Aikido Nidan

Perhaps my favorite test of all time.  This is a nidan, or second degree blackbelt demonstration, in Aikikai Aikido by my instructor Julio Toribio. 

There’s a who’s who of Aikido in the Northern California Scene in this video.  Sensei Toribio, his uke Dennis Evans, Danielle Evans with the jo kata, Pat Hendricks taking ukemi for randori, under the auspices of Frank Doran at his Redwood City Dojo. 

The quality is second generation, but that’s why it’s all the more necessary to save this performance in a more permanent medium.  This test has endlessly inspired me.  The fake out at the end of the randori (causing the two ukes to collide) is something you don’t get to see everyday.  That’s a little bit of martial genius slyly tucked in. 

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