Gabriel DiMarco - Aikido

02/16/2026

After many years of training in Aikido, I would hope that students have an understanding of basic martial principles. As stated previously, kata training helps a student to understand these principles by building a solid foundation.

Training the body (haku - the lower self) prepares the student to transition into the next phase (kon - the higher self). Without a good foundation, progressing into the next phase would be very difficult.

After repeating the same "techniques" over and over, one would get bored and quit or demand for "more advanced techniques". This is why most never progress beyond haku phase.

A child first learns to roll over onto it's tummy, from there it learns to crawl. Next step is to learn to stand independently. Once standing independently, walking is the next step. When confidence in walking is achieved, running is the next step. All these steps are required to build the lower self - haku.

There is no point in teaching a child who cannot crawl, about how to run a marathon - it's way too advanced for where they are in their training. Hopefully, a good instructor will guide you along properly so that the transition to the next phase will be more manageable.

Moving to develop kon (the higher self) requires the proper mindset. A good instructor will hint at kon training to those in the haku phase so that transitioning into kon training would not be so abrupt. You may not understand at the time but you will come to an understanding later.

O-sensei talked a lot about developing the spirit , especially in his later years, yet few of his younger students got the message. Perhaps too advanced for where they were in their training.

I experienced this when I was about 5th kyu. Trying to replicate what I saw but the instructor trying to show me a much higher level of doing the same movement. No, I was not able to do it that way, too high a level of understanding for where I was in my training.

Be patient, overcoming the self is not easy. If you are persistent in your training and reflect on your training from time to time, you can reach higher levels of being.

01/01/2026

Happy New Year Everyone! A message from Hamada sensei before his passing to encourage you all to keep training.

11/05/2025

Kata practice (techniques) are practiced very much in Aikido.

What is kata practice? Kata practice employs a known attack, a known neutralization and a known ending. It is practiced to teach the student something.

It is practiced to teach the student martial principles from nage and uke's perspective. A lot of kata practice that I see being performed are lacking in this understanding and so Aikido gets a bad rep in the martial arts world.

Should you use kata practice in real world conditions, you will most likely fail against an attack due to an unpredictable pattern.

Not to worry though, Aikido practice also includes randori training (multiple attackers) where the attack may be practiced in an unscripted state. This helps in preparing the student for detachment from a set kata practice, but.......

Kata practice is generally associated with the physical aspect, the lower self (haku). It is used to build a foundation, however, most students never progress beyond this stage of training. As Sunadomari sensei once wrote "....it is practicing an empty kata..." - there is something missing.

What is missing? The higher self (kon), but that's a story for another time.......

05/13/2025

I just turned 60 years old and I had to do a follow up on my last video about ukemi.

As you see, I am doing ukemi in real world conditions. No mats, no padding, just good old fashion hard ground. So there is no excuse for anyone under the age of 40 years old for not being able to develop their ukemi to use in the real world.

Ukemi covers a broader range of skills other than being able to take a fall safely in any conditions.

Learning to follow the force being applied to you, attacking in such a manner as to leave the least amount of openings, learning to become comfortable while you are in an unbalanced state, being attentive to any openings that are present when engaged with another person, learning timing as to when you can take advantage of an opportunity are some other aspects of ukemi that a lot of students never learn despite the many years of training.

How to learn these martial principles? This is why there is kata practice (techniques as some like to call it) in Aikido.

Kata practice. This is where Aikido gets a bad rep in the martial arts world. Most students will never get past this stage and so will fail when confronted in a real world conditions because they use kata for self defense. But that's a story for another time........

01/08/2025

Ukemi is a priority Aikido practice that enables the individual to take falls safely.

In my early years of training, I only used three types of ukemi but later discovered that they were inadequate to deal with different situations.

I have since added a variety of ukemi in order to adapt to different circumstances that I found myself in.

Although training is usually done in a dojo with tatami mats, ukemi should enable you to take falls on a hard surface - yes, even concrete under real world conditions.

Ukemi covers more than just taking falls. Connection to nage, awareness of openings etc, but that's a story for another time.....

09/05/2024

Training at Aikido Shinseikai honbu dojo (headquarters).

06/21/2024

05/21/2024

It's been a while since I have written - busy life and sometimes I don't have anything interesting to say. However, sometimes I get inspired to write my thoughts.

There comes a point in your training when you may ask yourself, "Why am I still training after all these years?"

You may have never asked yourself this question before. It may have been triggered by an incident that may have happened, either during training or in real world conditions.

As we get older, it becomes more difficult to keep your body conditioned so that you can continue to train. If you are disciplined enough, taking 10-15 minutes out of your day to do some body conditioning helps greatly but you need to be consistent.

Perhaps you are looking for more than just to keep your body in shape. Training with a variety of people in your dojo also adds a social element. Yes, it's much better than being a hermit (although it's always good to spend some time alone occasionally).

If you are looking at Aikido as more of a practical martial aspect, then your training should reflect that. Without the martial aspect included in your training, it simply becomes a dance. Question what it is you are practicing.

If all the above isn't the answer, then it may have to do with self development, the spiritual aspect. It may be hard to understand this one but if one is able to put all the aspects mentioned, together, you will come to an understanding. But sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees.

In the end, you need to have the desire to continue, to explore all aspects for your training. After 32 years of training, I still don't see an end in sight. I always find myself at the bottom of another mountain to climb.

Don't give up, just keep going.

05/07/2024

Coming up this weekend