A Message From Sensei

Every year I say how thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It still is.

I am thankful for the parents who bring the kids,the kids who come and have fun and learn. I am thankful for my staff that help keep the WRC together and all the other adult members,clients and people that support it from flowers to helping out. It is a special year in we are celebrating 25 years. I have had great friends family and support over that time. Our members continue on all levels to do community service to make our world a better place. Random acts of kindness. 

Thanksgiving is one of the holidays that happens year round. What are you thankful for? Who in your life could use a little thank you any time of the year? It doesn't have to be for something big but an act of kindness, a show of respect, a hug or hand shake. When we look at being thankful in our lives we appreciate our lives more. When we don't, we feel everything is owed to us. Nothing is owed to anyone, hard work and caring helps us and the world around us become a better place. This is the way of the Martial artist. 

So if you are reading this Thank you, you are special to me.

Sensei Don and Carole

photo by:  ocean.flynn's photostream (200)

A Guest at the Table

As difficult as it can be sometimes to squeeze training time out of the chaos of modern life I have never regretted doing the juggling-while-standing-on-the-beach-ball-and-holding-a-fish-in-a-tea-cup I need to do sometimes in order to keep my training active and alive.  I do a lot of training outside of the dojo but the sum of it could never replace dojo training. 

Sometimes I consider the hole it would leave in my life if something happened to the dojo, if it disappeared.  It isn't a pleasant consideration but it is important because it opens the window to just how complicated it is to maintain a dojo community, and the extraordinary effort and expense that goes into maintaining the physical structure. 

When we reflect on this we can consider how easy it is to overlook these things because of how seamless the dojo seems to be in our lives.  It has always been there and thus it is easy to take for granted. Certainly,  the dojo doesn't exist without its students, but I do not think the sum of our contributions would amount to a dojo.  We need the dojo to bring us together and without Sensei providing us that place and the focus for our practice together, it's hard to imagine that we'd ever even meet.

No matter what we bring to the dojo, we are always like guests at a bountiful table at which we are invited to eat well and drink deep.   And we should indulge. It would be rude to do otherwise.  That's why the table has been set and why we've been welcomed in, and why we have accepted the invitation. 

But no matter how rich the meal and no matter how particular our taste, a good guest never takes his host for granted.  It's more than a matter of character.  It's a matter of training.  If you're there at the table, it's good training to remain conscious of the power and gift the dojo makes of our training.  What would we do without it? Perhaps not starve, but certainly not feast. So, when you do come to the table, eat well and eat consciously.  It's good for you. 

Some days . . . are about noticing our own sense of superiority . . .

Attitude, like ki, is an essential determinant in the success of our training.  A useful attitude helps us see clearly and deal with the world as it is.  It enables us to crush our most secret and self-defeating illusions.  

We enter the dojo and leave a certain kind of attitude outside. We affect a different attitude the moment we bow to the kamiza.  The dojo attitude we cultivate is the foundation of every movement and breath we make on the mat, and our goal is to be able to take that intentional, cultivated attitude back out into the world. 

As our comfort and expertise on the mat deepens, it is easy to get distracted from the task of cultivating our dojo attitude- attentive, relaxed, sincere, confidant, and respectful of energy and training of our partners.  Even after decades of practice, vigilant attention to attitude, like breathing, remains essential to our growth.  As soon as we think our learning is complete we are correct- in a way.  As soon as we think we know it all, or as soon as we think our attitude no longer requires cultivation, we cripple our ability to improve and growth melts into deterioration. 

So, some days are about training footwork, and some days are about noticing our own sense of superiority and identifying it as the illusion it is. 

इस टेस्टिंग रंक?

Is Testing Rank

Among the many tests that are associated with rank is the invitation to arrogance। It is respectful to take note of whatever sensei is acknowledging within you by awarding you rank. On the mat we are often called to display our understanding for the edification of ourselves and of others. Rank can sometimes invite us to display for its own sake, to make “offensive display of superiority or self-importance or overbearing pride.” Passing this particular test means recognizing when the intent of our expression is motivated by arrogance (which has a rank of its own) and self-correcting.

Koichi Tohei Sensei

Koichi Tohei Sensei has passed away - AikiWeb Aikido Forums



Dear Chief Instructors,

We regret to inform you that Koichi Tohei Sensei passed away at 9:14 this morning. He was 91 years old.

Two weeks ago, he had sense of discomfort on his chest and it was found that he had inflammation of the lungs, so he had been receiving treatment. He went to intensive-care unit (ICU) twice and came back to general ward each time with his strength of Ki, however, his heart got weak little by little this morning and passed away.

After discussion in his family and it was decided that the closed funeral will be held within his family including Shinichi Tohei Sensei and the formal funeral for all members will be held in Tokyo some weeks later for those who would like to be present.

The date and place of the formal funeral will be announced to all of you after decided.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience but would appreciate your kind understanding for the above.

Sincerely,

Wataru Hatakeyama
(sent on behalf of Shinichi Tohei Sensei)
Overseas Division
Ki Society H.Q.

The Mat as Teacher

The paradox of trying to respond properly to technique without the ability to truly feel nage's movement was a curiosity that I only began to understand when I gave up trying to figure it out.

Ukemi, as much as anything, teaches the effect of technique and being willing and capable of moving is a pre-requisite to ukemi. Rolling is one of the best teachers of movement. The mat instructs us immediately on our success and successful rolling requires relaxed, extended, centered movement.

The link below is a video by Donovan Waite, Sensei, who thoroughly explains the concept of "meeting the mat".

The ‘Welcome Mat’

Like many other folks I studied other martial arts before coming to Aikido, and I researched many more. A major attraction of Aikido is the opportunity to continue getting better in spite of (because of?) an aging body. I can’t punch or kick as hard or as fast as I used to, but I do move a whole lot better.

One great gift of our dojo is Sensei’s effort to provide opportunities to train even when life presents its frequent obstacles. Part of training is sometimes working around those obstacles and sometimes working with them. I would rather train once or twice a month than not train at all. I think it is much harder to re-start a consistence practice than to hold on by your fingertips. Either way, Sensei always gives tremendous support to students no matter where they are in their training. That stability and encouragement enriches our training whether it is our first day or our twenty-fifth year.

Therefore, as everyone’s training is affected by an undulating life (births, deaths, work, etc.), it is good training to bring the mat with you, to welcome it into the rest of your life and in that way never cease training. The learning we gain from employing Aikido in everyday living (balance, vitality, compassion, etc.) has enhanced meaning when we return to our dojo and its ever-welcoming mat. Either way, the training never stops.