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News from Shin Kaze October 2022
Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance is an organization dedicated to the practice and development of
Aikido. It aims to provide technical and administrative guidance to Aikido practitioners and
to maintain standards of practice and instruction within an egalitarian and tolerant structure.
Introduction
By
Claire Keller
Dojo-cho Bushwick Dojo, USA
Welcome to the October 2022 edition of the Shin Kaze newsletter, a true reflection of the diversity of our Alliance.
With a personal essay on why Aikido at 62, practical tips on how to put together a great seminar, reprints of
fascinating approaches to training by two of our legacy instructors, reports and musings from our vital Latin American members,
and reports from seminars - hopeful harbingers of Aikido's resurgence in the face of COVID -
you are sure to find something in these pages that will engage and inspire you.
Please enjoy and I hope you feel motivated to contribute to upcoming newsletters. We look forward to hearing from you.
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In Memory of Seiichi Sugano Shihan
December 17, 1939 - August 29, 2010
By Claire Keller (Calcagni)
Dojo-cho Bushwick Dojo, USA
Instead of attending university, Seiichi Sugano Shihan joined Hombu Dojo as a teenager and became an uchideshi in the late 1950s.
He lived and taught in Australia and then Belgium before moving to New York City in the late 1980s.
A seeker always, he had a lifelong interest in swords and guns, taking up fencing in later life.
He was a rigorous and exacting teacher, focused on precision, position, timing and dynamism.
Devoted to Aikido, he held himself to the highest standard, continuing to teach even following the amputation of his lower leg
due to an infection.
He is greatly missed.
Preserving Authenticity in Aikido Training
By Yukio Kawahara Shihan, 8th Dan
Editor's note: This article was first published in the Fall 1985 issue of "Aikido Forum", a journal published by Victoria Aikikai.
The martial arts are a way of facilitating spiritual growth through training in martial techniques. Bujutsu, or martial discipline, is a physical education as a guide to the Way of Being. However, the traditional Japanese martial training developed out of the need for self-protection and overcoming the opponent. In this respect, I have a concern about Aikido students' attitudes toward martial training. I get the impression that some people neglect the martial aspect of the art and get carried away with the philosophical aspect. Without understanding the martial spirit inherent in martial training, some create a pseudo-martial art by simply seeking a feeling of harmony. However, you cannot dilute or disregard the strictly martial side of Aikido, including the manners by which you relate to your instructor and fellow practitioners.
Therefore, I wish to remind students of some basic manners on and off the mat, such as the following:
Show respect to the instructor and senior practitioners. Some people seem to believe they are entitled to practice in their own way as long as they pay their fees. They forget that they are at the dojo in order to be trained.
When visiting another dojo, introduce yourself and obtain permission from the instructor. Do not assume that permission will be granted automatically. The manner of presenting yourself to another martial artist must embody your utmost sensitivity to a potential life-or-death confrontation.
Respect those with higher ranks even off the mat. Honour their expertise and accomplishments with respect, and try to learn from them as much as you can whenever you are with them. Similarly, do not treat teachers like buddies or peers and lose manners.
Follow the instructor's directions during training. Do not engage yourself in unassigned instructions, personally modified (wrong) techniques and verbal or physical conflicts with other practitioners. Do not step on or leave the mat without the instructor's permission during class.
I want to ask local instructors to train their students carefully in these manners, and to strive to maintain the order and unity of the dojo.
There are places where people unquestioningly practice pseudo-Aikido which is useless as a martial art. I think there are problems with the way Aikido is interpreted and practiced. If local instructors were conscientious and respectful enough toward Aikido as a strict martial art, they would be more careful about when and whether or not to start their own clubs by judging their level of expertise and readiness as a martial arts teacher.
By strict martial arts training, I do not mean rough practice. What is most important is your attitude toward training. You need to constantly ask yourself: What is "budo"? Budo training is a serious business.
Learning a Japanese martial art is, in a way, learning the Japanese culture. Some people disregard or distort this cultural background of Aikido by claiming that this is Canada and they should practice the way they feel like. I wish to suggest that we strive to preserve appropriate manners and seek to promote authentic Aikido as a strong martial art in Canada.
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First National Aikido Meeting in Maracay
By Rafael Pacheco
Dojo-cho Venezuela Aikido Kokyu Ho Dojo, Venezuela
March 2020: turning point in the history of the world and in our lives.
We suffer drastic changes in family, social, economic, cultural, psychological, physical aspects... that is, in our existence.
Without intending to be melodramatic, death and life tragedies have been closer since we learned of the existence of Covid-19.
After 30 years attending Aikido practice uninterruptedly, since, even when on vacation we sought to visit a Dojo, practice with nearby groups,
do Ukemi at the beach and in times of mild illness such as flu, the Tatami was the best medicine.
Suddenly, like in a suspense movie, the streets are desolate, Dojo are closed, there are no group gatherings, in short,
it is a totally new world, in chaos. In these more than 2 years, moments of nostalgia and uncertainty appeared in which fateful
thoughts arose where I felt that, in the time that I still have left in my life, I would no longer share tatami with people who
help us appreciate those positive energies that revitalize, which fill body, mind and spirit with satisfaction.
Fortunately, the universe has conspired in our favor and in this so-called "return to normality", on Sunday, July 17, 2022,
we managed to hold the First National Meeting of Aikido - Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance, instructed by Aneida González, Jesus (Chucho)
Gonzalez, Jorge Russo and Rafael Pacheco.
The classes were developed as an infinitesimal part of a long chain, in which the educational integrity, the unification and
defragmentation of knowledge were addressed, as a fundamental part of the learning process of Aikido as a Martial Art. A process that
will take us the rest of our lives, always taking steps forward, no matter how slow or fast, the essential thing is to overcome
apprehensions and uncertainties that threaten our harmonious existence. We seek to forge a "Fighting Spirit", referring to the
ultimate strength of human will in all facets of life's battles, a concept captured in the Japanese term Tokhon.
It was mentioned once again, as it should be, that in our learning process the body, depending on our dedication to the Tatami,
will be able to respond to the demands of the techniques, however, understanding the fundamentals, the moral and ethical values of
Aikido and the integration of these principles in our body, mind and spirit, should be the reason for our lives.
Thus, we can affirm once again that Aikido does not only consist of acquiring a series of physical and perhaps mental skills,
it is also and perhaps to a greater extent constantly educating ourselves to understand, more and better, who we are,
why we practice Aikido, what are our life goals given that we are Budo practitioners, what is the most efficient way to be useful
to our fellow men and most importantly, how can we approach our own happiness and harmony with our reality and environment.
I want to conclude this brief article with the thank you note sent to me by Sensei Freddy Antonio Borges Ortega, poet,
narrator, musician and sensei in Karate Do Shorin Ryu style.
For Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance!!!!!!
Good morning everyone.
Thank you very much for the pleasant exchange yesterday. My gratitude to everyone present. Especially to the teachers who led
the class. Thank you Pacheco Sensei for the motivating invitation that you always give me. I am grateful.
On my part I can tell you that for me it was a master class, that I learned a lot in the same way that I learned nothing.
As I heard it in class, I go step by step, discarding little by little; and I consider that this paradox is most interesting,
because each difficulty, each frustration that I felt when I did not complete a technique well was showing me the reason for
certain things, if there is a reason why.
Some connoisseurs say that the true learning of self-knowledge is in the conscious
repetition of each technique for about a hundred years. I mean, maybe it's a little bit more, or a little bit less. I do not know.
However, yesterday was a class where I was able to share and experience good details, good beginnings, certain principles of Aikido;
that only bloom on a tatami, in a Dojo, under the timely guidance of a teacher.
I believe that the principles I refer to are the most essential, especially to try to put order to the internal and external
imbalance within us, in short, to seek from each difficulty a small great enlightenment.
As they say in martial language, cut the ego. And this is the most gratifying part of the class, I saw and felt how all of us
present were a single unified group, Tori and Uke always in communion as when shaking hands with a friend. Feeling this was great,
thank you.
My respects,
Freddy Antonio Borges
July 17, 2022
Sensei Borges frequently accompanies us in our activities, and although his writing was not intended for publication, it seemed
meaningful enough to me to share it, given the spontaneity and the feelings generated by our First National Meeting of Aikido-Shin Kaze
Aikido Alliance.
Accompanied by the powerful spirit of Tokhon that builds the spirit of "Never give up"
we are already planning a Second Meeting in September. So, we'll see each other again on the Tatami soon.
By Adolfo Calatayu
Dojo-cho Shinka Dojo, Argentina
After 8 years of existence, and after joining Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance with its 3 member dojos in May 2022, the Circulo Argentino de Aikido was renamed Alianza Aikido Argentina.
The first seminar of the Alianza Aikido Argentina was held on Saturday, August 13, in the city of Pilar in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and we are very happy to report that it was an excellent start.
The instructors were Shin Kaze dojo-chos Enrique Silvera Sensei from Uruguay, Horacio Plaza Sensei from Mar del Plata, Esteban Lagiglia Sensei from Villa Ventana, and Adolfo Calatayu Sensei from Pilar. Carlos Jara Sensei, from Santa Fé, also participated in the event.
The seminar took place in an atmosphere of cordial camaraderie and friendship and it was good to meet new friends along the way. It was also wonderful and enriching to have the opportunity to see different styles of this wonderful martial art that we love so much. I would also like to point out that the "beginner's spirit" was always present in everyone, by which I mean that despite not being used to certain tai sabaki "moves", or different entrances prior to the technique itself, I noted with satisfaction that most tried to imitate the instructor who was in charge of the class at that time, which gave me immense joy and satisfaction and, why not say it, pride.
After the seminar we had the opportunity to share a lunch, fraternize with new friends and reflect on the techniques and different personal experiences of each one linked to the world of Aikido. Of course we have agreed to see each other again soon.
I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their participation, enthusiasm and joy, and of course also Sensei Zimmermann for his invaluable support. See you soon !!!!
Seminar planning for the reluctant dojo-cho
By Liese Klein
Dojo-cho New Haven Aikikai, USA
"Let’s schedule a seminar."
That statement is the first step in putting on an event that will help your dojo grow, help Shin Kaze get stronger, and help the larger Aikido community prosper.
Many dojos are reluctant to host seminars, fearing the financial risk and work needed to host an event. But over years of hosting seminars of all sizes and complexities, I find that the events are always worth the effort.
Part of my success with these events is expanding my conception of what a seminar is for. Senior established teachers bring more people to seminars, but they greatly increase the cost and organizational demands on a dojo. More junior and up-and-coming teachers always bring a fresh jolt of energy to my dojo and my own practice, so I prefer to invite these kinds of instructors.
So you’ve asked a teacher or teachers to give a seminar and set a date. What’s next? Here are some suggestions:
Determine how many people you can expect and figure out a budget, letting your guest teacher know how much you expect to pay them. Make sure they are OK with that amount and also determine how much you will charge. Ask your students if they are OK with this amount.
Create an event page on Facebook or Eventbrite and start publicizing your event as a “save the date” to the Aikido community. At this stage, all you need is a date and promise to give more details later. Give yourself at least a month to start spreading the word.
Figure out registration and payment: In recent years I have moved as much of the registration to platforms like Paypal and Eventbrite as possible to save time and energy on the day of the event. You may have to pay a small amount to the platform, but it is worth it.
Once I have nailed down the hours and cost of the seminar, I put together ASAP a quick poster and mail it out to nearby dojos that might be interested in attending. I usually include a personal note to instructors that I know. In these days of social media it’s not strictly necessary to mail out a physical poster, but I find it much easier as a dojo-cho to put up a poster I get in the mail to promote an event to my students, so I follow this practice when I host an event.
Two weeks before: Figure out where your guests are staying and what roles your students can assume on the day of the event. It helps to have someone in charge of guests, someone in charge of cleaning and someone who can be in charge of registering seminar attendees. Also purchase a gift for your instructor if you can afford it. Something small and thoughtful is fine, along with a card.
One week before: Make sure you have a signup sheet for the event printed, along with stickers for Yudansha books for the seminar, if you use them. Thoroughly clean your dojo! At this point, make sure you have oranges and water for the day of the event, and a plan for feeding your guests. (We are in the pizza capital of the U.S., so I usually order pizza and ask students to make some salads and desserts.)
The Day of the Seminar: Let your students do their jobs and make sure everyone can focus on the Aikido classes. Don’t forget to ask non-practicing friends and family to help to allow people to train and socialize. These events are rarely perfect, but people getting together for Aikido is a wonderful thing!
Aikido - Despite Myself!
By Ricky Berger
Framingham Aikikai, USA
I am 62 years old. In college, in the 1980s, I took up kickboxing, a new full-contact sport. My dad was a WWII combat vet and a prolific street fighter and kickboxing seemed like a good way to prove myself to myself. My training partners included martial artists from many disciplines (all under the age of 23) including a friend who was related to the late, great heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano and another friend who was a Senegalese Kenpo champion. Boy, did I think I was cool. Then I met the Aikido teacher Paul Sylvain Shihan. Sylvain Sensei was really cool.
I took two university "Intro to Aikido" classes with Sylvain Sensei and trained at his dojo, Amherst Aikikai. Trying to understand how Aikido worked left me feeling alone and incompetent. At one seminar, the teacher came up to me and started screaming at me in Japanese (I think) and it really upset me. I didn't know what he was yelling about, or what I had done wrong, but I did not appreciate being yelled at. I did notice the man was much smaller than me. Sylvain Sensei saw what was happening and ushered the man away. Subsequently, I realized the man was Chiba Sensei, Sylvain Sensei's teacher. Thank God for Sylvain Sensei's intervention that day!
I left Amherst Aikikai - and Aikido in 1983 for almost 30 years. Aikido seemed too complicated for me, and I didn't think I could be martially smart enough to do it. I was too much of a brute. Why redirect energy, I thought, when I can just hit the source really, really hard. I spent the next 30 years hitting everything that came at me very, very hard. Despite some successes, this lifestyle proved draining. I did this because to live life any other way seemed too complicated to me, like Aikido! In essence, I returned to my default setting which I learned in my early life of Karate and from my dad. I love both, but still….
Beginning about a decade ago, my significant other - and far better half - convinced me to go try Aikido again after listening to me talk about how great Aikido is and how much I wanted to do it again. Because the universe generally unfolds as it should, my local dojo Framingham Aikikai is led by David Halprin Shihan (chief instructor) and Barbara Britton Shihan, two great teachers. When I gathered the courage to walk through that dojo door, both David and Barbara Sensei happened to be there. They asked about any prior Aikido experience that I had, and I told them about Paul Sylvain Sensei. They laughed and said "Oh, we knew Paul" and "You're in the right place."
I am now a 1st kyu, a seemingly insurmountable achievement. The process of training remains an enormous struggle for me. I am not as naturally talented as many of my friends. I was not blessed with great cardio. It takes me forever to learn things and I am very hard on myself. My ability to hit things hard doesn't appear to be an advantage in Aikido. I have wanted to quit many, many times. Sometimes I still do. I have spent hours and hours talking with David Sensei about life, music, Aikido, fighting, conflict, being a good person and many other things. I am blessed to have both David and Barbara Sensei in my life. By the way, Barbara Sensei is the most interesting combination of martial ability and personal warmth that I have ever experienced. If you don't know her, you should!
All of this brings me to the big question. Why do I still do this Aikido thing? It's because the lessons that I learn on the mat are life lessons as much as they are martial lessons. Aikido keeps trying to make me a better person, a more self-accepting person, a better person in the service of others, a person who more graciously accepts others as they are, and just generally an entity that blends well with the energy around me as opposed to an entity trying to disturb the natural flow of things. I practice because Aikido molds me, even if what I do on the mat needs a lot of improvement. It always will. That's okay because Aikido also teaches me that it's okay to not be perfect.
Will I make it to shodan and truly become a "beginner?" My ego wants that, but my ego (as I have learned) is kind of an idiot. The answer is I don't know when and whether this will happen for me. When I am thinking in a balanced way I know that doesn't matter. What matters is that I am learning to be better, despite myself!
A reflection and a question
By Dr. Esteban Lagiglia Karami
Dojo-cho Chikara Dojo, Argentina
One of the things that attracts me the most about Aikido is investigating its mechanics.
Within it, as we progress in practice, we find new elements, as well as new challenges. However, beyond the philosophy of this great martial art, I always ask myself, what about the truly martial aspects?
As we progress in practice and as Aikido becomes more and more interesting, fluid, and mechanically more complex, I wonder how much martiality remains. Perhaps it is a feeling of mine, which reveals my limited experience. Surely it must be clearer for more advanced teachers.
However, at this moment in my practice that I enjoy so much, it is not so clear to me. Certain more complex techniques are effective when our uke is an aikidoist, but I feel they would not be as effective martially when facing someone who does not practice Aikido. I mean, doesn't follow.
Some techniques that we practice, which I call "emergency techniques", for example ushiro ryote kubi dori, are very beautiful and attractive to practice and learn. However, in a real attack, I would never let anyone get behind me. I find it extremely dangerous in real combat, and besides, no one assures me that they will take my other hand or hit me in the ribs with their free hand, to name a different attack.
Despite this, I also observe that when practicing the most basic and direct techniques, I feel them to be very effective martially, in combat I mean.
So here is my question. Do we become less martial as we progress in Aikido? Or does the practice of more complex techniques improve the most basic ones and make us more effective martially?
I take this opportunity to let you know that I have the honor of receiving my Sensei Adolfo Calatayu, 5th Dan, in my dojo for a seminar aimed at working on ukemi and uke's work: distance, attacks, contact and connection on october 29 in Villa Ventana, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Perhaps at this seminar I will find answers to my questions.
A big hug to all.
Here and now with Budo
By
Pasqualino Sbraccia
Venezuela Aikido Kokyu-ho Dojo, Venezuela
To this day, just as I have done since the first day I started in September of 1979 at the age of 16, I continue to enjoy the practice and study of some of the Japanese Budo and fighting arts.
Two of the hard memories of my life are the day I went to the dojo to request information and those first days of practice. Perhaps the challenge motivated me and helped me to overcome that hard feeling. That first step and the first classes are unforgettable. In the days of my youth, at school, there were plenty of bigger boys who wanted to impose their power by force in the classrooms. The blows flew, and at any moment one could be surprisingly received, or perhaps a dear friend received it, a situation that in most cases triggered a fight with these aspiring monarchs that surely ended with a torn shirt and being hit a few times due to the strength and size disadvantage.
I entered the dojo with the permission of my dear parents, aware of the economic effort they made. During the first months of practice, I frequently imagined some of those classroom bullies while practicing the techniques.
Despite my ignorance of the dojo's discipline and style, some divinity had led me to that dojo so that I could study a method of self-protection, which at the time was all I was looking for. But as the first few years passed, I also realized other benefits that the practice brought, and consequently I decided that this would be my path and I would never deviate from it. Every time I go to a dojo, I continue to live the emotion of the first day, and I practice with the same enthusiasm and strength of that day. I made a promise to myself to practice and study for life.
From that day on I traveled and practiced some Japanese and Chinese fighting arts, with empty hand or with weapons, but always taking care that the traditional aspect prevailed. The strict upbringing that my parents gave me kept me on my feet when training got tough, and therefore I easily adapted to its discipline and demands.
If I were asked which of the disciplines that I practiced or practice now has given me the most benefit, I would not know how to answer. I consider that each one has given me and gives me knowledge and benefits in the physical, mental and spiritual aspects. Of course, for one reason or another, I prefer some over others, perhaps because they adapt more to my personality or body, but in the end, for me they are all a family, they all relate to each other. Recently I was reading an article about the rainbow and its colors with its characteristics and properties. The article described Isaac Newton's discovery in the first decades of the 18th century when he managed to refract light through a prism. Newton declared that there were seven colors, choosing the number seven for its broad virtues, but it was later found that there were dozens of colors and to each of which properties were applied over time. In the end all these colors were contained within a single ray of light. After reflecting a little on the subject, I observed that I was able to establish a similarity between the ray of light and Budo, and between the colors and the different fighting disciplines. In a manner similar to colors and their properties, I assigned properties to the disciplines, which came from my experiences and the emotions contained in them.
Among the disciplines that I practiced and continue to practice are Karate-do, a Japanese style and two Okinawan styles, three styles of Iaido, Battodo, Taijitsu, Tai Chi, Hakutsuru Kenpo, Mantis-style Kung Fu, kickboxing, two weapons of Okinawan Kobudo, Aikido and Aiki-jo. Talking about each would take up considerable space, but I would like to share some of my experiences in the practice of Aikido and Aiki-jo.
I practiced Aikido in Italy, and although it seems strange, being Venezuelan and having lived all my life in Venezuela, in 2004 for personal reasons related to the safety of my family, I sent them to live in Italy with the help of a dear uncle, and over the years they stayed there. I used to travel often and during my stay in Italy, I started looking in the small town where my family lived for a dojo of some "traditional" Japanese discipline, and I came to find an Aikido dojo, in which I practiced for more than two years in an interrupted way every time I traveled. In it, two Senseis taught class, one belonging to the Aikikai and the other to the Iwama branch, I was nurtured by both and also by some senior students. For some logistical reason, when I entered the dojo, it had reopened for a short time and therefore there was a lot of emotion during practice. I remember that I enjoyed it immensely, and they enjoyed working in pairs with me, since no matter how hard I tried, Karate was always marked in my reactions, and they loved my way of evading, attacking, and sometimes avoiding being grabbed.
The main purpose of any practice of a Japanese fighting discipline, "self-protection", was always in the forefront of practice, since it determined the way one would fight in reality. I believe that in Aikido there is a tendency to create a lot of empathy between the participants in the class - perhaps this exchange of energies sets Aikido apart from what happens in a Karate dojo. You knew when the class started, but you didn't know when it ended, and for me, that was fine, I ended up dead tired, but the camaraderie was great and made me forget my fatigue.
I remember that once they announced a national seminar in the city of La Spezia, and luckily I was there, and as I have always done, I was the first one to say I wanted to attend. Everyone was surprised, but I was more so, because I was unaware of the commitment I had gotten myself into. Due to various personal issues, my classmates could not attend the seminar, and I went with Sensei and my family. There are no words to describe the first day. There were about 250 participants on the tatami, and when the breathing exercises were called, a semicircle was formed and everyone was directed towards Sensei, and as you must have experienced very well, the energy that moved there was impressive. It was such a dimension that my wife, when I finished, told me that while sitting in the stands she felt so much energy that she burst into tears. Also, it was impressive when Hiroshi Tada Shihan stepped on the tatami - his eloquence in explanations, his movements, seemed to float, and everyone who approached him did so with him. I confess that I met a "Super Teacher"!!!
For financial reasons, I participated in the training for three out of the five days the seminar lasted. For me it was enriching to move and move among that crowd of practitioners. I remember that my Sensei saw me during the movement session (I had 250 people moving freely around me) and he told me that I should defend my space and flow at the same time, and I did so. I still remember and feel that experience, that experience is not common for a Karateka. Then, during the development of various techniques formed in a group of 10 practitioners, there was always the one who got more excited and made me feel that at a certain moment, he could divide my body into several pieces. This potential threat motivated me more.
I remember that Tada Sensei recounted his experiences practicing Karate with Gichin FunakoshiSensei and that was very exciting and enriching. What a great character, Tada Sensei!!! When the practice ended, he would stand to one side as we left the tatami, and his posture was exemplary, sublime and solemn.
Going back to the practices in the dojo, I loved Wednesday, since weapons were practiced, especially the Jo. I had the opportunity to obtain the 6th kyu from the president of Aikikai during that period. After returning to the dojo after an absence of more than two years, the teachers had parted ways for some reason, to open a dojo each. I visited them and each one asked me to train with him, and I felt very sad and uncomfortable. I chose not to train to avoid possible misunderstandings with one or the other for I appreciated them both very much.
Anyway, speaking honestly, Aikido was creating a conflict with my practice of Karate. At that time I was practicing Shotokan style, and an internal discomfort was generated in me, since I had discovered and felt the benefits of circular movement, and liked to use it, but in the practice of Karate the movements were completely rectilinear. Both the Sensei and other advanced companions noticed and found it strange, creating an uncomfortable situation for me.
I continued on my own with Aiki-jo, until having the fortune to coincide 15 years later with Rafael Pacheco Sensei, resident in the city of Maracay, member of the Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance organization. Talking with him and telling him about my experience in Aikido and taking into account the distancing established by health regulations during the pandemic, he invited me to practice Aiki-jo. You can't imagine how much joy I felt, in addition to always looking for a time to meet and share experiences. and discuss topics related to the arts of Budo. Today I continue to practice Aikijo under his guidance, along with my other disciplines.
I appreciate your attention and understanding of my words, perhaps my descriptions are infused with Kokoro, which in one of the interpretations that I know, refers to the enjoyment of the emotions that are generated when certain memories come to mind.
I extend to each of you a respectful greeting accompanied by the best wishes for health, happiness and prosperity… and lots of Budo!!!
A note about the author:
5th Dan ODKKK (Okinawa Dento Karate Kobudo Kyokai) – Shorin ryu Karate, Kobudo
5th Dan International Bujutsu Sosei – Taijitsu Shinkyoku ryu, Iaido Myata ryu
3rd Dan JKA (Nihon Karate Kyokai) – Karate Do Shotokan
3rd Dan ZNTIR (Zen Nihon Toyama Iaido Renmei) – Iaido and Battodo Toyama ryu
1st Dan ZNKR ((Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei) - Iaido Seitei
1st Dan Hakutsuru Kenpo Kenkyukai – Hakutsuru Kenpo
1st Dan WAKO (World Amateur Kickboxing Organization)
Sports Coach Level IV – Simón Rodríguez National Experimental University
Welcome to our most recent member dojos
We are pleased to announce that 3 new dojos have joined Shin Kaze.
From Uruguay we welcome Hagakure Dojo, led by dojo-cho Pablo Vitelio, shodan. The dojo is located in the city of Shangrilá, department of Canelones.
From Cuba we welcome associate member Morihiro Saito Dojo, led by dojo-cho Michel Casanova, nikyu. The dojo is located in the city of Camajuaní in the province of Villa Clara.
From the US we welcome associate member Asahi Schools of Aikido, led by Michael Aloia, yondan. The dojo is located in the city of Collegeville in PA,
A warm welcome to all!
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We need your assistance
By Shin Kaze Board of Directors
Dear Shin Kaze members,
As you know, Shin Kaze continues to grow, with a membership of over 40 dojos on 3 continents. Fostering this growth requires our organization to have strong management and financial skills. These skills will enable Shin Kaze to better support its members and member dojos and serve their needs in the future.
Shin Kaze is specifically looking for volunteers who have experience in the areas of Financial Planning, Management Processes, Grant Writing or similar, who are available to help as needs arise. Being a non-profit organization, Shin Kaze must conform to specific financial rules. Individuals who are familiar with the operation of non-profits, would be great assets to our organization. Individuals with strong management skills are also needed. We are asking all members if they would be available to help. The amount of time volunteered is strictly up to the individual.
The more Shin Kaze members are involved with supporting the organization, the stronger we will become overall.
Thank you in advance for your help in this area.
Barbara, David, David, Bob
Directors - Shin Kaze Aikido Alliance
Book Corner: Technical Aikido
By Mitsunari Kanai Shihan, 8th Dan
Chief Instructor of New England Aikikai (1966-2004)
Editor's note: In this "Book Corner" we provide installments of books relevant to our practice.
As continuation from the previous issue, here is Part 1 of Chapter 1 of Mitsunari Kanai Shihan's book "Technical Aikido".
CHAPTER 1 - TRAINING METHODS - (Part 1)
One of the most basic, chronic, and perhaps inevitable problems in practicing Aikido, is that Aikido training can be reduced to an easy going exercise based on excessive compromise between the practice partners (Nage and Uke). This problem arises because Aikido practitioners often base their practice on sincere but ill-founded philosophies and theories. Examples of the many incorrect interpretations of Aikido as applied to practice include emphasizing an idea of an "Aikido style" ambiance, expressing an "ideology" of Aikido, and misconstruing the concept of "harmony".
Because of the importance of correctly understanding the meaning of harmony in the specific context of Aikido, I will give a brief explanation. Keep in mind that I will cover only a tiny fraction of the meanings and aspects of Aikido's harmony.
First, it is important to know that harmony is a central component of Aikido. Most fundamentally, it means harmony with the entire universe, with all existence. In terms of mind and body, harmony simply means that one should equally emphasize each, rather than focusing on one or the other. But in physical terms, harmony has a technical meaning referring to a certain way of using one's entire body in every movement. Applied to a confrontational situation (including training), it is this technical meaning of harmony one must realize in oneself and with the opponent, and create a situation that brings the opponent into harmony with oneself.
Harmony does not mean just getting along with people on the basis of a lowest common denominator, or creating agreement without regard to rules in order to avoid confrontation and maintain an easy going or overly comfortable environment. Harmony, as used in Aikido, does not involve compromising, diminishing, or diluting opposing things and their individual essences. Such an approach waters everything down, sacrifices the essence of things, erodes standards of behavior and attitude and thereby diminishes each individual. Rather, Aikido's harmony brings different -- even opposing -- elements together and intensifies them in a way that drives everything toward a higher level.
It is often pointed out that Aikido permits men and women, adults and children, and old and young to practice together. This is true. It is equally true, but not as frequently noted, that within Aikido there is also room to practice in other ways, for example, to use very hard practice to develop martial techniques. Aikido's breadth and inclusiveness does not mean that its practice is easy, or that those practitioners focusing on developing hard fighting techniques are less important, or less legitimate, than those interested in other of its aspects.
The result of these errors, I suspect, gives rise to the first major problem in Aikido training, which is that many Aikido practitioners have been unable to establish a training method based on the most fundamental understanding of how to use the body to produce, apply and receive power.
What follows is a theory and explanation of how to correctly use the body. It seems to me necessary to articulate in detail this logic of Aikido. It is intended that this articulation of Aikido's physical principles should replace the abstract explanations typically advanced by many practitioners of Aikido and other martial arts.
The Aikido practitioner must understand how the physiology of the body, the very structure of the body, gives rise to rules or principles of how the entire body should most efficiently and optimally function. Correctness of a body movement is judged solely by this criteria: whether the movement, in light of human physiology, utilizes with complete economy all the parts of the body organized in the most efficient possible way. Understanding such a fundamental theory of body utilization must precede explanations of the specific techniques of Aikido.
Any system of body movement must be based on human physiology. The martial arts in general have rules which further define the implications of the human physical structure in the context of combat situations. Aikido, which is aimed at the broadest approach to martial arts, should have an even more precise set of principles.
A specific technique based on these principles will utilize every part of the body, organized and sequenced so as to optimize the generation of power. If this is done, the technique will be correct and will "work". Failure to understand and apply it makes techniques ineffective.
End of Part 1.
(From here on to be published in the next issue.)
CHAPTER 1 - TRAINING METHODS - (Part 2)
One must understand that Aikido training should be solely based on this uncompromisable principle of maximum efficiency arising from human physiology. Armed with this understanding, the practitioner may readily determine whether techniques that may look free flowing and correct are based upon the true principles of Aikido training. Incorrect techniques are all too common due to failure to understand this principle.
The failure to understand the principle of efficient body movement has other implications, for example, that the main groups of techniques characteristic of Aikido (throws, holds, strikes, and thrusts) lack a theoretical consistency and therefore appear overly distinct from each other.
It should be understood that I am not proposing to constrain Aikido in a rigid mold but, on the contrary, I am suggesting that it is necessary to break out of a rigid mold already in existence, a mold made up of formalized bad habits. The results of these bad habits are easily observable in much of what is today called Aikido practice.
There is a second major problem in Aikido training, one which arises in the relationship between Nage and Uke.
Very often training is conducted in a kind of fake confrontational mode without either actually fighting or training in earnest. Because of this, the practitioner typically fails to realize an increasing dependence on the opponent's cooperation. This unwholesome over-cooperation corrupts the relationship between Nage and Uke and, while it may create seemingly dramatic results, it ruins the opportunity to improve one's techniques or train one's eyes.
Because the fundamental principles of Aikido training have not been clearly established, Nages frequently are not applying good and correct techniques that will really throw the Uke; nonetheless, it appears Uke is being thrown. In such cases, the Uke has implicitly agreed to act as though the technique is working regardless of its actual effectiveness (effectiveness is determined primarily by whether the body is used correctly to generate power). Because of this, the issue of whether the technique will work or not has been reduced to utter irrelevance.
Although it should be obvious that a corrupt relationship between Uke and Nage has profoundly negative implications for a martial art, this kind of training is very common. Everyone should clearly understand that as long as people engage in what is, in reality, a fake practice in which they are doing nothing more than merrily playing at being martial artists, the true Aikido will never be learned or understood.
The entirety of the relationship between Nage and Uke is called Sotai Kankei, and is based upon the basic principle of acknowledging that their relationship is fundamentally confrontational. Each of the training partners must abandon thoughts of independence from each other and must accept that the fundamental issue is how to make use of the Aikido knowledge to deal with the Uke through the use of effective, correct techniques based on Aikido's principles.
It is absolutely imperative that each technique employed is real, that is, that each technique handle the opponent by using one's body structure (and each of the five principal parts of the body) in a dynamic and optimally efficient way.
If people were to understand these points, and could use them as the basis for their Aikido practice, the door to understanding would open. It is through this door that the practitioner must pass in order to learn how to execute the true Aikido in a rational manner taking into account all aspects of the body's principles and Sotai Kankei. Without this, the practitioner will be doomed to patching together makeshift and incorrect techniques.
Note on terminology: The words Uke, opponent, other, and partner are closely related, but each has a specific meaning. If one is being attacked, or in a confrontational situation, the word "opponent" (or Aite) is most appropriate. The term "other" is like opponent, but adds a connotation of including everything other than the self, e.g. the concept of Ma-ai or the distance between the self and other. When we are describing the practice of techniques, including taking Ukemi, then it makes most sense to say "Uke". Finally, there is the term "partner" which is most appropriate when describing exercises (as opposed to techniques), for example stretching the back, or practicing Tenkan movements.
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