Your Personal Journey w/ Rick Hotton | Beyond the Dojo Podcast | Episode 40 

Yay!,,,I mean Osu! :))

@@shotokankarate9690 U Da Man DAWG!!! Sensei Hotton wisdom for life!

As a straight karate guy, I'm curious as to how practising aikido has influenced your karate..

@@hiranom20 Hi. So from Judo karate and then Aikido Aikido has an aspect(S) to it that blew me away. Aikido became dominant influence in my life (weapon work/study also helped to influence me). This profound influence i felt i also see/feel Sensei Hotton's practice has in both arts. Hard-soft switch. The ability to consciously take rigidity, hardness, strength perhaps, and switch instantly into softness (nothingness - 'Bruce Lee "Become like water ..."). Sensei Hotton's mix was predominantly karate of course followed by a bi-study of aikido which he has superbly taken and imbued into his karate style. This is what perhaps makes Sensei Hotton unique in his Karate style/method/teaching? Of course he has superb basics and advanced technical prowess but more than this i feel he is able to translate the 'invisible' element (often misunderstood or even totally mis-understood in aikido 'you have to feel it to know it/experience it) into his karate style that is largely influenced by aikido. Aikido of course - perhaps more than any martial art, hence it's openness to ridicule and attack - places its visible/invisible/spiritual elements to perhaps characterise perfectly the notion of non-violence, non-attack, blending, harmonizing 'soul-self' on the chopping block for others to chop away at its misunderstood essense of not-fighting, not competing (only against oneself), Budo essence - (BUDO of course means to 'stop war'). If Budo means to 'Stop War' i feel aikido is a leading candidate for this mission. Leading or stopping or disarming your opponent/attacker without hurting them perhaps is the highest martial skill(?). Sensei Hotton not only physically displays masterful understanding of both arts he also exudes these physical, mental and spiritual high-level' elements in his practice/teaching. Aikido can also be painful, it can cause damage even kill. The lofty, dance aikidoists (many who have found youtube fame) are useless, they have had poor teachers and that's why aikido has lost its respect. The old aikido school has been replaced by social media stars who have had terrible aikido backgrounds - far away from the great teachers of our past; a dilution indeed of the effectiveness of the art in comparison to the old tough practitioners of yesteryear, many dead or retired, is exemplified terribly by these wet liberals who call themselves aikidoists/martial artists, they offer a false window of understanding. No, they have to be called out. But back to my point ... Sensei Hotton has molded beautifully two martial arts styles and has even created a new perspective on aikido in doing so, a perspective that can be seen and felt by excellent karate followers globally to have real value.

Thank-you! 🙇‍♀️

Where is "Discovery" located and why did Hotton run for Mayor there?

Thank you my friend! we travel together.

To my knowledge, Hotton Sensei didn't train with Takashina Sensei. They were on opposite sides of the state from each other, so that could be a reason why

Do you always use rude comments to compliment people? You are showing your immaturity !

At the Sarasota Budokan

@@beyond_the_dojo Looks like an Aikido school and I ain’t seeing Rick on the instructor roster. He doesn’t have his own dojo somewhere?

Actually, he was so kind as to offer us one 😁