technique

  • Interview with Christian Tissier Shihan, 7th dan Aikikai
    August 17th, 2009By Guillaume Erard
    Christian Tissier Shihan is an Aikido instructor who holds the rank of 7th dan Aikikai. He spent over 7 years training daily at the Aikido World Headquarters in the 70’s and was the very first foreigner to have reached such a distinction (Shihan rank were reserved, until then, to Japanese instructors). » Continue Reading
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  • Power and Relaxation
    June 5th, 2009By Chuck Johnson
    The other day, I was teaching a Japanese action actor how to do the spin for a 720 degree kick and telling him that the key to doing a double spin isn’t power at all…it’s relaxation. If one can completely free one’s muscles from tension at the apex of a jump, a simple twist of the » Continue Reading
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  • Wax on, Wax off: Cleaning as a martial arts metaphor, Part 2
    April 28th, 2009By Chuck Johnson
    photo credit: gigile So, in my last entry I spoke on the metaphysical growth necessary to truly master a martial art, and the way that it parallels keeping one’s home clean. For this entry however, I would like to look at it from a more technical angle to draw another parallel: » Continue Reading
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  • Wax on, Wax off: Cleaning as a Martial Arts Metaphor, Part 1
    April 9th, 2009By Chuck Johnson
    So after moving into my new apartment recently, I had to spent a few days cleaning it, and while doing so, I pondered why it is that traditional martial arts masters always make their students spend a lot of time cleaning. Coming from an American cultural background, where we are taught to » Continue Reading
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  • Action Acting vs. Martial Arts: Comparing & Contrasting
    March 10th, 2009By Chuck Johnson
    The funny thing about being a martial arts action actor is that knowing martial arts doesn’t necessarily qualify you for the job. In training to do action sequences properly you not only have to learn new techniques, and movement patterns from other styles, weapons play, gymnastics and a myriad of other » Continue Reading
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