The Aiki Dialogues

The Seeker
Interview with Nick Regnier
The Aiki Dialogues N. 17
by Craig Dickson
USD 13.99

The Seeker is an intimate and inspiring journey into the heart of Aikido, told through an in-depth conversation between Nick Regnier, founder of Aspire Aikido London, and Craig Dickson, expert martial artist and host of Budo etc. From his early struggles with profound hearing loss to his evolution as a respected budoka and teacher, Nick Regnier reveals how Aikido became both his path to self-mastery and a source of unsheakable resilience. Through discipline, humility, and faith in the basics, he transformed limitation into strength—proving that the truest battles are not fought against others, but within ourselves.  (…)
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The Iconoclast
Interview with Luigi Carniel
The Aiki Dialogues N. 16
by Simone Chierchini, Roberto Granati
USD 13.99

The profound knowledge of old bugei by Luigi Carniel, his genuine desire to transmit unchanged the legacy received from his great Masters, his extensive martial expertise, ranging from Aikijujutsu to Katori Shinto Ryu, from Wado Ryu Karate to Gyokushin Ryu Jujutsu, and including the forging and polishing of the Japanese sword, cannot help but inspire. As Carniel Sensei often emphasises, this ancient knowledge holds the value of a long chain initiated centuries ago, rooted in the history of the samurai class itself.  (…)
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The Budo Bum
Interview with Peter Boylan
The Aiki Dialogues N. 15
by Simone Chierchini, Peter Boylan
USD 12.24

Peter Boylan, the well-known ‘Budo Bum’, has been studying Japanese martial arts for over thirty years. After starting with Kodokan Judo, he moved to Japan, where he lived and studied martial arts for almost seven years, practised Iaido and Jodo, and was certified in two koryu. In this book-interview Boylan offers many fundamental insights into Budo practice, using the approach that characterises his main work, ‘Musings of a Budo Bum’: he examines how we approach our practice, what motivates us and where we can work to grow. (…)
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The Mindbody Educator
Interview with Paul Linden
The Aiki Dialogues N. 14
by Simone Chierchini, Paul Linden
USD 12.24

Founder of Being in Movement, Paul Linden, an Aikido teacher based in Columbus, Ohio, is a world leader in embodied training, having been active in the field for 40 years. He holds a BA in Philosophy and a PhD in Physical Education.
Paul has been practising and teaching Aikido since 1969 and holds the rank of 6th dan. He is also an instructor of the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education.
Paul Linden has used his extensive experience to teach people such as musicians, athletes, business people, computer users, pregnant women, adult survivors of child abuse, and children with attention deficit disorder (…)
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The Uchideshi
Interview with Jacques Payet
The Aiki Dialogues N. 13
by Simone Chierchini, Jacques Payet
USD 12.24

Jacques Payet has been a student of Aikido since 1980, when he first moved to Japan to learn under one the Aikido greatest, Gozo Shioda.
It was during this time that he became the longest serving foreign uchideshi to serve at the Yoshinkan.
In the Yoshinkan organisation he achieved the rank of Hachidan (8th dan) and the title of Shihan.
Today Payet sensei is the Head Instructor of the Mugenjuku, his own dojo based in Kyoto, Japan. He is also the creator of a well-known Senshusei course, the translator of several important Aikido works and an author himself. (…)
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The Innovator
Interview with John Bailey
The Aiki Dialogues N. 12
by Simone Chierchini
USD 12.24

John Bailey studied Aikido under Tony Graziano and Tom Walker. He is a graduate of Executive Security International and has an extensive background in security and investigations, having worked as a bouncer, security officer, bodyguard, undercover operative and tactical instructor. He was a practical firearms competitor and instructor and has provided tactical training for law enforcement and private security agencies in Florida, Colorado, California and Oregon. He’s a life-long student of violence, the behavioural factors and practical implications of it. He is a certified clinical hypnotist, and co-creator of the Motivational Literacy system of self-development, (…)
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The Teacher
Interview with Lia Suzuki
The Aiki Dialogues N. 11
by Simone Chierchini
USD 12.24

Lia Suzuki, founder and director of Aikido Kenkyukai International USA, began her Aikido training in 1982 under William Gleason. She soon moved to Japan to train with Yoshinobu Takeda, one of Seigo Yamaguchi’s most accomplished students. She lived in Japan and trained extensively in Aikido from 1987 to 1996. At the urging of Takeda shihan, Lia sensei returned to establish dojos in the USA in 1996. She currently holds the rank of 6th dan Aikikai and travels extensively as a guest instructor, conducting Aikido seminars in dojos around the world.
Over the years, Lia sensei has dedicated her training to promoting inclusion in the world of Aikido and increasing the popularity of Aikido among young people, Gen Z and Millennials. Since founding AKI USA in 1996, she has also led various philanthropic and social projects and initiatives. (…)
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The Sensei
About Yoji Fujimoto
The Aiki Dialogues N. 10
by Simone Chierchini, Roberto Foglietta, Ugo Montevecchi, Roberto Travaglini
USD 12.24

This publication endeavours to accomplish a very difficult task: that of bringing to life once again the voice and works of one of the most beloved figures of International Aikidō.
Yoji Fujimoto sensei has been gone for nearly 10 years and has left behind thousands of students who have never stopped mourning him.
Since 1971, the year of his arrival in Italy, Fujimoto sensei (…)
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The Parent
Interview with Simone Chierchini
The Aiki Dialogues N. 9
by Marco Rubatto
USD 12.24

Simone Chierchini did not choose Budo, he “was there”. For 50 years at the forefront and in an enviable position in the Aikido community, he had the opportunity to witness first-hand the major events that have accompanied the birth and development of Aikido in Italy and Europe.
Simone began practising Aikido at the age of eight and has travelled the world as a student and teacher of the art, changing friends, students and occupations but never forgetting to pack his sword, pen and camera. (…)
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The Heir
Interview with Hiroo Mochizuki
The Aiki Dialogues N. 8
by Adriano Amari, Hiroo Mochizuki, Michihito Mochizuki
USD 12.24

Hiroo Mochizuki is the heir of a samurai family.
Creator of Yoseikan Budo, he is a world-renowned expert in Japanese martial arts.
Son of the famous teacher Minoru Mochizuki, who is considered a Japanese national treasure and was also a direct student of Jigoro Kano and Morihei Ueshiba, the successor of a line of samurai, Hiroo Mochizuki was inspired by his forefathers combative spirit to create Yoseikan Budo.
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The Hermeticist
Interview with Paolo N. Corallini
The Aiki Dialogues N. 7
by Simone Chierchini, Paolo N. Corallini
USD 12.24

Paolo Nicola Corallini, Iwama Ryu 7th Dan, Aikikai 7th Dan, is the Technical Director of the Takemusu Aikido Association Italy.
From Iwama and the meeting with Morihiro Saito sensei to the complex interweaving between the different pedagogies present in Aikido, from the memories of the man Morihiro Saito to the future of Aikido, in the course of this conversation, Paolo Corallini offers his learned and refined approach to the sense of what exists below the visible level of Aikido.
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The Philosopher
Interview with André Cognard
The Aiki Dialogues N. 6
by Simone Chierchini, André Cognard
USD 12.24

André Cognard is one of the most authoritative voices in contemporary international Budo. Born in 1954 in France, he approached the world of martial arts at a very young age, dedicating himself to the intensive practice of various traditional Japanese disciplines. In 1973 he met Hirokazu Kobayashi sensei, a direct disciple (…)
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Inryoku – The Attractive Force
Interview with Gérard Blaize
The Aiki Dialogues N. 5
by Simone Chierchini, Gérard Blaize
USD 12.24

Gérard Blaize, the first non-Japanese Aikido expert to receive the rank of 7th dan Aikikai, spent five and a half years in Japan where he studied Aikido at the Hombu Dōjō in Tōkyō following mainly Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Seigo Yamaguchi. In 1975, he met Michio Hikitsuchi, one of the most respected personal students of the founder (…) 
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The Traveler – “Find Your Way”
Interview with William T. Gillespie
The Aiki Dialogues N. 4
by Simone Chierchini, William T. Gillespie
USD 12.24

William T. Gillespie, the author of the book “Aikido in Japan and The Way Less Traveled”, is a pioneer of Aikido in China.
As the sign in his first Aikido Dojo in Los Angeles read, “Not even a million dollars can buy back one minute of your life”. This is why W.T. Gillespie resigned from a professional career as a trial attorney in Los Angeles, also leaving his position as an assistant instructor in Furuya sensei’s dojo. (…)
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