Following: Boulder--the last dojo of the trip

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Boulder--the last dojo of the trip

We stopped into Boulder Aikikai this evening and attended class with Tres Hoffmeister, 7th Dan Shihan. Evie had met him before at a seminar in Chicago and they had fun playing together. Here are the two of them, with Evie doing something that you should not generally do--throw a shihan. It's just not done. . .

Not really a big deal in this case, because Tres Sensei actually takes a lot of ukemi. He's kind of unbelievably young for someone of his rank--he's somewhere in his early 50s, and his "real job" is as a Feldenkrais teacher, so his whole thing is about keeping and increasing body movement. So he's super spry, and has a very collegial relationship with his students.

Somewhat incredibly, he is not the chief instructor at the dojo. That would be Hiroshi Ikeda Shihan, who was out of town (in Japan) teaching a seminar (which is no surprise, since he teaches all over the world practically every weekend). The dojo has a balcony level with couches and a great expansive view of the training area. It also appears to function as overflow space from Ikeda Sensei's garage, holding boxes of books and old calligraphy, as well as a set of snow tires and other assorted things. We also saw this:

I love it so much because almost any Aikido person could tell you at a glance that it is Ikeda Sensei, even without the type. He has such a distinctive way about him that he's unmistakable.

So as for the dojo, Tres Sensei is a man of few words, and his style of running class is very long intervals between instruction, meaning that you work a particular technique for quite a while before you have a break. This little detail matters because Evie and I both forgot one key detail--we've been training at sea level for 10 days and now we are at 5,000 feet. Jeepers, I thought I was going to pass out!

The folks here throw hard. It's just their thing. Ikeda Sensei throws hard, so we figure it's just part of the culture of the dojo. But it can make for a short career, which is part of Evie's interest in soft ukemi.

Here's a little comparison for you. The first clip is a traditional "hard fall". The second is a Jan Nevelius-style "feather fall". Both are from the same throw. Which would you want to do over and over for the next several years?

The woman in the hard fall video said that Evie's ukemi left her feeling like "a sack of potatoes" in comparison (even funnier since she has a French accent).

As usual, Evie got compliments on how soft her ukemi is, and I got compliments on how soft my uniform is. Both are deserved--my gi really is very soft!

Tomorrow: Kansas!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Aikido Glossary

These are the most common terms you'll see here. We've also prepared a more detailed glossary (see below).

Dojo: “The place of the way”. The training hall where we practice our art. In the US, many dojo are decorated with a Japanese aesthetic, but some are in racquetball courts or gyms. In the end, the dojo is wherever the people are who show up to practice.

Gi: Training uniform consisting of jacket and pants (normally plain white for aikido) and an obi, or belt. In our federation, belts are either white or black, but in many federations, there are colored belts, most commonly blue and brown, but sometimes there are more gradations. Some aikido practitioners also wear a hakama.

Hakama: The pleated pants (that look like a skirt) worn by some aikido practitioners. In some organizations, it is (or can be) worn by students of any rank. In others, it is reserved for black belts, and in still others, there are different rules for men and women (which are derived from some interpretation of Japanese ideas of modesty). It has no real practical purpose, but serves as a sort of historical link to samurai tradition.

Hanmi: “Half body.” We use it to mean an aikido stance which is sort of triangular. Front foot faces the partner, back foot points out at about a 45 degree angle. It provides a great balance of agility and stability, while offering only half the body as a target for attack.

Musubi: “Connection” or “joining”, although the word is also used to mean “knot”. A key principle of aikido because it helps avoid confrontation and collision, which lead to destruction.

Nage: The person “doing” the technique, generally the person being attacked in some way.

Seiza: Formal sitting posture, kneeling with a straight back. Tough on the knees if you are not used to it.

Shomen: The focal point of the dojo, the proper direction to face. Most aikido dojo have some sort of shrine to the founder on the shomen. Shomen is also shorthand for Shomen uchi, which is an overhead strike to the forehead with an open hand, like a classic karate chop. It's a stylized attack when performed with an empty hand, but would be devastatingly effective with a weapon.

Uke: The person taking ukemi. A good uke is more precious than gold, because he or she will help you learn better aikido not by teaching, but by creating the conditions that allow you to discover how to make sense of Sensei's teaching.

Ukemi: “Receiving” is the closest translation from Japanese. When someone performs an aikido technique on you, your are taking ukemi. It encompasses a lot of stuff, including the punches, grabs, and kicks that we use to simulate attack, as well as the falling and rolling we use to keep ourselves safe.
On a deeper level, it refers to the act of connecting with and following your partner. Great ukemi keeps you safe, allows you to be alert for opportunities to reverse a technique, and helps your partner learn better.