In my many years of experience doing Aikido, I've come to understand, Aikido, at its core, is an art of self-protection. If your intent is to attack, you’ve already moved away from its spirit. But here’s the question… If your opponent does not respect your ability to strike—what keeps them from countering or bypassing your Mi-ai at every turn? To practice and understand Aikido honestly, you must look to keep your opponent off balance—physically and mentally. That means being able to move forward, as easily as backward, up as naturally as down, left as freely as right. Unsoku and Atemi waza are not about harm or movement alone, they're about presence, pressure, and possibility. like the Jab and the side kick. If there is no threat, there is no reaction or action. If there is no action or reaction from mi-ai, there is no Aikido. This is why aikido techniques should always start from Mi-ai, have an entry, a technique, and then a finish or escape. I feel to only look at the technique without the set up, or return to safety falls extremely short of the teachings of Aikido. For those who practiced grappling and are looking to understand aikido, practice and maintain ma-ai, look for the entries that flows to techniques, and then the technique that flows to a finish or escape. What are your thoughts?

Is knife Randori essential in aikido practice . Randori is not about fighting. It is about testing structure, balance and your understanding of self. Randori is the laboratory where: - Distance is no longer theoretical. - Timing cannot be choreographed. - Kuzushi must be earned. - Structure must function under pressure. In a laboratory, hypotheses are tested. In randori, ma-ai is tested, balance is tested, knowledge of Kuzushi is tested and you may find true answers to your questions. If your distance is wrong, you are struck.If your timing is late, you are controlled.If your structure collapses you go to grown, if not strength becomes alignment. Randori exposes false ma-ai immediately. This is not about aggression. It is about clarity and understanding of self and how you can apply your practice to the situation at hand. (Slow Mo version https://youtu.be/VbQYuBzi-4U) what do you see??

What are everyones 2-3 favorites

An important point of Aikido practice is off-balance your opponent and stabilize yourself. I’ve seen lately many techniques being done with little movement, this is good in practice, but different to preform in truth… Through distance, timing, and structure, we create kuzushi—not to destroy, but to create clarity. When balance is broken and your own center is secure, you gain the ability to decide what happens next. Aikido is not about forcing an outcome. It is about creating the position where the correct outcome becomes possible. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8xBXee2/

Thanks for building this group, Will!