Aikido Yoshinkan - PGS Frassati Pinerolo

19/08/2026

Jackie chan learned aikido moves with Miyako Fujitani and his daughter.

The photo shows martial artist and actor Jackie Chan, Miyako Fujitani (an Aikido master and Steven Seagal's first wife), and her daughter Ayako.

Today She holds a 7th dan through the official Aikikai Foundation (Aikikai Hombu Dojo / Tokyo), with her long-standing teaching base located in Osaka (Tenshin Dojo).

She has practiced Aikido for well over 45 years, making her a pioneer among female instructors in Japan.

She began training early on when groups/dojos were affiliated with the Tokyo Hombu, and she interacted with and trained during the era of the founder, Morihei Ueshiba (O-Sensei).

19/08/2026

¿Sabés qué significa Misogi?

Morihei Ueshiba relacionaba el entrenamiento diario con misogi, que significa purificación. Y esto, dicho de manera clara, tiene una profundidad enorme. Practicar Aikidō, repetir técnicas, entrar al tatami, observarte, corregirte y volver a empezar funciona como una forma concreta de limpiar lo que uno va acumulando: tensión, enojo, ansiedad, reacciones viejas, maneras torpes de responder a la vida.

Cuando el keiko —entrenamiento— es sincero, algo empieza a cambiar. No porque repitas por repetir, sino porque cada práctica te muestra dónde estás trabado. Cómo respirás cuando algo te presiona. Cómo reaccionás cuando no sale lo que querías. Cómo se mueve tu cuerpo cuando la cabeza está llena de ruido. Ahí el entrenamiento empieza a cumplir una función muy seria: va apagando, poco a poco, pensamientos y conductas que ya no construyen nada bueno.

Por eso esta enseñanza de Ueshiba me parece tan necesaria. El dojo también puede ser un lugar donde uno se limpia por dentro a través del cuerpo, la repetición y la disciplina. Cada técnica bien trabajada puede ayudarte a sacar algo que estorba y a dejar algo mejor en su lugar. Entrenar todos los días, aunque sea de a poco, también es una manera de cuidar lo que uno lleva adentro.

Gabriel Benítez©

19/08/2026

IL MAESTRO INDICA LA PORTA...

L’Arte Marziale è innanzi tutto un processo di auto-educazione.
Certo è importante, specie all'inizio, la presenza di un bravo insegnante per indirizzare l'allievo nella giusta direzione; ma il percorso da affrontare è fondato sull'impegno personale.
L’allievo non può mai essere "forzato", piuttosto viene ”guidato" dall’insegnante nel processo di crescita.
Per questo in Cina c’è un detto tradizionale che dice:
“Il maestro indica la porta, ma è l’allievo che deve entrare”.

Questo principio è stato espresso anche da Gichin Funakoshi, padre del Karate moderno, con parole che evidenziano come l’apprendimento marziale (ma non solo quello), per essere indelebile, deve passare dalla "scoperta personale". Per "capire veramente" non basta quindi che l'allievo veda o senta, e non è sufficiente neanche ciò che gli viene “spiegato”; il vero apprendimento si fonda sull'esperienza personale, sulle proprie percezioni, su ciò che il corpo e la mente imparano da sé.
Per questo motivo, il maestro Funakoshi sosteneva che:
«Ciò che hai appreso dagli altri, ascoltando le loro parole, verrà presto dimenticato.
Ciò che hai imparato da te stesso, con tutto il tuo corpo, non potrai scordarlo per il resto della vita».

-

19/08/2026

“The body should be triangular, the mind circular”.
Art of Peace, Morihei Ueshiba.

VUOI STACCARE LA SPINA PER QUALCHE ORA?

Vieni con noi ad allenare corpo e mente! 🇯🇵🥋

📅 Ci vediamo LUNEDÌ 7 SETTEMBRE alle 20.30 in palestra a Pinerolo per 2 ore di pratica insieme!

📍Parrocchia Spirito Santo, Strada al Colletto 16, Pinerolo (TO).

📱Contattaci per ve**re a provare!
Basta una mente libera e curiosa, il corpo non deve per forza essere allenato⛩️

19/08/2026

It's become more common In recent years to respond to questions of Aikido's effectiveness with the assertion that it was never intended to be effective, or to be applied in live self-defense situations.

Unfortunately, this is a kind of "sour grapes" response that relies on an appeal to the authority of an erroneous historical narrative.

For example, here's an interesting video, filmed in 1952, that features Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Koichi Tohei, and Tadashi Abe in street clothes - it was created by the Aikikai in order to market Aikido as an effective means of self-defense:

https://youtu.be/6r_d8rLNFlI

Further, several of the official publications issued by the Aikikai, while Morihei Ueshiba was alive, prominently featured "Self-Defense" in the title.

Here is an extract from one of those:

"The art of self-defense must be one that can be used in a real fight. You need not use the art against someone who hits you in fun, But if your opponent wants to make it a no-holds-barred scrap, it will be he who decides how he should attack you and you cannot call foul at anything he does...In Aikido, you practice always to adapt yourself to real fights."

"Aikido, the Coordination of Mind and Body for Self Defense"

Authored by Aikido Hombu Dojo Chief Instructor Koichi Tohei, edited by Morihei Ueshiba - 1961

Morihei Ueshiba himself, of course, continued to instruct the police and the military after the war, and his student Hiroshi Isoyama instructed the American military police:

"They didn't believe that Aikido works...I made them believe"

After the war, Morihei Ueshiba would often travel around Japan - and instructed his students that while he was away "Never refuse a challenge!" - challenges were still common in the post-war period, many of them handled in Tokyo by Kazuo Chiba.

Shoji Nishio also had some thoughts about developing Aikido's effectiveness as compared to other martial arts:

"That’s why most people’s practice today is empty. They don’t look at other types of Budo. Right from the start, the value of a Budo is determined by comparisons with other Budo.For the most part, if you set up Kokyu-ho between two Aikido people it’s just useless. That will only be effective in the dojo. I guess that those people say things like “Even though you do Aikido you’re also doing Karate and sword. If you want to do Karate then go to Karate. If you want to do the sword then go to Kendo. If you’re doing Aikido you don’t need to do other things.”. Even in other Budo, everybody is working hard, you know. When we see that we should make an effort to surpass them with our Aiki. That is the mission of Aikido as a Budo."

"Interview with Aikido Shihan Shoji Nishio"

https://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/interview-aikido-shoji-nishio/

Kisshomaru Ueshiba himself summed it up here:

"However much it is said that Aikido does not concern itself with winning or losing, as it is Budo it goes without saying that it must be useful for self-defense."

- Kisshomaru Ueshiba, "Subarashii Aikido", 1994

Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with practicing Aikido, or anything else, without any interest in live physical application. More than 100,000 people study Kyudo in Japan alone - likely more than Aikido, and that has exactly zero real world applicability.

But let's leave out the historical revisionism.

19/08/2026

El corazón secreto del Aikido

Todo gran movimiento nace de tres principios invisibles.
Muchos practican técnicas. Pocos entienden lo que realmente están entrenando.
En Aikido, todo se sostiene sobre tres pilares esenciales:

Kokyu Ryoku, Tai no Sabaki y Ki no Musubi.
No se ven, pero están en cada acción precisa, en cada desplazamiento fluido, en cada técnica que funciona de verdad.

Kokyu Ryoku (呼吸力) – El poder de la respiración
No se trata de respirar fuerte. Se trata de expandirse. De mover el cuerpo entero desde el centro, como si cada exhalación extendiera una esfera invisible a tu alrededor.

O Sensei lo llamó el “círculo de acero”. Cuando respirás y te movés como uno solo, el Aikido se vuelve una meditación en acción. Presente, estable, real.

Tai no Sabaki (体の捌き) – El arte del desplazamiento
El cuerpo aprende a estar en el lugar justo en el momento exacto.
No para chocar. Para entrar, girar, redirigir.
Es moverse como el agua: nunca se opone, pero siempre encuentra el camino.

Ki no Musubi (気の結び) – Unirse a la energía
No es algo esotérico. Es conectar.

Sentir hacia dónde va el otro y unirse a su intención. Cuando eso ocurre, ya no hay dos voluntades enfrentadas. Hay una sola dirección, sin resistencia.
Ahí es cuando la técnica aparece sin esfuerzo.

Entrenar sin estos tres principios es como repetir palabras sin entender el idioma.
Pero con ellos… el Aikido se convierte en algo vivo, preciso y poderoso.
Y tu cuerpo, tu respiración y tu mente aprenden a moverse como uno solo.

Gabriel Benitez©

09/07/2026

Qualunque nome abbia questo atemi, sembra comunque molto efficace 😁

Anyone knows the name of this atemi here by Philippe Lee Shihan from Aikido Shinju-Kai in Singapore?

09/07/2026

昭和神聖 / "the divine spirit of Showa" - a calligraphy by Morihei Ueshiba's teacher Onisaburo Deguchi.