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| Lineage of Instructors |
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| Morihei
Ueshiba (1883-1969) |
Dr. Kenji Tomiki (1900-1979) |
Karl Geis Hanshi (1933- ) |
Dr. John Usher (he's not tellling) |
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6th Dan Aikido, 4rd Dan Jyodo, 1st Dan Shotokan Karate, My instructor at MS State University
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| Other
Notable Instructors |
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| Wilberforce
"Mac" MacNease |
Henry Copeland |
Mac was dearly beloved by everyone who knew him. He personally opened my eyes to the possibilities of judo and how judo and aikido are related. He passed on several years ago. We all still miss him dearly. |
Henry, according to Karl Geis, was a critical factor in making our system the way it is today. Henry showed me how truly magical aikido can be. I, like many, have found myself flying across the mat wondering how I got there because of Henry. |
| Aiki-Buddies |
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Pictured
here are James "Rooster" Reuster, Michael, Karl Geish Hanshi,
Dr. John Usher, and John Kirby at the end of an annual clinic at Mr.
Geis's Houston dojo. |
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A picture of the original "Aiki-buddies." From left to right: Michael, John Kirby, Ms. Becky Sexton (no longer w/Fugakukai), Dr. John Usher, Pat Parker. Pat, John, and I went up through the ranks together for the most part. This is taken right after we received our black belts in Baton Rouge, LA.
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This
picture was taken in McComb, MS, right after a clinic given by Ray
Williams (center bottom). To his right (your left) is Melissa
Brook. To her right is Pat Kelly. Behind her is me.
To my left is Dr. Usher. To my right is James Reuster.
Between James and me is Pat Parker. You can see just barely
peeking out from Behind James's right shoulder Scott Jenkins.
To his right is Glenn Brook (Melissa's husband). Behind Usher
and me is Matt Albritton. Counting in from the right side of
the photo is Charlotte Siegel and then two women and Russ
Wilson. |
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Students Although I've been teaching aikido since I was a brown belt, I've only had a few "clubs" of my own. My longest running one was in Atlanta, GA where for about three years, Bob Byrd graciously gave me space to teach out of his judo dojos. There I had a small class of three regular students, these people below. We had a lot of fun and, I hope, learned a lot of aikido from each other. | |
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Here
we are warming up. (Always begin classes with a good warm-up session!).
Amanda Wake is the lovely lady in the front, and the other lovely lady
is Marilynn Putriment. |
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The
man facing is Kevin Anderson. Kevin now runs his own club in Florida,
with the help of Shihan Tim Dudley. Kevin is a great guy with lots of
enthusiasm and a true entrepeneur. |
| The Kihara Method Geis
Shihan has developed a wonderful new way of teaching aikido -a method
for learning how to transition |
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Tori
taking an off-balance from Marilynn's attack. Only a slight disturbance
of uke's intended attack path is needed to effective disrupt uke's balance. |
Tori
following the motion of uke's attack. Looks like tori may be coming
behind uke here to perform ushiro ate or perhaps tenkai oshi otoshi. |
Tori
again follows uke's lead while adding slight disturbances that will
lead to uke's ultimate failure. |
| Various Techniques |
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| Shomen
ate demonstrated. |
Marilynn
performs a release movement |
Michael
prepares to attack Marilynn. |
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| A discussion of how pressure can affect uke's step. When pressing against each other like so, a very slight move on tori's part can send uke to the floor. | Geis Shihan randoris with another high-level aikidoka. This is a very familiar position most of us find ourselves in when we randori with Mr. Geis. |
Suwari Waza Kneeling techniques aren't actually all that common to Tomiki Aikido. We prefer to be standing and mobile. However, the koryu kata ("old style techniques") still have many forms done starting from a kneeling position. Through not necessarily directly translatable to modern American society, these techniques still teach important lessons. Tori must learn how to move through his center and not rely on other parts of his body to power through techniques. Also, all people sit down from time to time and what if you are accosted while sitting for dinner at a nice restaurant? |
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| This technique is hiki otoshi, a favorite throw of mine. This was taken I believe when I was demonstrating for ikkyu (1st brown). Since this time, I have learned how to use this technique while standing and by primarily affecting uke's posture rather than by dropping my center so low. | This was a spontaneous throw at the end of a wrist release. It is very similar to a technique from the yon kata. Note how my arm remains extended to provide support for my uke to fall. |
When Jos Go Bad Both of these pictures are from the same clinic, where Shihan Copeland was teaching on San Kata. Rarely are we attacked by people with jos any more, but similar principles apply if, say, someone came at you with a bat. |
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| Copeland Sensei illustrates taking a jo away from uke by destroying uke's posture. Not grabbing the jo away, but moving such that the jo acts as a lever against uke, tori can take the jo without force. | Here I'm practicing another technique, gygukame ate. The jo is sidestepped and a hand is placed in uke's face to cause him to spine lock and lose balance. |
Otoshi There are two types of throws: otoshi (drop) and guruma (wheel). There is a picture of me doing a guruma throw to John on the previous page. Gurumas cause uke's body to pivot on two axes, resulting in a spinning fall. An otoshi results in uke spinning on a singular axis. |
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| During our shodan demo, John throws me with sumi otoshi, the corner throw. As uke moves, tori steps to cause an instability toward uke's rear. | During our sandan demonstration, Pat throws me with mae otoshi. This form, from san kata, has uke in a hineri and then throws him down. Yikes! |
Tekubi Waza Wrist techniques are often misused. In Tomiki Aikido, we do not crank or try to force the wrist into the lock we want. Pain compliance is unreliable. Indeed, I worked with a senior student in college who felt no pain in his wrist even at a point where they could have easily be broken. Wrist locks are used to limit uke's mobility when they present themselves (and they pop up a lot). |
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| Pat applies kote hineri to John. Similar to oshi otoshi, the elbow is used to destabilize uke's posture. Here, the wrist presents an opportunity for another level of control. | This is a yon kata technique. I am tori and Pat is uke. Uke has resisted my original technique, and I have reversed his movement, resulting in a type of mae otoshi with wrist and also elbow control. |
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Humor |
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| "Bad Sensei"
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An
embarassing perspective shot. At least for Rooster. |
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Other Photos Obviously,
most of these photos are very recent. As I get some of my older photos
scanned, |
| return to top |  |
Photos of Mr. Geis "appropriated"
from the Windsong Dojo site.
Photo of Mac from the
Sinju Dojo site.
Photo of James's posterior
from the University Budo Club. Taken by Rich Minnis, I believe.