Aikido

Shodan

Shodan
The sword is ready
Now it must be polished

Shirakawa, Ryuji in Calgary, Alberta Oct. 6-8th 2017
From: Andrew Barron posted on 11. Sep 2017, 01:12pm
URL: http://www.calgaryaikikai.com

We are excited and looking forward to training with 6th dan Ryuji Shirakawa Shihan of Sendai, Japan once again this Canadian Thanksgiving. This three day seminar with this dynamic sensei is not to be missed. This will be Sensei’s only North American seminar in 2017 and is scheduled for October 6th, 7th and 8th. Please join us on the mat as Sensei teaches us with his characteristic humour, intensity, and powerful technique. If you haven't seen him check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tock4srHlcI

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Mary Heiny Sensei in Oberlin, OH, Oct 6-8, 2017
From: Andrzej Siwkiewicz posted on 11. Sep 2017, 08:48am
URL: http://clevelandaikido.com/events

Mary Heiny sensei will be coming back to Oberlin to teach our Fall Seminar October 6-8, 2017. She last visited Oberlin 10 years ago, so we are very pleased she is coming this year again. Mary Heiny Sensei (6th dan) has followed a path of physical and spiritual inspiration for more than forty five years, as a student and teacher of Aikido. She started this journey in 1965 after watching O'Sensei teach a class at Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, Japan. Heiny Sensei brings to every class, workshop, and seminar she teaches not only her years of aikido training and teaching, but also her extensive experience and study of Japanese culture, language, Shinto and Buddhist philosophies, and Non-Violent Communication. She strives always to communicate the beauty and challenge of O'sensei's desire that we use Aikido to become empowered as creative, compassionate beings and learn to appreciate each other as members of one human family. Seminar keiko will be held at the Hales Gym, Oberlin College, 180 West Lorain Street, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1016: Friday, October 6, evening class at 7 - 8:30 p.m., Saturday, October 7, morning class at 10 - 12 p.m., and afternoon class at 3 - 5 p.m., and Sunday, October 8, morning class at 10 - 12:30 p.m. The full seminar cost is $110, or $35 per class. All affiliations are welcomed. Preregistration is recommended and housing available in hotels nearby. For more information visit: http://clevelandaikido.com/events/, or call 216-3922274.

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Brutal Clarity

Brutal clarity
Comforting illusions
Is there really a choice?

Tom Collings Sensei in Seattle, WA, 9/30 - 10/1/2017
From: Jason Mallia posted on 7. Sep 2017, 08:12am
URL: http://squareup.com/store/tenzan-aikido/item/seminar-with-tom-collings-sensei

Tenzan Aikido presents Tom Collings Sensei's practice which goes beyond style to demonstrate how each of us, using the principles of Aikido, can personalize our training and meet adversity with compassion. Tenzan Aikido Bruce Bookman Kaicho 7700 Aurora Ave N Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 525-4032

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Say Nothing

Confound the silence
And say nothing

The explosion, when it comes
Will also be silent

I don't understand about Izanami and Izanagi.

I walk around, but is it around the center?

I don't understand about Izanami and Izanagi.

Where is the center?

I don't understand about Izanami and Izanagi. My technique is Hiruko and Aha.

What is the center? Is it the heavenly pillar?

I don't understand about Izanami and Izanagi.

AikiWeb Columns: 20th Anniversary Edition
From: Jun Akiyama posted on 29. Aug 2017, 09:53am
URL: http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=75

To celebrate AikiWeb's 20th anniversary this month (August, 2017), we have eight columns on the topic of "Twenty Years" from authors including Peter Godsbury, Janet Rosen, Linda Eskin, Lynn Seiser, Stefan Stenudd, Paul Schweer, and Ross Robertson. Click here to read the columns. Thank you, all, for 20 years of support for AikiWeb!

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Think Only of Success

Think only of success
Failure will take care of itself
After all, it has its own support:
Murphy, coincidence, chance, fate,
Karma, shitty old bad luck -
All its friends
So, think only of success
And enter into the attack



www.nothing-works.com

As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

This particular passage of the bible has always resonated with me, especially in my training of Aikido; and this is what makes Aikido so special.

When we attack each other, we attack so that our partner can become better. It's a selfless thing to do.

I'm not attacking you to prove I'm better. I'm not attacking you to "win" the fight. I'm not attacking you to show off.

And please make a special note to this one:

I'm not attacking you to make you look good, either.

I'm giving you a sincere attack, and really trying to hit you, so that you can learn and become better. If I've hit you, you've failed, and guess what, you get to try again. I'll do the exact same attack and give you another chance to learn the technique. If you don't get it after four tries, then it's my turn. And I really what to improve. I want my Aikido to really work, so please attack me, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you, I want to learn how to use your energy to defend myself and at the same time protect you from injury.

I remember once, an Aikido instructor, instructed me to "Take Ukemi" or I would get hurt. After 20 years of Aikido, I've realized, that although he said he was teaching Aikido, it was really a form of Jujutsu, where if you don't submit, you will get injured.

Did you know that O'Sensei said somewhere along the lines that you need to treat your attacker like a baby, and not hurt him....

Aikido will never cease to amaze me, it is a beautiful, wonderful art, that only gets deeper and deeper as I learn.

Union

Some people mistake
Enlightenment, satori, unification
As union with God

Not so
The union, when it happens
Is with yourself




www.nothing-works.com

Silent Pathways

I walk dark lonely roads
But, I am not lonely
There is a bright full moon
Casting myriad moon shadows
Following me as I wander
Down mysterious, silent pathways



www.nothing-works.com

Ki in daily life is the writing prompt Ron gave me a few days ago. I asked him to take it back but he didn't.

I am feeling blah around it but I am practicing new behaviors so here we go.

I have noticed lately that I am feeling low. I am not excited to get out of bed. I am having a lot of negative thoughts like:
"I have worked my whole life and this is where I have ended up." I need to make more money or have more recognition." Now the more money would be nice but I don't need someone telling every second that I am doing a good job.

As I have said before I am turning sixty in a few days. I think the pall that I feel is because something in the back of my mind says 60 is the big one: the one where we really are all done. No more fun…just grown up hard stuff.

That being said…and I am going to keep telling about it until it passes because I know that it is a lie and if I keep telling it will diminish like all untruths. Only the truth lasts and I want to live in the truth.

That being said…I feel great. Last night Ron and I went for a bike ride after work. We had a nice healthy dinner and then cleaned up the kitchen.

We played mitts and sticks and then an exciting game of "Ticket to Ride" where we had some healthy fun feuding. He gets to wear the imaginary engineer hat and scarf because he won yet again.

Work felt long yesterday and I felt lonely for a bit and sad because I think I don't get to see my family enough.

I noticed all this because I pay attention to my feelings and notice when they arise and how long they last and if they are true or a deliberate manufacturing of self-pity.

Ron and I have a lovely life together. Yet I can wander away from it to torture myself with "what ifs"…"what if we lose the house?, what if I die first?…what if I die last? What if I get dementia? What if I am a street lady?"

I can let myself get filled with self-centered fear like a helium balloon that breaks the string and flies off to balloon heaven (or hell).

I practice ki in daily life by coming back to what is real. And what is real in each moment is that I am ok. I am so ok.
Then I can see if I am ok in this moment maybe I will be ok in all the moments. One moment at a time.

I come back to now by doing something physical…it may be going for a walk, hopping on my bike for a spin, doing some ki exercises, juggling for a few moments, vacuuming the floor, sweeping the cobwebs off the lights and my mind. Sometimes I go out to the dojo and do rolls just to remind myself that I can.

I might write down what is bothering me, or I might write a gratitude list and share it with my gratitude group. I might write an email to my sponsor or tell Ron what is going on. I might write my blog. Sometimes I just get on my knees and pray for help. I have many tools to bring me back to the moment where all is well.

I think the challenge of getting older is to stay in the now as much as possible and to appreciate all the gifts that abound around me.

I do not have to give up and sit in my chair like my mother did. I want to grab the rest of this life and live it. I love to be alive and I am happy for the chance to see what my sixties look like on me.

Ki in daily life is the writing prompt Ron gave me a few days ago. I asked him to take it back but he didn’t.

I am feeling blah around it but I am practicing new behaviors so here we go.

I have noticed lately that I am feeling low. I am not excited to get out of bed. I am having a lot of negative thoughts like:
“I have worked my whole life and this is where I have ended up.” I need to make more money or have more recognition.” Now the more money would be nice but I don’t need someone telling every second that I am doing a good job.

As I have said before I am turning sixty in a few days. I think the pall that I feel is because something in the back of my mind says 60 is the big one: the one where we really are all done. No more fun…just grown up hard stuff.

That being said…and I am going to keep telling about it until it passes because I know that it is a lie and if I keep telling it will diminish like all untruths. Only the truth lasts and I want to live in the truth.

That being said…I feel great. Last night Ron and I went for a bike ride after work. We had a nice healthy dinner and then cleaned up the kitchen.

We played mitts and sticks and then an exciting game of “Ticket to Ride” where we had some healthy fun feuding. He gets to wear the imaginary engineer hat and scarf because he won yet again.

Work felt long yesterday and I felt lonely for a bit and sad because I think I don’t get to see my family enough.

I noticed all this because I pay attention to my feelings and notice when they arise and how long they last and if they are true or a deliberate manufacturing of self-pity.

Ron and I have a lovely life together. Yet I can wander away from it to torture myself with “what ifs”…”what if we lose the house?, what if I die first?…what if I die last? What if I get dementia? What if I am a street lady?”

I can let myself get filled with self-centered fear like a helium balloon that breaks the string and flies off to balloon heaven (or hell).

I practice ki in daily life by coming back to what is real. And what is real in each moment is that I am ok. I am so ok.
Then I can see if I am ok in this moment maybe I will be ok in all the moments. One moment at a time.

I come back to now buy doing something physical…it may be going for a walk, hopping on my bike for a spin, doing some ki exercises, juggling for a few moments, vacuuming the floor, sweeping the cobwebs off the lights and my mind. Sometimes I go out to the dojo and do rolls just to remind myself that I can.

I might write down what is bothering me, or I might write a gratitude list and share it with my gratitude group. I might write an email to my sponsor or tell Ron what is going on. I might write my blog. Sometimes I just get on my knees and pray for help. I have many tools to bring me back to the moment where all is well.

I think the challenge of getting older is to stay in the now as much as possible and to appreciate all the gifts that abound around me.

I do not have to give up and sit in my chair like my mother did. I want to grab the rest of this life and live it. I love to be alive and I am happy for the chance to see what my sixties look like on me.

Your aikido will only improve when your concept of aikido improves.
~ Kenjiro Yoshigasaki


Sustainable Practice

As I get older
And my Aikido practice ages
(Matures?)
Along with me
I am reminded of the quote above
And how difficult it is
To improve or even sustain
My Aikido practice unless
My concept of Aikido changes
As I do physically
The need to adapt, change, grow
To transform self and art
Is a constant need and struggle
But can only happen
If and when your concepts change
And you are open to this very possibility
This, I constantly remind myself
As I step on the mat
Breathing, moving, breathing, moving
Doing my best to sustain an art
That has also sustained me
For long, hard, joyous decades
I find my mind, my mind finds me
As I move to where my ego smugly sits
And destroy it!



www.nothing-works.com

Ki development is important because without it, Aikido is just a bunch of techniques that will only work with cooperative ukes.

Ki (also known as mind, body co-ordination) includes the connection with the now that allows us to react to what is happening with the appropriate response for that particular attack.

Co-ordination of mind and body allows us to be at our best, utilizing all the information at hand and responding with clarity to keep ourselves as safe as possible while causing the least possible harm.

The response to an attack is hidden in the circumstances and will be revealed with careful attention to the "Now".

The “Now” is discovered by have your mind and body integrated. Mind, body co-ordination is noticed and nurtured through ki development.

At Berkshire Hills Aikido, ki development is incorporated into all aspects of training. We do special exercises and testing to help us develop basic centering and more advanced correct feeling. And every movement on the mat and in life provides limitless opportunities to maintain correct feeling.

When it is lost, as it often will be, we just notice and then get it back as soon as we can without recrimination of ourselves and without blaming the stimulus that caused us to lose it.

This practice of having the return of mind and body co-ordination be our goal lets us release the victim stories and return to the process of training. All experiences can be perceived as gifts that allow us to see our reactions and our responses. Ki development on the mat provides us with an alphabet so we can rewrite our lives in a calmer, less reactionary way. We can look at the real causes of discomfort in ourselves which are most often historical.

Ki development contributes to peacefulness on the planet by starting with the only thing we can really change: ourselves

At Peace

Though I have suffered
The moon is rising
And I am at peace



www.nothing-works.com

Being honest is one of the hardest things to do, it seems. It's so simple, just tell the truth, but how many times do we find ourselves not telling the truth? Do we even know what the truth is? This can get pretty deep....

Your friend doesn't look very good with her new hair cut, but instead of telling her the truth, you tell her it looks good...and you justify it with, it's all a matter of perspective.

Your boss asks you if you called that client, you haven't, but you tell him you have, you excuse yourself and call him right away. You justify it with, I'm about to do it....

Your daughter asks you to buy her a pair of jeans, and you tell her you don't have any money (but you do, you just don't want to spend your last $100.00 on her pair of jeans....)

In a wonderful book that I like to read every once in a while is says: "He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity." Proverbs 2:7

I've been thinking about that pretty hard, and really paying attention to when I am honest and catching myself when I am not.

On the mat, it's much easier to catch myself, because honesty is much easier to see. Am I honestly putting effort, strength, power into my attack? Am I aiming at my target? Am I just throwing myself, afraid that I may get injured? What's driving me?

I think honesty must come from the attacker, uke, in order for the nage to truly progress and learn Aikido. Doesn't that sound like common sense to you?

To truly understand and develop in Aikido we need to be honest with each other. I've heard it so many times, "the truth hurts," but does it really?

I'm really excited about teaching today and sharing this with my class.

I asked Ron for a writing prompt and he gave me co-ordination of mind of body.
Mind body co-ordination is always a good subject. What can I write today about it? That it is more important than ever as I approach 60? God, sometimes it terrifies me to write that. I know, I know. It is better than the alternative.

But what can I say except that I feel 30 inside and so full of life and energy. I get hit with this melancholy that makes me ache for the younger me. But why? I feel young …I just don't look young. Why do I want that angst-filled woman back now I am filled with serenity, acceptance, peace and contentment a lot of the time? I am what I feel like not what I look like.

The mirror has been surprising me. A new hair cut… a new hair color, several pounds lost…it is still me. I look and then let go again. The mind body co-ordination comes in when I accept….yes, I am going on 60 and this is what it feels like today. I have no physical complaints. I am fit and limber and moving well. I am as strong if not stronger than ever.

I see what O'Sensei meant about how we must defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within. It really is about false fears. There is nothing to be afraid of today. I look how I look and I feel how I feel. There is freedom in the acceptance of the truth. Thank you for the reminder, Ron, Sensei…you are always the sensible one when it comes to me.

OK, so I was trying to work out why a technique didn't work very well with me when someone was attacking. And, I just couldn't figure it out, so naturally, I blamed my attacker. He's not attacking me correctly, so it's not working.

Can you believe that! I actually started blaming my attacker, on why I couldn't get the technique.

Well, isn't that just a natural why to react to situations. I mean, think about it, don't we do that all the time. How hard would it be if we were always blaming ourselves. Don't you think it'd be a bit depressing?

It's not my fault I'm poor. It's not my fault I can't find a job. It's not my fault I'm getting a divorce. It's not my fault I split the coffee all over me and burned myself.....and on and on it goes. Isn't that why we get married, so that we can blame our partner for everything!

I've seen how instructors manipulate their students into making them look like they've actually "got" the technique. It's so disappointing, and at times, physically painful.

If iron sharpens iron, then it's all of us together that need to work on this. We accept where we are, and are held accountable for it.

So, I was demonstrating a technique the other day, and my uke, in front of the whole class, made sure that everyone knew that I got the technique wrong.....what in the world did I do.......I thanked him and said out loud, "well, that surely didn't work, I need to try it a different way."

Please check out this video I made for my dojo, and comment! I love comments.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Lazwi2scY