VKS TRAINING NOTES OCTOBER 1999 NOTICES: OCTOBER INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS The October class will be held on Saturday, the 23rd at 1:30. I will discuss my approach to randori training in our program and my approach to rank grading.. Please try to make this class - it is important. SUMMER CAMPS Summer is over - this feature will return next year. CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE TREE! When I was being trained as a soldier I was taught to travel across country using a map and compass. We quickly learned that constantly looking at the compass could get you lost very quickly. It was necessary to sight on a prominent object which was in the direction you wished to go and then keep that object in view so as to travel in a fairly straight line to the objective. Sometimes it was necessary to select a series of objets since the final objective may not appear at the beginning of the trip you are taking. You are engaged in a trip through Aikido. Where ever you are practicing, you have set your teacher as your objective and possibly selected a book or series of books as your map. As you practice your Aikido you may find that your horizons expand and so will your choice of landmarks to use as you follow your path. I suggest you chose wisely as the path you take will be with you forever, even if you make subsequent changes. This is a very personal study you have undertaken. ANNIVERSARY COMMENTS: I attended two anniversaries this past month - the 25th Anniversary at Merrifield and the 20th Anniversary at St. Louis Ki Society. The celebration at Merrifield was characterized by some very good training by Kirk Fowler Sensei from Scottsdale, Arizona and Koichi Kashiwaya Sensei from Seattle, Washington. These two men have had a definite impact on our Dojo and our training. Kirk started the Virginia Ki Society back in September, 1974 in Reston. He left in June of the next year for an assignment in Mexico and I was left holding the bag. We have grown a lot since that early beginning, first under the supervision of Shizuo Imaizumi Sensei, Chief Instructor in the USA When he left the Society to handle his family business due to the death of his father, he recommended that the VKS become an independent dojo and that I be made a Chief Instructor and Authorized Examiner. Master Tohei accepted his recommendation. Since then we have received our inspiration from occasional visits from Headquarters and the current Chief Instructor, Kashiwaya Sensei. Those of you who were not among the 83 persons who attend missed an awesome opportunity to train with two of the premier instructors from Ki Society. Sunday afternoon was taken up by demonstrations by some of your instructors, a Yoshinkin demonstration, an Iaido demonstration and demonstrations by a group of students from our children's program. Our last demonstration was by our "old man" (Bob Gardner) who showed what an old man could do with a cane and the Jo Taigi. It was truly a grand ending to a memorable day. I was surprised by a collection of letters from many of you wishing me well. Thank you. Also thanks to Pittsburgh who brought us a new clock that even I can read - do you think they are trying to tell me something? The Saturday evening cook out at Howard Kresin's home (and pool) was a highlight. Special thanks to all those who worked so hard to clean, repair and ready the Dojo for the weekend. Mother Suzuki kept the workers in line and on schedule. The Saint Louis Anniversary had instructors (Kashiwaya, Eley ((Chicago)), Reed ((Japan)) and Simcox). It started on Thursday evening with a Ki Class, and Aikido class on Friday evening and then classes Saturday and Sunday. The evening Banquet Saturday was very enjoyable with music furnished by the many talented members of the club. FROM THE INTERNET DOING SENSEI A FAVOR I've been thinking quite a bit about this thread and for what it's worth, I'll post some opinions based upon MY personal training. Here goes: What is "reality" when it comes to training? Does "reality" mean that each encounter on the mat has a true "life and death" outcome. Not in my training. My instructor is normally terse but he has shared one piece of advice that I rehash in my mind regularly. Paraphrasing, he said something to the effect, "...at your level, both you and I are responsible for maintaining a martial sense on the mat. It's my job to create the proper atmosphere that demands and fosters constant awareness with an appropriate level of intensity and it is your job to make use of this. For example, what this could mean is that you must not take for granted that a hand is just a hand. A hand can be a knife. It can be a broken bottle or a club or a foot or a chair. Visualization of this type will help build martial awareness......" What am I getting at? That in class, nobody pulls out a live blade and tries to cut me. Does this make my training any less "real"? If I am training properly (which I don't always do because it's very difficult) then NO I don't believe that it does. It's very common for people to put their teachers up on a pedestal but let's face it, they are all human beings first. They are imperfect as we are and the only thing that separates us from them is that they have taken to the path ahead of us enough to be able to show us the way. So, is it possible for them to be up there on the mat demonstrating a technique and to have an unexpected opening? I don't see why not. After all, as well as being teachers, they are also still students. I personally spend ZERO time looking for suki while I'm up taking ukemi for my teacher. The fact of the matter is that there is absolutely ZERO time to do anything else but blend with him. If I do otherwise, either consciously or unconsciously, our centers become disconnected and the dynamics of the encounter change (usually with my body taking more abuse than necessary). Hypothetically speaking, if I were to see an opening while taking ukemi, would I try to take advantage of it? Personally, I would not (unless it was explained by sensei that this was specifically what I should do)! Why not? Because a number of things could happen and none of them would I want to deal with. First, there's a damn good chance that the opening is not really there. What I mean is that what I might perceive as an opening might not be at all. Second, if there were an opening in his defenses and I was lucky enough to see it and "seize it", as someone's tag line reads, there's a damn good chance that my teacher would be able to see this attack also and deal with it swiftly. So, what kind of harm is done here? Maybe none or maybe he senses that I'm "feeling my oats" and need to be taken down a peg or two. That would get ugly real quickly and my training is intense enough without me making it more so. Third, what if he was having a bad day and I was able to exploit this opening? What would this prove? That I was better than him? I don't think so. How would it make him look in front of the class? How would it make me look? If I were to observe this behavior, I wouldn't think twice about my teacher getting hit. It could happen. I WOULD think that the uke was trying to prove something and I would be disappointed in him/her. Does this mean that these encounters are less "real"? I DON'T THINK SO! When the teacher is up demonstrating a technique or principle and I am up there taking ukemi, it is only that. A demonstration not a fight. Not a competition. Not a mugging. Just a demonstration, a REAL demonstration. Now, what about "committed" attacks? Every one of my attacks, whether with my teacher or a fellow student, is a committed one. To me the word "committed" when used in this context means that I have the intention and follow through to make contact with my attack should the other person not take appropriate action. This does NOT mean that I attack faster than they can handle it (in the case of a more junior student) or that I can receive the technique. In fact, IMO "committed" has no speed/power connotations in this context. I like to think of it as follow through and intention. Once again, by practicing in this manner does my training become less "REAL"? Again, I don't think so. On the other hand, uncommitted attacks are not proper and greatly diminish the value of training. Some other thoughts: Aikido is all about blending. In addition to other things, this means working at the level of your partner. This level, although having some loose relationship to rank, is not constant. What I mean is that I just can't blindly think, "I can throw Julie as hard as I want because she's my sempai so she'll just have to deal with it one way or the other" and then go act upon this. If Julie happens to be having a bad day and I injure her because of my lack of sensitivity, then there is NO harmony and it would show a great lack of control and martial sensitivity on my part. Training devoid of this control and sensitivity is LESS REAL and also not proper (in my opinion). In summary, thank you all for starting and participating in this thread. It has caused me to reflect on just what aspects of my training are important so that I may continue to sincerely follow my path of aikido. In aiki spirit, Mark Chiappetta CONSTANT CORRECTION 'm a lowly 6th Kyu (out of 8) and I know my aikido is truly terrible. However, there are times when an unending stream of corrections flows from my partner's mouth (when I'm truly unlucky, it's when I'm doing uke AND nage). In fact, I've even been corrected before I've begun the technique--before I've been attacked! I'm not complaining about being corrected, because I'm sure that I need a lot of correcting. However, I find it difficult to focus on what I'm doing when I'm under a barrage of non-stop dialogue. Is there a polite way of saying cut it out? I'm just not capable of fixing that many things all at once! Should I just suck it up and endure? Am I just a sniveling whiner who's lucky anyone is interested in fixing my aikido in the first place? Suggestions, opinions, anyone? :) --Andrea A. Phillips, 491 Merrick Road, #A7 Oceanside, NY 11572 TRAVELS October 20 - visit the new Noter Dame University Ki Aikido Club and Fra. Jim Karaffa October 21 - visit the Ki Aikido Club in Chatham, Ontario. November 20 - visit Hampton for testing and seminar.