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17 April 2008 - 7:16pm AIKIDO STRETCH BLACK BELT PRESENTATIONS EARTH DAY LUNTAO/AIKIDO DANCE JAM BLACK BELT FORUM
AIKIDO STRETCH 2008 April The minimum extension in height from the Aikido Stretch appears to be .5 inches. For some it was much more. In no cases did the stretch happen horizontally.
Thank you worthy participants.
The most important feedback from the day is, "more all day classes."
We were together for almost 12 hours. We all pushed through periods of tiredness with focus in tact.
The "stretch" is really an extension of awareness and consciousness. We had time to investigate and retry and experiment with movements and mental states that we quickly pass through in regular classes. We all made discoveries about Aikido and about ourselves.
NEXT STRETCH: JULY 2008
BLACK BELT PRESENTATIONS Tom Okamoto, San Dan. Friday night, April 18, 7:45 pm . Tom deserves this rank much more than most. He has been doing Aikido since 1970 or so, but because of moves and not being tight with any organization he has been passed over. Tom is more than qualified for this promotion. Come to his presentation. You will see some excellent Aikido and you'll experience some big energy.
Robert Medieros, Sho Dan. Saturday April 19, 1 pm . Robert invites all to his house afterwards for food and booze.
EARTH DAY Sign up to play with us in Victory Park April 20. We will be there from 11 am – 5 pm . If you can't help out with playing on the mats in the park, come by anyway. It is usually an excellent event.
LUNTAO/AIKIDO DANCE JAM Beginning April 30 at 6:30 pm , the Luntao sisters will host 10 weeks of AikidoMai. They will be coached by performance artist and writer, Lisa Powers. This is Betsy's and Allison's black belt project. The 10 themes will include: Earth/Foundational/Feet/Legs, Water/Spine/Arms, Fire/Belly & Pelvis, Air/Lungs & Heart.
All New School Aikido students must attend one of these classes in order to promote to the next rank. Be of good cheer. Few things are better for you than dancing.
BLACK BELT FORUM Are you a new school aikido black belt? If yes, you are invited. Tuesday May 13, 8:15 pm Topics so far (feel free to email me other topics): Black Belt Classes? All day Advances and Stretches? Black Belt teaching events? School location after February 2009? Black Belt demo team? Black Belt curriculum? Bring your ideas!New School Aikido (209)951-8085 28 March 2008 - 4:06pm YOUTH UPDATE ADULT PROMOTIONS AIKIDO STRETCH APRIL 2008 ORGANIC FARMING A NECESSARY REMINDER
Training schedule for Easter week, Jr Black Belt presentation and kyu rank promotions!!!
Happy Easter! Since there are such divergent school schedules and vacations, we have decided to disregard the whole thing and teach all classes as normally scheduled. There will be no spring break from Aikido, only a spring forward!!!
On Saturday April 5th at 12:30 right smack in the middle of the Aikido Stretch, Cody Balthazar will be presenting for his Jr Black Belt. Cody has been a character from his first day at New School Aikido more than three years ago. I have very much enjoyed his wit and enthusiasm for Aikido. I am very much looking forward to seeing what he has to say!!!
Belt Promotion dates for the rest of 2008 are as follows: June 28th, September 27th, December 20th (Promotions that day will be followed by a dojo sleepover)
Kyu rank Promotions are enormously important to the overall excellence of the youth program. Once every three months the kids and teens are gathered together and are asked to perform the work they have been doing. All students are expected to attend all kyu rank promotions regardless of whether they are promoting or not. All promotions are held from 1:30 – 3pm unless otherwise stated. Friends, family, cameras and video taping are welcome and encouraged.
Many people have asked me why we do the promotions in this way and it is one of my favorite questions. My answer is simple: People are social in nature. Children being able to show their parents and peers the work they have done and receive a belt in a big group with lots of ceremony is a very powerful experience. There are aspects of our psyche that don't reveal themselves except in relation to our greater community as a whole. The aspect we are most concerned with as regards the youth program promotions is that of significance (An individual's acceptance and integration of the support of their greater community).
The other qualities of a healthy child you can find in the youth program's curriculum are personal power, personal capabilities, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills, systemic skills and creativitiy.
If you'd like to chat more about any of these, let's chat!
Dan Matlock Senior Instructor Youth Program Director
SENSEI BIRTHDAY PARTY
from the press release:
IS SIXTY THE NEW FORTY?
"Yes it is," according to John Smartt, Founder and Owner of New School Aikido, "60 years is the midpoint of life."
At fifty-nine years of age, John Smartt has become a Stockton institution. His New School Aikido has served over 3,000 children and adults, teaching principles of non violent self defense and keys to living a more harmonious and healthy life.
On March 29th, he will be celebrating his 60th birthday and the 30th anniversary of New School Aikido and invites the public to join him. “I am only halfway through my life,” he smiles, “and I want to celebrate with the community that has supported me all these years.”
The Midpoint Birthday Celebration takes place at New School Aikido on March 29th from 2-5 p.m. at 8909 Thornton Road with free Aikido lessons, black belt demonstrations, music, and food. “In traditional Chinese medicine, sixty is the halfway point of a healthy life, so you see I still have many healthy years ahead.” Smartt smiles as he explains he feels better now than ever and that getting older does not mean having to lose our stamina.
He explains that Aikido is a self defense “art” that develops Chi. “Chi is life energy. It is the energy of love and healing and leads to a safer, happier and longer life,” Almost sixty years old, John Smartt is fit and trim with blue eyes that twinkle with vitality.
“My healing teacher in Japan told me: As you get older, your energy gets stronger and your intuition sharper. If people flow with the increase of energy in their old age, they get healthier. If they don’t, they get sick. As we age, we have access to more chi, but if we do not flow with it, it makes us ill, but if we do, we expand our range of creativity and aliveness.”
Here in the US, we all have been taught that getting older means a reduction of energy and power, but Smartt says that this is not true. For this reason, he says it’s never too late to start Aikido—or any health affirming practice—after forty.
He claims that teaching and practicing Aikido for three decades helped him both build his life energy and also to have an outlet for its expression, so now as he approaches sixty he looks forward to teaching another sixty years.
“Aikido always energizes me. I can’t wait to see what the next sixty years bring.”
Smartt was trained in traditional martial schools in Japan where he studied for several years in Tokyo and in the small fishing village, Shingu. He was certified in 1975 to teach Aikido by Grand Master Hikitsuchi Sensei. He has built upon the traditional Japanese culture and art, adapting it to the needs and lifestyle of Americans. He offers tools for self-defense, greater stamina, right relationship, leadership, and greater self-acceptance.
“The practice of nonresistance is at the core of all I teach.”
Smartt founded New School Aikido in 1976 and has trained thousands, promoted hundreds of black belts, and inspired the establishment of New School Aikido dojos throughout California and the country, including South Carolina, New Mexico, and Oregon.
“John’s been at the forefront of nonviolent self defense here in Stockton and throughout the country,” says Dan Matlock, long time student and business partner at New School Aikido. "John at 60 does Aikido like he's 25 and dances like he's 18. I was inspired by him as his student over 20 years ago and he continues to inspire me now that I am teaching at the dojo.” When asked his thoughts about aging, Matlock joked. “We’re not getting older here at New School Aikido…we are definitely getting better.”
No matter what age, everyone is invited to the free Midpoint Birthday Party and New School Aikido OPEN HOUSE that will include black belt demonstrations, free lessons for all ages, live music by The Blues Weasels, and complimentary refreshments.
For more information, please call (209) 951-8085. Young or old…or mid point...all are welcome!
ADULT PROMOTIONS
Monday April 7, 6:30 pm
Teresa Aguirre Orange Belt
Monica Radrigan Orange Belt
Jean Liu Orange Belt
Kiriko Ohata Orange Belt
Sheila McClain Utzig Orange Belt
Tuesday April 8, 6:30 pm
Randy Ribali Green Belt
Bob Betz Red Belt
Alex Rose Special***
Darryl Ribali Special***
Stephen Becerra Special***
Dwain Robinson* Blue Belt
Milan Radak* Red Belt
Jessica Semler Red Belt
Thursday April 10, 6:30 pm
Diana Morikawa Blue Belt
Jessica Russell Blue Belt
Dave Coffey Blue Belt
Joe Luntao Blue Belt 4th Kyu
Avery Klemm Special***
Dayland Thompson Special***
special*** these promotions are to showcase teens on their way to adult black belt.
Saturday April 5, 2008
sunrise to sunset
Osensei required intellectual and artistic study outside of regular Aikido practice. He was aware of the athleticism and the asceticism traps.
Read and choose areas of the below writings. Write a one page commentary on some portion and turn it in before April 1, 2008. Also be ready to share, question and discuss Aikido and related topics.
My visit to Japan in late 2002 was extremely instructive. Not only was I reminded of the need for better nutrition, but I was also reminded of why the periodic “stretch” is so important and why we are New School Aikido and not a branch of Japan’s Aikido Organization.
Number One: deep movement in the legs allows us to relate to many more kinds of movement and to be more flexible and strong.
Number Two: the wave concept is alive and well at New School Aikido.
Number Three: the sumiotoshi randori allows us to move in unity from the very beginning.
Number Three point Five: sumiotoshi as concept helps us tune in to our instinctual response and leave fear, attack and defense out of our practice.
Number Four: AikidoMai gives us the go ahead to be open and spontaneous.
Number Five: conscious application of Love as the core ingredient in Aikido keeps us attuned to Aikido’s real purpose.
Number Six: ground techniques (courtesy of Bear Gamboa) open a bright new area of play and understanding.
Number Seven: promotions instead of tests allow us to unwind test anxiety and embrace sharing.
Number Eight: a high tech mat moves us toward research, play, experimentation and joy.
Number Nine: no toleration for bullying or intimidation flows naturally from our emphasis on love as the true core of each movement.
Number Ten: strict attention to body mechanics as health, play and love keeps us free of pain compliance and directed toward safety & positive resolution.
Number Eleven: ongoing study of and reconnecting with Osensei, Martin Luther King Jr, John Coltrane, Deguchi Nao, Deguchi Onisaburo and Noguchi Haruchika.
Number Twelve: readiness to embrace love and light outside the teachings.
Number Thirteen: commitment to expanding love and light in all areas of our lives.
All of this got me thinking. We all need opportunities to stretch ourselves. We also need intense periods of practice to establish or to re-establish the basics of Aikido. And to accomplish this we need enough time on each of the various aspects to have a deep and permanent experience. Hence, THE AIKIDO STRETCH 2008.
Sun gazing explanation and preparation 6:30 am
Sunrise 6:43 am
Breakfast 7:30 – 9 am. Phillips Cafe
Aikido 9:30 – 12:30 am. technique, critique, questions, discussion
Lunch 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Tea, vidio & discussion 1:45 – 2:30 pm
Aikido 2:30 – 5:30 pm. technique, critique, questions, discussion
Recovery 5:30 – 7 pm. aikidomai, katsugen undo, meditation
Sunset 7:33 pm possible dinner and/or drinks
$108
24 participants 18 currently enrolled
Morihei Ueshiba’s Boxing and Muhammad Ali’s Aikido
by Nev Sagiba
Muhammad Ali has been criticized by people who don’t have a clue. Ironically they called him a dancer. And dancer indeed he was because he moved well. A masterful one. He may have been a boxer but he was also a fighter and a great one at that, because his boxing was full of refined Aiki strategies.
As with good Aikido, people do not see what is actually going on, but what their mind tricks them into believing seems to appear. Such is the plight of a mind which does not see. To see you must know. To know you must do. To know properly you must do lots and well; and where the amateurs give up, you must continue till it becomes an involuntary response to both see and do correctly and with precision.
I’m not about to spell out each Ali fight. Watch the footage for the fine points. If you know your Aikido you will see it in every fight from the very first to the last and final. Make no mistake about it; Muhammad Ali is a master of Aiki.
A rougher example was the rope-a-dope in Zaire. But the fine tuned nuances are something to behold.
If you know your Aikido you will know that in Aikido application, proper and real kuzushi (to level, pull down, unbalance, demolish) (not the clumsiness of throws) and kansetsu (joint locks) are reliant upon atemi; and they enable each other. In both cases, it’s not how hard you either hit or push but how correctly you move. Moving correctly is a different dimension to hitting or shoving: Atemi and Kuzushi become ONE! Physics. Therein lies the magic that is Aiki.
You cannot perform Aiki in a real situation without initiating atemi. If you don’t understand this, then please stay away from any situation that may require you to “prove” Aikido in survival, or you will give Aikido a bad name.
Watch the few precious movies with Morihei Ueshiba, thankfully preserved and made available mostly by our very own Stanley Pranin. Watch them well. Watch O’Sensei boxing.
Now boxing per se is not a combat fighting method. Far from it. But it is the superlative method for atemi-irimi which enables a clean follow through in real combat. If you know how to fight, once you are in, you’ll know what to do. And moving in, is what it is all about. If you know Aikido, not merely the name and some rote, you will understand the process. Fighting is not safe. You must enter into the opponent’s centre and this strongly otherwise it will very quickly become even less safe.
O.K., so there is no grueling ring competition in Aikido. Nor should there be, because we are not training for tinsel glory, but to serve life instead, by improving ourselves. So you can allow yourself recovery. In this way, this Shugyo, you propose. Only then will Kami dispose.
The paths of Aiki-Budo are not for the faint hearted or the insincere. In the dojo, just like the paramount boxer, we question everything and improve ourselves by incessantly correcting errors with ruthless honesty in ourselves, and optimum courtesy to our training partners.
Some years ago I was sharing an O’Sensei video with a friend, a top level boxer.
All he saw was the boxing. “I’ve never seen anyone box as well as that old guy,” he said. “Look at his superlative footwork. Look at the entries. Look at the quick strikes. That other stuff is magic…”
My friend still considers the solid base of Aikido, and how kuzushi comes about, as almost magical, but that does not take away from his incisive perceptiveness. He is very quick but Aikido does him in. If he trained, he would understand it and become very good. He already has the irimi capabilities but like most people he gets mystified by tenkan.
Others I noticed doing good intercepting Aikido (there is no other kind) was the guy in the footage with the walking cane, also Nishio Sensei, Saotome Sensei and Saito Sensei.
True Aiki becomes an involuntary response. It cannot be an opinion, a head-trip, an idea, a preconceived notion or a bunch of concepts. You train the basics until you drop, then you start training and the Aiki comes out naturally. If you are sick, your Aiki becomes stronger because your raw strength is depleted and then aiki must emerge, since in this case you have nothing else left. If you are really attacked, I mean attacked, not someone grabbing your wrist or raising their voice or rolling their eyes, but ATTACKED, then your Aiki will come out naturally because real action is much faster than thought (If you’ve been training). If you have time to think, it is not a situation that does not have alternative options to engagement.
The true Aiki is the gift of Kami, Kannagara no Michi. It is a gift that must be earned through severe training, no excuse making and as an offering to Kami in a process of surrender to a higher harmony that transforms you.
By the way, if someone raises their voice, the counter is simple. You raise your consciousness and the loud vexatiousness soon starts to look ridiculous, as does your own reactive tendencies. Then instead of attacking with a holier-than-thou mindset, you deal with your stuff. It’s good meditation practice.
Agitation cannot be calmed by adding more agitation? 98% of the time taking a step back and a deep breath enables you to see the canvas a little differently. And multiple alternate options to engaging. Hyperactive interference is not necessary and only denotes mental instability. Most of the time things settle by themselves without injecting hubristic ego into the equation.
Regular training begets results. With the Aiki body comes the Aiki mind and then the Aiki spirit. It is a process of Alchemy. If you serve death instead of life you are the antithesis of all that is Aiki. Aiki is the life current of the universe and is best found in unconditional selfless service with pure motives. Us mortals can tap it but only when we correct ourselves and only to the extent we have done so.
When you train seriously despite the clingy objections of the opinions that are being shattered, magic happens. It is a process of letting go, through and through, and of letting God, through and through. It is almost a dream akin to those precious moments of total renewal one experiences following Inipi.
Kami will not reciprocate because of intellectual concepts, ideas, wishes, hopes, requests, mouthing of prayers or merely waiting while occasionally dancing too safely. It has to contain an element of risk and you must pay the price by putting the work in before the ideal and the practical can become as one.
If you are not prepared to walk through fires of Shugyo, you will never know Aikido, only have opinions about what you imagine it may be. The prayer, the real prayer is in action. Sweat, pain and change. Then getting up and going back for more. Transformation does not come easy. In the universe everything carries a price and the one thing that will not buy Aikido, is money. The universe is not interested in that currency. It wants your sincere sweat. Devoted boxers train like that till they burn out.
I often wonder about good boxers learning Aikido. Few take up the offer. All the people I have known who came from an atemi-based budo, quickly developed Aikido that shines. It’s because they know and understand real maai. Why real? Because they learned it through pain when getting it wrong! The others dream on and make excuses instead of taking the trouble to expand their repertoire. Too painful for the ego to submit to change and learn something new.
The classic excuse to top all excuses is that “Aikido is all nice and cute and harmonious and it has a philosophy and it’s all about some dream.” You can believe that if you wish, but harmony has nothing to do with fairy tales. If you cannot cut it practically, you ideas about what you think is harmony will get you killed.
If you can actually defend, then most of the time you will not have to engage, because knowing that you have backup that actually works you can confidently proceed creatively without fear of attack. Most, not all, attackers seeing this and feeling it, tend to back off and start to deal with their stuff because they intuit the alternative.
The fruit of Aikido is that it enables attitudes of mind that empowers the de-escalation of violence. In the majority of cases it works perfectly to achieve this result. If not, you have the backup and when the choices are taken away, you simply use it.
In this case it will be reliant upon interception, irimi, atemi, aiki, kuzushi, kansetsu and then whatever other adaptivity is required in each unique circumstance to finalize.
Atemiwaza are not usually effective as final techniques. But they are superlative methods of achieving a brain blink, enabling entry to effect kuzushi.
Only One Way Is Possible
I have heard it said that an Aikidoist could slightly alter his or her technique and cause another serious injury; that an Aikidoist chooses a more peaceful method; that an Aikidoist blends with instead of working against another. These statements imply a moral high ground for Aikidoists. And thereby a negative judgment on others. They also imply that good and bad are two aspects of one reality. That we can have some bad mixed in with some good. No!
Only one Way is possible. One cannot be peaceful with a backup plan of violence or injury. This makes peacefulness or kindness a subtle type of manipulation or coercion. First be nice, if that doesn't work, then hurt them. This method turns Aikido into a fantasy of smiles and good wishes that cover fear and/or intimidation.
Only one Way is possible. Aikido is not a more peaceful method of budo than karate or kung fu. Aikido is fundamentally different that other budo. The opposite of violence may be peace. Aikido is not peaceful. It is creative and revolutionary. It is part of the creative science of survival. Aikido does not cause injury. Rather, it constantly discovers new and unique ways to enhance our survival.
A reading teacher who had never heard of Aikido had a gun pulled on her in class. She had a moment of panic. “Everything became calm and slow,” she says. She recalls bits and pieces of the incident. “I felt love for him and talked to him as if he were my son,” she says. The young man surrendered.
Other budo are part of the science of destruction. They are based on the idea that for me to survive the other must perish. This may in some cases be true. But it is not the guiding principle in Aikido. In Aikido instinctual love is the guiding principle. It is a love that fills us with survival power when needed, with romantic excitement when needed, with stamina when needed, with creative imagination when needed and with respect and appreciation for all things.
Love is the guardian deity of everything. Nothing can exist without it. Aikido is the realization of love.
--Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido
Only one Way is possible. An Aikidoist never works with an attack. All attacks are instantly rejected. An Aikidoist works with others. This is a crucial distinction. All attacks are mistakes. To recognize them in any way affords them more priority than they have. In the best of cases an Aikidoist preempts all possible attacks through creative engagement of the other.
An Aikidoist, George, visited his biker brother, Henry, in Idaho. George went with brother Henry to the local biker bar. George noticed early on that one of the bikers at the bar took an immediate dislike to George's presence. An hour later George found himself at the bar with Henry on one side and the unfriendly biker on the other. George talked to his brother about education and the students that he handled regularly. He could feel the tension coming from the biker to his other side. The biker shifted his position into one that would allow for a strike. As he did this George calmly turned to him, placed a hand gently on his shoulder and said, “You don't know me, and I don't know you. Let's keep it that way”. The biker relaxed and turned back to his drink. All tension gone George went on talking with his brother.
In the not as good cases an Aikidoist confronts and deletes both the attack and the mind that created it.
Bob's parents own a bar in an old neighborhood. One evening while he was visiting, one of the patrons became loud and unruly. Bob's dad asked him to be a bit quieter and ease off the angry language. The patron took offense, pulled a knife and began to move toward dad. Bob moved in between dad and patron. The patron stabbed at Bob. Bod did a flawless Aikido technique called kotegaeshi, disarmed and pinned the patron. After a moment of quiet the patron apologized for his behavior and began to cry out of gratitude for Bob's kindness. Both knife and anger were gone.
In the late-to-the-party cases an Aikidoist responds at the last moment and may not remember how anything happened.
A small female Aikidoist, who had practiced Aikido for about 1 year, was walking through a park when she felt something hit her from behind and tug at the arm with which she held her purse. In the next instant she was kneeling as a young man went over her head. He landed, tumbled, got up and ran. Sally was as surprised as her assailant. She has no memory of how she got the much larger man airborne.
The Dignified Struggle
Every time I feel competitive with my partner I am in error. My beliefs and habits have created an unreal separation between my partner and me. Every time I exude skill or authority or power to impress others I am in fear. My fear of pain or hurt has erected an edifice of defense. Every time I demand respect I am a victim. My cherished idea of respect has facilitated a strategy of blame and demand.
Osensei tapped into an invisible structure that lovingly protects all things. When we are in it, all is effortless and joyful. All the techniques left to us by Osensei show us this loving structure in visible, touchable form.
In terms of practice, the repetition of this vision of loving reconciliation (Aikido techniques) formats our minds our bodies with freedom, health and ease to a degree that will allow us the option of finding the source of Aikido.
The art of Aikido, shows us so many aberrations in ourselves. The dignified struggle is the one to embrace and correct these mistakes. Aikido sets us up with an historic problem of power and death by violence. It typically brings to light our fears and faulty beliefs.
To do Aikido we commit to removing all that stands between us and love. When we choose love, we activate our “fierce no” in response to any tendencies to choose not love. Osensei used the term “shinken shobu” (live blade encounter) to indicate the level of intensity required to grasp Aikido. Our “fierce no” to all that is not love can bring us to this level of intensity.
We renounce the achievement model in favor camaraderie. The relationship to our partner is always more important and more instructive than the success of any technique. In the end the only worthwhile achievement is love.
We do not repress our emotions in favor of “peace”. Spontaneous expression and acknowledgment are prerequisites to healing or correction. All of our negative emotions need to be acknowledged, examined intuitively even as we practice our art. Our too hard pushes and too resistive pulls simply show us our failure to grasp Aikido as love.
We do not suppress our thoughts in favor of rightness or goodness. We need a constant expansion and re-integration of our ideas and concepts. Aikido techniques frequently become our dogma. Their correctness can supersede our relationship to love and to our partners. Being nice by holding back or accommodating our partner serves only to distort our relationship with him or her. It leaves us both confused and outside of Aikido.
We do not resist our instincts and intuitions in favor of conformity. Our spark, our uniqueness, our flavor is in our instincts and intuitions. As we appreciate the idiosyncrasies of others we free ourselves to be other than “normal”. Here in the unusual and different are all creative and magical moments, new techniques and fresh approaches. These undo conformity and excite us into community.
Aikido is so very simple in concept and so very very complex in application.
ORGANIC FARMING
If anyone is interested in joining an organic farm distribution group (we would use the dojo to distribute organic produce) contact Sensei at 4aikido@sbcglobal.net
The first link below is the BBC reporting on organic farming in a major city. The second is an article about the transition to organic.
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=18
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=361#more-361
A NECESSARY REMINDER
These soldiers deserve our gratitude for speaking out. They are all under extreme pressure to conform to standards that are inconsistent with our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and our agreements with other nations. These soldiers are largely ignored by the mainstream media while invasion cheerleaders are showcased. What a system!
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/17/7730/New School Aikido (209)951-8085 |