Search results for: “tomiki”

  • Aikido ™ – Kan er echt een handelsmerk op zitten? [Dutch Version]

    Aikido ™ – Kan er echt een handelsmerk op zitten? [Dutch Version]

    合気会

    Reg. No.2313434, June 28, 1991 – Registered Trademark “Aikikai”

    *This is a Dutch translation of the article “Aikido ™ – Can it really be trademarked? – Who’s doing Aikido, who isn’t, and who decides.“, courtesy of Ernesto Lemke of Seikokan Aikido.

    Wie doet er aan Aikido, wie niet, en wie bepaalt dat.

    Hier is iets wat me opviel in het boek ‘Best Aikido, The Fundamentals’ (Kisshomaru Ueshiba Doshu en Moriteru Ueshiba Hombu Dojo-Cho) die in 1997 werd gepubliceerd als「規範合氣道基本編」 in het Japans:

    Q:合気道の分派はあるのですか。

    A:確かに巷には合気会とは別に「○○合気道」と名乗っている団体が存在します。 中には、素姓の知れぬ訳の判らぬようなものもあるようです。
    しかし、開祖・植芝盛平に連ならないもの、その教えを逸脱したものは、いかに外見を似せようが、深遠そうな哲理を語ろうが、合気道ではありません。 例えば、競技試合を行っているようなものは明らかに合気道本来の姿を忘れたもので、合気道と呼ぶことはできません。
    私どもで言う合気道には分派は存在しないと考えています。分派がいくつもあるという考えは、それ自体が合気道を貶(おとし)めるものでしょう。

    Q: Bestaan er verschillende scholen in Aikido?
    A: Er bestaan zonder meer vele systemen die beweren ‘zo en zo Aikido’ te doen zonder echt te weten wat Aikido is. En er bestaan ook versplinterde groepen die gesticht zijn door voormalige leerlingen van de Grondlegger waarbij enkele zelfs zo ver zijn gegaan om georganiseerde competities te introduceren, iets wat volledig tegen de geest van Aikido indruist. Los van hoe de technieken ook overeen mogen komen, als ze gescheiden zijn van de geest van de Grondlegger is het geen Aikido.

    We beschouwen het niet zozeer als verschillende Aikido scholen. Als we te veel onderscheid maken tussen de verschillende interpretaties van de technieken zal het universele karakter van Aikido verzwakken.  (more…)

  • Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Budo Body, Part 8

    Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Budo Body, Part 8

    Aikido Journal #101

    Hiroshi Tada Sensei on the cover of Aikido Journal #101
    See “Interview with Hiroshi Tada” by Stanley Pranin from this issue

    Ishin-denshin, the “heart-to-heart transmission”

    This is the eighth and final section of the English translation of an interview in Japanese with Hiroshi Tada. You may want to read the previous sections first:

    Part 1: explore Tada Sensei’s samurai ancestry and his encounters with Shotokan Karate Founder Gichin Funakoshi.

    Part 2: find out how Hiroshi Tada met Shin-Shin Toitsu-Do Founder Tempu Nakamura.

    Part 3: discover Tada Sensei’s thoughts on “telepathy” training.

    Part 4: read Tada Sensei’s thoughts on Japanese Budo and Kata training.

    Part 5: learn about the most influential person in the history of Japan, and their relationship to Japanese Budo.

    Part 6: find out why Hiroshi Tada’s father was told never to read books on archery.

    Part 7: discover why you should never eat watermelon after a fast.

    You may also be interested in “The Day I Entered Ueshiba Dojo“, in which Hiroshi Tada recounts his first encounter with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei.

    You may notice that the tone of the interview is quite conversational. This is the way that it appears in the original Japanese – the original was not heavily edited, with the result being that the natural conversational tone was preserved. However, this also means that the discussion is sometimes less focused then a more heavily edited interview would be.  (more…)

  • Something’s Rank – Black Belts in Aikido

    Something’s Rank – Black Belts in Aikido

    Yoshimitsu Yamada Kauai

    Yoshimitsu Yamada in Kauai Hawaii, 1966

    What was Jigoro Kano thinking, anyway?

    The other day I was reading an interview with Yoshimitsu Yamada on the Aikido Sansuikai website. This passage happened to catch my attention:

    Well, the ranking system in aikido is another headache. I personally disagree with this system. A teaching certificate is okay, a black belt is okay. But after that, no numbers, no shodan, no nidan, etc. People know who is good and who is bad. The dan ranking system creates a competitive mind, because people judge others – “oh, he is sixth dan, but he is not good, this guy is much better…”

    Yamada has made similar statements before, I know, but it’s always interesting when the person responsible for handing out rank to a large number of people in several countries states publicly that he is himself opposed to the ranking system.  (more…)

  • Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Day I Entered Ueshiba Dojo

    Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Day I Entered Ueshiba Dojo

    Morihei Ueshiba and Hiroshi Tada

    Hiroshi Tada, 6th Dan, being thrown by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei (1958)

    “Ueshiba Sensei of Aiki-jutsu is the greatest Budo master alive”

    Hiroshi Tada was born in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan December 13th 1929. He began training at Aikikai Hombu Dojo on March 4th 1950. He was sent to Rome, Italy in October 1964 and established a dojo in 1966. He was Instrumental in the growth and development of Aikido in Italy.

    Until he left for Europe in 1964 he also studied breathing exercises and yoga with Tempu Nakamura, who is well known for his influence on Shin-Shin Toitsu Aikido (心身統一合氣道) Founder Koichi Tohei.

    He also studied with the Ichikukai (一九会), which was founded to continue the teachings of Tesshu Yamaoka by his student Tetsuju Ogura. The “1-9” Group was named to memorialize the day of the month (the 19th) on which Tesshu died, and is famous for its rigourous Misogi training.

    Hiroshi Tada later developed his own system of breathing and meditation exercises called Ki no Renma (気の練磨 / Cultivation of Ki) as a supplement to Aikido Training.

    The following article is a translation of the Japanese article that originally appeared in “Aikido Tankyu” (合氣道探求 / Aikido Quest), a magazine published by the Aikikai Hombu Dojo(more…)

  • Masters of the Universe, the Aikikai and the Shihan Certification

    Masters of the Universe, the Aikikai and the Shihan Certification

    Masters of the Universe

    Masters of the Universe®, Mattel Inc.

    Who gets it, who doesn’t and would you want it anyway?

    “Shihan” – most often translated as “Master Instructor”. Sound pretty important?

    The term wasn’t used much when I first started Aikido, but it seems to be the title to have nowadays.

    In Japanese, the Kanji for Shihan (師範) break down to “instruct” and “model” – or “model instructor”. This makes sense, especially considering normal Japanese methods of instruction – this would be the guy that everybody else copies, or hopes to copy.

    The usage of the word varies from art to art. Some arts issues Shihan certifications, some don’t. Some arts (like Shodokan “Tomiki” Aikido, which only has two, although it is also used as an organizational title) have a very limited number of Shihan, some have many. In Judo, Jigoro Kano is usually called “Kano Shihan”, as Morihei Ueshiba is often called “O-Sensei” in Aikido.

    What does “Shihan” mean in the Aikikai (I’m only going to talk about the Aikikai here)?  (more…)