NOTICES: NOV INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS The December class will be held on Saturday, the 12th at 1:30. I will be conducting the class and looking at the current method of performing techniques on the examination. There will be a problem solving session with all of us performing the techniques from the examination sheet, critiquing what is done and ending with the teaching purpose of each technique covered. KAGAMI BIRAKI We will celebrate the New Year the weekend of 9/10 January. I will conduct a seminar on the importance of the mind working in conjunction with the body in performing effective Aikido. I will conduct the Saturday session starting at 9 AM and ending at 3:30 with an hour for lunch. On Sunday Steve Kendall will conduct the morning session at 9 AM and ending at 12 Noon. The afternoon session will begin at 1:30 PM and consist of demonstrations in celebration of the New Year. A donation box will be available for those who wish to make donations for the weekend training. The funds collected will be divided between the Merrifield Dojo operating fund and the Kansas City Mat Replacement Fund. They were flooded out in October and have lost their mat, canvas, several training uniforms, etc. and need assistance. I have taught at this dojo in the past and they deserve our support. Please be generous. SEMINAR SERIES I am initiating a series of seminars focused on the many faces of the Aikido related martial arts. On October 11 Sensei Shiro Shintaku conducted a class on Iaido. I plan to ask him to teach the Aikido he learned from Master Michio Hikitsuchi, 10 Dan, Aikido sometime later during the year. Subsequent seminars will feature instructors from Aikikai, Iwma, Yoshinkan, Yoseikan and Tomiki and possibly ju jitsu and tai chi. Comments please. NEW JERSEY RIVER MISOGI In January Sensei Terry Pierce will be hosting an early morning "dip" on the 3rd. Meet at the World Gym on US Route 130 in Cinnaminson, New Jersey at 6 AM for preparation and the move to the water. Enjoy. MAJOR ARTICLE OUR MAN IN BOLIVIA Bill Phillips, a member of the VKS, has been assigned to the South American country of Bolivia as a member of the US Embassy staff. When he arrived in La Paz, the capital, he began looking for a place to practice. Upon finding none which met his requirements he called me for advice. I asked him if he had a copy of Carol Shifflett's book, "Ki in Aikido" and Will Reed's book, "Ki, A Road That Anyone Can Walk"? When he replied that he did, I suggested that he had all the basic information that he needed to start classes in Ki Development and that as a recently promoted 4th Kyu had at least 20 Aikido techniques under his belt. He took me up on my comments and what follows are some of his weekly comments to me about starting a practice group. I hope you will find it as interesting as I have. In future editions I plan to have a short column with some of his report information which may be of interest to you. Geroge, Greetings from 13,000 feet. I had an interesting experience today. As you know I sent word around that I would share what I know about Ki Aikido with anyone. Seven folks have expressed an interest so far and three showed up today at a work out room at the American Community School in La Paz. The three were Tony Placido, age 40, the Head of DEA for Bolivia, Air Force Colonel "Flap" Fowler, age 52, the Defense Attachi for Bolivia, and John Osbourne, age 60, Chief Administrator for the American School here. All are friends, except Osbourne who I just met. Placido studied a hard style karate for several years an hasn't practice in years; Osbourne studied ju jitsu years ago and Col. Fowler has studied a soft style Aikido for 15 years, but hasn't practiced in seven or eight. (Fowler brought a photograph of O Sensei for the workout room (smile)). I didn't want to offend him so took the picture. Colonel Fowler said his school is one that spun off from another student of O Sensei whose name I forget but will transmit when I remember. Fowler said that his sensei was in the same class as Koichi Tohei, and described him as "one of the original seven" students of O Sensei (???). At any rate I spent the first meeting explaining myself, that I was not an instructor, that I was a beginning student at the Merrifiled dojo; how I got interested in Ki Aikido, who you were, that I was looking to share my limited knowledge of Ki Aikido with folks, hopefully getting others interested in Ki Aikido. Fowler was ecstatic and the others were very interested. We went through some warmups. some of our ki exercises, some demonstrations of how ki exists in everyone (unbendable arm, walking with ki, standing with Ki, etc.), also did Ki tests (first level), explaining that properly testing someone is as important as doing a technique correctly; did some rolls, kokyu dosa, seiza, and we worked on one aikido technique, shomenuchi ikkyo irimi (I like that one). We did not do any Ki breathing this time but I want to try and show the folks how to do that at the next session. I tried to keep everything simple and Colonel Fowler's experience was helpful. All the participants recognized that there was something to this "Ki business". The DEA fellow kept trying to relate it to CHI. I explained that universal Ki isn't what is meant by traditional chi as employed in many of the other martial arts. Fowler believed that being "rooted" to the earth (directing the uke's energy into the earth) was the way that Ki demonstrated itself. I attempted to explain that being rooted was not necessarily what Ki as we understand is about, rather, using Steve's image of a spinning bubble, I tried to show the difference. Fowler's view is from his previous training and teaching. Osbourne was energetic and eager to learn but used a lot of muscle. On the rolls, I noticed that Osbourne was looked pale after a few and asked how he felt. He said he was dizzy. I told him to sit a while. The rest of us had a bunch of laughs as us middle aged bureaucrats tumbled and rolled all over the place. Osbourne joined after a few minutes. (altitude!). We were all breathing pretty hard afterwards. I passed out the following literature, a) Virginia Ki Society Instructional Program; b) Words and Phrases (by Carol Shifflett) and three copies of the four principles of mind and body unification and d) a handout from the Merrifield dojo entitled "Ki Aikido" which starts off with "What is Aikido?" All were appreciative of the literature. Insights: I had a great time! The DEA guy is 2 or 3 inches taller than you and a bit heavier (stocky and muscular). Using Ki with him was interesting because I really had to conjoin our energies to get anything to work. If I did not, he wouldn't move. This fellow was fascinated by our testing. He said that when he studied and students were tested in his system, they held a form or position and the testers used a piece of lumber to strike the student on the arms, shins, back, stomach etc. to see if they could hold their position. Frankly, I had NEVER believed that some U.S. schools actually did this (heard some traditional schools in Japan did). How bizarre. An eye opener for me. Fowler's techniques were ok, he seemed to use too much force and speed for not having practiced in seven years or so. I gently mentioned this to him and he agreed. Osbourne was happy to be learning something new-- said he hated hard styles etc. I am working to "perform with confidence". Trying not to be tentative with the techniques or the Ki tests or the Ki development exercises. All in all, you had a good idea for me while here and it seems to be working so far. I'll keep you posted. 10/18/98 A few more interested persons joined the three from last Saturday to learn about Ki Aikido. A husband and wife, a major in the Marines, a USAID officer, a young woman lawyer working for the Democracy project in Bolivia and the Consul General for the Embassy. This in addition to the folks form last week. This week I explained ki breathing and we practiced some. The total session ki and aikido lasted two hours with several folks staying even longer after. Lots of interest in ki and what it is and how it works. Spent most time on ki development and Tohei's Twelve ( as I have come to call the ki development exercises we do at Merrified at the beginning of most classes there). I demonstrated ki testing, and was tested by others including the Defense attachi who has so much experience. Did not get a lot of rolling in which we will do at next session. Insight: Near end of class, the lawyer asked several penetrating questions about ki, how it worked, what it did; said she was having trouble grasping the concept. I went back and forth with words until the DEA head (the hard style karate guy) said, Bill, show her Unbendable arm. This was such a simple and direct way of "explaining" at least one aspect of Ki that I had forgotten it (although we had done other demonstrations earlier.) After the unbendable arm example, the young lawyer was more confident in the "existence of ki as an energy". I learned that since ki and ki aikido are experiential, then letting folks "do" is a lot better than "telling" them. As with me when I first went to Merrifield, I had to do the things before I became convinced. How quickly we forget. A humbling and good experience. I found it interesting, too, as I tried to show sayu undo my own practice became more steady and confident. Fascinating! I passed out a print out from Merrifield dojo entitled Understanding Mind and Body Unification. To my surprise, one of the new folks said he had heard of the Merrifield dojo and the Virginia Ki Society and had been meaning to check it out. He was an advanced hapkido student. (easier to deal with than the beginning hard style karate student). FYI: most of the people coming to these sessions are based in the WDC area. I am encouraging them to go by the Merrifield dojo when they get the time and are back in DC area. Many of the people have expressed interest in a reading list or bibliography on ki and ki aikido. I am going to print off copies of the list of reference books Carol Schifflett puts in the back of her book and make those names available. Also, Will's book, Ki A Road That Anyone Can Walk, has evoked a great deal of interest. Can people buy the books (both Carol's and/or Will's) directly from Merrifield dojo should they be interested? Finally, I think you would be proud, there was lots of laughter and chuckling throughout the sessions, with me, of course making fun of myself a lot (smile). People are enjoying themselves, George! I am learning, too. Still only worked on Shomenuchi Ikkyo Irimi. Will a do another technique next time. Worked a lot with the four principles and "relaxing completely". The hard style folks have the hardest time giving up rigidity and strength in their practice. but they are and can. The most satisfying moment for me was when the hard style karate fellow (the DEA Chief) came up to me after class and said, "Bill, I must tell you, there is something to what you are telling us about this ki "stuff". Its amazing, I wish I had learned about this years ago." I guess maybe I can get the idea across (smile)! Keep in touch. Again, I value your observations, comments and guidance as I continue with this experiment. For the next few sessions we will work on Ki development and only one or two aikido techniques each session. K.I.S.S. (remember that). 10/24/98 The session today, 7 Nov, was very fun. We reviewed Ki principles, I let the Colonel lead discussion a bit here, and we began to practice munetsuki kotegaeshi tenkan. Didn't do the three palms up pin, but will do next week. Worked a lot on the tenkan movement of the munetsuki and in using ki instead of force/muscle on the wrist bend . I noticed something about extension of uke's arms during the tenkan and stepping out after the turn for better ki extension and use to bring uke to the mat. Did some ki breathing and ki testing afterwards alone with udemawashi and other ki development exercises. Class lasted one hour and one half and everyone enjoyed it. Had 7 folks and one new one. An old student dropped by to say he was managing the school's SAT tests that day and couldn't make it. Another student at a social function last night said he was going trekking and would be back in a few days. Interestingly, he told my wife that he wasn't going to come to class unless I was leading it. I just met the fellow so found this comment something to think about. Kind of flattering too, If I say so myself (smile). I have a couple of learning questions for you: 1) Re: ki breathing: Is there a set or approximate length of time that should be maintained for inhaling and then exhaling? I don't remember you teaching us that way? One of the students said she had a hard time on the inhaling part (sic-holding the breath) but not so hard a time on the exhaling. Have you run across this before? 2) BIG STRONG STUDENTS- The DEA chief is like a middle linebacker and keeps using his strength. He understands intellectually that ki-aikido is not that way; he is a diligent honest student and wants to learn. He said he has to unlearn all that he had previously learned in his hard style of martial arts. His stances are low, and he grunts during techniques. He's learning. However, sometimes when I attempt a technique with him (to show him and others how its done) he is immovable. I am trying to find his ki and lead him into and through the particular technique. It seems that when properly applied, a strong man's strength should not affect ki. Thus I have surmised that I am missing something. Don't know what it is but suspect that its being preoccupied with his strength and thus must, as a teaching nage or teaching uke, sense his ki THRU his strength, blend with it , ignoring his strength and move with extended ki. (Does that make any sense?) He outweighs me by fifty pounds and is low to the ground--seems like that shouldn't matter. Any ideas? Its an interesting personal challenge for me as I continue learning. Seems like I recall a similar problem with some of the more physical students at the Merrifield dojo. One of my personal ambitions in KiAikido (and in life) is not to be physical, but yet not be bothered by the physicalness of others. I can be physical and have been and have studied the more physical martial arts. But its not the way. So it becomes disconcerting when I find a physical uke or nage who appears (and I repeat) appears to be unaffected by my attempts to use ki in exercises or techniques. Now, near the end of today's class I noticed that with this physical fellow, I began doing better with moving him with ki--but I was really really concentrating on extending. It wasn't subconscious or immediate--it was with conscious effort. Normal or Not? As a learning tool for this physical guy, I purposefully paired him with a slightly built female student with no prior martial arts experience. It was great, George, to see this guy trying to work out the riddle of ki vs. strength with this petite female whom he could have crushed with one good forearm! We all three laughed heartily as he worked through it. Anyway, everyone had fun and learned something. As a final comment the DEA fellow said to me "Bill its clear to me that you really have to know these techniques before they will work in a real situation. " I said," true, but that he already had a great deal of information that could possibly save his life or the life of an attacker in a street confrontation." He asked what that was and I told him he had learned about the universality of ki and that inherent in that principle is the concept of non-dissension. He nodded and looked as if he had been hit by an anvil. All in all a rewarding one and a half hours for all. Next week will review munetsuki k.t. and look at katate kosatori kokyunage irimi tobikomi. Will do some rolls. Still didn't do any this week. 11/7/98 More will appear in following issues - don't want to use up this good stuff all at once. I have, of course replied to Bill's questions and the program moves on. There is a lesson here for all of us - "What you have learned today you can teach another tomorrow.". one of Sensei Tohei's cardinal observations. CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER I want to wish all of you a very festive holiday season. Norma and I will be hosting my Mother again this season. The annual New Year's party will be hosted by Sensei Maxine Wright. Norma has decided that last year's party will be out last. I guess it was about our 17th. We had to stop some time and this is as good as any. I want to express my gratitude to Maxine for taking over this joyful responsibility. Norma and I will be there and assist in the preparation. Hope to see many of you there. Directions will be at the Dojo along with a sign-up list. Please indicate whether you are coming. I know from long personal experience that an advanced head count can be a real boon to the hosts. REPEAT ITEM: There is still some confusion about the purpose of the open training sessions on Saturday. While the purpose of the new schedule is to provide time for students to practice what they have been studying, it is NOT just for advanced students. A senior student will be available to answer questions by all levels of student and provide individualized instruction for those junior level or new students who attend. This is a good time to get your questions answered about specific techniques or Ki Development. NEW ADDITION: The after noon open practice session has been attended only by advanced students. Therefore I am establishing the following procedures, effective December 19th. The afternoon session will be held on a sign-up basis. There will be a permanent sign-up board. Those students who may wish to train Saturday afternoons should sign-up on the list during the week. On Friday I will check the response and determine if there is a person on the list who is authorized to open the Dojo. If there is such a person I will assume that the Dojo will be open. If there is no such person on the list I will contact someone to be present to open the Dojo and monitor practice. Those of you who were able to attend David Huang's Sho Dan test really had a treat. Congratulations, David on a job well done FROM THE INTERNET My first instructor (long, long ago...), Jonathan Smith Sensei of Cleveland, had a great comment he used to encourage people who were struggling with rolls: "Aikido is about transforming the fear of falling into the joy of flying." He's right. Donald C. Reed Hmmm, I was always under the impression that O'Senseis aikido underwent significant evolution (revolution! :-)) over the years. So much so, that I hear some of his early students dismissed the art that he was practicing in his later years. I've also heard that he encouraged different students in different directions depending on their interest and ability. For instance, he gave Nadeau a scroll that says: "Teach the aikido that cannot be seen with the human eye." or something similar. In my eyes, that's humanity. A broad spectrum of responses to what all could agree was a phenomenal martial artist. We can only hope that we are picking up a spectrum of the mystery that went with him when he died. I suspect that if anyone really 'gets it' in quite the way that he did, they too will stand above the crowd and be recognized. In the mean time we are left with a wonderfully wide array of approaches, opinions, and angles to immerse ourselves in, to banter about, and to guide us toward revealing our own mystery. Luckily, as I have in this post, we can pluck a piece of the puzzle presented to us and run with it. Cheers, Michael Braden DISCUSSION ITEM: This is a part of an ongoing discussion. Dennis is in Florida and Dan is in New England. Both are teachers. Well Dan I agree it is all about individuals but I disagree we are not alike. We (as budoka) seek a higher self awareness and in so doing a higher since of being. We begin to understand their is a difference between human being and being human. If all we are doing is becoming more adapt in the physical art, we are, I think, wasting our time. I achieved yudansha rank in Judo and Karate, I underwent sever physical training in the 1960's and I have used all my training in defense of my life. In all honesty I must say that I have also been very offensive in mind and action. I have been fortunate in my life to have had , and have, very good teachers. Men of skill and character. Men who sought not only physical perfection but spiritual growth as well. This transcended the narrow confines of secular description. For the last 30+ years I have concentrated my effort on Aikido. It is, in my opinion, not a distillation of another art. It is an evolution of budo. You chose your path and for your own reasons stay on it. Some of us have walked a parallel path Dan. However, for our own reason we sought a different path and in the art of Aikido we found that which we were seeking. It is not because we are less qualified we seek this art, but in the case of myself, and several of my friends, it is because we are, if possible, overly qualified. I try very hard not to be condescending to anyone. If this post sounds that way I apologize. I am not a real literate man and I made some real unclear posts when I first started on the list. However, with time and the help of a spell checker I got a little better. There is no self doubt here Dan! Also if Aikido is not your discipline, then are you qualified to make such statements? From my interaction with several folks from the Daito Ryu I could make the assumption that they are very envious of Aikido and it's notoriety and popularity. They are quick to say Aikido is just watered down Daito Ryu. However, that would not be true of all I have met. In fact not even the majority of those I have met. Take Care, Dennis Hooker TRAVELS During November I stayed in the Washington area and, other than a visit to Charlottesville, have no plans for December either. It will be good to take it easy.