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With tongue in cheek, here is a bestiary of a few rare types we see on the mat (and try to enlighten) from time to time, in no particular order.

Chatty Charles
Wants to discuss and debate every single point of a technique in detail before, during and after trying it.

Professor Perfectionist
Can’t stand seeing his partner doing anything that is not 100% up to his standards, and then expounds verbally rather than demonstrating through practice.

Gorilla in a gi
The whole point is smashing your uke into the mat as hard as possible, isn’t it? And why shouldn’t I resist if I can?

Cautious Calvin
Trains only with friends and juniors, actively avoiding practice with stronger, more experienced partners as possibly damaging to his ego.

Dirty Dan
Thinks washing his gi is optional, until it reaches the point where his partners are gagging and it won’t bend any more.

Cultural Tourist
What is all this bowing and scraping stuff for, anyway? And why can’t I wear shoes in the dojo? And why can’t I wear my undershirt and jewelry during class?

New-Age Nate
Thinks he will soon master levitation through breath control and relaxation. Then all that “martial” stuff will just fall into place.

Algophobic Al
The slightest bruise or scratch shakes him like a tiger. Thinks sweating and fatigue are precursors to death. Does not grasp the distinction between pain and injury.

The Hothouse Flower
Never trains outside the dojo at seminars — has no idea what practice is like under pressure among the weeds.

The names have been changed to protect the identities of the subjects. I’ll stop here, even though I am just getting warmed up.

Greetings to members and friends of Aikido Hokuryukai. Here are a few items of interest regarding the dojo.

This weekend is the time change. You should set your clocks back on Saturday night by one hour. See https://www.timechange.info/canada-2019/

Remember to attend the CAF Examination Committee seminar at JCCC Aikikai on Saturday, November 23. The details are at https://2ur2vm1m00jq27oqid12gpyd-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2019novCAFposter_6.pdf. It’s particularly important to go if you have any interest in senior testing. Adult classes at our dojo will be cancelled that day.

The November schedule is online. There are no major changes, though the Tuesday night schedule has been changed from two, one-hour classes to one, hour-and-a-half class.  As mentioned, adult classes on November 23 are cancelled due to the EC seminar.
Check https://aikidoclub.ca/1993-2/

The Quebec seminar a couple of weekends ago was a fantastic experience. Congratulations to Ramunas and Jennifer from Aikido Tendokai on strong shodan tests!  For more, see https://aikidoclub.ca/great-seminar-in-quebec-city/

We had an opportunity to visit friends at Midwest Aikido Centre in Chicago last weekend. It’s an amazing dojo – there’s a post about it on the website: https://aikidoclub.ca/midwest-aikido-center/

It is not too early to start planning for the CAF summer camp in Halifax in June next year. It will feature a week of training under our technical director, Osawa-shihan, in a beautiful city that is well-known as a tourist attraction!

Please let me know if you have any concerns or suggestions.

Regards
—
Jim Barnes

We visited some old friends at Midwest Aikido Centre while in Chicago recently. We had never seen the dojo before. It is one of the most beautiful facilities we have ever seen.

We had three fantastic days of training under Osawa-sensei in Quebec City last weekend. It was a wonderful time in a beautiful city with great friends.

David Mooney-sensei of Aikido CEGEP de Ste-Foy and his students and friends did a great job organizing the event and in showing us hospitality.

Some pictures from the seminar and our visit to Quebec City are on Flickr.

I was talking to one of our beginners about the fundamental mindset of practice — of not smashing an attacker out of the way in a brutal confrontation, but being aware of and blending with his movement and intentions.

He said he had been practicing a discipline of “listening” in interpersonal relations, and said it sounded very similar.

I think that’s an excellent analogy. The fewer preconceptions and the more perception you bring to an encounter — being able to “listen” — the more likely you are to be successful.

Like most of Aikido, it is simple, but not easy.

The most difficult technique in martial arts is… walking through the front door of the dojo. Once you have done, that, the rest is possible.

It’s easy to use fatigue or minor aches and pains as an excuse. But if I had only taken classes when I felt fantastic, I would have taken about ten classes by now (over 40 years).

Oddly enough, I think I gained more by practicing under difficult circumstances than when I felt positive and energetic. Somehow, it just registers differently…

Consistency is the most powerful tool there is in training.

I would like to congratulate our friends at JCCC Aikikai on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. They celebrated with a very successful international friendship seminar last weekend.

When I first moved to Toronto as a junior white belt, I tried to attend as many seminars there as I could. (Who else out there remembers the rock-hard, abrasive tatami in the original dojo?)

I am still grateful for the kindness of Obata-sensei and Ochi-sensei in helping with my training.

For those of you who don’t remember Kenji Ochi-sensei, he was a mainstay of the dojo for many years. He was an absolutely amazing aikidoka to practice with — extremely precise and vigorous, but patient with inept beginners like me. He moved back to Japan many years ago and has since passed away, but I still have many fond memories of working with him on the tatami.

This dojo is one of the seminal Toronto dojos, teaching and inspiring generations of Aikidoka, and we look forward to training with them for years to come.

I remember in my early days of practice, being blown away by the abilities of the shihan. Everything they did seemed so effortless, natural and powerful. I really felt like they were born with some special gift.

I came across something in “Daily Self-Discipline” by Martin Meadows that sheds some light on this:

“What an average person sees when she looks at an elite performer – say, a world-class tennis player – is that his abilities seem natural, easy. She concludes, “He was born with it. It was given to him.”

And she couldn’t be farther from the truth. What she sees is an event – the act of winning. What she doesn’t see is thousands of hours of practice. His sore body, countless hours of drills, lost matches, and everything else that has made him the tennis player he is today. He had never been born with his abilities, and neither is anyone else. It’s the result of a long process taking years or decades, not mere days or weeks.

Substitute “shihan” for “tennis player” and this certainly applies to Aikido. Even the gifted had to put in the consistent, hard work.

Except for carpet cleaning and some tidying tomorrow, the dojo cleanup project is complete.

Many thanks to the members who contributed part of their long weekend holidays to getting the dojo shipshape. We cleaned from the rafters to the sprung floor, and the lobby, change rooms, and washrooms as well.

Special thanks to Aubrie and Moises for organizing this, and to the many members who pitched in on the two days. Special thanks also to Greg, an old friend of the dojo, who contributed his DIY expertise and tools to some of the more technical tasks.

Some photos have been posted on Flickr.

Three members of Aikido Hokuryukai – Yumi, Vadim K. and I – went to CAF Aikido Summer Camp in Victoria in July. It was a fantastic and demanding training experience under Osawa-sensei, and over too quickly.

Ted Yoshioka, who visits our dojo from time to time, was also there for the camp.

We also saw several of our friends from Aikido Tendokai, Yumi’s dojo downtown, at the camp. Congratulations in particular go to Machiko Okano, who passed her nidan test, along with other successful test candidates from across Canada.

Other Ontario students were present as well, including members of the Shugyo, Seishinkai, Kensankai, East Toronto, and J.C.C.C. dojos. Aikidoka from across Canada, including Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta were all on the mat, along with students from Australia, the US and Italy.

Osawa-sensei’s next seminar will be in Quebec City October 18-20. We strongly recommend attending this training opportunity if possible.

Some photos from the event are on Jim’s Flickr page.

Reminder: the annual Dojo Barbecue is coming up July 20 in Vaughan. The info is in the dojo. We hope to see everyone there!

Kyu testing: will be held the next day, July 21 in the dojo. See Jim or Yumi if you have the required training time and are interested in testing at this time.

(The tentative schedule for July is online now… to be confirmed shortly.)