For those who have followed my blog from its very beginnings they will know that I have been very interested in Gleason Sensei's Aikido, in particular his kotodama and his swordwork, and the fact that he was a deshi of Yamaguchi Sensei. This interest has been compounded by the fact that one of my friends from our dojo, Clayton, moved back to Boston from Hong Kong and has started training at his dojo. I had purchased this DVD a couple of months ago when it first came out, but have not had the requisite time to devote to really analyzing it until now. I had been following through the aikido grapevine that Gleason Sensei's Aikido has been changing in recent years to incorporate "Aiki" and comparing the "Aikido and the Japanese Sword" the difference is quite marked. I have to confess that I didn't understand a lot of what was happening in the previous DVD when he talked about esoterica such as the hand of fire and hand of water, but I did admire his flowing Aikido style. He still talks about the hand of earth, fire and water, but it is much clearer now.But having watched the first DVD of the 3 DVD set, I could immediately see where he is now coming from. There was a lot more detailed description about hand and elbow positioning. Indeed his description regarding the real meaning of 手刀 tegatana was easily reconciled with the palm positions of baguazhang and xingyiquan. Also his comments about "the only tension being in the fingers" were similar to some of the instructions I received when studying yiquan zhan zhuang. There were also quite clear examples of taking an opponent's center and not moving the opponent using muscle (which corresponds to an increase in pressure) but by moving your own body. There was also a good section on breathing exercises.
There were lots of very helpful tips in the DVD including how these principles applied to specific techniques. I know the ASU and Ledyard Sensei has been doing much to promote the incorporation of such principles, and to evolve their Aikido and this was a clear exposition of what they see as the way forward. The emphasis in these DVDs is a little different from Ledyard Sensei's own Aiki set (of which great emphasis seems to be to be placed on intention work). My only reservations are that the material in these DVDs look that they would most benefit someone who has been studying Aikido for a while and has not only a solid foundation but has also a basic understanding of internal principles and how they are manifested in the structure of the body, which would be most of the Aikidoka at Aikido Eastside. For a beginner or someone who has not done the requisite solo training to condition the body, some of techniques may be hard to execute or just mystifying. Indeed my friend Clayton says that Gleason emphasizes a lot of solo training in his dojo in Boston. This is a rough early review of the DVDs and I will continue to update it as I finish the DVD set. But definitely a very valuable Seminar.
DVD can be purchased here
There were lots of very helpful tips in the DVD including how these principles applied to specific techniques. I know the ASU and Ledyard Sensei has been doing much to promote the incorporation of such principles, and to evolve their Aikido and this was a clear exposition of what they see as the way forward. The emphasis in these DVDs is a little different from Ledyard Sensei's own Aiki set (of which great emphasis seems to be to be placed on intention work). My only reservations are that the material in these DVDs look that they would most benefit someone who has been studying Aikido for a while and has not only a solid foundation but has also a basic understanding of internal principles and how they are manifested in the structure of the body, which would be most of the Aikidoka at Aikido Eastside. For a beginner or someone who has not done the requisite solo training to condition the body, some of techniques may be hard to execute or just mystifying. Indeed my friend Clayton says that Gleason emphasizes a lot of solo training in his dojo in Boston. This is a rough early review of the DVDs and I will continue to update it as I finish the DVD set. But definitely a very valuable Seminar. DVD can be purchased here
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