Awase is the newsletter of the Aikido Institute Davis, a dojo where you PDF
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Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE Awase Winter / Spring 2012 Newsletter / Aikido Institute Davis Awase is the newsletter of the Aikido Institute Davis, a dojo where you can learn the arts of Power Awase Aikido and Tisa tih eC nheiw. sletter of the Arises Aikido Institute of Davis, a dojo where you Relationships in tFhroem D ojo cTanh leea Arnw thaes aer tns eofw Asilkeidttoe arn dis T paiu Cbhliis. hed Sustained Tthwe iAcwea syee naewrlsyle,t taenr dis phuabrlidshceodp tiweisc eo f yearly in spring and fall. By Hoa NewensD, iSsceinpslienie past issues may be viewed in the dojo library. The third rule of our dojo etiquette states: “Upon Please visit our website at entering the dojo, focus your mind on training”. AikidoDavis.com for information on It means that one comes to the dojo to train, not m embership & class times. for any other purposes. One should leave other activities and mental states outside the dojo. It also means that as we enter the dojo, we are only students and teachers and sempai and kohai. Dragon, Pearl and Power There are no husband and wife, father and son, boyfriend and girlfriend, attorneys, doctors, Hoa Newens Sensei gardeners, professionals, unemployed, etc. IOnnsi dthe et hoec cdaosjioo,n w oef athree aTlle ntrtahin Ainngn ipvaerrtsnaerrys oatf vtahrei oAuisk ildeov eIlnss. tWituet ree Dlaatev iws iwthe edaecshig ontehde ra ans tirnasvpeilrearst iaolnoanlg t htheem pea tfho,r eaa ct-hs hpierrts tohna lte iandcilnugd tehse otnhee bimehaigned oafn ad rfoislilnogw dinrga gthoen ocnluet achheinagd. a T bhael l owniltyh g tohael nisu mto bmero v1e0 fionrswcrairbde wd hthileer heoelnp i–n g others. Any other goal or incompatible activity artwork by Kori. Next to the dragon is would dilute the training focus and possibly displayed the phrase “Power Arises from cause injury - physical, mental or emotional. Sustained Discipline”. W hen humans relate with each other they extend t2h0ei1r2 e inse trhgeie Ys etoa rc oofn ttahcet Danradg monin agclec.o Trdhiins g to etxhceh oarnigeen toafl eznoedrigayc sis, hpernedceo mthien aimntalyg pe hoyf stihcea l if idt rinavgoolnv.e sT hmeo dstrlayg pohny issi caa ls ycmonbtoalc to,f i pntoewlleerc taunadl iwf iinsdvoomlv eisn meaossttelyr ne xmcyhtahnogleo goyf , thheonucgeh ttsh, e ermefoetrieonncael itfo i pt oinwveorlv. Desr aegxcohnasn ggeen oefr afelleyl ivniges f,o r atnhde sppeiarirtlu oafl iimf imt ionrvtoallviteys aenxdch aarneg oef otefn m ore sduebptliec teende wrgiyth. such a pearl in their claws. Our dragon is clutching a pearl with a number ten, Each of these four categories of relationship representing the ten years of operations of the invokes a certain type of energy that has specific Dojo. This dragon seems to be excited because characteristics and manifests according to specific rules. The rules for intellectual energy 1 are different from the rules for the emotional energy. One cannot use logic (a rule of the Aikido Institute Davis 638 Cantrill Drive, Suite B, Davis, CA 95616 530-297-1215 www.Aikidodavis.com Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE it apparently found the pearl that crystallizes How to find this discriminating wisdom? ten years of sustained discipline into power. Return to the source. Why is the dragon excited with the pearl? The dragon sought the source and found Each human being is imbued with power, Power. being the child of the Divine. But how strange. It does not feel like power. The power to create. It feels like Power is gone, that Wisdom is The child remembers her origin and naturally nowhere. Only Benevolence is. longs for the omnipotence of the divine The dragon is excited because it stumbled on Mother. In the divine Creation, infinite Power Benevolent Creation. and infinite Wisdom balance each other, Power providing the fuel, Wisdom the direction of Creation. Hoa Newens Omnipotence and omniscience are two December 2, 2012 aspects of the divine Mother. True Power is always driven by Wisdom. Down in the human world, wisdom does not always match power, Setting Goals / Celebrating Community Hence, the misery of the human condition. Bruce Donehower Human consciousness is a mere drop of the In Aikido, as with other activities we pursue ocean of divine consciousness, in life, it is very important that we set goals. Yet, over time this drop, by sheer intent, can Having a goal adds definition and form to our attract deposits of pure energy practice; it can give us encouragement as we And build itself into a pearl of human power. devote ourselves to repetitive day-‐to-‐day For the pearl to be a gemstone rather than a exercises. plain stone, the energy layers must be pure. The purer the energy the more the potential. But setting goals is not just something we To keep only the pure energy and discard the should do for ourselves. Goals are important rest is the constant work of the human Intent. for the dojo community, or for any Over time, a long time, as long as Intent is at community in which we play a part. It is work, important to recognize that when we strive The pure energy that gels around the human for a goal in the dojo we also play a role consciousness takes on power, encouraging others to stick to the discipline The power to create. of the art. If goals were merely a personal This is how power arises from sustained affair, we could practice aikido in a cave. But discipline. of course Aikido is a very social art. Thus, The Chinese call this kung fu, or sustained when we achieve a goal, such as a kyu rank, effort. we encourage others to continue their efforts. A pearl can also be manufactured out of impure materials. One of the ways we build community at the Such pearls can only adorn and impress but dojo is through community celebration when have no power. goals are achieved. For example, we have a How to attract only pure energy and build rank board. Although it is true that a person’s true power? individual effort determines his or her Discriminate with wisdom. progress through ranks, by celebrating the 2 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE achievement of rank in a public way we also newsletters; we can look back and remember acknowledge that without the community of who was here, and when. the dojo we could not have practiced to achieve rank or have made any progress at And when I think back on those who have all. We need the community of the dojo just been here over the years, I understand how as the nage needs the skillful uke. That’s why important it is for the community to gather it is important that we take note of rank together to celebrate one another’s efforts achievement after tests. When we gather and presence. Setting goals and celebrating together at the rank board to celebrate achievement is one way we do this. When we someone’s accomplishment, we also gather at the rank board to take note of celebrate the dojo as a community. We affirm someone’s progress, we don’t just our shared enterprise. We affirm our shared acknowledge the individual. We acknowledge goal. one another and acknowledge how we all share a common purpose and goal. This gives everyone encouragement to continue. It gives the community strength. I used to think that rank and goals should be private affairs. Now I have come to appreciate how acknowledging rank and goals in a public way builds up the dojo as a community. Without a viable dojo community, we cannot practice Aikido. We need each other in order to progress. That’s why the moment at the rank board is so important and why we need to take a moment to acknowledge when goals are set and achieved. Sensei has talked about this in class several times, and I find his remarks to be very true. Bruce moves his rank tag up to Yondan! So let’s set goals and strive hard to meet them as individuals, but let’s also not forget Over the decades of my Aikido training I have that we can’t achieve our Aikido goals alone. been a member of four dojos. Three of those The next time we stand at the rank board to four dojos disintegrated and collapsed while I celebrate someone’s progress, let’s was a member. Not a very good success ratio! remember that we are celebrating Only the dojo in Davis has continued. This is community. Building and sustaining a an important accomplishment. When I think community is hard work and very difficult. back over the ten years I have been The social art is the most difficult art. Small practicing at Aikido Institute of Davis since it rituals, such as advancing our wooden blocks opened, I am surprised by how many people I on a rank board after tests, remind us how have known during that time. So many important it is to work together to achieve students have come and gone! I sometimes our individual goals. If we didn’t think it would have been nice to have ledger acknowledge these moments in a public way, in which each student signed his or her name then we might as well say that we don’t need and perhaps left some personal remark, as in a dojo community to practice Aikido. We a guest book. At least we have the could just go do suburi in a cave, throw 3 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE around some stuffed dummies, and twist a even-‐tempered baby, but like any baby, he few tree limbs. And of course, that is not true. was an implacable, immovable force. There It is silly. Aikido is a social art. That’s how was no redirecting him. There was no taking Osensei saw it. We can’t get there on our control of the situation from him. There was own. no avoiding, no retreating, no realigning. He needed what he needed, and my job was to give it to him. Resistance was not an option, and though I conceivably could accept his demands in such a way that I stayed on my previous trajectory (in other words, preserving the way I was accustomed to living my life and the person I was before he came into the world), that would only put me right back where I started. The handful of occasions when I attempted this, or resisted and let my aggravation show, would do nothing productive at best and actually frighten him at worst. He had no way of distinguishing “Daddy is sleep-‐deprived” from “Daddy hates me and is preparing to Marion, Kori, Bruce and Martin celebrate community devour me.” following Bruce and Martin’s dan exams. Center of Gravity Justin Azevedo Ever since my son Colin was born in 2010, I’ve had more than one conversation and done a lot of thinking about blending. That is the common joke among Aikido practitioners, and we’ve even had a semi-‐famous Awase article about it: how to blend with baby. A new parent must relearn everything about themselves— when they eat, how long they sleep, and most importantly, how to physically handle this tiny, frail, messy new human that is so completely dependent. The new parent needs to hone their awareness, Aiki Dad: Justin with his son Colin. so that assessing the situation with the baby at any given time is as unconscious and Instead, I learned to take the fall. What’s the reflexive as breathing. worst thing that could happen to me? I lose a few hours of sleep, and have to focus more on Just as with Aikido, everyone will approach my wife and child than on myself? That their growth as a parent differently, under doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. I’m fully their own terms. As for me, I actually didn’t capable of doing that and coming out the see this process as blending at all. It was other side unscathed, if I let go and roll with more like ukemi. Colin was an extraordinarily 4 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE it. In fact, just as I usually rise from the mat how does a dedicated student of the art after a particularly fast or spectacular fall balance budo with work, family, and other with a smile on my face, I’m finding I rather life obligations? enjoy this transformative process. My priorities have always been set with The blending comes later, I’ve found, at least family at the top of the list, but having a child with the nuts-‐and-‐bolts process of raising a reinforces those priorities with resounding child. Colin is two years old now, and has finality. A parent who is anything close to a opinions. Many opinions. About a staggering decent, functioning person cannot help but array of things. So, now I get the chance to make their son(s) or daughter(s) the most blend, redirect, distract, and retake the important thing in their life. And so, where center. I have that useful ukemi experience, does that leave everything else? Work is too, so the occasional kaeshi waza (temper necessary, since it allows you to provide for tantrum becomes acceptance of a new yourself and your family. In an economic option!) or henka waza (naptime has climate where being a public servant like me definitely and unexpectedly arrived; change means understaffing, increasing workloads, of plan!) will even appear out of all this decreasing pay, and demanding schedules, blending. there isn’t much room for negotiation. Becoming a parent also doesn’t erase one’s Through this process, I’m finding that role as a husband, wife, or significant other. blending with baby is a more subtle thing So, what is left for the self? With the scant than merely adapting to the needs of a child. remaining time and energy the parent of a It’s adapting to the person I have become small child has, how do they choose to while accommodating those needs. As I improve themselves, or do something they mentioned, Colin is old enough to understand enjoy, or simply find a quiet space in which to what is going on around him, accurately recharge? express his desires, and ask plenty of questions. One of those questions is often When new Aikido students are finding their this: “Daddy home?” footing on the mat, we teach them to blend, because blending is one of the fundamental All of that work towards building a concepts of Aikido. The most important harmonious relationship with my shiny new aspect of blending, in my opinion, is keeping nage has had a very nice payoff: the little guy within one’s own center of gravity. We stress likes me a great deal, almost as much as I like this concept often, as well: balance. Don’t him. So when I’m not home playing and lean too far forward. Don’t retreat too far spending time with him, he notices. He wants back. Don’t draw up too far off the ground. to know when I’m going to show up. Otherwise, it won’t take much to have your feet swept out from under you. Being aware This is where the blending truly happens: of and in tune with your center of gravity is negotiating the one-‐way trip into being part what gives you a chance to blend with an of a family. I did this once before, when I attacker in the first place. married and became part of a whole. But as I’ve mentioned, parenting requires much I have had to rediscover my center of gravity more figurative ukemi, and therefore much over the past year. For a while, I found myself more compromise. This is another theme that tense and resistant. often shows up in the Aikido community: 5 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE I had a training schedule that I had grown accustomed to! So I have been working on my stance. And as we all know, sometimes that isn’t as simple I don’t want to fall behind, and let down as just shifting or taking a single step and Sensei, or my sempai, or my kohai, or myself! then, like magic, you’re perfectly aligned. Often, you have to take more than one step, Aikido is important to me, so I will continue and make a series of minute adjustments, to train as always have, as if nothing has before you find yourself back in a stable, changed! secure hanmi. I train when I can. I endeavor to be on the mat no less than once a week, I was in danger of pushing my weight too far when time allows. While on the mat, I keep forward, too intent on my own line and not complete focus, and train as intensely and aware of what was beside me or behind me. wholeheartedly as I can, since that time is One little push, one unexpected change, and newly precious. I train off the mat when I can, something would give— my family, my work, as well, occasionally physically, usually my peace of mind. Besides, that mindset is mentally. I have let go of my anxiety about dangerously close to a competitive one. It’s meeting quotas, fulfilling requirements, and healthy to set a standard for oneself and keeping my place in line. If adjustments need strive to live up to expectations, but I found to be made, one way or another, then I make myself worrying about very specific things: them and then examine how tenable the new training day totals, and speed of rank situation is. No second-‐guessing, and no over-‐ advancement. I don’t do Aikido to compete thinking. I know what my priorities are, and I with others. I can turn on my Xbox if I want to know how to find my center of gravity. do that. Perseverance is part of our dojo’s motto, and So the natural reaction to that realization is is represented within our logo. I have found to heave back in the other direction. Maybe I in my time training in Aikido that I progress need a break. Maybe it’s time to quit until best when, every year or so, I find something Colin gets older. Maybe I’m too spent, too specific to focus on and refine. This coming tired, too frazzled, and need to spend what year, it is this: perseverance. I will persevere free time I have doing something less in my training, and trust that I will know demanding. Retreat, lean back, retreat, lean what that means just as reflexively and back. unconsciously as I breathe, or as I find my center of gravity again when I feel it slipping This is not to say that, sometimes, such a away. And by doing this— by blending with reaction may be warranted. People do need a baby, and with everything else— I am rest, sometimes. I routinely take one when starting to learn an important lesson that I I’m sick or slightly injured. Sometimes life will one day be able to pass on to Colin, once does intervene to the point where one must he is ready to learn it. take an extended break, or even quit Aikido entirely, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But that isn’t where I was, not yet. I was panicking, and rationalizing the act of giving up all of the work I had done as if it were the only alternative. The atemi caught me by surprise, and I was losing my balance. 6 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE That was by itself another wonder, the ability to synthesize most of the errors into one fine point where the group could improve. Then as the classed continued, I realized that I was better able to better grasp the finer details of the technique on the bench than when I am on the mat. It was as if I was detached or in a higher state of consciousness. In contrast to my observation on the mat, I think sometimes I am blind, or my mind is totally wandering on a minor tai no henko wedge aspect. inflate beach ball settling I guess ultimately, it would be nice to have that clear picture of the technique matching refrigerator our actual practice and be one with the technique and Uke. -‐-‐Kent Standley, A Haiku So once in a while come and sit on the bench, but then go and practice, practice and get more practice… Sitting On the Bench Remy Cordier One day, after injuring my knee I came to the dojo to inform Sensei. I decided to sit on the bench and watch the class. After the warm up, Sensei demonstrated Morote Dori Kokyu Ho. We practice this technique at every class, and every time I struggle with it. But this time on the bench, I was better able to see what I was struggling with as I watched the other participants having their own struggle. Some were turning too far from their Uke, some were unbalanced after turning and before lifting their arm, others were not dropping their hips, shoulder or elbow. It was so obvious to me to see some of their Remy and Kathleen practice hanmi handachi during the flaws; it was as if my own practice was in December 2012 advanced class. Come support Remy as front of me in a mirror. Then Sensei stopped he prepares for his Shodan exam, which will be held the class and reinforced one fine point that February 23rd, 2013. summarized the overall struggle at that time. 7 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE As we know, a wonderful goal in Aikido is misogi, the cleaning of impurities in order to bring more light and clarity to our body and mind. With Aikido, we are not just doing a sport to be fit, but we are also constantly working internally. I think that just as we learn in our other relationships we learn on the mat. As we become more mature, we realize that in Aikido or in life it is not the partner who is to blame for our difficulties, but that these difficulties point to us. Partners on the mat just bring challenges so that we can learn and grow. In life it might be a boss or friend or enemy, in Aikido it might be the black and blue spots on our arms. In Ikkyo: Marion and Kori, circa 2009. life we can run away, be in denial, or become untruthful—or we might use superficial words. But in Aikido our partners are always The Fun and Challenge of the Uke/Nage in our face. There is really no place to hide. Relationship We have to face the facts on the mat. Marion Donehower Over the years, I responded to challenges on the mat in different ways. For example, my The fun part of Aikido is also the most first answer was to respond with hardness to challenging part. It is the uke/nage hardness and with stiffness to stiffness. That relationship. In other meditative or martial was not very successful. It gave me a broken arts, we can develop ourselves by observing collarbone, a concussion, broken toes, a and paying attention to our inner life. But in dislocated or “frozen” shoulder, hyper-‐ Aikido we have the added difficulty that we extended elbow, and other injuries. When I always have to work with a partner. Although think back to my first accident, the collarbone I believe that this is tremendous fun, I think it break, I remember how much fun we had is an added difficulty. Your partners in the flying through the air. My friends and I were dojo are always there; they are like your in our twenties, and we all felt invincible. Not family. To develop relationships on the mat is until later when five people were injured not so different from developing other with collarbone breaks did we think about relationships outside the dojo. our behavior more closely. But even then we never thought about the uke/nage As a psychotherapist, I know that in order to relationship. Without much self-‐reflection, be successful the first person you need to we used each other as tools, as objects to understand and wrestle with is yourself. That make us look cool on the mat and or to have is an ongoing lifelong process that never self-‐centered fun. We had started Aikido to ends. You have to wrestle with limits, your transform ourselves and the world, but abilities, your shortcomings, and you have to actually we missed the whole point! Ego-‐ try working on yourself in an honest way. I centric as we were as youngsters, we didn’t believe that this honest work will show in pay attention and didn’t care for the person your body and in your uke/nage relationship. next to us. We never thought that the door to 8 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE change and transformation was right there in I sometimes need the slightest touch of a the moment! It was our partner and partner to give me stability when I fall or ourselves and how we related to each other! move too fast. A partner helps me to rebalance because I can hold on to the arm or Now that I am older I have become hopefully fingers a split second longer, a reassuring a little bit wiser through necessity, and I try touch usually not even visible to others. to answer yang with yin by becoming softer and more relaxed. Of course that doesn’t I was touched by the words of Anno Sensei, always work all the time because all human who is in his eighties and is the head beings are different and the Aikido situation instructor of the Shingu dojo in Japan. He said is different at any moment. I think Aikido that we have to bring joy to our uke. It helps you negotiate your relationship and surprised me when he said this because I felt other situations in an individual way and to that Aikido was more than moving together always have a beginner’s mind. There is harmoniously and working on techniques. certainly no “one size fits all” approach to Maybe he meant that you have reached a relating to an uke. All you have is your level where you work for the sake of the technique, but we have no clue how the uke other—you step away from your own will respond to the technique at any given improvement in order to help the partner or moment. They might get too stiff; they might beginners—you’re more concerned for their get too soft; they might get mad; they might experience than “looking good”; you don’t not know what to do at all and get hurt. worry about your own success. This might not be visible to the outside world, but for me In my work as psychologist I work with it is the mastering of the art. I certainly have patients on their boundaries. Your boundary a long way to go to reach that level. I am determines how you will relate to the world. certainly not selfless, patient, or loving yet. Some people have tight, thick, closed walls Maybe sometimes, but usually I struggle. Of around their bodies like armor, and no one course, if we were perfect our Aikido would has access to them. Other people are the be perfect, too. To bring joy to our uke, all we opposite; they are wide open and have to do is to open our hearts to our unprotected, and anyone can hurt them. Even partners and the world. I believe that this is when they get hurt, they can’t say stop. The visible: for example, watching Sensei Hoa uke/nage relationship helps you to negotiate doing Aikido with his sons and watching the and balance out these yin and yang parts. We doshu with his son last year in Honolulu are able to be more grounded, focused and made it clear to me. The aura of love and relaxed in the moment. caring was visible, and this creates depth in the movement. I feel that we come to the My own journey in Aikido has been changed essence of a clear ki expression through such through losing my physical balance due to a practice. Of course there are many different brain tumor operation. After my first ways to express this essential quality. But if recovery, after I was able to get up out of the the essence is expressed, I think Aikido on wheel chair and walk without a walker or a every level will look beautiful, and in the cane, I relearned my basic techniques but I moment we will create truth, goodness, and still found that going up and down on the mat beauty as the foundation for Aikido and life. was very difficult for me. However, my partners helped me up, waiting patiently to finish the move. Even now after twelve years 9 Fall/Winter 2013 January AWASE 2012 DAN PROMOTION: Eight Tai Chi Lessons MARTIN DUBCOVSKY, NIDAN Lisa Adda I have studied Tai Chi at the Aikido Institute Davis for more than one year. As I reflect upon the notes in my journal I have identified eight lessons that I have learned and applied to my every day life. 1. Breathing: Whether I am cooking, cleaning, studying, and/or working, I’ve noticed that my breathing is shallow in my chest. Now I take time every day to “feel the breath in the belly, the sides, and the back.” I breathe as though the air is not only filling my belly but the spaces between the bones of my body. Try this: When standing in line at the grocery store waiting, perhaps a little impatiently, for the person in front of you to finish counting their change or negotiate a coupon take a moment to breath. Keep the breath in the belly and the line at the register will move faster. 2. Maintaining Balance: It is very easy for the body to lose balance. Perhaps, I am carrying something heavy or the shoes I am wearing do not evenly support my weight. The body tries to compensate for the shift in balance or an increase is weight that is unevenly distributed on the right or left side and this results in body aches, pains, or worse injuries. Try this: Find a comfortable and safe place to stand on one leg (away from any furniture). Notice how the slightest movement of the shoulder or hip makes it difficult to keep your balance. Now try standing on one leg with your purse, coat, or something you carry with you often. Notice how the weight needs to be evenly distributed so you can maintain your balance. 10
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