Introduction

I have decided to start a weblog detailing my experiences as a student at Aikikai Hombu Dojo (Aikikai Foundation, Aikido World Headquarters) in Tokyo, Japan. I began practicing aikido on June 15, 2003 at Hombu Dojo and have been practicing there ever since; I have never trained at any other aikido dojo.

I have been living and working in Japan since May 2000. Before moving to Japan, I had little interest in devoting my time to martial arts training. Thanks to my brother-in-law and a few acquaintances in Japan, I decided to pursue something that I never dreamed of doing: practicing martial arts regularly in Japan, the birthplace of aikido.

After moving to Japan for my career, it took me a few years to develop an interest in martial arts; to find the right one for me; and to summon the courage and ambition to carry through with it. I settled on aikido because it has a very spiritual basis and is non-aggressive. Aikido has no competitions or tournaments; rather, it teaches how to effectively "receive" attacks. Aikido, loosely translated as "the way of harmony," relies on natural, circular movements to enter and use the opponent's energy to gain control of the situation, usually with a throw or joint lock.

I regret not having started this weblog when I first began practicing aikido; but since I'll be training for hopefully years to come, now is as good a time as ever to start, I suppose.