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...

Many martial arts students train for a few years and move on. But in Aikido, it's surprisingly common to meet practitioners who have been training for 20, 30, even 40 years. Why does that happen? In this week's video, I explore three reasons Aikido often becomes a lifelong practice, including a s...