As I was getting ready for aikido class, a line popped into my head: “Preparing for battle, the aged samurai binds his wounds.” I don’t...

My ski companion decided to take a break and have a beer. I left her sitting outside in the snow on a lawn chair in the broad area at the...

DSBK and Silverton School Launch Unique Learning Enrichment for Kids Awe froze the crowd to stillness as the regiment marched in unison...

DSBK Offers First Post-Covid Kyu Test Sensei called out the first technique to be demonstrated on the test. Mike Boeckman listened to the...

September. Here, at 8000 feet, any night a freeze may come. One late snowpea plant is still blossoming. The rest are going brown, and...

“I was having panic attacks,” Adele explains to the dinner party gathered at the local brewery. Around that large, high table we appear...

“My ex-wife chose the paint colors,” Trebb explains as we set food and silverware on the dining table. He must have seen me eyeing the...

Face down. Prostrate on my belly. With my head turned to one side, one cheek smooshed and spread like a pancake on the griddle. That’s...

In my teens I was a pacifist. I registered for the draft when I turned 18. But it was a stalling tactic. The Vietnam War raged and I had...

Since the day I started training in aikido 2 1/2 years ago, I have admired everyone in a hakama and wondered what it would be like to...

Jerry and Nate face off on the mats. Jerry offers his torso as a target. Nate surges forward, his fist a torpedo gunning for his father’s...

To injure an opponent is to injure yourself. To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace. – Morihei Ueshiba A...

The above picture comes from Scott Carlton’s recent 5th kyu test—the first demonstration a person gives to establish their rank as a...

One Tuesday evening in August, 1992, I left work after a 12-hour shift, climbed onto my motorcycle, and headed for the dojo. My 4th...

I didn’t know it would feel like this. It’s been two years now that I’ve been practicing aikido, and while there have been ups and downs,...

I downloaded the dating app, entered a punchy profile, and uploaded some pictures. My index finger hovered over the submit button. I...

On the path toward correct perception, is there ever really any room for regret? Recently Mark Sensei asked us to consider the difference...

“Don’t change the kata,” Sensei Mark reminds the class. We stand in pairs down the mat, like characters in a Jane Austen novel about to...

In my early years of aikido, connection was not emphasized. I first conceived of connection as something to break away from. Someone...

I’ve always thought of myself as the kind of person who treats everyone with dignity and respect. In the short 21 months that I’ve been...