Filed under: Aikido, Japan | Tags: Aikido, Doshu, 道主, Hatsugeiko, honbu dojo, Shihan, wakasensei, 合気道, 本部道場
The first morning practice of the year was held on January 6th. Unlike most morning classes this one started with all of Honbu Dojo Shihan present. They lined up in front of the shomen and spanned the mat with the most senior by the windows and the most junior by the door. Wakasensei sat in front of them all and thanked us for our hard work in the old year and congratulated us on the new year. He looked his title, young and perhaps a bit nervous, but he did his job well.
The mat was crowded with almost equal proportions of Aikikai dignitaries, college students (mostly from the nearby Waseda Daigaku) and morning class regulars. The theme was Yokomenuchi and there was no departure from the normal rhythm of Honbu morning class. It was a very good way to start the Aikido new year.
Filed under: Aikido, Expat, Japan | Tags: Aikido, culture, Doshu, Japan, wakasensei, 合気道
I have seven stitches across the knuckle of my right big toe — one for each of the samurai virtues (more later). The details are boring so suffice it to say that walking is uncomfortable and the doc has side-lined me until he pulls the stitches out. So I am doing mitori geiko (見取り稽古: Training by taking what is seen) again.
As it turns out, Waka-sensei was also side-lined today and we hung out together. More accurately, we sat near each other and sulked. I did take the opportunity to clear up a mini-mystery. There is a high ranking woman whose Aikido is brilliant and whose ukemi in particular is beautiful. It had always seemed to me that Doshu picked her as his uke for specific techniques (shihonage and kotegaeshi) but not for others. Since he insists on relatively bland ukemi during demonstrations it didn’t make sense that he was picking her for her tremendous acrobatic skills.
So, I asked Wakasensei what was up. He gave me a funny look and responded: “She comes after the teaching staff and does what’s next in order.” In other words, no reason, it just lines up that way. I felt like newbie Japan-hand digging for deeper meaning in something that really had none. This time, the cigar really was just a cigar.
There have been dozens of times that I have heard newbie expats and visitors searching too deeply for meaning in things Japanese. I’m guilty of that myself. In other words, foreigners often look deeply for meaning in customs, designs and what-not and they don’t always have any depth to offer (the custom may just be another excuse to drink to excess and the design may just be pretty). Desperately looking for deeper meaning in everything in this culture is a classic Japan-o-phile experience. As such, I am sure that there are many instances of meaning being attached arbitrarily to things in order to give a veneer of depth or at least wabi sabi (侘 寂: simple aesthetic taste). In my case, the seven stitches in my toe hold some skin together and had nothing to do with samurai virtues until I started writing this …
Little House In Ise 