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P Goldsbury
19th September 2007, 04:00
This forum has been quiet recently, so here is a new topic.

The IAF will hold its 10th Congress next year. The venue is the city of Tanabe, which is the birthplace of Morihei Ueshiba. Apart from the actual congress sessions, there will be several hours of training every day, conducted by the shihans of 7th dan and 8th dan rank from the Aikikai Hombu instruction department.

At the last Congress, held in 2004, a major topic was discussed as a result of discussions on web forums such as this. The topic was dojo violence and sexual harrassment. The discussion served to open they eyes of some, especially males of a conservative bent accustomed to 'traditional' training, who had never thought about the matter.

One topic that is likely to be aired is the lack of competition in aikido, but if
anyone has any other 'burning issues', I would be interested to hear about them.

The Congress will take place in October 2008 (later than usual, to avoid the fasting month of Ramadan). Along with congress and training, it is planned to organize trips to places often visited by the Founder, such as the Kumano shriens and the Nachi falls.

Best wishes to all,

PAG

PRehse
19th September 2007, 16:30
One topic that is likely to be aired is the lack of competition in aikido, but if
anyone has any other 'burning issues', I would be interested to hear about them.

Wonder if they would invite someone from the Tomiki world. :D

MikeE
19th September 2007, 17:13
You probably have a better chance than someone who was originally Aikikai and now is in K. Tohei's line. :)

Thirza
19th September 2007, 23:25
Hello Peter,

thank you for the information...are there real dates defined?
I'm planning my scedule for 2008,...the sooner I know the dates, the easyer I can arrange everything,

thank you,Thirza Schraa.

Itten dojo

P Goldsbury
2nd November 2007, 07:31
Hello Peter,

thank you for the information...are there real dates defined?
I'm planning my scedule for 2008,...the sooner I know the dates, the easyer I can arrange everything,

thank you,Thirza Schraa.

Itten dojo

Hello Thirza,

There is now detailed information on the IAF website, at www.aikido-international.org

Best wishes,

PAG

john_lord_b3
5th November 2007, 05:32
Hello Thirza,

There is now detailed information on the IAF website, at www.aikido-international.org

Best wishes,

PAG

Hello Prof. Goldsbury,

You got Private Message from me :)

Thank you!

gaijinsmash
5th November 2007, 12:53
you guys are lucky, i live quite close to Tanabe, its realy nice and if you like your Onsen after some hard training then Shirahama has some great ones (its 1 or 2 stops south on the JR line. the Nachi falls and surrounding temples are realy good (there are more onsen here too) While your in the area try and visit Koya-san. If the weather's good then there s a nice Kayaking trip that can be easily organised at Kesagawa JR station (which can be added to a day trip to Nachi)

P Goldsbury
5th November 2007, 13:08
you guys are lucky, i live quite close to Tanabe, its realy nice and if you like your Onsen after some hard training then Shirahama has some great ones (its 1 or 2 stops south on the JR line. the Nachi falls and surrounding temples are realy good (there are more onsen here too) While your in the area try and visit Koya-san. If the weather's good then there s a nice Kayaking trip that can be easily organised at Kesagawa JR station (which can be added to a day trip to Nachi)

Ben Lazarus

Moderator: Mr Lazarus, welcome to E-Budo. Please sign all your posts with your full name. You actually agreed to do this when you became a member.

I agree entirely about the location in Tanabe and I believe that the travel agent who is looking after accommodation plans to offer some excursions to local places of interest.

Best wishes,

gaijinsmash
5th November 2007, 13:14
Sorry about that. Just to note you dont need a travel agent to organise all the trips (ie if your staying longer) Wakayama is realy easy to travel around, The Lonely Planet Guide is quite good for it.

Ben Lazarus

P Goldsbury
5th November 2007, 14:15
Sorry about that. Just to note you dont need a travel agent to organise all the trips (ie if your staying longer) Wakayama is realy easy to travel around, The Lonely Planet Guide is quite good for it.

Ben Lazarus

Sure. I meant that the Tanabe city government has asked a local travel agent to organize accommodation for congress and seminar participants and I think they plan to offer local trips also. Of course, people can make their own arrangements for local sightseeing if they wish.

Amir
6th November 2007, 12:19
Dear Prof. Goldsbury

If you are looking for topics to discuss about Aikido. I would say the role of Uke is one such issue, Examples for topics which were raised here and at aikiweb very often:

can one teach beginners to be good Uke?
What is required of Uke?
Should Uke assist or resist Tori while performing a technique? When? Stages?
Who is the actual techer per technique, your Uke or Sensei?


Competition is one singular approach to this more generic issue.


Amir

P Goldsbury
8th November 2007, 11:30
Dear Prof. Goldsbury

If you are looking for topics to discuss about Aikido. I would say the role of Uke is one such issue, Examples for topics which were raised here and at aikiweb very often:

can one teach beginners to be good Uke?
What is required of Uke?
Should Uke assist or resist Tori while performing a technique? When? Stages?
Who is the actual techer per technique, your Uke or Sensei?


Competition is one singular approach to this more generic issue.

Amir

Amir,

Thanks very much. I agree that the four questions are very important and need to be discussed. We have lectures followed by Q & A sessions and these would be good topics. I will have a meeting at the Aikikai Hombu later this month and will discuss this general matter with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba.

Best wishes,

Mark Murray
8th November 2007, 12:55
Goldsbury sensei,

I guess one "burning" topic that I'd like to see addressed is the issue with "aiki" training. As you have noticed, there is a way of training to gain "aiki" skills. It has been shown that these training methods are direct and physical, not indirect (do kata for 20 years) and intangible (ki is the breath of life). The topic has started to become, why aren't these training methodologies being taught? It is beyond doubt that these "aiki" skills were those employed by Ueshiba. So, where have they gone and where has the teaching methodology gone?

Thank you,
Mark

P Goldsbury
9th November 2007, 00:08
Hello Mark,

I would answer you as I did for Amir's questions.

Some of us have been doing our own private research on the issues you have brought up (which have been discussed at length in Aikiweb and Aikido Journal). I have approached the two surviving Hombu 9th dans about this and they both told me that O Sensei never explicitly taught these skills. So I think this is the first issue: why; why not?

(Both of these 9th dans had worked out their own private training regimes and one did this outside the Aikikai.)

Best wishes,

Mark Murray
9th November 2007, 01:07
Thank you sensei for the reply.

Do you think there will be any discussions as to why or why not?

Mark

Dan Harden
10th November 2007, 03:04
Hello Mark,

I would answer you as I did for Amir's questions.

Some of us have been doing our own private research on the issues you have brought up (which have been discussed at length in Aikiweb and Aikido Journal). I have approached the two surviving Hombu 9th dans about this and they both told me that O Sensei never explicitly taught these skills. So I think this is the first issue: why; why not?

(Both of these 9th dans had worked out their own private training regimes and one did this outside the Aikikai.)

Best wishes,

So, assuming they exist as a skill set-which is and has been proven through hands-on exposure to many involved in the discussions/ debates on various forums. Further, that they are replicable, -demonstrated by students of ours at seminars, at what point does it make the pursuit of this knowledge and these skills in Ai..ki..do a dead end?
Do folks sit back and take the admonishion to "eat more rice."
Do more kata for twenty years in hopes of getting something
Or say "The hell with it!" And go get explicite, real training tips from people with skill.

If the interviews with the latest 9th dans to be true, then it means that Ueshiba, unlike Takeda, did not replicate his skills in anyone. I suppose the reasons are lost in time; lack of ability to teach it, lack of interest in Ueshiba to really teach it, or lack of interest from students. It remains that Takeda replicated himself in Sagawa, Kodo, Ueshiba, and Hisa. Ueshiba was specifically and pointedly taught. So one thing is certain ...It most certainly WAS teachable.
So who chose not to teach... whom?
At what point does the scene from the departed ..("Who am I?
I'm the guy doing his job, you must be the other guy.") become a glaring reality for many teachers. If they even care about it at all.

Dan Harden
11th November 2007, 16:39
In the recent republishing of Shimizu Kenji’s interview, he stated: When I was actively practicing there he often came and went. When he showed up everyone immediately sat down. At first, I thought that people were being courteous toward him. However, it wasn’t only that.
It was also that the practices we were doing were different from what O-Sensei expected us to do. Once he lost his temper at us. No one realized that he had come and he shouted: “What you people are doing is not aikido.” His shout was so powerful it felt like the earth was trembling. He was then in his seventies but his voice nearly pierced our ear drums. .......Everybody just became quiet and looked gloomy.

Stands to reason that smart fellas would be wondering what his means since it was reported that this scene unfolded many times. As for older people who have trained with Ueshiba and what they know? I recall training with one of them, a Koryu menkyo. And when I did what I do and showed some things hands-on, the response I got was "This is Ueshiba's Aikido. They don't teach this any more you know. Its not in Modern Aikido."
Seems that oh, so many, now realize that in the hands of many, modern Aikido has become hollow, a shell of what it was in his hands, devoid of real power. Yet the dance just keeps going along. Who can joing its spiritual strength with real rubber-meets-the-road support.
As so many of the old guys said to the question
"Why did you decide to do martial arts?"
"To become strong."
What did they mean by that? And in Aikido What was it? Where did it go? Who has it? Can it be found?
The only value in looking to the past is to realize a shift had been made, and then...what to do about it.

Cheers
Dan
"Aiki requires an enormous amount of solo training. Only amateurs think that techniques are enough. They understand nothing." Sagawa Yukiyoshi