George Ledyard Sensei Seminar

Our weekend with Ledyard Sensei was typical – that is, if you define typical as inspiring, educational, and just plain fun. NFA is fortunate enough to host Ledyard Sensei on a regular basis and he always exceeds all expectations. If you’ve never taken the opportunity to attend a Ledyard Sensei seminar, you are truly missing a talented Aikidoka and one of the most eloquent teachers of the art.

Friday night class offered a preview of the weekend’s activities. Ledyard Sensei introduced the class to some breathing exercises designed to allow the ebb and flow of nage’s kokyu to capture uke’s mind and body. Saturday’s focus was on connecting the energy between nage and uke before the movement begins, when nage enters and takes control of the space between. Ledyard Sensei emphasized the need to connect the energies so that at the moment of physical contact, nage already controls uke by being “on top.” As nage expands to meet uke on the seam – the shared edge of nage and uke’s spheres – nage must “float” uke. That is, uke’s balance is disturbed enough that nage can manipulate him with minimal effort. As Ledyard Sensei so aptly demonstrated, relaxation is so important in allowing Aiki to happen. Of course, Ledyard Sensei had no reservations about illustrating all of these principles on most of NFA’s instructors (to the pleasure of our loyal students). Saturday was also an opportunity for Ledyard Sensei to illustrate his ideas using paired bokken practice. If one partner lost focus for a split second, the other person would sense the opening and take the space.

Saturday night found everyone enjoying a lot of tasty food and strong drinks at the NFA potluck. If you haven’t been to one of our potlucks, you don’t know what you’re missing! After two classes of training, it’s so nice to enjoy the pool, the Jacuzzi, the food, the drink, the live music, and the company. Thanks to Rich Moore and family for hosting the party.

The focus of Sunday’s practice was to bring together several of the principles that Ledyard Sensei had shown individually on Friday and Saturday. The participants worked to integrate Ledyard Sensei’s systematized teachings within particular techniques. Then, after a(nother) trip to Jim and Milt’s Bar-B-Que for lunch, Ledyard Sensei generously offered the NFA instructors some private weapons training in a question-and-answer format. We quickly jumped at the opportunity while our dedicated mudansha looked on from the sidelines. Ledyard Sensei’s insight and interpretations of the kumijo and kumitachi are quite amazing (his videos are awesome, but gaining some personal time on the mat with Ledyard Sensei is a fantastic experience!).

As is typical of his seminars, Ledyard Sensei’s visit did not disappoint. Ledyard Sensei’s skill as a martial artist is matched by not only his expert teaching but also by a humility that is rare at all too many seminars. One of the most memorable images from this weekend is Ledyard Sensei sitting casually on the mat with a number of mudansha, discussing Aikido and answering questions. NFA thanks George Ledyard Sensei for an extraordinary weekend. We anxiously look forward to his return. Thanks also to our other visitors who helped make our weekend a memorable one.