Archives

In our 10th anniversary issue, Sensei Pincus reflects on ten years of teaching Aikido and one year of fatherhood. Paige Corologos describes the emotional challenges that can emerge during testing in A Question of Rank. James McNeill brings us an essay on his Beginner’s Mind while training at a new dojo in New Lessons, and It Was a Hard Day on the Farm is Ed Pincus’ essay on verbal Aikido. Heidi Albright reminds us in Big Aikido that the transition to motherhood is not always a smooth one. A letter to the ACV community from Parm Padgett encourages members to consider supporting a possible Aikido program for refugees [since re-structured as our Samurai Youth Program for kids-at-risk]. Poetry for this issue was contributed by Nick Pittman, Claire Skogsberg and some anonymously submitted haiku. Nicolas Hutt writes of his Transition Through Aikido in an article about growing up doing Aikido and Richard Evans shares a memorial to Kurai no Samurai in R.I.P. Sam the Dog. Claire Skogsberg, Tobias Muellers and Christopher Halliwell contributed some short ACV Kids! essays. Kevin Hutt describes the many benefits of encouraging girls to practice martial arts in Growing Up Strong Girls at ACV. Photos of our 2006 seminar with Y. Yamada Shihan, our 2007 summer seminar with T.K Chiba Shihan and our 10th anniversary seminar in October 2007 with Donovan Waite Shihan grace this issue, along with illustrations by Caila Barrington, Kristin Nelson, Danielle Pecor and Rachael Soroka. Photographers include Heidi Albright, Scott Brightwell, Richard Evans, Hilary Hess and Justin Michaels.

Sensei’s title article describes his own personal struggle with authority, and how trust in a teacher is necessary in order for true learning to occur. Heidi Albright shares her journey to sandan in her poem The River, and Debi Hron journals her experiences at a weapons/zazen retreat. Alex Perry connects reading poetry and Aikido training in his essay Encounters On and Off the Mat. In Test Preparation Andre Messier takes us back to a much earlier test that he wasn’t prepared for. Kevin Hutt shares how important Aikido of Champlain Valley has been in his son’s life during the transition from boyhood to manhood in Looking for a Rite of Passage. Hilary Hess describes taking Street Ukemi in a bad bicycle accident, while John Jorschick explains the importance of Keeping the Connection during an Aikido technique. Starving Martial Artist is a moving essay by Richard Snyder chronicling his battle with alcoholism. Poetry by Paige Corologos and an ACV Kids! essay by James Healey, haiku by Alexis Osler and a drawing by Cyrus Majidy round out this issue. Other illustrators include Heidi Albright, Jonathan Aguillon, Hilary Hess and Galen McDonald. Photos were contributed by Heidi Albright, Scott Brightwell, Clarence Davis, Malcolm Hutt, Hannah Nelson and Jane Pincus. See photos of the renovations to our larger space on the back cover.

Benjamin Pincus writes a moving memorial to one of his first teachers and speaks of Kanai Sensei’s unique contributions to Aikido. Clarence Davis describes The Art of Ukemi and how it is a vital part of learning Aikido technique. In The Union of Independence and Kindness, Jeremy Morrison shares how Aikido can help build community and virtue in the midst of a chaotic world. Debi Hron contributes her reflections on preparing and testing for shodan in Just Another Day of Training. Paige Corologos provides a personal essay on pride and Aikido training in Crux of the Ego. In A First Time for Everything, Greg Sheets writes how he survived his first Birankai Summer Camp, while Andre Messier writes about his experiences with East Coast Camp. Included in this issue are excerpts from essays by some teen students from the Vermont Commons School after taking Aikido as a physical education class. Geoff Abbot describes Training on the West Coast in San Diego, CA and the trials of changing dojos. In Aiki-Gente, Hilary Hess shares how the community of Aikido exists across borders and is our common language. Mark Heyman speaks of his experience with the 9/11 terrorist attacks and how his Lessons Lived by learning Aikido has helped him cope with the sadness he feels on each anniversary of the attacks. Artwork by Galen McDonald, Malcolm Hutt and Claire Skogsberg, along with images of leather tsuba hand-crafted by Kevin Hutt, illustrate this issue. Photos were contributed by Gary Payne, Ed Pincus, Jane Pincus, Clarence Davis, Heidi Albright, Hannah Nelson and Hilary Hess.

In this issue Pincus Sensei writes on the rituals of zazen, chanting, repetition and intensive practice as aspects of misogi (purification) training. Ed Pincus shares how Aikido is a path that provides options in a conflict in The Better Way. Eliza Goodhue describes how Aikido kept her centered during a scary moment in The Night Aikido Saved My Life, and we hear from two non-practicing parents, Lance Robnett and Brian Hayden on how Aikido offers a peaceful way to change one’s life. Ken Signorello describes driving his Miata as a form of Aikido in The Aikido of Taking a Curve. Paige Corologos reflects on her Aikido journey in two personal essays in this issue, and Jim Siriano reflects on his 4th kyu test. Joe Laferriere describes his Beginner’s Mind as a path from excitement to frustration as he realized Aikido wasn’t as easy as it looked, and in Like Putting on my Gi for the First Time, Alex Perry relates his experience at a three day weapons/zazen sesshin (retreat). Richard Evans retells an old parable to describe how he thinks of randori (multiple attacks). Amanda Hayden and Nick Pittman contribute as ACV Kids! Original art includes a short comic strip by Julia Sprenz, a cartoon by Alexis Olser and drawings by Joe Laferriere, Heidi Albright, Malcolm Hutt and Jonathan Aguillon. Photographs in this issue are by Jeremy Gilpin, Kristin Richland, Clarence Davis, Brian Hayden and Derrick Senior.

In the title article, Pincus Sensei shares insights on how ukemi can be an important component to Aikido training. David Mendenhall contributes an essay on how letting go can help us hold on in Ten Thousand Kalpas. Andre Messier shows us how to take Really High Falls while skydiving, and Rick Skogsberg offers his own more serious advice regarding ukemi practice and conditioning in two short essays. Jessica Demmeritt describes her first few classes in My Beginner Experience while Mike Fisher offers suggestions to other beginners in Learning How to Learn. Ed Pincus retells a Beginner’s Mind Pari>le and David Seigetsu Pmitan writes on seated meditation in Zen Training. Heidi Albright writes a cultural and natural history of the ginkgo tree. Selected poems by Rick Skogsberg, Richard Evans and Jessica Demmeritt complement the longer essays. Photos were contributed by Ed Pincus, Kevin Hutt, Hilary Hess, Heidi Albright and Clarence Davis; and original art by D. Hron and Claire Skogsberg. ACV Kids! includes essays by Blake Sullivan, Isabel Sullivan and Nicolas Hutt.

HTML Format

Our 5th issue's main theme explores the relationships with aikidoka and their families. Benjamin Pincus Sensei begins the issue with his humorous and insightful views on Aikido and the Family. In Breathing, David Mendenhall explores his own dynamics between aikido and family, while Jonathan Trigaux offers his glimpse in How It's Supposed to Work. "Aikido Dads" Ed Sullivan and Kevin Hutt give their perspectives raising kids in aikido with their respective articles Why Aikido? and Getting to Aikido and Staying There. Geoff Abbott describes The Family of Aikido he finds at the dojo, while Stephen Lane shares his Growing Pains of leaving that family behind. The struggle of merging aikido and family life emerge in Neil Bednar's article The Harmony of Family. Poems by Sergio Ventura, Denise Messier, and Elizabeth Hazen, and our ACV Kids! section, featuring Blake Sullivan, Isabel Sullivan, and Nicolas Hutt round out this issue. PDF format also includes photos by Heidi Albright, Catrin Steward, Ed Pincus, and Dan Gauger.

HTML Format

Perspectives of aikido and weapons comprise this issue's main theme. Benjamin Pincus Sensei offers his thoughts on weapons training with Thrust Without Thrusting, while John Jorschick describes common lessons learned between Weapons and Cooking. Benjamin Pincus Sensei also gives tribute to his aikido roots in Remembering Paul Sylvain Sensei. Returning to the mat, Clarence Davis also explores a return to shoshin - beginner's mind - in Ukemi, Please. Four striking poems provided by Rick Skogsberg, our Technical Corner detailing tantori tsuki rokkyo (6th defense against knife thrust to the stomach), and our ACV Kids! section featuring works by Alden Ladd and Isabel Sullivan complete this issue. Available for the first time in PDF format, this issue also features photos and original artwork by John Jorschick, Sean Harrington, and Julie Stanitis.

Lessons applied to real life abound in this issue, from Benjamin Pincus Sensei's exploration of aikido and farming in Washing Leeks to Maria Hazen's Lessons on the Lawn with her 18-month-old nephew. A life of peaks and valleys, both at work and on the mat, are described in David Mendenhall's Bruises, while Andre Messier recalls the intensity of summer camp in An Aikido Vacation. Heidi Albright reflects on a lifelong philosophical journey in On Testing For Shodan. Germaine Persinger and Nicholas Hutt, both in the children¹s class, tell us why they like aikido.

Benjamin Pincus Sensei writes passionately about his search for the meaning of our theme's paradox in The Sword That Gives Life, while Laura-Rose Russell gives an emotional view into her inner struggle on the mat in Going with the Grain. Ed Pincus builds on his memories of the late Terry Dobson Sensei and the aikido of love and hate. In Aikido is my Middle Way, Sean Harrington shares insights about aikido principles applied to the real world, and David Mendenhall provides us with a poetic reflection of bokken training on a chilly March morning. A story of aikido in action, by nine-year-old Blake Sullivan rounds out the issue.

Benjamin Pincus Sensei opens this inaugural issue with a look at the meaning of shoshin - beginner's mind - setting the stage for many articles which articulate how different individuals view their own learning process. Notes on Terry Dobson's Teachings, by Ed Pincus, challenges our notions of form and style, while David Mendenhall's Unlearning looks at the myriad insights he's gained both on the mat and at home with his family. Spunqi Robinson crafts a jubilant account of her first few months of practice, and Sean Harrington grapples with changing styles and finding his "beginner's mind" in Dojo to Dojo. XX in Aikido presents Maria Hazen's thoughtful treatment of what it means to be a woman at ACV, and a description of her experience at a women-only aikido demonstration. Our ACV Kids section is full of the kind of wisdom and elegant simplicity that only children can produce.