On this episode of Ki to the City, I sat down with my good friend and fellow Bond Street Dojo instructor, Nico Puertollano, for a candid, yet casual conversation about almost everything under the Aikido umbrella.

We dove straight into the deep end, questioning the very relevancy of Aikido in the modern world. If it doesn’t feel relevant, then what’s the point?

That led us to discuss the perpetually challenging state of our home dojo, Bond Street—the perils of toughing it out in NYC.

This is one of the more down-to-earth episodes I’ve done.

Since Nico and I train together on a regular basis, we naturally drifted into talking about some of the more technical and physical aspects of practice than I usually do on this show.

How important are front rolls? How does it shift your perception of training if you view the techniques as “Kata”? What’s the function of Uke?

I’m not going to spoil the answers for you, mainly because there are no definitive answers to these questions, but if you’re interested in our 4 cents’ worth, please check out the episode.

Here are Nico’s Links:

I’m not really an Instagram person, but Nico has a really cool IG account: AikiGram

And look! He’s also on Substack: Nico’s Substack

I have to give you a quick peek behind the “Ki to City” curtain for a minute.

I usually cap the episodes at an hour and ten minutes because my mic/headphone set-up is less than ideal, so I have to export the audio into Garageband to polish up the sound quality.

This episode went a little longer than that, so I had to clip the last 15 minutes and include it here. Nico makes some very profound points, so please check it out.

I truly love having and sharing these conversations, making aiki ripples, and connecting with the community. If you so happen to be in the position to become a paid subscriber, it would make a huge difference in ensuring that I can continue this project for the foreseeable future.

Also, I’ve also started an alternate Substack for my writing that’s not so Aikido-focused. If you’re interested in that you can find it here: Optimystic

Thank you

Jon

Get full access to Ki to the City at kitothecity.substack.com/subscribe