Martial Arts Teacher Training: Acknowledge the Positive to keep your students motivated

Have you ever had a teacher who always told you what NOT to do and what you were doing WRONG, but never seemed to acknowledge the things you were doing right?

And have you ever had a teacher who actually did acknowledge the things you were doing right?

I would be willing to bet that you learned...

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Martial Arts: The Kids of Lia Suzuki's Virtual Dojo - Jackson

“I would like my sensei to know that I love her and she is the greatest teacher of my life for Aikido and that I like stacking pillows.”

  • Name: Jackson
  • Age: 5
  • Dojo: Aikido Kenkyukai Los Angeles, via Zoom
  • Home: Seattle

Jackson, who began Aikido at age 4, has been training ...

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Irimi nage variation with cuts and reverse vacuum

Do you struggle with Iriminage? Or other techniques? Improve your body alignment immediately. Download my FREE Body Alignment Checklist for martial artists → https://www.lia-suzuki.com/body-alignment-checklist

Is there any technique with more variations than Irimi nage? I don’t think...

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Martial Arts: The 3 Fundamental Body Positions in Budo (Increase the effectiveness of your technique)

Do you sometimes feel that you’re executing a technique correctly, but it’s still not effective? Do you have an understanding of the three fundamental body positions in Budo?

Understanding and using the three fundamental body positions correctly can increase the...

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Aikido & Martial Arts: Proper Turning to Eliminate Joint Pain

Do you ever experience lower back pain after training? Or knee or ankle pain? Or you don’t feel stable and grounded when you’re executing certain techniques?

Of course there are many possible reasons for this but one possible reason could be how you’re turning.

For example when...

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Aikido: Create a vacuum to lighten your partner - Key point from the hybrid class

Have you ever had trouble throwing your partner because you weren’t able to draw them in enough?

 Of course you don’t want to be overtaken by your partner, but in order for you to have some influence on their position, you need to bring them into your center to some degree.

In...

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Teacher Training: Lead By Example

Have you ever had a really tough day, you’re totally fried, frankly, you don’t feel like going to the dojo (and you’re the instructor), but you go to the dojo, you jump over hurdles, and no one shows up.

First of all, please know that you’re not alone. This happens to...

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Seigo Yamaguchi Sensei at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura Japan, 1993

Every year I do my best to travel to Japan to train and give a demonstration when Doshu or Dojo-Cho visit our Dojo in Kamakura, Japan.

Until his passing in 1996, it was Yamaguchi Sensei who came and gave a class and demonstration at AKI's dojo at Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura,...

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Aikido & Martial Arts: The 3 Lines of Equilibrium in Budo

Do you sometimes feel unstable when you're executing a technique and you don't know why?

Or maybe you have chronic pain and training seems to exacerbate it?

Of course, there are many possible reasons for this. But one possible reason could be that you're not maintaining The 3 Lines of...

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PHOTOS: Aikido Seminar at Aikido of Reno, 2022

Because of the COVID lockdowns and rebuild, this was my first in-person seminar in nearly 3 years! We weren't really sure what to expect, what with people just beginning to train together in person once again. Turns out, we had a great turnout. Vince Sensei, Arlene Sensei, and I had a blast...

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Aikido Demonstration: Lia Suzuki in Kamakura, Japan. 2019

Every year I travel to Japan to train and give a demonstration when Doshu or Dojo-Cho visit our Dojo in Kamakura, Japan.

I usually take some students with me. In this video, you'll see a white belt as one of my uke. He was 16 years old at the time and it was his first trip to Japan. It was no...

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Aikido and Iaido relationship: The importance of proper body alignment in your training.

This video is from a Livestream that Numata Sensei gave in 2020. The entire class is excellent, but for those of you doing Body Alignment classes with me, please take special note of 20:55 - 21:58. He says numerous times, "Keep line. Keep line.", referring to the yellow/red centerline. He's...

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