Kotsu Kotsu

Kokikai Aikido: Defense Against Handbag-Snatch In an earlier post I looked at some reasons why people commonly think that Aikido, specifically Kokikai Aikido, isn't effective as self-defense. Aikido isn't practiced in the way that most martial arts are, teaching strikes and counterstrikes. We choose a fairly small number of basic attack types (punches, grabs, strikes, kicks) and we learn defenses against them. We also learn to defend against more than one person simultaneously - this is very unusual in the martial arts, yet it is more common in a street situation. You Need to Practice For Years Before It's Effective...Right? Wrong. I teach 90-minute seminars that provide effective concepts that people can walk away with and practice their whole lives (hint: it's the four basic principles !) There are many, many stories of Kokikai students, even people with 6-8 weeks of experience, defending themselves against very real attacks. Those I know of include wom...

The stories we tell ourselves about events in our lives profoundly affect our relationships. Consider these two remarks overheard by a mother and her son: Son: "I spent an entire day on the telephone with airlines rebooking a flight so my mother could get home in time for a New Years Eve party." Mother: "I was able to get an earlier flight, but I had to pay more money."