Many thanks to today’s guest instructor, Alex Loo-sensei, 7th dan shihan and chief instructor of Aikido Kensankai.
The focus was on fundamentals and body movement, and everyone from beginners to seniors benefitted from and enjoyed an enthusiastic practice.
We have gathered material related to Yumi’s life and career here. Please feel free to download anything that interests you.
2024 is the year of the Dragon — our year! “Hokuryukai” means “Northern Dragon Association,” commemorating our founding in the Dragon year of 2000 as well as the dragon spirit that O-sensei said was fundamental to his art. We are expecting good luck and lots of energy for the dojo and all our members!
This article casts light on some of the important Japanese concepts behind a “dojo.”
https://qz.com/1181019/the-japanese-words-for-space-could-change-your-view-of-the-world
This is from Marcus Aurelius…
“When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one’s energy, that one’s modesty, another’s generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we’re practically showered with them. It’s good to keep this in mind,” (via Daily Stoic).
Learn from your fellow students on the tatami — don’t myopically focus on yourself. Steal techniques from your seniors, pick up ideas and fresh attitudes from your juniors, try to absorb energy and enthusiasm when you see it… open your eyes and learn.
One of our members made a good observation on the importance of attending seminars last night…
“I thought that I had made some progress in learning technique. I could usually handle the attacks in the dojo.
Then, at the last seminar, I had trouble handling attacks from strangers.
At that moment, I realized that I hadn’t so much mastered the techniques as gotten familiar with the students in the dojo.”
A very important distinction! Don’t assume that everyone has the same sense of timing and ma’ai as your friends in the dojo.
“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.” ― Paulo Coelho
What matters about Aikido can only be learned on the tatami… not in books, on YouTube or through conversation.
As boxing trainer Kevin Rooney is quoted as saying in a recent post from The Loneliest Sport, all the physical training in the world is useless without a trained mind.
I think of those students who perform well in their own dojos, but nowhere else, as “hothouse flowers.” Can they survive out among the weeds?
How can we check this in Aikido, which has no competition?
Here are some ideas for serious students…
Seminars: I see students avoiding practice with advanced Aikidoka at seminars because they are strong and unfamiliar. Stay away from your dojo buddies if possible at these events! One Judo sensei told me years ago to seek out the people you are afraid of for practice.
Testing: Some students seem to fall apart in tests under the stresses of fatigue and stage fright. You can actually see this happen about five minutes into a test. Their centres rise and their ma’ai and timing disappear.
Freestyle: some students quickly lose their technique in freestyle with multiple attackers, even in their own dojos, as things become spontaneous, dynamic and even chaotic. The uke forgets about technique and just collapses, or else falls back on brute force instead of technique and timing.
Here’s the quote:
“‘You see a kid hit the heavy bag and he looks like a million dollars. This kid’s gonna be another Mike Tyson or Ray Leonard the way he looks on that bag. But when he’s hitting the bag, the bag don’t hit back. But when you take the same kid and put him in to spar with another kid who hits back, he’s terrible.
Or you take what’s known as a gym fighter. You put him in to spar in the gym where there’s no pressure, where there’s nobody looking at him, no paying public, no media men critering his performance, he beats the best fighters.
But when you put him in a real fight, in an arena with a crowd of five hundred or five thousand people, he folds up. His emotions overcome him. Instead of throwing that jab and moving the way he does in the gym, he doesn’t do nothing. He takes the shots. He gives up. He gets knocked out.
What it comes down to is knowing how to control your emotions. How to control your fear. How to perform in a disciplined way. To have a clear mind and go out and perform.
You hear good athletes in other sports say how they have tunnel vision when they get out there. You hear it from fighters like Mike Tyson and Ray Leonard. They’re saying that their mind is controlling their emotions. They’re concentrating. They know exactly what to do.’
– Kevin Rooney
Quoted in The Loneliest Sport
There’s a long weekend coming up! It looks like we have at least a couple of days of fine weather in store.
As usual, the class at the dojo — Saturday – is canceled, along with the Monday Zoom class.
I hope everybody has a fantastic time with their friends and family.
We had a great time at the barbeque last Saturday. It was nice to see so many members and so many former members, family and friends get together. It was a wonderful chance to catch up.
Hope to see you all at the next class, Tuesday.
 Here’s an informative academic study on “real-life” violence. We don’t teach fighting in the dojo — but Aikido is a martial art, so I found it of interest. Here are police statistics from the UK for the top 10 male-on-male assaults (see study cited at end): 1. Attacker pushes, defender pushes back, attacker throws a swinging punch to the head. 2. A swinging punch to the head 3. A front clothing grab, one handed, followed by punch to head 4. Two handed front clothing grab, followed by head butt 5. Two handed front clothing grab followed by knee to groin 6. Bottle, glass or ashtray to the head, swinging 7. A lashing kick to groin/lower legs 8. A bottle, glass jabbed to face 9. A slash with a knife, usually 3-4 inch lockblade or kitchen knife 10. A grappling style headlock. Routine Aikido practice includes effective responses to most of these attacks, as well as attacks with weapons and by multiple attackers — a rare but real possibility. But another very important observation was on the statistical absurdity of training to fight in the street. Your martial art may have a 100 percent chance of improving your life, but the odds of your being involved in a violent confrontation unwillingly are minuscule beside risks like disease, car accidents etc. The whole study is here. |