Following: Official Seminar--day 1

Friday, October 16, 2015

Official Seminar--day 1

Pretty quiet day today. Got the car fixed this morning, had weird leek soup for lunch, helped move mats in preparation for class.

The seminar is being held at the community college because none of the hosting dojos (Aikido Seattle, One World Aikido, and Seattle School of Aikido) had enough room. That means this afternoon we were part of the crew loading tatami mats from the basement of Aikido Seattle into a U-Haul truck, and unloading them at the college's athletics center. We got some pretty weird looks from the table tennis players.

Then had a picnic at the park near the seminar for dinner, and Molly Moon's ice cream.

Class this evening was fantastic again. I think I'll have more to say about it once I've had time to absorb, but it was really interesting to basically do the same thing all night. There were some variations, and different training partners, but it was all the same ideas. Lots to think about.

I think Jan Sensei is getting more colloquial every time I see him. We did, however, finally find an English word he doesn't know. "In Sweden, we have this thing where you sit on one end of a log, and the person sitting on the other end goes up." "That's called a teeter-totter, Sensei." "A what?" "Teeter-totter." (Vaguely disgusted look on his face) "Yes. . . . that." You could tell he thought it was a horribly undignified name.

Hopefully pictures coming soon.

Maybe tomorrow will be the day we all unlock the secrets of Aikido. . . .

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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.