VKS KI TRAINING NOTES, OCTOBER 98 NOTICES: OCT INSTRUCTOR'S CLASS The October class will be held on Saturday, the 17th at 1:30. Steve Kendall will be conducting the class as I will be out of town. We will be discussing a new seminar series I am planning for this year. SEMINAR SERIES I am initiating a series of seminars focused on the many faces of the Aikido related martial arts. On October 11 Sensei Shiro Shintaku will be conducting a class on Iaido. Later I plan to ask him to teach the Aikido he learned from Master Michio Hikitsuchi, 10 Dan, Aikido. Subsequent seminars will feature instructors from Aikikai, Iwma, and Tomiki and possibly j jitsu and tai chi. Comments please. GUEST AUTHOR Peter Boylan Mugendo Budogu, LLC. The Finest Martial Arts Equipment From Japan To you. I originally wrote the following in response to someone else's musings about the differences between the goals of Aikido and the classical Japanese bugei (martial arts) All of the koryu bujutsu were relentlessly Confucian in their attitudes about people and loyalty. You trained for one purpose, to serve something greater than yourself. Your lord was expected to be a finer human being that you were. That this was frequently not the case wasn't really relevant. If your lord had failings, it was your duty to help him correct those failings by serving as a positive example. The Hagakure, while an interesting book, and having many, many failings (the biggest one is that, as Donald Keene points out, it's more of a huge, 17th century, Emily Post for the samurai set, than anything else. The vast majority of it has never been translated into English because it's a dull treatise dealing with the proper manners for every situation imaginable). That said, the second chapter, which is often translated something like "The way of the samurai, I have found, lies in death." The whole point of the section is simply that you cannot truly serve your lord unless you have ALREADY given up your own life. You must treat yourself as already dead, so that your own desires will never have any opportunity to get in the way of doing your duty. The koryu bujutsu were not designed to turn men into soulless killing machines. On the contrary, they were intended train servitors of the highest moral character, who could carry out their duties and responsibilities, regardless of the personal consequences. All of them assume that a student will be well-versed in the writings of Confucius, Lao Tsu, Mencius and perhaps a branch of Buddhism as well. The idea that Aikido, or any of the modern "do" for that matter, represent some sort of monumental transformation of the goals of the classical ryu is almost entirely derived from the work of Donn Draeger, particularly his books "Classical Bujutsu" "Classical Budo" and "Modern Budo and Bujutsu." In them he makes a strong distinction between the "jutsu" and "do." In the decades since he attempted to analyze the Japanese martial arts using that device, it has been realized that he did a grave disservice to all of the Japanese arts by trying to divide them so simply. The terms jutsu and do simply are not actually relevant to describing the goals of any of the martial arts, classical or modern. The classical arts never titled themselves x-jutsu or y-do. They were always Shin Kage RYU or Mugai RYU. "Ryu" means stream or flow, and carries with it an idea of a continuous river, from one generation to another. Appellations such as "jujutsu" or "kenjutsu" were nearly always added from outside the ryu, to describe what weapons the ryu focused on. What is most unique about Aikido are its ideas of universal love and harmony. The techniques are certainly not unique. They are only so many ways to fight empty-handed, and I don't think we're likely to be discovering any new ones. Even the means of arriving at them is not unique (not with several thousand ryu having existed at one time or another in Japan alone!). Most of the classical ryu (and all of the large ones), and all of the modern "do" emphasize developing the whole student, and see having to actually fight as a sign of immaturity. What is unique about Aikido is its emphasis on "universal love" and "universal harmony." The koryu were generally less universal and more concerned with the world directly around them, anything beyond that was left to the kami. So no, the classical ryu did not seek to train heartless psychopaths, anymore than Aikido does. After I wrote the above, someone else asked for some clarification, and I wrote some more. It's not that the samurai obeyed their lord regardless of their own repugnance for the task, but that they obeyed their lord's commands regardless of the consequences for themselves as individuals. Thus, if it meant dying a horrible death, you did it without flinching. If it meant living a long and horrible life, you did that without flinching as well. If the lord was so reprehensible that you morally could not countenance it, you remonstrated your lord, PRIVATELY. If he still wouldn't act in a moral and upright fashion, you quietly and without fanfare, opened your belly and died in order to let your lord know the depth of your dissatisfaction with his actions (a not unheard of activity in Japanese history, Mishima being the last person to do it, though he was hardly quiet about it). The samurai was expected to be the highest moral standard, and the various koryu trained their practitioners to meet that expectation. As for the morals they adhered to, as I said, they were relentlessly Confucian (actually neo-Confucian, but I don't think there are many out there who really care about that degree of difference). However, it was a neo-Confucian outlook with a decidedly Japanese twist. The Japanese put the warrior on top of the heap, instead of the bottom, and made his duty the maintenance of the state, and the welfare of the nation. They were expected to strive to become sages (the Confucian and Taoist equivalent of an enlightened being). There were even debates among the great Buddhist thinkers of the times over the role and duty of a samurai, and over when it was a samurai's moral duty and responsibility to kill (see Soho below). Again, not, I think, soulless killing machines, nor men who followed their lords' orders without thought or consideration. It is simply that they were not to take consideration of their own welfare into account. Everyone else's, yes. Their own, no. Worth reading in this respect, I have to recommend: Soho, Takuan. The Unfettered Mind. Translated by W. Wilson. Published by Kodansha International. Letters by the Zen master and tea master Takuan Soho to Yagyu Munenori, second headmaster of the Yagyu Shin Kage Ryu. In particular the third letter. The Family War Secrets Book by Yagyu Munenori. Translated by Thomas Clearly and published together with Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings under that title. Fridy, Karl. Legacies of the Sword. University of Hawaii Press. An excellent history and analysis of on koryu, the Kashima Shin Ryu, by a man who hold menkyo kaiden and shihan licenses from the ryu. Karl Friday is a professor of history at the University of Georgia, and has written an excellent book that covers all the aspects of this ryu, including it's ethical side. (Peter and I correspond on the Internet. When I saw this particular item I asked him to expand on it for use in this news letter. Because of its size and message I have placed it here rather than under the Internet Segment.) CHIEF INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER We are in a year of renewal. At Merrifield we have made several business decisions which should help us with our financial position. Monthly practice fees have been raised by $5.00, several instructors have volintarily decided to participate in the financial support of the Dojo at a regular rate through monthly donations. We have completed the paper work necessary to begin selling uniforms, books and training materiels. While the price of merchandise will be below that of commercial establishments, the profit will assist in our financial health. We have increased our advertising and are enjoying an influx of new students who are adding to our program through their presence, their fees and their questions about our training. Peninsula has closed its dojo in Grafton and opened two programs, one near Yorktown taught by Steve Zimmerman and one at Langley Air Force Base taught by Charles Kirk. Guy De Wolf will be the Senior Instructor of both locations. FROM THE INTERNET The following item is from a thread on the Internet dealing with the issue of violence in our schools and some of the lengths to which school administrators and governmental elements have gone to try to curb that violence. Discussed were several incidents of water pistols and nerf guns leading to suspension and even expulsion. Some of us were talking last night after class about the problem with violence in schools, and I think some of the problems we have in the US are related to the fact that there is no accepted forum for kids to fight and settle dominance relationships. There is a tendency in society and especially in the school system to see all violence as being the same, but it isn't. There seems to be a need for kids to "arm wrestle" - to physically try each other out - that isn't satisfied by sports. I'd like to see martial arts providing this sort of forum, where they can do this in a contained situation, but I think there is too much unclear thinking about this in the establishment that regards all violence as bad. This idea grew out of seeing my son bullied at school as long as he felt constrained not to use aikido, and as soon as he took care of the problem physically, the two of them became good friends for a few years at least. I've heard of similar cases, so this isn't uncommon with boys at least. (I was really impressed that he was doing what I'd told him to do, then he realized there was a problem and he came back and told me about it, I told him this was an appropriate situation to use martial arts, and he did. He didn't even get in trouble with the school.) Note that I'm not talking about the sort of violence related to drugs and crime in school, nor about guns in schools, though I suspect these problems would be reduced if there was more opportunity for the sort of low-grade fighting that has always gone on in schools. What do you folks think? Alan Drysdale Last month I received the following statement from Sensei Kirk Fowler in Arizona. I agree with his philosophy and pass it on to you for your information. Promotion Requirements Arizona Ki Society I have had many students ask me (besides the published requirements concerning time in grade and hours) what I look for in promoting students in the dan levels. This will be a philosophical statement which will clarify the deeper meaning of our studies and the character traits that are considered important not only here but in the Ki Society as a whole. We should all of us try to be good citizens of our country and friends to all other nations and peoples. while all of us enjoy our civil rights some forget that with rights (or rank) come responsibilities. as members in good standing of the Ki Society International we are obligated to spread the teaching of Koichi Tohei Sensei. the primary responsibility then is to teach and practice Ki Development in all of our activities, not only in the arts of Aikido. Tohei Sensei has pioneered a method of coordinating mind and body that is without parallel in the modern world. For something to be considered a science the results must be duplicable by researchers anywhere. if something is true in Japan it must be true in the United States and everywhere else. If only Tohei Sensei and no one else could understand coordination of mind and body it would be amazing but of little value. We have been given a gift for which we should be grateful. The best way to show our gratitude is to pass his teaching to others. As we progress our Ki becomes stronger, it is essential that we use this power to help others. It is wrong to use Ki only for self. There is a tendency in the United States for people to have a belief in "radical individualism". While we are all individuals it is important to work for the common good. To work for the common good means that we must control our ego and put the good of the organization before ourselves. of course an enlightened self-interest is healthy and necessary but if we mature no further than this we are incomplete as human beings. There is to much meanness and bitterness and not enough kindness and forgiveness in the world. We should be grateful for the good things in our lives and not worry so much about that which is not perfect. Higher ranks in the Ki Society should demonstrate the above. I consider character, Ki Development, service to the organization as well as an understanding of Aikido arts when I promote students to higher rank. KIRK FOWLER, CHIEF INSTRUCTOR ARIZONA KI SOCIETY TRAVELS During October I visited Pittsburgh on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th where I conducted a weekend seminar and perform testing. Of particular note was the advancement of Gary Zajac to Sho Dan. On the 6th I went to Hampton to conduct testing and hold the last class in their Grafton Dojo. Of particular note was the advancement of Steve Zimmerman to Sho Dan and Charles Kirk to 1st Kyu. Between the 15th and 19th I will be in St. Louis visiting Sensei Mark Rubbert and the St. Louis Ki Society. On the 21st I will be holding class in a Dojo in Edwardsburg, MI with Fra. Jim Karaffa while visiting my Mother in Indiana. Finally, I will be in Middletown, Virginia with Sensei Don Slayter for the 31st. As you can see, I will have precious little time at the Merrifield Dojo. George Simcox