want to learn the traditions, skill, and discipline and if fighting ability comes with it great. If you could take the time to give me guidance I would be truly grateful. Thank you.

Matt
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Dear Matt,

The thing to do is start practicing. Your age is no problem at all.

Unfortunately, there are no US Aikido Federation affiliated dojos in Alaska. However, I do know there are Aikido dojos there, and I'm pretty sure there is at least one in Anchorage.

You should find the best available dojo and start. As you learn more about Aikido and the various Aikido organizations you should try to identify the best teachers and try to get instruction from them. Aikido Online can give you a pretty good idea of who they are.

Let me know if you need more information or have other questions.

Hello,

My name is Hamada and practice Aikido in Egypt. So far I know I am the only one who practice this martial art in Egypt. I do it alone without teacher in using some books and videos. In a very short time I found out that I have the Aikido inside me. It is for this I have a lot off new techniques. It comes to me like this without thinking about. I would like to show my technique to somebody interesting to see it. If you can advice me where I can go or if somebody can visit me in my modest dojo

With all my respect,
Hamada.
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Dear Hamada,

If you send us a video tape or DVD of your techniques we'll be happy to review them and give you some feedback.

To the Editor:

I have been wanting to get into self-defense for years, and after searching through the different arts, Aikido is the one that appealed to me. I am a first year college student and really want to learn Aikido, but I'm not in a good state financially to get lessons from an instructor. What options do I have? Can I get instructional books that will teach me and guide me for a while as I get in a better state financially, although they are not nearly as good as having an instructor? I really want to learn Aikido and I don't want different circumstances to stop me. If there are books or videos that would be helpful in teaching me, I will go as far as I can with them as long as I don't have to buy a whole library and the books are realistically priced. If you could give me some suggestions I'd be grateful.

Thank you.
Stephen
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Dear Stephen,

The real truth is that you can't learn Aikido from books or tapes. You have to find a dojo and practice. You have to decide how important it is and then go from there.

David Halprin
Aikido Online