May 15, 2017

Meet Michael Jacyna of Aikido Academy Los Angeles in Mid City

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Jacyna.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My encounter with traditional martial arts started early on, when I was eight years old I enrolled into karate dojo, sometime after that due to relocation I trained taekwondo for a bit and shortly after that I transitioned and began my journey with aikido. Since that moment, I knew I wanted to do it professionally, and at eighteen I opened my first aikido dojo. My engagement and passion for the art is still burning to this day.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are no shortcuts, no easy way. To really excel it takes a lot of hard work, tons of sweat and time. Some of the challenges we face on the budo path are within us, they are internal. Patience and persistence are important. Example of such challenges is stagnation, which I’m sure many aikidoas and other martial arts practitioners can relate to. At the beginning of our training we tend to progress quiet steadily, and as we go further, the feeling of progress fades out, until we hit the ceiling, figuratively speaking. Those are the times where we need to be persistent and patient and push harder to search for a key to the next level. These stagnations tend to be short and easy to overcome at the beginning of our training, and as we progress into more advanced ranks, the stagnations seem longer and more intricate to overcome, be it technical issues the adept needs to resolve or conceptual ones to comprehend. It can be challenging process, but it is well worth the time, effort and work.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Aikido Academy Los Angeles – what should we know?
Our dojo Aikido Academy Los Angeles is the headquarter of Aikido Kobayashi USA. We promote and practice aikido in the tradition and lineage of Hirokazu Kobayashi sensei, one of the students of aikido founder. Aikido Kobayashi is quiet unique style of aikido, not only in regards to unarmed techniques but also when it comes to weapons training such as Aiki-jo, staff techniques and Aiki-ken, sword techniques. During training sessions, we emphasize the importance of ethics, aesthetics and efficiency, which when practiced sincerely will forge together and manifest itself in quality of training and overall aikido progress.

At our dojo we have adults, men and women group classes and kids ages 9 & up. Enrollment to classes in our dojo for both kids and adults is open throughout the year, we also offer private, one-on-one aikido sessions.

Additionally, besides the standard aikido curriculum, we offer our services to the Hollywood motion picture industry for stunt coordinating, action choreography, cast and talent training and on set consultancy.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Success can be defined in many different ways especially here in Los Angeles, but speaking of success in regards to aikido, my dojo and Aikido Kobayashi USA organization, I am proud to have dedicated group of talented students who make time for and truly engage in aikido training.

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