Yushinkan Dojo Newsletter: March 2011 | Toyoda Aikido, MMA and Kendo Center

Volume 1, Issue 1: March 2011

Letter from the Editor:

Throughout the history of the Toyoda Center/Yushinkan Dojo, many of the instructors and members have shared their passion and insight of Aikido (and all arts taught at the Toyoda Center) via the various forms of the dojo newsletter. As the seasons cycled, so did the the newsletter receiving a well deserved slumber after the many years of service. Now, spring is here. 2011 is the year for us to get this party started, quench our thirst for knowledge, and look forward to upcoming events!

The Yushinkan Dojo Newsletter is an open forum for writers of all arts to contribute and share their martial experiences and life philosophies. No longer bound to printed pages, we have the freedom to display media as never before possible and make it all available with a click of the mouse! Announcements about seminars, testing, and gatherings will be posted. Igniting our creative spark will be poignant editorials and humorous works. A “Blast From the Past” section will contain articles published in the newsletter’s previous incarnations. Please make no mistake, we need new article contributions from our readers in order for the newsletter to expand.

March 2011 is the first of our monthly online publication and there are many aspects still in its transformational stages. Firstly, the name will change depending on a future poll of our readership. The formatting and presentation the newsletter will be alter for better readability. Thank-you for being patient as we awake from our hibernation.

Happy training!

Hung Le
Contributing Editor

The Way of Harmonious Spirit

By: Anonymous

Aikido is not just something to do two or three days a week. It is a way of life, an understanding of the universe. It is overcoming personal challenges and pushing to become better. There is a hunger, a yearning for something deeper than the surface. There are five spirits of budo, or the Way of martial arts. In this sense, it doesn’t mean inflicting pain or death in war. The idea of budo is about being one with the mind, body and spirit. Being aware of these five spirits will eventually lead to aikidoka understanding the physical, mental and spiritual aspects.

Shoshin is having a beginners mind. Attending seminars is an excellent way of keeping things fresh. Different parts of familiar techniques are emphasized by different people. Aikidoka should always remain open-minded and eager to learn.

Zanshin, or lingering mind means following an entire technique from the beginning, during and through to completion. It is a state of total awareness and being ready to react. True zanshin is being focused and keeping the connection even with multiple attackers.”A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind.” -The Art of Peace.

Mushin can be defined as no mind, a mind without ego. It is also mushin no shin, mind of no mind. In this state there is no emotion or judgment. It is being free to react without hesitation and having no indecision. “If your opponent strikes with fire, counter with water, becoming completely fluid and free-flowing. Water, by its nature, never collides with or breaks against anything. On the contrary, it swallows up any attack harmlessly.” -The Art of Peace.

Fudoshin, is having an immovable mind. It is being physically and mentally courageous. It means not being affected by internal and external surroundings. Fudoshin allows aikidoka to receive a strong attack and blend with it while maintaining balance and staying rooted.

Senshin is purified spirit or enlightened attitude. It is a spirit of compassion that recognizes all life is sacred. It harmonizes the universe and embraces humanity. This is the hardest to achieve and understand and can only come with time.

Take the time and entwine these lessons that are so often forgotten into everyday life. “Always practice the Art of Peace in a vibrant and joyful manner.” -The Art of Peace.

Blast From the Past:

Article initially appeared in Vol6, Issue 1: March 2004 of the Yushinkan Dojo Newsletter

Ukeru

By: Sensei Blaine A. Feyen

Even if you have only been practicing Aikido for two weeks, you have probably heard the word “Uke” or “Ukemi” uttered by one of the instructors or even one of your training partners. The words, and more importantly the essence contained therein, are an integral part to training in Aikido and dare I say training in and for life.

The verb “Ukeru” means; to receive, to undertake, to accept, to experience, or to catch. Therefore, the noun “Uke” means to the one who is receiving, accepting, catching, undertaking, or experiencing. What is not expressed in literal terms but is certainly one of the underlying themes of all the definitions is the concept of responsibility. Every one of the definitions given for “Uke” or “Ukeru” implies the acknowledgment of accepting responsibility and moving forward with that “ability-to-respond” in a positive way. The term most often heard in an Aikido dojo is the adjective “Ukemi” which simply refers to the “body” (mi) and its ability to respond or experience and receive the energy (uke). We often refer to the art of Ukemi as roughly half of the art of Aikido to express to new students that the person receiving the energy and falling is not simply biding their time between turns at being Nage, or throwing, but that Ukemi is in itself an amazing art form with titanic ramifications for successful daily living.

As the time I spent with Toyoda Sensei slowly drifts deeper into history I find myself thinking more and more, not so much about his techniques, but about his word and the hundreds of opportunities we had sitting around the dinner table late at night after training listening to Sensei talk about life, beer, Aikido, the girls, the Doshu, other Shihan, and of course Ukemi. I have a very specific and vivid memory of one occasion after what I considered to be an extremely taxing Kenshusei class in which we did nothing but break falls from awkward positions and angles. Over and over and over we got up from the mat, repositioned ourselves in some strange stance reminiscent of the game Twister and then tried to quickly figure out how we were going to safely land on the mat before our training partner threw us. This went on for over an hour and a half with Toyoda Sensei never fully exhausting his creative talents and his unique ability to see further opportunities for pain and degradation.

After everyone had left the dojo for the evening and we were all sitting around having dinner with Sensei the subject of class was the main topic of discussion for us. This was our opportunity to see if Sensei actually had a reasoning behind his particular classes (we never outwardly asked him this question lest we be forever relegated to every nasty cleaning detail in the dojo) or if he simply enjoyed the pain and suffering of his most dedicated plebes (which we knew he did and this fact does not imply that he still couldn’t have had some method to his madness). We were very sly, or so we thought, about our questioning on these subjects. I will try to set the scene for you, (Sensei sitting cross legged at the Japanese style table in the dinning area upstairs at Tenshinkan Dojo drinking a beer while four slaves ran around cutting vegetables, cooking noodles, frying up a piece of Salmon for the soup and insuring that Sensei’s beer never got warm or to half glass). “Boy Sensei, that was an amazing class! I have never seen or done anything like that, as usual… (note the submissive tone and 007′esque leading technique) did you do training like that at Hombu Dojo?” “BRAIN! SHUT UP AND KEEP CUTTING! YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO TALK AND CUT AT THE SAME TIME AND I DON’T WANT THE TIP OF YOUR FINGER IN MY SOUP!”

“Hai Sensei!”

So you see, we never actually received an answer to the first round of questioning but be not dismayed, because the answers always came once dinner was served.

As we sat around the table eating, drinking, and having light conversation the subject of throwing came up, as was often the case, once again to see what Sensei had to say about things. We were all taking our turns asking Sensei about past training experiences at Hombu Dojo and which instructors were the best at Nage (throwing) and why. Sensei’s answer did not surprise me but it chilled me briefly as I recognized that I was getting a first hand account, a front row seat to the intellect and evolutionary thinking that made Toyoda Sensei such a good teacher. To the question of who was the best nage at Hombu Dojo during the “Toyoda Years” he replied, “Are you stupid? It was ME!” to which we quickly recovered, “well, yes of course Sensei, we knew that, but after you who was the NEXT best?”