Aikitrend: be Positive, be Dynamic

Liking around Facebook, I found this totally awesome online shop that sells aikido jewelery. I instantly liked the unique pieces showcased on their site and thought I must share it with you. I mailed the aikitrend team and got to know them a bit. I mostly corresponded with Anne Marie, who is such a nice person. She said so many positive things about my blog that motivated me. It was great to bond with people who would also see the fusion of beauty and aikido. 

The AikiTrend team is a group of dynamic and dedicated people. Anne Marie shared with me that last month they were present at an aikido seminar in Chicago. There, they had the chance to present the Aikitrend pieces that had a great popularity. So this is a trend created by the aikidoka for the aikidoka and most recently for the iaidoka also. Here is a short presentation of what AikiTrend is all about. 

Since 2010 Aiki Trend has been creating stylish silver and gold pieces inspired in the art of Aikido. Our goal is to share the beauty of Aikido in an innovative way, offering fellow practitioners a tasteful and elegant manner of expressing their love for this art. Aiki Trend has traditional, classy and creative designs which aim to capture the essence and movement of Aikido. Aiki Trend’s jewelry is also representative of the Aikido philosophy – a martial art that fosters peace, love and harmony.  Our brand has also recently launched a new line of Iaido silver jewelry created specifically for the Iaidoka.

Aiki Trend works with the world’s finest metals of South America, mainly with 925 and 950 traditionally crafted peruvian silver. We are proud to say that all of our products are carefully hand-made and polished by Peruvian artisans. Aiki Trend also combines its top quality precious metals with natural elements such as the Andean

opal, Peruvian turquoise, red coral amongst others. Each one of the designs is created for a one-of-a-kind look, which is why all of our models are made in limited editions.

Some strong female aikidoka wearing aikitrend. The pictures were taken by Kjartan Clausen.

Lauren Walsh, Australia, 1st dan,
currently uchideshi at New York Aikikai

Indra Gandy, USA, 3rd dan, New York Aikikai

 ~~Aiki Trend characterizes itself for regularly showcasing new designs and is a beautiful alternative for special Aikido/Iaido occasions and for gifts. Check them out! Here is a short slideshow I have put together from some of the greatest pictures~~

Photography:

Jaime Kahn

Mario Razzeto

Visit their site:

Make sure to follow them on:

aikitrend@twitter.com

www.facebook.com/aikitrend

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The Beauty of Suwari-Waza

Source: http://discovering-aikido.com

This week on the Monday training we did a lot of suwari-waza. At a certain point I found myself thinking about the beauty of execution from this position as Sensei was demonstrating. I sort of had an aesthetic experience while watching the smooth movements of Sensei and of his flexible 2 kyu uke. It was the movement and that different sort of dynamics that these techniques have that made me pensive. At home I started thinking about it some more and wondering whether other martial arts also use suwari-waza. I also browsed the web to find the perfect picture for this blog post I was already composing in my mind.

I was already researching the web for a while when I just thought I could as well post my question on reddit and see what feedback I get. Here you can read some of the comments I got. It seems like suwari-waza is also used in jujitsu. I cannot find much information about that, though. Should you have some good sources, do let me know. Iaido is a martial art I don't really know much about and apparently they also use suwari-waza. This was practiced by Crane Sensei also. See my post about an inspiring quote by her.
 
I was just gathering some more information about suwari-waza when I found out that in Iwama-style aikido one of the main non-aikikai aikido branches techniques always start from suwari-waza, more exactly in complete seiza. This is in contrast to most other styles where the practitioners often start already on their toes (kiza).

Some people on forums also ask themselves if suwari-waza is of any use. It seems to me that these are more the practitioners who fight for fighting´s sake. My opinion on that is close to what Zarilli Sensei says in an interview (see more here). Once you practice a martial art, you are not likely to be the typical victim. You are no longer walking around with your head in the clouds as perfect pray for pickpockets or even more tough attackers. All in all, you are most likely to lean towards the thinking described in this little converation I once read somewhere:

Aikidoka: What would you do sensei, if you were attacked on a narrow dark street in the middle of the night?
Sensei: Why would I possibly be walking down a narrow dark street in the middle of the night?

This is more like my attitude. What is your attitude towards the martial art you are practicing? Do not hesitate to leave a comment. 

Update: I also looked up some information on Daito-ryu-Jujutsu (literally, "Great Eastern School"). This is another martial art that I discovered thanks to the comments from people on reddit. Takeda Sokaku the founder of Daito-ryu-Jujutsu was the teacher of O`Sensei Ueshiba. I have already read before, that Ueshiba practiced Jujutsu before founding aikido. Some roots of techniques should be then found in the Daito-ryu-Jujutsu.