Archives for August 2015

August 28th, 2015 from Yamada Sensei

Dear members,

As you already know, this past year has been a very difficult year, starting last September with personal health problems and following over the months with many losses and challenging events.  Last September, I wrote a story about a homeless guy who was found living in the dojo basement, and it turned out that we called him Cancer.  I explained how I was lucky to have a friend named Robot, who did an excellent job removing the cancer and how he helped me get strong and back on the mat in a very short amount of time.

Well, the superintendent has found someone else living in the basement, and though we don’t know if his name is also cancer, I will be having my friend Robot cleaning it out and removing all signs of him on September 29th.   I have been told this will be a much easier guy to chase out than the last one.  From now on, I will keep my basement uncomfortable with no air conditioning in the summer time and no heater in winter. I will get a stronger key and put up a sign that says “Smoke detector!”.

I’m sorry to have to give you this report and to make you worried again, but I will be back on the mat much faster than the last time.

Thank you in advance for your concern, I am doing very well and will keep you updated as we go.

Y. Yamada

The Wave of Presence

Whenever we experience a particularly effective technique we notice nage’s presence immediately.  Like a tidal wave that suddenly appears out of nowhere, it can sweep us off our feet while we look on in awe.  Presence can be powerful yet subtle, and become the center of attention without being obnoxious.  Many people can be present but lack presence, and it is the difference between practicing Aikido with a limp arm and practicing with an arm full of energy yet still relaxed.  When we relax in Aikido it is not the same type of relaxing where you plop down into bed after a long and tiring day.  We need to keep relaxed during practice but with an energy and presence that lets whoever we train with know that we are there and in the moment, ready to be engaged.  Good presence lets our practice remain in motion like the ebb and flow of the tide, instead of feeling overly static like water trapped in a bottle.

With a diverse array of people come diverse types of presence.  People can differ stylistically in their presence, and people may also derive their presence from different sources.  Some people have a natural presence, and when they’re in a room everyone notices, while others cultivate it internally to bring out an energy, voice, and authority that had previously been eluding them.  One day, several years ago, I saw a person wearing a trench coat stride into the dojo with such a great deal of presence that I was convinced he was a yudansha.  Later on, to my surprise, I found out he was 5th kyu.  A powerful presence doesn’t always come with rank or skill, but with the ability to project your energy so that the people around you can’t help but notice it.  A lot of energy flows in Aikido, and these lines of energy can move in so many different directions, that it can sometimes seem unwieldy.  A strong presence can bring order to these paths of energy that can result in freer and uninhibited movement.  Our presence places us in charge of guiding the movement instead of letting it drift aimlessly away.

In contrast to the presence emanating from within, are some forms of externally derived presence that have less to do with projecting energy and more to do with something to be avoided.  Just like not all types of attention are desirable, there are types of presence that we are better off without.  One time I was training with someone who had an extremely sweaty and stinky gi (reminder to all aikidoka: please keep your gis well washed and clean!!), and we were practicing iriminage.  As I was taking the ukemi and he was bringing my head towards his shoulder I couldn’t help but notice the dark sweat stains on his gi under his arms, and to avoid having my face squished into that abyss of sweat I took the fall before he technically completed his technique.  That type of stinky presence certainly made his iriminage effective; I was made to go down instantly after all.  This, however, is not the type of presence that would help us in our training.  A presence that repels people is very different than a positive presence that accepts and guides them.

Presence isn’t something strictly technical.  It’s more about attitude and how you use it to deal with the energy around you.  For those of us with pets, we know they can see it when we assert ourselves and demand their attention and respect.  Being energetically assertive doesn’t mean to be arrogant or obnoxious.  We can assert authority over a situation while retaining a sense of humility and a respectful demeanor towards others.  If nage is doing a technique properly he or she should feel in control.  An attack can create a potentially chaotic situation, and neutralizing that attack takes, in addition to the technique itself, an inner sense of stillness and presence that makes you and the attacker feel you are in control of the situation.  At more advanced levels of training it is the nage that initiates the technique.  Nage becomes perceptive enough to take the lead in resolving the movement by breaking the maai before uke moves in for the attack.  By initiating with a strong presence nage is then able to shape uke’s attack in a way that is more efficient to manage.  A good attitude doesn’t just make for a more pleasant practice, but also a vibrant presence in performing the techniques.

Both the giant tsunami and the relatively small wave that merely makes us stumble have significant presence.  One is more obvious while the other is more subtle, but in the end we acknowledge both of them, since they have entered our perception in a way we cannot ignore.  The inner presence derived from overt charisma or a more subtle inner cultivation can make others notice in a definitive way, the same way an assertive hand to the face would make uke definitively notice.  Some external types of presence like a strong odor can make people double take, but are not beneficial for a good practice as most people would rather that stay hidden.  Good presence calls for an assertive, but not overly aggressive, attitude that can initiate and control the situation at hand.  There are moments when we may feel knocked around by the tide as we drift; those are the times where we need to find stable footing, ground and center ourselves, and spark a presence that makes us truly present in life and on the mat.

By Andrew Lee, New York Aikikai

Types of Contact in Aikido

Mapping Aikido Training on a Continuum from Assault to Intimacy:

How Intention and Connection make Aikido a Spiritual Experience

I ask myself, what differentiates aikido from other martial arts?  Paradoxically, it is that the goal of aikido is to learn how NOT to hurt people.  This practice of non-harm, is the process by which we learn to become spiritual.

What does it mean to you to be a spiritual person?  Is it to be caring?  Or, to transcend one’s ego? To be “one” with everything?  Think about this, as you read.

Connection,  as Essential to Intimacy

How do we experience quality of contact with our partners?  It is something that is felt the moment uke grabs nage.  The quality of uke’s contact can be soft, rigid, engaged, limp, firm, present or absent.  Nage also connects, or not, with uke.  It is a two-way experience of engagement, or not.  In this sense, the quality of contact between uke and nage determines how each of them experiences the other.  If both partners are hard, then there is no feeling between them.   In aikido we do not:  “attack – defend”.  We “attack”, “connect,” (or blend), and “redirect”.

Mechanical Practice can Feel like “Assault”

In this version of practice there is an attack and a response.  It is characterized by no mutuality and no feeling, as the connect piece is missing.  Ask yourself:    do I see the “other” as an object, a thing that is just there for me to “do something to?”   Am I “grabbing an arm,”  “striking a head?”  Do I notice my partner as a WHOLE person?  Or, am I just thinking about the technique that I am doing TO my partner. Martin Buber, a religious philosopher used the term I-it, to describe this type of relationship.  That is a nice way of saying that the most objectified type of relationship can be described as completely lacking in intimacy.  It is tantamount to feeling assaulted by another person.   This type of relational contact is characterized as a lack of awareness of the other person.  There is no caring for the other.   As aikidoka, we all know those types of practitioners.  They are the ones, who after practicing, you say to yourself: : “avoid this person.” This type of practice is based in fear, and in an insensitivity to the other.

Connected, Purely Physical Practice Feels like “Sex”

I call this type of aikido practice energetic, fun, and mutually engaged.  Many aikidoka practice at this level – it is connected in an intensely physical way.  What is doesn’t have is subtle intimacy.

At this level of practice we are both still doing techniques to each other and it feels great.   There may be a sense of “orgasm in motion,” but not transcendence.   This is undoubtedly a stage in the practice of aikido that we all necessarily go through on our journey with aikido as a relational art.

Love: Transcending the Physical

The breath

I breathe in, you are coming.  We barely touch.  I breathe out.   You fly through the air.  I forgot where I begin and you end.  Am I nake?  Am I uke?  I do not know?  I am on the inside, with you.  We are together.  In losing myself, I find myself.  I am joy.  I have no doubt. No fear.  I see clearly why I practice.

Why I love this art is revealed to me in the practice.  I am harmony.    Moving together, we are joy.  I cannot reach the bottom of knowing you.

I call this the inside of aikido.  This place is the heart of aikido:  where we are open to everything, ready for nothing. It is relaxed, open, and receptive. It is not something that we experience, per se, it is something that we can be.  This.  A spirit, in motion.

by Kali Hewitt-Blackie, 4th Dan

 

A Message From Yamada Sensei Regarding Sansuikai

I recently announced that Sansuikai International is now affiliated with the USAF.  Some questions have been asked, so I  wanted to explain what this affiliation means.  As you know, I created Sansuikai so the dojo in South America and Europe can join and I can help these dojo by submitting Sansuikai dan applications to Aikikai.  When I am no longer able to do this, the USAF, as a recognized Aikikai organization, will take my place and forward these applications directly to Aikikai.  This is all that will be needed to make sure everyone can still have their dan ranks registered at hombu.  We have so many friendly relationships all over the world, between Sansuikai and the USAF, and this allows me to rest assured that all the years of work I have put in to both organizations will continue, as well as your friendships on and off the mat .

Sincerely,

Y. Yamada

The Evolution of What Aikido Means

The meaning of Aikido varies among the unique and different people who practice it.  The meaning changes even for the same person.  The reason we start something is often different from the reason we maintain it years later.  Our initial purpose evolves and adapts to all that we have learned, our interactions with other people, and the gradual change of our overall environment and circumstances over time.  Aikido’s beauty lies in its process of change more than any goal we may desire through it.  We may start with goals such as learning self-defense or getting in shape, which can still stay with us over time, but eventually they turn into secondary reasons and something deeper moves into the forefront.  We learn how to do individual techniques through repetitively performing them, but once we understand the basic concepts we are able to play more with freestyle and adapting to the situation at hand by spontaneously making changes where necessary to complete the flow of the movement.

I started Aikido when I was eleven because my mom wanted me to.  She said that she wanted me to learn a means of self-defense because I was so quiet and she didn’t want people to pick on me.  Since the reason I started Aikido was not my own I went into it without any particular goal and my attention geared more towards the processes.  Once I got into training on a regular basis however goals did naturally emerge.  I was in the children’s class and seeing all the different colored belts around me made me aspire to earn those belts for myself, but like the ambitions of many children, and many adults as well, my ambitions for Aikido sometimes suffered from a short attention span.  There were many days that I wanted to stay home and watch TV instead of going to practice but my mom made me go anyway.  She had me train every weekend with the exception of dojo closures and family vacations, though there was this one time she relented and I went to an event at a park.  The event had games and activities for children but I wasn’t really interested in what they had to offer.  I missed Aikido and it felt strange not training.  Though there would be many more days to come where I would not feel like training, remembering that strange feeling of not going to practice for something less worthwhile made me attend much more often than not in the years to come.

My mom joined me in my Aikido journey when I moved on to the adult classes.  She started Aikido for me, so I would have company in my transition to train with the adults.  In my new classes I could sense right away that practice was more serious, and it was a welcome change for me.  I enjoyed the deeper practice with a relative increase in intensity.  I left the children’s class with a good foundation of the basics and a clear understanding of the terminology, which helped me in training at a more advanced level.  I still had my goals to continuously test for higher ranks, and I closely counted my practice days until I had enough to test.  The teenage years often bring with it a plethora of activities including extra curriculars and socializing, but that was not my experience.  My personality is introverted and there is a shyness I carry with me.  Socializing and talking to people are relatively difficult for me.  Aikido gave me a way to interact with others without necessarily talking.  As my proficiency in Aikido grew my confidence grew with it; I felt comfortable talking about Aikido even as I still struggled with small talk.  My focus stuck with Aikido because I was too shy to try other activities.  It seems I had turned a disadvantage into an advantage.

Aikido has become a constant in my life.  It helps me to center myself whenever I feel anxious or nervous.  It has provided me with a great window to interacting with a variety of other people on a regular basis.  I feel a sense of flow along with a sense of confidence when I train, and during practice I feel I can express my style and who I am.  Each Aikido practitioner brings his or her own unique perspective to the art, which enables Aikido itself to unify the amazing diversity that surrounds it.  It has now been over fourteen years since I started Aikido, and with every year that passes I learn to appreciate additional aspects of the Way of unifying energy.  It’s through the Aikido movements where I’ve found a voice to express myself in creative ways.  I also teach classes on a regular basis now which helps me with my confidence, pushes me to interact with people on a deeper level, and allows me to explore and innovate with my personal expression of Aikido.  At this point rank and pride have fallen to secondary roles, and the flow of everyday practice has moved to the forefront.  Aikido has and continues to guide me along a process of developing myself, in opening myself to others in spite of whatever fear I have, and in illuminating the creativity and flow within.

“Why did you start Aikido?” is a very different question from “Why do you practice Aikido?”  People are not static beings and their motives, desires, and sometimes even beliefs can change with the dynamism of practicing iriminage at full speed.  The reason I started Aikido was not my own, but the discipline I gained from enforced regular practice gave me a deeper appreciation for the practice itself, and the moments of contrast where I skipped practice instead showed me that I enjoyed going to practice more often than not.  Finding that enjoyment and the sense that I had the ability to do something of substance well kindled my ambitions in the art, and I was excited to advance through the ranks.  At an age where I could have been easily distracted, I instead deepened my focus due to my nature and a seeming limitation.  When one path is cut off another path broadens, and the path of Aikido has broadened to a point where I can extract even more meaning from the more subtle areas of the path.  Experiencing flow, learning about the minutiae of interacting with others, having a strong core to center myself, creative self-expression, and developing a sense of openness are among the various reasons I continue to train regularly.  For those who stick with it Aikido is a lifelong process that constantly evolves; it changes as you change.

By Andrew Lee, New York Aikikai

Dan Promotions April 16th – July 31st 2015

Test applications received and dated between April 16th 2015 and July 31st, 2015 (some listings represent applications prior to Hombu approval). 

 

 

Shodan

  • Michael Britton – Ottawa Aikikai
  • Alvin Chan – Aikido of Central New York
  • George Gregory Ellis – Austin Aikikai
  • Sean Emrick – New Castle Aikikai
  • A. J. Ermenc – Ottawa Aikikai
  • Juan Hiedra Cobo – Fudoshin Aikikai
  • David Goldberger – Two Rivers Aikikai
  • Claudio Gomes – Skylands Aikikai
  • Benny Goolsby – Zanshin Aikido School
  • Jack Hanlon – Skylands Aikikai
  • Michael Hewitt – Boston Aikikai
  • Joshu Jones – Springfield Aikido School
  • Lachlan Kadick – Summit View Aikido
  • Jennifer Kane – Midwest Aikido Center
  • Robert Kolada – Midwest Aikido Center
  • May Lane – Twin Cities Aikido Center
  • Donald Learning – Ottawa Aikikai
  • Catherine Lefebvre – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Jason Martell – Lunenburg Aikikai
  • Indigo Moorhead – Framingham Aikikai
  • Carolyn Moss – New Castle Aikikai
  • Evangelos Moraitis – Aikido of New Orleans
  • Gerald Napoli – Vineland Aikikai
  • Holly Nesbitt – Boston Aikikai
  • Cameron Panee – Open Sky Aikikai
  • John Powers – Lunenburg Aikikai
  • Jomel Romero – Kenosha Aikikai
  • Karry Sarkissian – Providence Aikikai
  • Annie Small – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
  • Barry Stafford – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
  • Gabriel Pablo Szraibman – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Robert Warren – Vineland Aikikai
  • Matt Wiegand – University of Iowa Aikikai

Nidan

  • Matthew Bourbon – Aikido of Denton
  • James Branin – Vineland Aikikai
  • Joshua Buchman – Aikido of Central New York
  • Liliane Bourgouin – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Anthony Cumby – Fudoshin Aikikai
  • Bradford Delapena – Twin Cities Aikido Center
  • Gilberto Ferrer – Austin Aikikai
  • Marilene Gelinas – Monteregie Aikikai
  • John Graham – Aikido of Fairfield County
  • John Kivlehan – Aikido of Central New York
  • Steven Lasher – Aikido of Central New York
  • Frank Pere – Aikido of Austin
  • Karim Rholem – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Henry Schoeneck – Aikido of Central New York
  • Jay Shoemaker – Austin Aikikai
  • Chris Schulz – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Court Spooner – Aikido of Austin
  • Slawomir Swierbinski – Toronto Aikikai

Sandan

  • Heath Atchley – Aikido of Amherst
  • Colin Baird – Albany Aikido
  • Yeltiza Cuevas – Toronto Aikikai
  • Lois Miraucourt – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Jonathan Olson – Aikikai de l’Universite Laval
  • Kris Onishi – Aikido de la Montagne
  • Alexander Perry – Aikido of Champlain Valley
  • Guy Ponko – Midwest Aikido Center
  • Jamal Teymouri – Albany Aikido

Yondan

  • David Cormalleth – Midwest Aikido Center
  • Kevin Egan – Ottawa Aikikai
  • Neil Quigley – Aikido Institute of Newfoundland
  • Kaori Sakurai – Ottawa Aikikai
  • Mazda Salmanian – Ottawa Aikikai

Dan Promotions January 2nd 2015 – April 15th 2015

Test applications received and dated between January 2 2015 and April 15th, 2015 (some listings represent applications prior to Hombu approval).

 

 

Shodan

  • Philip Amisano – New England Aikikai
  • Jonathan Aguillon – San Francisco Aikikai
  • Scott Bennet-Jeffreys – New England Aikikai
  • Milton Cadogan – Florida Aikikai
  • Sylvain Choisel – San Francisco Aikikai
  • Francisco del Valle – Aikido Schools of New Jersey
  • Jorge Espinoza-Derout – Davis Aikikai
  • Theophile Komlan Dagba – Toronto Aikikai
  • Don Eisele – KSU Aikido/ Tatsumaki Aikikai
  • Brian Galozo – North Vancouver Aikikai
  • Daniel Holabaugh – New England Aikikai
  • Judi Montfort Holley – Kitsap Aikido
  • Richard Hubarcak – Harvard Aikikai
  • Carol Huben – Aikido of Northampton
  • Kaitlyn Hunter – North Vancouver Aikikai
  • Christopher Ingham – Bermuda Aikikai
  • Kim John-Banks – Bermuda Aikikai
  • Brian Ledford – New England Aikikai
  • Ari Ming – Bermuda Aikikai
  • Phu Nguyen – Aikido of Houston
  • Drake Pusey – Commonwealth Aikikai
  • Melvin Rasmijin – Aikido Curacao
  • Patrick Roux – Seattle Aikikai
  • Augustus Sandage – San Francisco Aikikai
  • Jay Tall – Aikido of Park Slope
  • Chris Twomey – Commonwealth Aikikai
  • Matthew Wadsworth – Lake County Aikikai
  • Jeff Walker – KSU Aikido/ Tatsumaki Aikikai
  • Howard Weitzman – Long Island Aikikai
  • Vernon Williams – Lake County Aikikai
  • Michael Wong – San Francisco Aikikai
  • Jim Zawisza – Framingham Aikikai

Nidan

  • Garrett Curry – Davis Aikikai
  • Nicholas Howes – St. Ives Aiki Dojo
  • Kai Chun Huang – San Francisco Aikikai
  • Evan Katsuranis – Davis Aikikai
  • Lester Loschky – KSU Aikido/Tatsumaki Aikikai
  • Richard Mintz- Prairie Aikikai
  • Neland North – USAF Academy Aikido Club
  • Richard Schubert – Long Island Aikikai

Sandan

  • Thomas Boggs – Aikido of Houston
  • Wendy Guyer – Midwest Aikido Center
  • Faith Lumsden – Seattle Aikikai
  • Gillian Macleod – Aikido of Park Slope
  • Rod Yabut – Southland Aikido

Yondan

  • Robert Lews Clark – Kitsap Aikido
  • Kjarten Clausen – Aikido of Park Slope
  • Kali Hewitt-Blackie – Woodstock Aikido
  • Mark Goodman – Aikido of Park Slope
  • Francesco Grieco – Aikido of Santa Barbara
  • Ray Kohl – Midwest Aikido Center
  • Wendy Kopka – Midwest Aikido Center
  • Anthea Pascaris – Notting Hill Aikikai
  • Benjamin Silver – Aikido of Santa Barbara
  • Andrew Sloley – Aikido of Houston
  • William Tilles – Aikido of Park Slope
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