🐎 Happy New Year 2026
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu, Happy New Year 2026
Each year, I take time to reflect on where I am and where I want to go. This year feels especially relevant. The Horse is the personification of freedom and movement, and Fire represents passion and intensity. Together, they speak directly to this moment in my life, a year of meaningful change.
Movement alone is not enough. With movement must come directional clarity, choosing a path and committing to it with energy and intention.
In Aikido, we move into and past attacks through irimi. Stepping in is not reckless. It is deliberate alignment with the line, timing, and intent of the attack. The Fire Horse year asks the same of us. Action is required, but only action that arises from clarity rather than impulse.
In our practice, we learn to balance flow, water, with fire. This balance shows up in our attacks, our kiai, and our approach to learning and growth. Without structure, fire burns out and destroys the center. With structure, fire becomes power that can be sustained.
Ways to integrate this into practice, on and off the mat, in 2026
- Enter decisively instead of bracing or freezing, as seen in sen no sen and ikkyo
- Choose timing over speed, refining ma and maai
- Let commitment replace hesitation, in training and in dedication to our dojo and community
- Practice suburi and fundamentals that return the practice to alignment
- Refine footwork (circle, square, and triangle)
- Use breath to anchor intensity, allowing kiai to carry fire into our practice
This year rewards those who practice even when it feels mundane. Discipline is the container that allows fire to remain useful.
Keep your passion in your practice. Choose a direction, commit to it, and follow it with clarity.
What does the Year of the Fire Horse mean to you and your practice?
How does it shape your training, your introspection, and the way you show up on and off the mat?
Happy New Year.
– Andrew
