Newsletter - Winter 1997 Newsletter
- Notice Board
- Principal's Comments
- Grading Results
- The Hakama and the Seven Virtues of Budo
- How to fold the hakama
- Excerpts from "Dojo Rules" published by the BAB
Courses for 1998 - Chorley Community Centre
- Saturday 28 Feb Weapons Class 2.30 - 4.30
- Sunday 1 March General Course 10.30 - 5.00 (appr)
- Sunday 26 April Weapons Course 10.30 - 5.00(appr)
- Saturday 16 May Weapons Class 2.30 - 4.30
- Sunday 17 May General Course 10.30 - 5.00(appr)
- Sunday 5 July Teachers Course 10.00 - 5.00 (Aikikai only)
- Saturday 12 September Weapons Class 2.30 - 4.30
- Sunday 13 September General Course 10.30 - 5.00(appr)
- Sunday 18 October Weapons Course 10.30 - 5.00(appr)
- Saturday 28 November Weapons Class 2.30 - 4.30
- Sunday 29 November General Course 10.30 - 5.00(appr)
Altrincham Leisure Centre Sunday 28 June General Course 1.30 - 5.30
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- For further details, contact Mr Mucha on 01695 725045
- A translation of the new grading syllabus is now available from Ian Cherry or Mr Mucha
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Editor
If any club would like gradings, information, pictures , articles or small ads published in the next newsletter, please send them to:
P. Alexander
Contents of newsletter Aikikai Home Page
Principal's Comment
I hope we all start 1998 ready for good concentration, attendance on courses, and mindful that aikido training takes place in our daily lives, off as well as on the mat.
Mr Mucha Principal, Lancashire Aikikai
Lostock-Stretford 24 July 97
Altrincham 16 Nov 97
- Grading details were published in the paper version - Not published online under Data Protection Provisions
by Kelvin Rice
- People who visit a dojo for the first time are often interested in the hakama. What is it for? Why wear it? What does it signify? This article aims to answer these questions.
- The hakama is a garment worn by the samurai, and used today in the martial arts of kendo and kyudo, in addition to aikido. The first reason for wearing a hakama is to denote dan grades and first kyu grades with teaching certificates. This enables beginners and visitors to know who to approach for help. It also means that senseis and aikidoka unfamiliar with the class know who can take good ukemi.
- In aikido training it is important that movement comes from the hips, not the shoulders. There should be a feeling of being centred in the hara, the lower stomach area, and in particular, the 'one point', the body's physical centre of gravity. Being centred in this area helps to develop good aikido technique, and is also important for the development of ki.. The hakama secured on the lower hips helps to develop this centralisation in the lower abdomen, and also provides some support to the lower back.
- Beyond this, the hakama has a deeper, symbolic meaning, connected to bushido, the code of the samurai. All cultures have examples of warriors who are also respected and wise people - samurai, Christian knights, King Arthur, Native American Indians, etc. All of these stress the importance of not just teaching how to fight, but developing maturity to provide balance and direction for the warrior. Martial technique and ability must go hand-in-hand with the warrior spirit.
- O Sensei stressed the importance of this 'spiritual' side of aikido, and explained that the seven pleats of the hakama symbolise the seven virtues of budo. The seven virtues are: Jin - benevolence, Gi - honour or justice, Rei - courtesy and etiquette, Chi - wisdom, Shin - sincerity, Chu - loyalty and Koh - piety.
- Jin or benevolence means to be desirous of doing good, and to be charitable, kind and helpful. To balance their education, the samurai studied calligraphy and poetry as well as martial arts. They developed both Yin and Yang qualities, and an important concept was 'Bushi no Nasaki' - the tenderness of the warrior.
- Honour or justice is about allegiance to what is right, earning and maintaining high respect and reputation. There are obvious dangers in teaching people effective martial technique if they cannot distinguish between right and wrong. The martial arts world sometimes suffers when the media claim that some martial artist has used their skills to further their criminal career (although the facts are often seriously distorted). Aikidoka need to develop their own principles of the difference between right and wrong, and to have the courage to stand up for what they believe is right.
- Courtesy and etiquette are seen in all aikido practices, with formal line-ups and bows, but bushido requires martial artists to act in a polite and considerate manner at all times. bushido suggests that politeness is a poor virtue, if it is practiced for fear of offending a person. It should follow from a sympathetic regard for the feelings of others.
- The other qualities that the hakama symbolises are wisdom, sincerity, loyalty and piety or sense of duty. Combined with courage, these virtues become the true warrior spirit. It is vital to practice the arts of aikido and to refine martial skills, but O Sensei stressed that the study of aikido does not just involve learning technique, and is not limited to the time that we spend in the dojo or practising technique at home.
- The hakama is an important reminder of the significance of our aikido practice.
- "From the time that you rise in the morning to the time that you retire at night, you must follow the path of aiki, and pursue the harmonisation of the world and all its inhabitants"
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Morihei Ueshiba, quoted in Abundant Peace by J. Stevens
- "The hakama prompts us to reflect on the nature of true bushido. Wearing it symbolises traditions that have been passed down to us from generation to generation. Aikido is born of the bushido spirit of Japan, and in our practice we must strive to polish the seven traditional virtues"
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Morihei Ueshiba, quoted in The Principle of Aikido
How
to fold a hakamA
Sorry content wouldn't come through to the Web page very well. Best we could do is scan the newsletter as a pdf
published by the BAB as an advisory document for clubs:
1.1 Aikido is a martial 'way' practising controlled forms of potentially dangerous techniques, therefore at all times students must give the strictest adherence to the directions of the supervising instructor, whose responsibility is to ensure safe and meaningful practice.
1.2 Students have a duty to protect the health and well-being of each other, both junior and senior. They should:
- not execute techniques in a dangerous or reckless manner
- seek to develop control in the practice of martial arts to avoid being hurt or causing injury
- never use superior skill or position within the dojo to gratuitously inflict pain or abuse others physically
1.3 As Aikido has as its ethical basis the resolution of conflict through the development of harmony in the conduct of human affairs, it therefore requires that ALL practitioners should accord each other respect and consideration at all times.
(the compete document will be circulated)
NB. Aikidoka are reminded that a respectful attitude includes not eating or chewing gum while on the mat!
Visit the BAB web site
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