Summer 2004 Newsletter

Articles in this issue . . .

• The Essence of Aikido
• My Aikido Presentation
• Wode's Editorial Section
• Aikido Youth Section
• Quarterly Book Report
• Hikitsuchi Sensei Passes at 82

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The Essence of Aikido

The Teachings of Morihei Ueshiba
Compiled by John Stevens

At the beginning of the world
Mirror, Jewel, and Sword
descended, thereby
establishing the nation
as an expression of the Divine Mind.

—Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei

“The Mirror, Jewel, and Sword comprise the Three Regalia of the Japanese imperial line. O’Sensei explained the real significance of the regalia as follows: “The Mirror symbolizes knowledge and honesty; the Jewel stands for benevolence and compassion; the Sword represents bravery and resolution.”

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My Aikido Presentation

by Mark K. Doherty
June 15, 2004

“I am the Universe.” Strange words from my Western dualistic perspective. Love/hate, right/wrong, heaven/hell, good/evil. There are the concepts that frame my perception. Yet, upon reflection, I see that they are just degrees of separation. With any of these concepts, I make relative judgments based on my own ego-based needs of inclusion and exclusion, the seer to the seen. These four words shatter that worldview!

It simply states there is no separation between self and other. O’Sensei taught: “One’s real body is the universe itself and one’s responsibility as a human being encompasses all things therein.”

It is here, on this mat, with this community, that I am beginning to explore this Worldview and to the extent that I can, incorporate it into my life. Aikido is the study of ourselves as individuals and also as members of society. It teaches us the interdependency of all things and makes us aware of our common purpose as human beings. We learn to defeat our own egocentricity and discover the futility of competing with others. Also how to resolve the contradictions of daily life. Aikido is Michi, a way of life: its practice aligns Body, Mind, and Spirit with the creative energy, or Ki, of nature. It is through this creative energy that we can begin to perceive the connectedness of all things.

The Universal concept of Ki is something that has always fascinated me. Different cultures have recognized it. Chi/Chinese, Prana/Sanscrit, Spiritus/Latin, Pneuma/Greek, Ruach/Khaballah. The practice of consciously cultivating this life force on a physical level and using it for conflict resolution is truly amazing and always leaves me exhilarated after class. If I think in terms of this energy having no beginning and no end and animating everything, I can begin to see that in fact all things are truly connected and distance, (separation), whether it be conscious, (main), or unconscious, (emotional), is relative and created by us. Here’s where the work begins!

Roy Suenka Sensei has an interesting point of view: “Many people misunderstand what ki is, and how it relates to the martial arts, and aikido in particular. Some know ki as the vital life force, the energy of the universe that connects us to the universe. But it goes beyond that. In terms o aikido, ki refers to the latent energy within a person. For instance, if someone is excited, or if someone is afraid of something, his body automatically produces adrenaline to make him stronger, to make him faster. That’s what ki is all about in aikido-the ability to call upon this energy, to utilize it and control it without having to be scared and, in so doing, to perform a technique with the proper amount of energy for that technique to work against a certain size person or in a certain situation. Of course, at the same time you have to utilize proper technique, to use the attacker’s force also. I do not mean that ki is adrenaline, but it is like adrenaline. For aikido purposes, you can define ki as spiritual adrenaline. It is a very real energy, energy of purpose and of intent, of focus, of uniting body, mind, and spirit together in one moment, to allow ki to flow through you and through your technique.”

“With O'Sensei, ki was more than just spiritual adrenaline. There was an enormous amount of pure spirituality in his technique, and of course in his life. The only proper term I can think of to explain O’Sensei’s power is seigyo, meaning to have complete control of a situation.”

The practice of Aikido for me is the conscious cultivation of universal life force and I think you all for assisting me in this journey.

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Editor’s Corner

Wode

Omeditaou gozaimasu (congratulations) to all the students who promoted this quarter!

Your editor forgot to put in the obituary for Hikitsuchi Sensei, in the Spring Quarterly, but it is in this issue, along with the announcement for the memorial tea ceremony on Saturday, the 26^th. Don’t miss this tea ceremony. It will be very moving tribute to both O’Sensei and Hikitsuchi Sensei.

If you have not had a chance to get your New School Aikido bumper stickers, do it now. You will be helping the New School Aikido Scholarship Fund, which is a very worthy cause. The cost of the bumper sticker is only $1.⁰⁰ It is a dollar well spent!

Thanks to all who participated in Aikido Booth at Pride Day at SRJC. Mike, Tricia, Cora, Tater, Ruth, Wisdom Sensei, (and me). We made contact with lots of people. and had a good time as well.

The beginners intensive on Saturday June 19^th brought good response. Welcome to the new people and we hope you hang around to become part of the gang here!

The dojo bar-b-que at Emily’s house, on June 19^th, was an incredible event. We got to know each other a little better, and ended up with a good old-fashioned “hootenanny” which brought out everyone’s hidden talents! Even some of the newbies attended!

Be sure to check the Bulletin Board for the Sign-up sheet for the Annual Dojo Campout. Pick the date that is best for you! We had a blast last year. Let’s have another fun campout! Be sure to bring your musical instruments, too, and be ready to have fun!

That’s all I have for in this issue. See you ‘round the dojo!

Wode

Autumn Quarterly — Call for Submissions

PLEASE have your articles, book revues, movie reviews, artwork, etc. for the Autumn Quarterly NO LATER THAN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18^th. Your editor is only one person and it takes many, many hours to get the Quarterly laid out, and your timely contribution is very important for me to be able to print, fold, and get it delivered to the dojo on schedule. Thanks for your understanding and help. Arigato gozaimasu!

– Wode

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Aikido Youth Section

Star Festival — Tanabata, July 7^th

Tanabata was first introduced to the Japanese during the Nara Period (710-784 AD). And in the Heian era (794-1192 AD) it became a celebration for children and young girls wishing for progress in sewing, weaving, calligraphy and other handicrafts. One explanation of the festival traces its origins to a legend that the Cowherd Star (Altar) and Weaver Star (Vega), lovers separated by the Milky Way, are allowed to meet just once a year--on the seventh day of the seventh month.

This modern festival is observed mainly by children with decorated bamboo branches at homes or kindergartens. The children write their wishes on Tanzaku(colored paper strips) and hang on the bamboo branches. They also make paper ornaments, such as The Milky Way, Vega and Cowherd Star, etc and decorate the bamboo branches. At the end of the day, the bamboo branches are thrown into a river as a meaning of dispelling misfortune.

Art Work by Our Dojo Youth

By Jessica Lewis

By Ruby Castillo

Well done, Jessica and Ruby! New School Aikido Dojo is truly honored and proud to have so many gifted and talented students, not only in art, but also in writing, music, dance, theatre, sports, and scholastic pursuits. Please, let’s encourage them in all their endeavors. The kids in our dojo are our treasure and our future!

Obon Festival — Middle of August

Obon Festival is one of the most important events for Japanese people as well as New Year's Day. The period of Obon or Bon is usually from August 13th to August 15th. This festival is observed to welcome ancestors' souls to our world. The origin of Bon is from the Buddhist observance in China, and was introduced to Japan in the seventh century. For religious reasons, people believe that ancestors' spirits come back to their home during the Bon Festival. People offer a variety of food to the spirits of ancestors in front of Butsudan (Buddhist family altar) and pray for the ancestors’ repose. Bon Odori(folk dancing) is one of the rites to welcome the ancestor's souls. In addition, Toro Nagashi(floating paper lantern) are held at the end of BonFestival in some areas. Bon season has become a family gathering time since people who live outside of their hometown return home during that time. Some people use the holiday and go on trips in Japan or other countries.

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Quarterly Book Report
by Ruth Harris

THE LAST SAMURAI:
The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori
By Mark Ravina

Last December, a group of New School teachers and students went to see the movie, The Last Samurai, staring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. On the film’s website I discovered a book with the same name that was the inspiration for the film. When I came down with the flu that wouldn’t fly away, I ordered the book online along with a related book, The Last Shogun, and began to learn about a pivotal time in Japanese history called the Meiji Restoration, which for the Japanese is as significant as the American Revolution or the Civil War is to American history. The book is a biography of Saigo Takamori, one of the chief engineers of the overthrow of the last of the Tokugawa shoguns, sort of the George Washington of Japan, a man who became a legend in his lifetime.

Saigo was born in 1828 in Kagoshima in Satsuma province on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu to a poor, low-level samurai family. They farmed to keep food on the table, an occupation unbefitting samurai, but required in Satsuma, as there weren’t enough framers to adequately supply the massive numbers of samurai in the domain.

Like all good samurai, Saigo trained in martial arts and calligraphy, as well as more academic subjects, such as the Chinese classics. A dedicated student, committed to character development and Zen practice, he eventually became a teacher to the younger students. At age 13 he stopped carrying a sword on the street after his leg was injured in an altercation. By age 16 he was working as a clerk for the local government. From this position he would rise to become the most powerful person in Japan.

A man of great physical stature, powerful energy, and personal magnetism, Saigo was an imposing presence. He was also a philosopher and teacher and held strong beliefs in a code of honor and commitment to virtuous principle. Exiled twice to islands south of Japan for being too outspoken or a potential political liability, he became a beloved teacher to the local children despite his opinion of the populace as an inferior people. One of his three wives was an islander who had to stay behind when he was recalled from exile. Although married three times he spent little time with his wives but did manage to father some children. The closest he came to real romance was with Edo’s fattest geisha, a brilliant and witty woman who’s nickname was Miss Pig. Saigo was too much of a crusader to spend much time on a personal life although he did like to hunt and is depicted with one of his beloved hunting dogs in a statue erected in his honor in Tokyo (formerly known as Edo).

Saigo took an administrative position in the government of Satsuma and eventually attracted the attention of Shimazu Nariakira, his reform minded provincial leader, who took him along as his “gardener” when he went off to the capital at Edo where the daimyo (samurai provincial leaders) were required to reside in alternate years by the shogun. On the way to Edo they observed the warships of Admiral Perry anchored in Edo Bay. Four days later Perry, at cannon point, would demand that Japan open its ports to trading with the West – or else. Japan, already financially, politically, and socially unstable, was pushed into crisis.

In Edo, Saigo, as “gardener” was able to move freely about the city carrying messages and gathering information for Nariakira. He became part of a movement to restore the emperor to primacy in the government, a position that had been lost seven centuries earlier when the servants of the emperor, the samurai, had usurped power. Satsuma was one of the tozama (outsider domains) that had lost in the1603 battle establishing the Tokugawa shogunate and would eventually collaborate with Choshu, and other tozama domains, to bring down the Shogun. In one dark period after Niriakira’s death, Saigo fled Edo with a co-conspirator priest pursued by shogunate forces. They took refuge in a temple on a high cliff above the sea from which they jumped to their deaths. Saigo survived and was rescued by sympathizers who concealed him and reported him as dead and lost in the sea.

Saigo, along with another Satsuma associate from his youth, Okubo Toshimichi, and Kido Koin of Choshu were the primary plotters of the overthrow of Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Saigo was the man of action and chief leader of the 50,000-man army; Okubo was the master planner, and Kido the diplomat. Yoshinobu, who considered the shogunate a dying tiger, abdicated without fighting a major battle although there were some scuffles. With the 17-year-old Emperor Meiji restored to the throne in 1868, Saigo, Okubo, and Kido became part of the new Imperial council and helped to forge a modern government for Japan. Okubo’s financial structure survives to this day (some think it needs an overhaul). Saigo became commander of the army and helped to modernize it. Nine years later he would stand against it with a small remnant of traditional samurai in a battle that is legendary for its romantic heroism.

The new government took a direction that alarmed Saigo, The West was pressuring Japan on all sides and some in the council wished to acquire as much of western knowledge, goods, and culture as possible – to become more like Europe and America. Saigo, although fond of western technology and knowledge, distrusted Western culture and values. Okubo, (Omura in the film) his long time friend and ally, was of the opposite opinion, adopting western clothing and hairstyle and promoting agreements that Saigo deemed detrimental to Japan’s future. Saigo felt that Japan should unite with Korea and China to keep the West in check, and one way to do this was to annex Korea in a war. The council refused to carry out his plan to foment a war with Korea by sending him as envoy to insult the Korean emperor, who would then kill him, giving Japan an excuse for invasion. Saigo resigned from the council and went off in a huff to Kogashima to resume teaching martial arts, Chinese classics, English, French and German.

Had Keiki ascended to the position of shogun after Ieyoshi’s death or even after Iesada’s, he may have succeeded in a graceful transfer of power from the shogunate to a new form of government and remained a brilliant and effective agent in the modernization of Japan, but fate dealt him a losing hand. The chief engineer of his succession to power died too soon to complete the task. Iesada, after five years of non-leadership, was succeeded by his sickly cousin, Iemochi who lasted eight years. Keiki had refused the position calling it a dying tiger. Becoming shogun was tantamount to running headlong into a burning building, he said. Hard line Tokugawas didn’t want a Mito as shogun, especially one with a revolutionary father, but Keiki was popular and considered an able administrator with the intelligence required to deal with the foreign and domestic threats to the current order.

Although loyal to the house of Tokugawa, Keiki’s agile mind and ability to placate and manipulate people placed him under further suspicion. He frightened people with his brilliance.

Keiki found himself in a struggle to stay alive. Bakufu leaders placed him under house arrest and both pro-imperialist and pro shogunates wanted him dead. Eventually he found himself in the position of political director, giving him the burden of decision making without the power of the highest office. The seeds of revolution were already brewing, pro and anti shogunate forces and pro and anti foreigner factions (with overlapping alliances) began to foment in earnest, Western gunboats were prowling the coasts of Japan, and the winds of change were beginning to stir within the land. Thus was Keiki ushered from a carefree youth into the convoluted and often deadly world of Edo politics.

Fourteen years after Ieyoshi’s death, finding himself the only viable candidate for shogun, Keiki finally acquiesced and became Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the fifteenth and final shogun. He was unexpectedly delighted to at last be in a position of official power instead of having to work his covert, slight-of-hand politics through others, but Japan’s power structure and economic system were in the final stages of collapse and the threat of foreign invasion immanent. Although he may have been one of Japan’s most brilliant and able shoguns, his attempts to balance the pro and anti foreigner and pro and anti imperialists while placating the foreigners seemed chaotic and arbitrary to those outside his inner circle. When the pro-bakufu emperor died, leaving his 14-year-old nephew in his stead, the shogunate lost a major supporter. Satsuma and Choshu took advantage of this turn of events and with Saigo Takamori’s army, breathing down his neck, Keiki soon found himself on the run. The attempt to do battle with the imperial forces at Osaka castle resulted in defeat and Keiki returned to Edo. On March 6, 1868 he left Edo castle. He had been shogun for all of 16 months. History credits Keiki with avoiding a bloody revolution that would have been disastrous. His loyalist wished to fight to the death but Keiki knew it was futile. Besides, he sympathized with those who wished to re-instate imperial supremacy.

Exiled to the Mito estate and refused any role in governing Japan, Keiki was embittered by his exclusion from an arena to which he had been bred and for which he was so well equipped. As his sentiments were with the goals of the new government and his brilliant mind and grasp of events would have been a valuable asset to the modernization of Japan, this was a loss for the country as well. Fearful of tainting them with his image of traitor, or making a remark that would show him in a bad light, he withdrew from his former associates. He spent the remainder of his life attending to his hobbies: archery, hunting, falconry, polo, photography, painting, and siring children. Keiki, unlike Saigo (The Last Samurai) was fond of women and never comfortable without female companionship. He had a wife and several concubines too keep him company.

Keiki, who loved western technology, was especially fascinated by photography and spent many hours in his darkroom learning the science behind it. As a youth he had studied under a master of landscape painting and applied this to his photography and western oil painting. (In searching for photos for this report, I found a web page devoted to his great-granddaughter, a Buddhist nun and photographer.)

The thumbnail I have provided here does not begin to reveal the drama of the events that swirled around Keiki and his courageous efforts to save his country from chaos and foreign invasion. Keiki was honored later in life and given the title of Prince. He died in 1913, outliving by decades his nemeses, the Satsuma duo of Saigo and Okubo who forced him from power.

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Hikitsuchi Sensei Passes at 82

“I have just received a report that Michio Hikitsuchi sensei, 10th dan, of Shingu in Japan has passed away on February 2nd. The notice that I received read, in part, ‘Hikitsuchi Sensei was the Chief Instructor of Aikido Kumano Juku in Shingu, Japan, a dojo that was important to O’Sensei, and the dojo where Anno Sensei has trained and taught for the last 50 years. Hikitsuchi Sensei was a close and devoted student of O’Sensei, and has been a teacher of profound influence for Aikidoists in Japan and numerous other countries. His passing will reverberate throughout the Aikido world. One by one the first generation of Aikido teachers is leaving, and entrusting the future of Aikido to us.’ If I receive any further news, I will be sure to post them. My condolences to all of his students, family, and loved ones.”

— from Jun Akiyama, 2/03/2004, www.aikiweb.com

Hikitsuchi Sensei: A Brief Biography

Michio Hikitsuchi Michio Sensei was born near Shingu, Japan, in 1923. At nine years old he began kendo and later also ken-jutsu, ju-jutsu, bojutsu and karate. When he was fourteen years old, he met Ueshiba Morihei O'Sensei for the first time. At that time there was an age requirement for studying budo with O'Sensei, but they made an exception for Hikitsuchi.

Hikitsuchi Sensei received his 10th dan in 1969, three months before O’Sensei passed away. Jorma Rissanen, who has a long history in aikido in Finland, tells in the Finnish Aikido Magazine that Hikitsuchi had a very close relationship with O'Sensei, though only a few know about it.

Because Hikitsuchi's family was well off financially, he was able to devote himself to Aikido full time and not work at a job to make ends meet. Michio Hikitsuchi had five children: four daughters; and a son, who died at an early age.

Hikitsuchi-sensei taught in Kumano Juku Dojo in Shinju, Japan. The dojo was founded by O'Sensei over 56 years ago and is older than Hombu. There are practice sessions twice a day (6:30 am and 7:30 pm) six times a week. There are about ten to fifteen students at each session. Foreign students are a common sight at Shinju, some staying for long periods or returning frequently. Hikitsuchi traveled regularly to European countries, teaching at dojos that have been started by his students. American Aikido instructors who have trained at Shinju include, Linda Holiday, Clint George, Mary Heiny, Tom Reed, Jack Wada, Daniel Caslin, and New School Aikido senseis: John Smartt, and our own Isaiah Wisdom.

New School Aikido traces its lineage through John Smart Sensei directly to Hikitsuchi Sensei.

Dan Caslin, who trained at Shingu in the late seventies, describes his year at the Kumano Dojo as a remarkable experience. "I trained in Shingu in 1978-79 with Hikitsuchi Sensei and several other shihan who trained and taught at that amazing place. At that time, at 20 years old, I found Hikitsuchi Sensei a cryptic personality, a severe taskmaster, and a remarkable martial artist and teacher. He was described by another teacher in Shingu as 'an Aiki computer' because of his ability to recite virtually verbatim speeches O'Sensei had given. His reverence for O'Sensei and O'Sensei's message was total."

Memorial Tea Was Held on June 26th

On Saturday, June 26^th at 12:00, a memorial tea ceremony was held in June for both O’Sensei and Hikitsuchi Sensei, to whom New School Aikido traces its direct lineage. We were once again privileged to have Mouri Sensei’s Omotesenke Chajin. Thanks to all who participated in this traditional ceremony to honor the memory of these two great Aikido pioneers.

Japanese Tea Ceremony Lessons

Join your fellow aikido students in learning Chado, (the way of tea). If you are interested in a demonstration for your school or organization or you desire to learn the Omotesenke style of Chado, contact Mouri Sensei at 539-4707

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