The Principles of Ki were developed by Koichi Tohei (head Aikido sensei, and founder of The Ki Society). What Tohei refers to as “Relaxed Strength” is what Jiu Jitsu calls supple — it’s a state between hard and soft, between rigid and flaccid. Tohei maintains that the four sub-principles contained within the Principles of Ki are something everyone can practice, regardless of age, gender or physical condition.
Read MoreLife is your To-Dude list. It’s not to fill it with over-achieving crap like a To-do list. It’s not to be doing one thing angrily because you really have too much to do right now, and this current task is in your way. A To-Dude list is to be filled by pointless things such as, today, I’ll take a 30-minute walk with no destination in mind, or, today, I’ll stare out of the window for 20 minutes with nothing to do.
Read MoreOver the past few years, I’ve both emailed and personally met the religion’s founder, Oliver Benjamin. Dudeism is widely viewed as a spoof, and many of its followers have reinforced its washed-up stereotype of bumbling incompetence. Yet this modern spin on Taoism continues to grow, and its over 600,000 ordained ministers are legally recognized.
Cross-relating and then applying martial arts principles is where it’s at. At least for me — along with a few others I’ve met who are just as deeply convinced that practical applications are the key. Hence, we are Dudeism’s only monastery. The relationship is understandably informal and casual.
Read More“I practiced the method of maintaining one point, one center, when there is commotion around you.” — from a student of Aikido
Read MoreThe martial arts has a long history, traceable to the second millennium BC. This means something: that 4000 or so years ago, we figured out there might be a better way to fight than using clubs.
Dude-Li, for example, was skinny and quite naked. He needed some kind of equalizer.
Read MoreRead MoreJujitsu is considered a ‘soft’ martial art, as opposed to ‘hard’ forms that meet an opponent’s force with hard, solid kicks and strikes. In jujitsu, which literally means “art of softness,” you don’t meet an opponent’s physical force with your own force. Instead, like water, or wu wei, you flow with the opponent’s force and use it against them to throw them off balance and flip them onto the floor before they even know what’s happening.
Dude-jitsu follows the same basic approach, only with one important difference: There’s no physical harm intended.
