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I fell off my bicycle right in the middle of a city street last Sunday. My pedals locked up, which was caused by a combination of operator error (I started to downshift too late going up a steep hill) and … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Aikido
In May of 1979, I went to the YMCA in Wichita Falls, Texas, and signed up for karate. The same evening I went to my first class. It changed my life. That might make you think my life at the … Continue reading
Some years back, I wrote a story in aphorisms called “Thirty-One Rules for Fulfilling Your Destiny.” (It’s available free at Curious Fictions and is in my BVC collection Conscientious Inconsistencies.) Rule 8 reads: “The male way of warriorship has been … Continue reading
Back when I taught Aikido at the University of Maryland club, I used tell beginners I was going to teach them the most important self defense skill they could learn. Then I taught them to fall. (In the picture, you … Continue reading
I walk five miles every day, using a Fitbit as a pedometer to keep myself honest. People praise me for this, telling me how virtuous I am to get all this exercise. I get a lot of great ideas while … Continue reading
I’ve spent more than half my life training in martial arts, but I’m not all that interested in fighting these days. What really grabs me right now is learning to use internal power — being able to take someone’s balance … Continue reading
I could give a lot of reasons for why I took up Aikido. One I like – probably because I’m a writer – is that I was drawn to the art because Aikido practitioners in the U.S. did the best … Continue reading
There’s a reasonable amount of overlap between martial artists and science fiction writers. I’m not sure why, except that possibly people who spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer need a good physical activity to balance … Continue reading
The title of this post is a quote from the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, usually referred to as O Sensei. The word “budo” means the way of war, or warriorship, and Aikido is a martial art built on very … Continue reading
Butch Hancock said that at the end of one his shows at the Cactus Cafe in Austin. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. And since love is one of the themes of the season — or should be, anyway … Continue reading