VKS KI TRAINING NOTES, AUGUST '97 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to provide a dialog between students and the instructional faculty on training issues and answer questions regarding technique or training practices or procedures. It is NOT a forum for dealing with philosophy, except as it applies to training, nor business issues associated with the VKS. NOTICES: SEPTEMBER INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS Class will be held in conjunction with the 23rd Anniversary Celebration in Merrifield. All instructors are invited to attend. CAMPS OTTAWA CAMP: While attending the seminar at the Kingston Ki Society training facility I was made aware of a weekend seminar in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on 5,6 and 7 September. The sponsor is the Shinkido Institute in conjunction with Ryurei Aikido under the direction of Sensei Peter Bussell. Instructors for the seminar are: San Dan Rev. Bill Bickford, Head Instructor, Kingston Ki Society; San Dan Fran Turner,Chief Instructor, Aikido Shugyo Dojo (Aikikai); Go Dan George Simcox, Chief Instructor, Virginia Ki Society; and Yo Dan Peter Bussell, Chief Instructor, Ryurei Aikido, Ottawa. The fee is Canadian $90..00. You are asked to bring one or two dogis, a bokken, a jo and an open Aikido mind. The seminar will include Buki Waza, meditation and breathing sessions, and Futari Gake. For more information call Ryurei Aikido at Ottawa 591-3223. If you are interested in seeing what "others" are doing these days and having an open instructional experience this may be just the conference for you. I have practiced with Rev. Bickford and Peter Bussell and they are fine people, providing a positive view of Aikido. The address and phone # for the seminar are: 47 Humphrey Way, Kanata, Ontario. K2L 2S9 and Phone (613) 591-3223. You can also e-mail Sensei Bickford at: bickford@limestone.kosone.com for added information. SUPER WEEKEND 23rd ANNIVERSARY: The celebration will take place on Saturday and Sunday, September 13 and 14. Morning sessions will start at 10AM each day and Afternoon sessions will begin at 1:30 PM. Training will be conducted by Senseis Simcox, Reed and Singer. Sunday afternoon we will, in lieu of our normal demonstration period, enjoy observing Sensei Jonathan Doner perform a demonstration of skills which will qualify him for advancement to San Dan. With at least two ukes attacking for all techniques it should be a very spirited demonstration. There will be a no-host dinner at the China Chef at 6PM on Saturday. Please bring a dish or snackies on Sunday for a "pot luck" after Sensei Doner's demonstration. Came and bring your friends. This is a time for celebration. SPECIAL NOTICE Sensei Chuck Auster has announced that he is moving to New Jersey. Chuck has been commuting from New York on weekends to teach our advanced class on Saturday mornings. He has been a major contributor to the program of the Virginia Ki Society and will be sorely missed. He promises to remain in touch and return from time to time for training and special events. A farewell luncheon was held for Chuck so that his many acquaintances could bid him a fond adieu. GUEST COLUMNISTS Making progress without practice by William Reed Ever have trouble finding time to practice? You may be too busy to attend classes at a dojo on a regular basis, but there is no need to stop practicing. Aikido may take longer to learn than other things that require less mental and physical participation, but it also takes longer to forget. You have to stay grounded a long time to forget how to ride a bicycle. Aikido sticks with us not just as a set of physical skills, but also as an attitude. If you really have forgotten how to do something, you may never have learned it properly the first time. Tohei Sensei says that what you learn one day, you can teach another. The best way is to learn it so thoroughly that you do it unconsciously. This takes time (practice), but when you are put to the test you may surprise yourself that what you have learned tends to stick with you. Although I obtained a teacher's license in brush calligraphy, and for about 12 years practiced religiously, work commitments have interfered to the point where I had not held a brush in the past 3 years. Last month I was in Japan on business, and paid a visit to my calligraphy teacher. Naturally, he wanted to see how well I could do after being away for so long. I was as surprised as he was that the feeling was still very much in my fingertips, as if I had never stopped practicing. He was delighted and exclaimed that I could still paint as a Shihan. This made me think that perhaps we over-emphasize the importance of practice. Tohei Sensei reached a high dan-grade in Judo before he took up Aikido. He quit practicing Judo when he realized that size and strength always seemed to give the winning advantage. Disappointed that he could not throw stronger and larger people than himself, he left the art and concentrated on misogi training at the Ichikukai. After a year of breathing and meditation, but no martial arts training, he went back to his old Judo dojo, and surprised everyone including himself by finding that he could easily throw opponents much larger than himself. His old training partners shook their heads wondering how Tohei could improve without practicing. There is an often-cited study in which people who practiced shooting baskets for a month entirely in their minds performed as well as others who spend time actually shooting baskets on a court every day for a month. Apparently, after a certain basic skill level has been obtained it is possible to make progress without physically practicing, at least not to the extent we assume is necessary. What is required then to be able to make progress without practicing? You will not do anyone a favor if you become convinced for whatever reason that you are beyond the need to practice. However, if you can do two things well, you will not need to practice nearly as much as you think necessary to make progress. First, you must maintain an essential continuity by coordinating mind and body in your daily life. This is the thread that holds separate activities together, and ensures that your mind and body are fully engaged when you do perform. Secondly, you must remain enthusiastic and interested in the art, whether or not you have the time to devote to it that you would like. There are lots of ways to do this, reading, talking to people, watching videos, writing articles, supporting the dojo. Physical performance is never far away when you are mentally engaged. Then there is no practice, only doing. However, if you lose interest in the art you may have trouble remembering how to do it, and will become bogged down in minor points of technique. Of course, the ability to make progress also assumes that you have mastered at least certain fundamentals. Imagine how far you would get playing the violin or learning a foreign language without at least a certain amount of practice. Why should Aikido be any different? Nevertheless, the most important part of practice is gaining the feeling of Ki through the art. This is something which you can take with you on and off the mat, something which you are not likely to forget. It is also what you need to make progress with or without practice. A Ki Aikido Examination from the View of a Novice By: Bill Phillips, 5th Kyu After studying Aikido with the VKS off and on for about ten years, I finally focused myself enough to prepare for my first Ki Aikido examination. Since testing is so important in Aikido, not as a means of seeing if a studentcan pass"a test" but as a mens of helping practitioners learn more about the art, I thought it might be useful for other beginners (and perhaps others) to learn from my recent mid-August 1997 experience. The first thing I learned from the test is that mind and body coordinated is a must for success in both the Ki and Aikido portions of the exam. After assessing the evaluations prepared by our instructors on my performance, I realized that on Aikido techniques which I performed satisfactorily, I recall a sense of not even being in the dojo; not even being aware of what I was doing. I vividly recall a "fluttering of Ki" while performing techniques on which I did not do as well. This is particularly intriguing to me since, having studied diligently, I know that such Ki fluttering did not necessarily mean I was not conficent about the technique. Rather, I had allowed myself to loose my Ki concentration. Instead of just doing (or, as the Zen folks say - just sitting), I focused on the "rightness" of the technique for the exam. When I did that, results were unsatisfactory. In hindsight, more Ki breathing during each practice and on my own time would have been useful in preparation for the test. I discovered having an uke familiar with the exam requirements is a must. Prior practice with this person is quite helpful if one agrees with Sensei Simcox's view that testing is a chance for the student to make a commitment to Aikido study, while performing and demonstrating his understanding. In my view, the beginner is in a way seeking a witness to his development when he/she selects an uke who is a senior practitioner. The senior student can help the beginning student refine practice points in both Ki development and Aikido, exam requirements and protocol. Running through the exam several times in mock examination settings helps, too. I also found that seeking advice and criticism from fellow students (of all ranks) was quite rewarding. As exam time approached, frequent visits to other classes helped me to get accustomed to other faces in the dojo and experience the personnel of other practitioners, deepening my own comprehension while simultaneously familiarizing myself with different teaching styles of other instructors. Also, humility and patience are crucial to passing a Ki Aikido examination certainly at the beginning level and I suspect at the higher levels, too. Humility to understand that one will very rarely, if ever, understand everything about any single technique, let alone "The Art", and patience to realize Ki is always present and that the exam time is your time - time you have both earned through hard work and which your instructors have given you so you can give them a show. Lastly, on a purely personal note, I found that smiling visibly or in my Mind made the Ki flow better throughout the techniques. Good luck to the next group of examinees. NOTES FROM THE INTERNET 20 YEARS OF KI-AIKIDO Rocky Mountain Ki Society will celebrate 20 years of Ki-Aikido on October 3, 4 & 5 in Denver Colorado. This special celebration will be instructed by Koichi Kashiwaya Sensei, 7th Dan, Chief National Instructor of Ki Society USA and founder of RMKS. This seminar celebrates not only the founding of RMKS but 20 years of continuous Ki and Ki-Aikido instruction by Kashiwaya Sensei in the US. Also in attendance will be Russell Jones Sensei, 5th Dan and Chief Instructor for RMKS and his wife Lael Keen Sensei, 4th Dan and Chief Instructor of Bello Horizonte Ki Society, Brazil. There will be several days of intense practice, a public demonstration and, of course, a banquet. All Aikidoka with basic Aikido skills (ability to safely forward roll, etc.) are encouraged to attend. Further details will follow. If you are in the Colorado area or plan to be in the area in October you are invited to come train with us and celebrate 20 years! Matthew C. Spriggs 970 Pennsylvania #207 Denver, CO 80203 (303) 832-4306 Rocky Mountain Ki Society (303) 425-0988 <=Plus Ki and Plus Life=> ALL HAWAII SEMINAR ALOHA! The Hilo Ki-Aikido Club invites you to our Fall '97 Ki-Aikido Seminar at Waiakea Recreation Center in beautiful Hilo, Hawaii! We chose the Hawaiian phrase "I Ulu No Ka Lala I Ke Kumu" as the theme for our seminar because it so beautifully expresses what we feel. The term literally means "the branch grows on the tree" and it also implies "honor to our teachers without whom we would not be as we are." It has now been almost 45 years since Tohei-sensei introduced Aikido to the world outside of Japan - right here in Hawaii! The teachings have largely been preserved and passed on through the years by the efforts of a few pioneer Hawaiian Aikido sensei. Five of them are still very active today and our seminar will honor these special sensei and feature classes taught by them. Each has trained and taught Aikido for more than 40 years. They are Shinichi Suzuki-sensei (8th dan) of Maui, Harry Eto-sensei (7th dan) and Seichi Tabata-sensei (7th dan) of Oahu, and Takashi Nonaka-sensei (7th dan) and Hajime Uyeki-sensei (6th dan) of the Big Island. In addition, the seminar features Koichi Kashiwaya-sensei, the chief instructor of Ki Society USA. Classes include: Children's Aikido, Ki, Aikido, Ki Breathing/Ki Meditation, Kiatsuho, Bokken, Tachidori, and Jo. The seminar runs from November 6-9, 1997. This is a truly wonderful opportunity for all of us to honor these special sensei. We know you will enjoy this unforgettable experience of training with each of them. Hope to see you in Hilo! NOTE: Hq. Hotel is the Hilo Hawaiian. COMMENTARY: The Maryland Summer Camp was superb. Fowler Sensei, the instructorfrom Arizona, was in rare form. Those of you who were unable to attend missed a premier training opportunity. Sensei Fowler discussed many of the points that Tohei Sensei covered in the Portland Seminar, giving his own, unique twist to the information and bringing it down to earth for all of us. If there was a focus at in the training it was that mind moves the body. The Hawaiian seminar in November would be an excellent opportunity to study with the "original crew" of leaders which arose from Tohei Sensei's teachings in the early 50s. Contact Roy Yonemori at 808-959-8632 for questions regarding the seminar and Leilani Pakele for reservations at the hotel on 808-935-9361. Keep in mind the time differential between your location and Hawaii. Fees are: Adult: $80 (before 10/1) 0r $100. "T" shirts are $7.00 with registration or $12.00 sold at the seminar. A banquet will be held at the Hotel and cost $28.00 (incl. Tip & tax). Checks should be payable to Hilo Ki-Aikido Club and mailed to: I Ulu No Ka Lana I Ke Kamu c/o Ms. Carrie Yonemori 36 Hiluhilu Street Hilo, HI 96720. A phone call can get you a brochure with application for training and liabiolity release or use E-Mail at: kotoba@aloha.net. TRAVELS: Bob Pavesi, Minh Pham and I will be going to the Camp in Ottawa in September. We will make a report in the issue of Training Notes appearing after we return. I will be traveling to Harrisonburg on September 8 to conduct an evening program.