A video clip of Aikido demonstrations by Hiromi Matsuoka, who has been featured in this Facebook page, has been accessed and viewed over 17,000 times in just 2 months, and the number of access continues to grow. Hiromi Matsuoka started to practice Aikido when she was 8 under Yasuo Kobayashi Shihan of Aikido Kobayashi Dojo, and she holds the 4th Dan in Aikikai Aikido. She continues her practice in Aikido and aims to become a Sensei.
The video clip was recorded during her 3-month long arduous physical training and rigorous training in Aikido at Nippon Kan in Denver, Colorado in the U.S.A. in the summer of 2017. It was 6 years ago when she first came to Nippon Kan in one summer for training, and ever since then she has come to Nippon Kan every summer for training purposes. Denver is well known as the Mile-High City because it’s official elevation is one mile (1609 meters or 5280 feet) above sea level, and her summer training also serves as a high-altitude training. She completed this summer’s tough training program with strong soldiers from the Nepalese Army Rangers as her training partners.
A flow of her movements is not only stable, sharp but well centered and well balanced, and hidden behind her elegant yet strong executions of movements and techniques (waza) is her strong core which is as a result of her diligent and disciplined approach to physical training. I cannot help wondering when I stared to hear misleading, pointless comments like, “Aikido does not require physical training.” or “One’s Aikido style will be too rigid if one undertakes physical training as part of Aikido practice.” These comments are “totally groundless” for me, especially given my experience of giving a massage to the Founder of Aikido and of helping him take a bath in his later years.
Strength training that is appropriate for each individual is a foundation for anyone to endure hard Keiko (practices) safely and without injuries, and putting oneself through hard physical training regimens is one of best ways not only to nurture one’s strong mental strength but to let his/her aura to thrive.
Her elegant yet precise and strong flow of movements in executing a series of techniques (waza) is enabled by her persistence in undertaking tough voluntary training in physical strength exercises.
AHAN Nippon Kan
Founder & Kancho Gaku Homma