Following: Seattle: Day 1

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Seattle: Day 1

Lots of great scenery between Missoula and Seattle. This is how you know you are getting close:

Mount Rainier is visible even from the east side of the Cascade mountains. We got into Seattle in time to catch a great early dinner (pizza, of course!) at Delancey, a place Evie and I had been to before and enjoyed.

Then we zipped over to Tenzan Aikido, which is run by chief instructor Bruce Bookman. Bookman Sensei came up through the ranks of the US Aikido Federation, first under Yamada Sensei and then under Chiba Sensei (for those of you who are interested in lineage) before going independent about 15 years ago. We both attended the open class, and Evie stayed for advanced class.

She'll post separately about her impressions, but we both found it really interesting to train in a completely different lineage from what we are used to, with different emphasis and some different forms. We'll certainly have some new techniques to share when we get home. Bookman Sensei was very generous in assisting us, and Evie was honored to take a good deal of ukemi for him during advanced class. Thanks to the Tenzan Aikido family for taking us in!

Thursday we connect with Jan Nevelius Shihan, who is sort of the main reason we took this trip in the first place. Oh, and we don't have to drive 6 hours to do it. It's gonna be a great day.

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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.