Noticeboard
- 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
- ..............................
- 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
- ..............................
Editor
If any club would like gradings,
information, pictures , articles or small ads published in the next newsletter,
please send them to:
P.
Alexander
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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
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Gradings
Altrincham 16 July 97
Lostock-Stretford 24 July 97
Altrincham 16 Nov 97
- Grading details
were published in the paper version - Not published online under
Data Protection Provisions
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The Hakama and the Seven Virtues of Budo
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"
-
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"
-
Morihei Ueshiba,
quoted in The Principle of Aikido
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How
to fold a hakama
Sorry content wouldn't come
through to the Web page. See edition from your Aikikai Club Leader
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Excerpts
from 'Dojo Rules',
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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