Friend Sites  | Aikido articles, interviews, videos and pictures Aikido (合気道) is a Japanese martial art created in the late 1950's by O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. Aikido is translated as "the Way of unifying energies". Through the practice of Aikido, I have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful individuals and great martial artists. More than that, each time I have moved to a new country, Aikido has been the anchor that allowed me to meet new people and integrate within a new culture. This section contains numerous interviews and articles about the discipline, some written by some influential teachers.
| | Aikido - Events | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Sunday, 29 April 2012 00:00 |  Along with the Shinobukai, the Aiki-jinja Taisai is one of the yearly events that commemorate the death of the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba (26th of April 1969) and that of his son, Kisshomaru (4th of January 1999). While the Shinobukai takes place at the Hombu Dojo of the Aikikai in Tokyo, the Aiki-jinja Taisai (Aiki sanctuary festival) is set at the famous Iwama Dojo in the Ibaraki prefecture. The commemoration is particularly important since the sanctuary was built by Morihei Ueshiba himself and that it is in the adjacent dojo that the master perfected, during the Second World War, what would become Aikido.
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| Aikido - Events | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 06 February 2012 12:51 |  Every year, the AikikaiHombu Dojo holds a kangeiko (寒稽古), a special period of training taking place over the coldest days of winter. During this 10-days period, practitioners are encouraged to practice every day for at least one class. This year, the kangeiko took place from the 23rd of January to the 1st of February.
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| Aikido - Interviews | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 02 January 2012 15:00 |  Olivier Gaurin is one of the most well-known French Aikido practitioners. His atypical path and his ease with words have made him one of the prominent voices of our martial art in France. Olivier Gaurin has been living in Japan for many years and he got the chance to practice with some of the greatest masters such as Seigo Yamaguchi and Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei. He speaks Japanese fluently and has a deep understanding of the Japanese culture, which he enthusiastically shares with other practitioners through a series of books that he wrote about the practice of Aikido. I met with Olivier Gaurin on a summer evening at his Tokyo apartment and we discussed during several hours about his martial journey and his views on Aikido while sharing a homemade pizza cooked by the "Captain" himself.
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| Aikido - Travels | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Thursday, 30 June 2011 15:00 |  I often receive emails from people seeking information about practising at the Hombu Dojo. Unfortunately, I don't always have as much time as I would like in order to answer each of them properly so I thought I would try to address these issues formally in an article. For many practitioners of Aikido it is a dream to one day, have the chance to train the Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo. Hopefully, this dream can eventually become a reality as more and more people travel each year to Japan in order to study at the AikikaiHombu Dojo for a few days, weeks, or even months. While some might be lucky enough to travel with a Sensei or a Sempai who knows the ins and outs of the place and who can act as a guide, others might make the trip on their own and for them. The prospect can be a source of great challenge and excitation but it can also be the cause of a few worries. Some of the most frequently asked questions are: where am I going to stay? What should I bring? How much does training cost? Which classes can I attend? What are the rules that I should be aware of?
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| Aikido - Interviews | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Wednesday, 09 March 2011 15:00 |  I met Sébastien Heurteau at the All Japan Embukai last year. He was there as a spectator but also as the uke for Yukimitsu Kobayashi Sensei from the Hombu Dojo. We very quickly became friends and I got very interested in his practice. Sébastien Heurteau is one of those exceptional individuals that are totally dedicated to the practice of Aikido. He spent seven years at the AikikaiHombu Dojo in Tokyo, training every day and more particularly under the direction of Yasuno and Endo Sensei. Sébastien has also served as uke for teachers such as Kuribayashi and Kobayashi Sensei during demonstrations in Tokyo and throughout Japan. Sébastien is currently preparing his final return to France with his Japanese wife and he agreed to talk to me and share both his experience of Japan and his path as an Aikidoka.
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| Aikido - Videos | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 01 November 2010 12:14 |  This section contains exclusive Aikido videos featuring some historical footage shot by master André Nocquet, 8th dan, the first foreign uchi deshi of Morihei Ueshiba at the AikikaiHombu Dojo. Master featured include Morihei Ueshiba, Minoru Mochizuki, André Nocquet, Kawaishi Mikonosuke and Nobuyoshi Tamura. The music was scored by Guillaume Erard.
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| Aikido - Articles | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Thursday, 02 September 2010 11:46 |  Please accept my apologies for the voluntarily provocative title but I think that it sums up well what a little research on the word Budo can teach you. The word Budo is now ubiquitous in the popular culture and it is safe to say that along with sushi, karaoke, bonsai and manga, it figures amongst the most successful exports of the Japanese culture. It is however one of the most misunderstood of all. Today I would like to provide some clues on what Budo is really about. I will first try to explain the origins of the word and then, discuss their implications on nowadays practice. |
| Aikido - Events | | Written by Jordy Delage | | Sunday, 30 May 2010 10:46 |  One of the most important yearly Aikido memorial events is the Aiki Jinja Tai Sai Festival that occurs on the 29th of April at the Aikido shrine in Iwama in the province of Ibaraki. The Aiki Jinja is a Shinto shrine built by Morihei Ueshiba himself in the aim of receiving the "spirit of Aikido".
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| Aikido - Events | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Friday, 30 April 2010 12:37 |  In Japan, the months of April and May are quite busy in celebrations. Within the Aikido world, there are also a few events that are worth noting such as the anniversary of the founder's passing on April 26th 1969, the Aiki Shrine Festival and the 29th of April and the massive annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration on May 22nd.
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| Aikido - Articles | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 04 May 2009 15:00 |  It is almost impossible today to imagine a society devoid of any reference to Japanese martial arts. If you look close enough, you can realise that these are ubiquitous in the popular imagery and its consciousness. But the Japanese martial arts have infused western societies at an even more significant level, far beyond their obvious influence on literature, cinema, or even dance. The notions of honour, respect, strictness and self-sacrifice conjugated to a pragmatic and dreadful efficacy have helped to promote an entire system of values which seems to have implanted itself deeply and that does not seem to be going to disappear any time soon. Even though every civilisation has developed its own combat forms, very few have managed to export it as successfully as the Japanese. I would like to discuss today about the implantation of Japanese martial arts in Occident and to try to shed light on what made it such an unequalled success. |
| | Aikido - Interviews | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Tuesday, 03 April 2012 00:00 |  I regret to announce that Alan Ruddock Sensei, direct student of O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba has passed away last night in Dublin. I would like to extend my most sincere condolences to all his family and friends.
Alan has been a very inspirational teacher and a good friend over the years. I might not be practicing Aikido today if I had not met him over 10 years ago, at a time of great uncertainty in my practice. I will remember fondly our encounters in Ireland and England, particularly the long evening discussing about what Japan and Aikido were when he was there and what they are today. If you did not have the chance to know Alan did for Karate and Aikido in Ireland, read this interview that he kindly agreed to do with me and meet a true giant of Aikido. I had conducted this interview with him in 2008. I was starting an Aikido magazine at the time and as always, he was very supportive and agreed to let me interview him in order to get the magazine started. I hope that you will enjoy it and if you did not have the chance to know him, that it will allow to know a bit more about this very special gentleman. |
| Aikido - Articles | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Wednesday, 18 January 2012 05:32 |  I wish everyone the very best for this new year 2012! The other day, I had a look at my WHOIS data and I was surprised to see that I bought the domain name GuillaumeErard.com in February 2007. The beginning of the year 2012 thus marks the fifth year of the site. It seems like a good time to stop for a bit and tell you a little about the future developments of the site.
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| Aikido - Videos | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Tuesday, 25 October 2011 15:00 |  Thanks to the impressive investigative work carried out by Stanley Pranin, the influence of Daito-ryuAiki-jujutsu in the development of Aikido is now fairly well know and understood. This has led some Aikido practitioners to focus their attention towards learning the Daito-ryu techniques in order to complete what they might regard as a certain lack in nowadays' Aikido teaching. Among these, Olivier Gaurin, a long time student at the AikikaiHombu Dojo and author of several books on Aikido decided to continue in Mr Pranin's footsteps, to learn the ancient techniques and to promote them to the Aikido public. I had been aware of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu for many years through the work of Stanley Pranin but it is Olivier Gaurin who introduced me to the Daito-ryu teachers of the Takumakai school and it wasn't long before we both decided to document our experience, which eventually came under the form of the following documentary.
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| Aikido - Interviews | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Wednesday, 11 May 2011 15:00 |  Michel Erb is an exemplary practitioner. He belongs to a generation of Aikidokas that were instrumental in getting our art through the 21st century. He constantly travels the roads of France, Switzerland and Germany through the numerous seminars that he teaches and he is invariably present whenever his Master, Christian Tissier Shihan travels through Europe. Michel accepted to share with us his vision of Aikido and of the techniques that he forged in the crucible of the teaching of Christian Tissier.
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| Aikido - Videos | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 01 November 2010 12:47 |  This section contains a selection of my favourite Aikido videos on the web. I was fortunate enough to be able to train with these Sensei quite extensively and in spite of the obvious differences in their respective styles, I learnt a lot from trying to find the common point rather than the differences. Also, more than trying to reproduce what they all did, I tried to understand the reasons as to why they did things in their specific way. I hope that through this selection, you can get an appreciation of how Aikido fundamentals can be expressed in a variety of ways.
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| Aikido - Videos | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 01 November 2010 11:50 |  This section contains videos of Aikido seminars and classes that I have shot and edited over the years. I have also scored and performed the soundtrack music for most of them. I started shooting these videos as a way to remember these courses but also in order to perfect my ukemi in comparison to other practitioners. This proved invaluable and I thought I would share these videos rather than keep them on my hard drive. It was also an opportunity to use some of the music that I wrote over the years to accompany these performances.
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| Aikido - Events | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Monday, 02 August 2010 12:54 |  Some of us Aikido practitioners often dream of going to Japan in order to perfect our skills in the art created by O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. Many actually eventually make the trip for a few weeks, some for a few months. Fewer of these individuals decide to settle there for an indefinite period of time, that is my case. This long term pilgrimage allows us to explore the roots of Aikido, make the acquaintance of many masters and, if we are lucky enough, to establish solid and enduring relationships with them on and beyond the tatami. However, the normal order of things is that we always find ourselves assuming the role of the student. In fact, one would never think in Japan to transgress this position. There are some cases however when, a bit in spite of our own will, this situation can change quickly and dramatically. The account I am going to give today describes precisely one of these occurrences. During several months training intensively at the AikikaiHombu Dojo in Tokyo, I have had the opportunity to make a lot of acquaintances and I even got the opportunity to develop real friendships. It is from one of these precious friendships that the adventure I will relate today started. |
| Aikido - Events | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Sunday, 23 May 2010 10:22 |  The annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration took place like every year at the legendary Nihon Budokan (日本武道館). All the afternoon, a succession of demonstrations were of course performed by many prestigious Sensei, but also, by members of smaller dojo including university clubs, private groups, corporation dojos etc. Thus, the whole Japanese territory was represented. This year was very special for me because it was my first visit at the Budokan. Each time I had been in Japan, I had had to leave shortly before the All Japan Aikido demonstration and I therefore never had the chance to see it, let alone take part in it. |
| Aikido - Interviews | | Written by Aurore Mamet | | Sunday, 28 June 2009 13:03 |  This article is a bit special since that for once, I will be the one to answer questions. I went last June to give a one day course in Besançon (France) as I was invited there by my friend Aurore who used to work with me at Aikidoka Magazine. I had a wonderful time teaching over there and was touched by the fact that seven students from the DAA made the trip to France especially for this occasion. |
| Aikido - Interviews | | Written by Guillaume Erard | | Tuesday, 13 January 2009 07:15 |  Luc Mathevet, 6th dan Aikikai, has been practising Aikido for over 25 years and he is now the technical director of the Rhône-Alpes region for the FFAAA. This sought after technician and sophisticated teacher accepted to talk to us about his art and his role as a teacher. Let's meet this quiet, discreet man who is however one of the most active people in terms of pedagogic research and Aikido development.
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