Happy New Year of the Dog 2018 from the Aikido Sangenkai

Happy New Year of the Dog 2018Happy New Year of the Dog 2018
from the Aikido Sangenkai!

Thank you all for your help and support over the last year. 2017 was a great year of training, and we’re looking forward to even more great training with you all in the coming year!

The past year has seen the number of articles on the Aikido Sangenkai blog pass the 150 mark, with more articles translated into more than fifteen languages. For the coming year, our Sangenkai workshop for February 2018 has registered attendees from Japan, Korea, the mainland USA, Sweden and our local and neighbor island Sangenkai members as well as a large group of New Zealand and Australia Sangenkai members coming for a special intensive workshop in addition to the regular workshop, making the Aikido Sangenkai the only Aikido group in Hawaii to hold regular workshops with an international attendance.

三千世界
一度に開く
梅の花
二度の岩戸は
開かれにけり

In three thousand worlds
The plum blossoms
Open all at once –
The stone door will
Open a second time.

Doka by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba
Journey to the Heart of Aikido:
The Teachings of Motomichi Anno Sensei

by Linda Holiday and Motomichi Anno

As you can see on our New Year’s card above, Morihei Ueshiba often described Aikido as the “second opening of the stone door”. But what about the first opening, and why was it related to Aikido? For the answers to that one – check out this post about last year’s New Year’s card.

On this year’s nengajo we have the first sun of the year (初日の出) rising over Mt. Fuji. The tradition of viewing the first rising sun of the year is also linked to the story of the stone door and the reappearance of Ama-terasu Omikami in the world.

Which leads us to our thought for the coming year – a frequently cited quote from the Founder (actually a paraphrase of a Chinese proverb which has its roots in India – which demonstrates the pervasive nature of the idea across nations and cultures), from Aikido Tankyu #29:

富士の高嶺に登る道は沢山有りますが、行き着く所は一つであります。即ち愛の道であります。皆それぞれ修業の方法は異なりますが、同じ所に至るのであります。日本の武は決して戦や闘いや争いの道では無いのであります。全ての者を喜んで兄弟として行く道であります。

There are many paths to the peak of Mt. Fuji, but they all end at a single destination. That is, the path to love. Everyone has different methods of training, but they all arrive at the same destination. The martial arts of Japan are in no way the paths towards war, struggle or conflict. They are the paths which all people can take with joy as brothers and sisters.

 — Hau’oli Makahiki Hou
 — Happy New Year
 — 明けましておめでとうございます
…and much Aloha!

Izumo Taishakyo Mission of HawaiiNew Year’s Day at the Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii

Articles from the past year:

The Phantom Manual: Yamato Ryu Goshinjutsu
Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei
Aikido und die schwebende Himmelsbrücke [German Version]
Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Morihiro Saito Sensei, Part 3
Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Morihiro Saito Sensei, Part 2
Budoka no Kotae – Talking to Morihiro Saito Sensei, Part 1
El grado importa – Cinturones Negros en Aikido [Spanish Version]
Ueshiba-ha Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu [Spanish Version]
El Legado de Ueshiba – Parte 1, por Mark Murray [Spanish Version]
Cuatro Generaciones de la Familia Ueshiba [Spanish Version]
Ueshiba-ha Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu
Kiichi Hogen und das Geheimnis des Aikido [German Version]
The Ueshiba Legacy – Part 2, by Mark Murray
Aikido Shihan Sadao Takaoka – Meeting O-Sensei
Aikido Shihan Seiseki Abe – Meeting Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei
Interview with Aikido Shihan Yasuo Kobayashi – Part 2

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

4 thoughts on “Happy New Year of the Dog 2018 from the Aikido Sangenkai”

  1. Mika Perälä

    Happy New Year! Finally finished reading all the posts! So much info! Thanks for the great work! Looking forward to new acrticles during 2018 🙂

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