Spirit or Soul over Mind

I started Aikido in fall of 1969 at the start of my senior year at UC Santa Cruz.. Robert Frager had started an Aikido club there, and at the time was in a close association/ partnership with Robert Nadeau. I consider them my first Aikido teachers. I at that time thought very much in terms of academic years. So in Spring 1970 of that academic year the area was visited by Koichi Tohei sensei, 10th dan from Aikido World Headquarters.. A group of the Santa Cruz club members including me went to watch one of the classes. This was before a lot of the dojos in the area existed, so it was held at a high school in San Mateo.

Tohei sensei was impressive. Bodies went flying off him with no apparent effort on his part. When he stepped his legs were like stone pillars. So after the class our Santa Cruz group was in total awe of him, and he dominated our conversation. Robert Frager sensei walked by and heard what we were talking about. And he interjected," You're mistaking Tohei sensei for Osensei'> So the obvious question was what was the difference? And Frager sensei's answer was very cryptic. " He's too strong to be Osensei." he said.

So that started another discussion among the Santa Cruz group. Tohei sensei had a type of spectacular yet effortless power. He was strong. So we assumed Osensei was either like that or even more so. Eventually one of the students came forth. " Maybe Tohei sensei is mind over matter/body and Osensei was soul/spirit over mind," he said.

Tohei sensei emphasized that mind leads body So what would soul/spirit over mind mean?One of Osensei's teachings is "Use the body to train the spirit'. And he put great importance on misogi or spiritual cleansing.

One thought is that mind can lead even control the body and that it can even develop powers. Mind control is a reality. Many in our country are still in the belief of a stolen 2020 election. So as the 'I' develops and gets in a stronger relationship with mind it may even confuse itself with mind and develop mind control that leads the body. Or other bodies. So my guess is that Osensei went through the body to spirit to avoid this. In the Video I am posting, I try to go into spirit leading the mind as best I can. so it seems like a body approach, which it is but to spirit.. I use the basic bokken Cut. We go into how sound uses the same approach so there is chanting. And the movements of the spear also operate off of that but they are more complex. Here is the video:

spirit leads mind

 

2021

We are just about to turn the corner on 2021.We look to be heading into the 3rd year of the pandemic. We are transitioning to our permanent location at 3rd streen Japantown, which will happen in 2022. We are currently using the Mountain View dojo Wednesday noon and Sunday mornings 11;30 to 1pm. We are continuing our online noon classes Mondays and Fridays.

I am proud to announce that Harry Concepcion sensei has been promoted to 6th dan. This will be done with the New Years promotions in January. And Cliff Winnig will be promoted to shodan. He has been steady since the shutdown and has kept up training both online and since July in Mountain View.

So the dojo continues, even in this most difficult of times. I draw strength from Osensei during World War II. Dojo in Tokyo closed. All his students in the war. He farmed. Trained. Did his spiritual work. Built the Aiki Shrine. brought Aikido from pre-war to the present postwar Aikido. My sense is that we use these difficult times to forge our own interior shrines. Misogi 

During the pandemic with the dojo just online for most of it. I have focused my own training on 3 areas. First Tai Chi Ch'uan is easy to do and allows one to maintain and develop the energy body. We will be starting a new online beginning tai chi course early in the New Year. It will be online as the Omicron variant lurks. I probably won't do an in person tai chi class until we open on 3rd Street. Second, I have focused a lot of my development on the basic sword cut I learned from Tojima sensei. The up down finish movement and rhythm of the cut can create the infrastructure within one's own mind/body system to develop what is commonly called kokyu. When we finally move in on 3rd Street I intend to see that practice in that is expanded. And I have explored to much greater depth the movements of the staff/spear. We have started a certification program which we will continue. I am eager to try to take people to the(my term) takemusu level where the movements happen through you with increasingly less a sense of patterned form  Here is a link to the last in person class of the year, which covers the sword and spear movements.  Click the link.   sword spear staff

We will be holding a New Years Day training Saturday 11am to 12 noon at the Mountain View dojo. If you havent filled out a release for the Mountain View dojo you must do so to attend. The release requires proof of vaccination. Masks are required. Ventillation is excellent as one wall completely opens. And we have many fans strategically placed to make the ventillation even better. Here is the link:

 Mountain View dojo release

 For those who haven't heard, Elle underwent surgery for cancer and it was a complete success. They got it all. All the cancer found was dead tissue. And all the potential hotspots were nothing of concern.

Happy Holidays

 

 

 

 

And we plan to hold a New Years training this year, which we did for many years at Martha Street. It will be New Years Day Saturday