About Aikido of Champlain Valley
Dojo to Dojo: Learning the Lesson of Shoshinby Sean HarringtonI started aikido in Los Angeles, CA about three years ago. My sensei was Japanese and gave very little verbal instruction. His students were not allowed to talk on the mat or offer any instruction other than leading with their bodies. Intro classes were held once a week in a style that required uke to push, pull, or provide some form of movement in order for nage to execute the technique. I trained in this style for about one year. After living in LA for ten years, I moved back to Vermont. I soon started looking for a place to train. It wasn't long before I heard stories about ACV and its "hard-style sensei" who ran his dojo like a boot camp and supposedly did not teach aikido at all, but jujitsu. I started by observing classes. I had never seen aikido like this! ACV's sensei was very powerful and seemed to throw his students very hard. But his students had such great ukemi. They would come back for more. With devilish half-smiles they would attack as if they were getting some kind of rush from being thrown in this manner. I soon gathered the courage to step on the mat. Sensei would demonstrate a technique, my uke would grab my wrist in the usual manner but they would not push, pull |