Weekly Aikido Videos | Lia Suzuki Sensei

Weekly Aikido Training Videos

Get weekly Aikido videos from Lia Suzuki Sensei — short lessons to level up your technique, stay healthy, and be first to know about global seminars.

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🎥 WATCH: What Aikido Asks of You Beyond Technique

After 45 years in Aikido, I've never trained another martial art, so I can't compare them. What I can tell you is the specific, demanding list Aikido has asked of me. This week's video starts with the fact that there's no scoreboard. I explain why your partner's well-being is a technical requirem...

by Lia Suzuki — Sep 29, 2026 aikido aikido training character lia suzuki martial arts mindset

🎥 WATCH: What Self-Development in Aikido Really Demands

Self-development, discipline, and focus are the top reasons new students say they came to Aikido. In this week's video I get into what those words actually require once you're a few years in. I share a couple of stories from my own students, including why the students who say they want discipline...

by Lia Suzuki — Sep 22, 2026 aikido aikido training lia suzuki martial arts mindset self-development

🎥 WATCH: What a Dojo Reveals Before Training Even Begins

In 45 years of visiting dojos around the world, I've learned that you can tell a lot about how a group trains before anyone even bows in. This week's video walks through what I look for. I talk about what a clean mat says about a dojo, the difference between students showing off and students focu...

by Lia Suzuki — Sep 15, 2026 aikido aikido training dojo culture lia suzuki martial arts mindset

🎥 WATCH: Why Aikido Plateaus Are a Sign of Progress

I've watched hundreds of students hit the same wall at roughly the same point in their training. In this week's video I explain why a plateau isn't a lack of progress, it's progress you can't see yet. I cover what separates the students who train through a plateau from the ones who quit, and spec...

by Lia Suzuki — Sep 08, 2026 aikido aikido training lia suzuki martial arts mindset plateau

🎥 WATCH: What Yamaguchi Sensei Taught Me About Presence

Years ago I sat in a coffee shop in Japan with Yamaguchi Sensei after training, and the quality of his attention in that conversation was identical to his attention on the mat. This week's video is about what that taught me about Zanshin. I break down what Zanshin actually is, why the most advanc...

by Lia Suzuki — Sep 01, 2026 aikido aikido training lia suzuki martial arts mindset zanshin

🎥 WATCH: Why Your Aikido Feels Worse After a Seminar

Every serious practitioner has had this experience: you come home from a seminar more confused than when you left. In this week's video I explain why that's not a problem, it's a sign the seminar actually worked. I get into what a seminar does to your nervous system, the two most common mistakes ...

by Lia Suzuki — Aug 25, 2026 aikido aikido training lia suzuki martial arts mindset seminars

🎥 WATCH: Why Trying Harder Makes Your Aikido Worse

There's a specific moment every Aikido student eventually hits: you stop trying to force the technique, and it works. In this week's video I dig into what "fighting" your partner actually means technically, and why it has nothing to do with being aggressive. I cover why your nervous system reads ...

by Lia Suzuki — Aug 18, 2026 aikido aikido training lia suzuki martial arts mindset technique

🎥 WATCH: Why Ikkyo Backfires When You Do It On Someone

Ikkyo is usually the first technique students learn — which is exactly why almost everyone assumes it's the easiest. After 45 years of practicing it, teaching it, and taking ukemi for it from partners at every level, I can tell you it's the opposite. In this week's video I get into what separates...

by Lia Suzuki — Aug 11, 2026 aikido ikkyo ukemi

🎥 WATCH: Why Improvement Gets Harder at the Top

Something changes once you're one of the senior students on the mat — and it's not what most people expect. Improvement doesn't get easier. It gets harder, because the outside pressure that used to sharpen you starts to disappear. Your training partners are, in a way, your students now. They're w...

Aug 04, 2026

🎥 WATCH: The Real Difference Between Dan Grades

People ask me all the time what actually separates the different dan grades in Aikido. The honest answer is that technique alone doesn't explain it — and most people asking the question are already sensing that something else is going on. That explained it — but it also confirmed what I look for ...

by Lia Suzuki — Jul 28, 2026 advanced aikido aikido aikido teachers aikido technique aikido timing aikido training japanese aikido japanese martial arts martial arts training yamaguchi sensei

🎥 WATCH: Why Advanced Aikidoka Train Completely Differently Than Beginners

If you've ever watched a senior student train and thought, "that doesn't look anything like what I'm doing," you're right — and the difference isn't just skill level. It's a fundamentally different relationship with the training itself. In this week's video, I share a story about a sandan student...

Jul 21, 2026 advanced aikido aikido aikido teachers aikido technique aikido timing aikido training japanese aikido japanese martial arts martial arts training yamaguchi sensei

🎥 WATCH: Why Japanese Aikido Masters Move Differently

Have you ever watched a senior instructor move and felt like something was different, but couldn't quite say what? I've felt that for years. I spent nearly a decade living and training in Japan, and there's a quality to how the senior instructors there move that I've never seen fully replicated a...

Jul 14, 2026 advanced aikido aikido aikido teachers aikido technique aikido timing aikido training japanese aikido japanese martial arts martial arts training yamaguchi sensei

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