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Contents
Ghost Dog I waited in anticipation for seven months for the release of this film on video only to be disappointed. Directed by Jim Jarmusch and staring Forest Whitacker as the hit man 'Ghost Dog', who lives according to the warrior code of the samurai as expounded in the Hagakure. Basically it was weak and lacked any pace. It is forty minutes into the film before we see any real martial arts action, which is the Ghost Dog practising kata on the roof top where he lives. When using the katana he puts it back in the saya upside down! which to my mind was a huge technical blunder; the film lost all credibility for me after that. Then it is back to the good old American favourite - the gun. The story is spliced through with quotations from the Hagakure at various junctions but even this doesn't create or add to the lack of suspense or excitement. Set in some seedy American suburb. A group of geriatric mobsters make a cock-up of a hit carried out by the Ghost Dog and subsequently try to blame him and kill him. So the Ghost Dog takes his guns and pop's em off one by one. The final scene is a cross between 'A fist full of dollars' and Natural born killers' and doesn't deliver either and I was left wondering why I bothered to carry on watching after the first hour. If you are looking for a good martial arts action movie this isn't one to watch, better to get out an old favourite like 'Nico' or 'American samurai.' Watch My Back by Geoff Thompson This is an excellent book, serious, charming, and funny. The story of one mans struggle to make a life and discover himself through the violence of working the door of numerous Coventry night-clubs and pubs. Written by a passionate martial artist who has tested his art on the battlefield of life and emerged with a precision instrument of steel and strategy. Not only does he document the physical movements and techniques employed in the fights but also the psychology behind real life confrontation from someone who's been there and come back again to tell the tale. Knife defence in Aikido by Jim Graves This is a cracking video on knife defence in aikido. It is both lucid and detailed without being over technical. All techniques are shown in slow and normal speed four or five times each so that various aspects can be explained. Sensei Graves is 3rd Dan and operates in the Southland and Los Angeles locations. what is good about this video is that most of the techniques should be easily recognisable to aikikia practitioners with some interesting variations and some perhaps not practised. Formerly available from 'All Things Aiki', London, but they have recently deleted most of their video library. I cannot recommend this video highly enough, and those who have seen it agree, if you see it buy it.
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 wellbeing of each other, both junior and senior. They should:
NB. Aikidoka are reminded that a respectful attitude includes not eating or chewing gum while on the mat!
Seni 2001 The Combat Sports Show N.E.C' Birmingham 28th & 29th April Tickets are £2.50 children f.o.c. Call 01277-375-405 Or visit seniworld. com Or write to :- Combat 135 Aldridge Road, Perry Bar, Birmingham B42 2ET (This Expo is well worth a visit Went last year and was really impressed. Lots of displays, shops, & participation etc. Ed.) Courses Sunday 4th March 1-5 pm - Sugden Sports Centre, All Saints, Manchester Sunday 29th April 12:00 to 4:30 - Westhoughton Leisure Centre, Bolton Road, Westhoughton, Bolton
ARTICLE FOR MEDIATION UK JOURNAL, SUMMER 1999 Self-defence ò? Martial arts ò? Learning a new physical activity from scratch at my age ò? I had a lot of resistance to the idea of Aikido when it was first recommended to me a few years ago. But by summer 1997 I was interested enough to sign up for Nigel Singer's workshop on "Aikido and Mediation" at Mediation UK's annual conference, and then make half-hearted enquiries about local courses. I finally attended my first Aikido class in January 1998. I had no clear idea what to expect, but the thought had grown in my mind and became a half-formed New Year's resolution to take more exercise. Now, eighteen months later, and the other side of 50, I feel deprived if I have to miss my weekly practice session. Looking back, I am amazed that I stayed with it. Week after week I was at the beginners'end of the mat slowly learning how to do forward and backward breakfalls ¡ kind of somersaults which allow you to roll safely away when your attack on the nage (the person practising the aikido technique) has been neutralised. Now, I look forward to the kokyu practice each session, when we all line up at one end of the mat. When it is my turn as nage, each of the others runs forward and grasps my wrist or attempts to seize me in the specified way. It's very satisfying to use a combination of physical technique and energy projection to send opponent after opponent flying across the mat with the impetus from just a small and relaxed move on my part. Taking my part as attacker gives me plenty of opportunity to practise different breakfalls to tumble neatly and swiftly out of harm's way. Before I started, I hadn't really thought about the physicality of aikido practice. It took me some time to get comfortable with grasping a strong wrist, twisting a muscular arm, pressing a sweaty head to my shoulder, swinging my uke (opponent) round me to break their balance before pushing my arm up past their chin and flooring them ... Now my physical confidence has grown and it's great to feel my lungs pulling in volumes of air and my skin sweating as my body works hard at the muscular effort. When the higher grades practise together the atmosphere is vigorous and exciting, with bodies whirling, arms thumping the mat loudly, nage and uke co-ordinating and reacting with lightning speed. In contrast, another aspect I really appreciate is the relaxing and concentrated silence for the first ten to fifteen minutes as we are led through a sequence of warm-up exercises together, with just a few quiet words from the sensei (teacher), or from a senior student helping a newcomer. We do movements for loosening up the hands, arms, wrists, legs, feet, head, hips, back -all over in fact. The effect is a feeling of energy flowing, the mind as well as the body limbering up for the evening's work. Gradually I came to realise that as well as learning physical techniques and movements, I was absorbing the underlying philosophy of aikido too. The concept of ki is difficult to explain, and to me it means something like body and mind working together in co-ordinated energy, ideally without conscious thought or planning. It can be explicitly demonstrated by the "unbendable arm" exercise, done in pairs. I would stand facing you with my outstretched arm on your shoulder, palm up, and your task would be to pull down on my arm with both your hands. On the first try, I put intense effort into bracing my muscles and resisting with physical force -inevitably you win by gradually, or quite quickly, bending my elbow and pulling my arm down. Then I place my arm again, and this time I almost forget you are there while I concentrate on imagining an invisible stream of energy flowing through my arm and out through my fingers, like water flowing through a hose. This time, however hard you bear down, you are unlikely to make much headway for as long as I keep the ki flowing. It is an amazing experience, and a reminder that aikido is to do with attitudes of mind and a philosophy of life as well as physical techniques and skills. During my first year of aikido practice I made a lot of discoveries about my habitual reactions to difficult situations in my life. I came to recognise how often I was tempted to give up at the first sign of resistance, a tendency which had dogged me in other areas of life. I was shocked when I realised that I was much more worried about hurting my opponent than about the fact that they were potentially hurting me by attacking. When I threw someone to the mat, I would look down with mixed feelings: did I really do that? were they hurt, and was it all my fault? In my practice as a mediator I need impartiality and the ability to acknowledge and give equal attention to each side in a conflict. However, practising aikido has reminded me that in my own life I can stand up for myself in a dispute or argument. I can't quite explain what kept me going through the early stages even when I often hadn't a clue what I was doing, my mind would go blank and I feared I might never learn. I think part of the answer lies in the co-operative atmosphere: we are all there not to compete, but to develop ourselves and to help each other in a challenging and invigorating exercise of body and mind. I now know that I can trust my colleagues on the mat, whatever standard they have reached, to work at the right level for me and for each participant. I'm so glad I stayed with the instinct that introduced me to the aikido habit, a constant reminder of the conference theme for 1997: "Growing, Renewing and Developing" Helen Nicolson is a mediator with the Rochdale Neighbour Dispute Service, and a trainer in communication skills. 24.6.99
The Bangor course was held in early August and was quite unusual with four top senseis'taking the course. About 14 members of the Aikikai attended various days with a hardy few braving the whole week. The course was attended every day by more than 200 Aikidoka some from outside the UK. The sessions started at 9:15 and generally ran till 17:45 with breaks. The four Senseis were all different in the way of their Aikido and also coaching style. Chiba Sensei: had an immediate presence and introduced concepts and techniques through clear and long demonstrations. Yamada Sensei was a better communicator in English but restricted himself to concentrating on maybe only 3 or 4 techniques/ideas in a session. Tamura Sensei was an elusive teacher whose classes were seamless. Shibita Sensei was a quiet technical teacher of few words. Avoiding practising with Aikikai members was easy with so many people on the mat who were friendly and open. The way people practised changed during the week. The initial practises were intensive and intent. As the week went on there was more concentration on how techniques were done - people were thinking and hence the quality seemed to be higher and the pace a little less frenetic. Well, what did I get out of the course - new thoughts/angles, new/different ways of performing techniques and unfortunately the largest mat burn I've ever had. It was pleasing to find that most people were studiously doing what Sensei's showedand there weren't many strength merchants about. Certainly I've come back with ideas/concepts that that I wish to try out and explore. The interesting thing is most of the time basic attacks and defences were being studied and making us challenge existing concepts and feeling by variations on techniques - this is very useful because it makes you look very closely at what you are doing - something that you can stop doing when cosy in a static club environment. Yes I enjoyed it and others did. So much so that a group are off to practise under Chiba Sensei towards the end of September in Durham. A little while back I was asked why must we attend courses - the simplistic answer is if you want a grade after 6th Kyu then you need to go on our Aikikai courses as its a requirement of the syllabus. However there is a deeper reason one can become very comfortable in a club environment seeing and practising with the same people week after week - you automatically learn who are light and those that have no flow in them; those that follow well for certain techniques and those that don't. Its called getting into a rut or becoming incestuous. This is bad you have to learn to adapt for the moment not already knowing! otherwise you are not broadening your experience of proper practise. In beginners this doesn't happen for a goodly time. After all they are having to cope with getting use to basic Aikido - the posture, the ukemis, learning basic techniques; learning names; learning different basic attacks. Probably after about a year they begin to feel at home and to start consolidate - if they know 100 techniques and don't have to think about ukemi then they may think they have arrived. The danger is switching off; is watching but not seeing; doing but not feeling and understanding. But then tangible mileposts start spreading out and become less frequent. Other dangers are turning into a mirror of your own Sensei warts and all!? You must realise that your Aikido is your Aikido; not a mirror of someone else - after all we are all built differently - what we must take are the principles and the feelings. The more we experience Aikido and its many thousands and thousands of variations of techniques with many new people - the more our mind will open and the more we will assimilate the essence of Aikido in the search for harmony/spirit within martial movements. So what does a course do it gives scope for you to - we meet more people - make new friends; broadens your Aikido outlook; creates awareness of standards; gives experience of a variety of teaching; enhance generating Ki as you cannot run all day on strength; and improves your fitness. In other words a course should freshen you Aikido experience, validate what you have learnt or show you new routes, through to exposing you to variations and different feelings within attacks with a wide range of partners. Andrew Baird
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