This article is a continuation from the piece ‘Adaptation’ which I wrote following our Spring Seminar.
This month we held our week long Summer School with Sensei Simone Chierchini at various locations in the south east.
If there was a theme for the week , it would have to be Takemusu. First I try to explain what that means. ‘Take’ is usually understood to mean the same as bu in bujutsu or budo. ‘Musu’ is to give birth too. So Takemusu Aikido is too spontaneously adapt to the changing circumstances of life through limitless creativity and expression.
One of the things I appreciate very much about how Simone teaches is that he tends not to teach a lot of techniques at a time. Instead he seems to prefer a focus on principle. It is very common in Martial Arts in general for people to get bogged down with learning techniques. With the sheer scope of Aikido this can get frustrating very quickly. Focusing on the syllabus too much can actually slow down the learning process.
However to delve into Takemusu it is necessary to have solid ground to work from. Study the basics enough, then move on, adapt, experiment and return again to the basics, the kihon. Constantly ensuring that training is still grounded in good principle and a Budo mindset. This kind of training would take many forms. Whether weapons practice, Taijutsu or Kokyu the idea is too free up the mind and see what has been truly understood by the body.
Take Jiyu Waza for example. Jiyu Waza is a free style practice common to most Aikido Dojo, usually one person acting as Tori and one or more as Uke. Regardless of the level of a student it is possible to see how well they have absorbed the training. A fixation on technique will quickly land the student in difficulty as their reaction time will be too slow. I would say to my students doing this exercise it is better to repeat the same technique 10 times than to pause in thought of what to do. Better still is is clear the mind and continuously move forwards absorbing the attacks before their at full strength. Stepping back should be only be done strategically.
To better enable a student to respond to changing circumstances, Simone had us practice at 3 different timings. One where Tori initiates the attack, another where we meet in the middle and the third waiting a moment and extending the attack. These timings are important to practice. Each equal in their own right. To practice just one of these would take training in far too specific a direction. For example by only focusing on the third of waiting and then extending the attack the important principle of moving forward would be lacking. Likewise by focusing on the first, a student may become too forward in their training and perhaps forget the softer side of training. For the concept of Takemusu to be explored, a student must first possess the correct reflexes in order to continually adapt.
This is in a way a goal of Kata, to instill these reflexes into the mind of a student. Adding a more free form of practice beside this and you see that has been absorbed. The student becoming one with the training can than start with Takemusu.
Freely moving the mind can become clear and enter into the moment, unconcerned for tomorrow or yesterday. In this way Aikido can be a way for people to become free of mental constraints and preconceptions.
Written in collaboration with my Aikido teacher and friend, Sensei Simone Chierchini. Head Instructor of the International Aikido Academy which I represent in Ireland. Other Dojo in Italy, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Adaptability was a theme of our Aikido Spring Course. Sensei Simone stressed the importance of retaining flexibility of mind. For this to sink in it is important to keep calm ,centered, and not to fixate on technique. It is easy of course to fall into the trap of applying techniques against the will of an attacker\ partner but in terms of learning Aiki its pointless. Moving from the centre, an attack must be led to its logical conclusion, without resorting to brunt strength or with aggression.
The ability to adapt to different situations and people is at the heart of Aikido. In particular this touches the meaning of Takemusu Aiki. For Simone Takemusu Aikido is not defined by techniques but by the idea of Takemusu. With the study of natural movement and principles, the expression of Aikido should sprout spontaneously, like water from a well. Therefore his teaching is centered around encouraging this in others. In his words ‘My vision of training in Aikido is that of, looking for the authentic and individual spark that we all have and to be able to manifest it, at least to some degree.’ Kata and Kihon exercises are extremely useful insofar as instilling martial principles and correct body habits. But the more dynamic, fluid and expressive aspect of Aikido must be explored as well. ‘any kind of training I propose, even the army style ones, with rigid forms and no freedom, is actually intended to evolve into an increasingly wider degree of freedom of movement and expression. Aikido for me means to gain access to tools of self enlightenment.’
Also when training with these things in mind, it becomes easier for the body to absorb the underlying principles. For example for some beginning students, the temptation is to studying the technique, to understand it at an intellectual level. This is useful to the extent of learning footwork but litte further. To truly begin to train we must learn to switch off the head and being to study with body and mind integrated. When the student has absorbed the basics, it should become possible to explore Takemusu Aiki. Breaking free of restraints and moving freely.
When not focused on technique we can relax our minds and hopefully the underlining principles of Aiki can start to seep in. How may this be helpful in general life? For example when faced with confrontation it is easier to hold to our own fixed view. Inflexible and unable to comprehend the reality of what may be going on. If we are able to apply the ideas of Takemusu into daily life we should gain a greater understanding of ourselves and others.
Besides from Ireland, Sensei Simone is also teaching in Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and of course Italy. The week before coming to Ireland he had been in Iran. Between teaching he was able to do a lot of site seeing and to immerse himself into this fascinating culture. He found the Iranian people to be wonderfully warm, open and joyous. This contradicts the impression of the European mainstream and perhaps suggests that many of our preconceived notions may of off center if not completely incorrect. We often hold so true to our own ideas and beliefs that we cant see the wood for the trees.
Bringing this idea full circle and back to training. We train together as a Dojo.
We are all training with the same aim. To know who we are.
In the troubled times we are living in, Aiki-En Italy is a project that offers its participants the experience of an alternative lifestyle built on Budo. Aiki-En Italy gives us an opportunity to live together in the name of Aikido, sharing an experience based on its principles of peace, harmony and mutual collaboration.
Aiki-En Italy is not only a martial arts project, but also a social and ecological concept. At Aiki-En Italy we strive to live in a sustainable and self-sufficient way, joining our passion for Aikido training with pleasant work in the garden, growing vegetables, tending fruit trees and taking care of courtyard animals. The daily practice of Aikido is blended with agriculture, family life and grounded feeling.
Aiki-En Italy enrolees are live-in students (uchideshi) that live with the teacher and his family, as opposed to the external students (sotodeshi) that only come to train but live outside the Dojo. The unique experience of being an uchideshi implies that the student is not only doing Aikido on the mats, but also living it together with the teacher, his family and other enrolees, like an Aikido family.
Time spent as an uchideshi is characterised by the creation of a special bond between sensei and student. Besides studying in depth the basics of the Art, the uchideshi gets to be exposed to the specific background knowledge of Aikido and its application in everyday’s life: traditionally, in fact, every part of the life of an uchideshi was part of the training itself.
Nowadays, taking part in a uchideshi program suits those that feel the need to step back from their normal routine for a while, it is also an ideal solution for those who want to undergo a period of intensive quality training, or simply having a holiday out of the ordinary. At Aiki-En Italy we wish to support people in their quest for achieving mastery of the Art, gaining/regaining personal balance and finding a new positioning in personal life.
At Aiki-En Italy, uchideshi practice Aikido daily—normally two classes per day plus special impromptu sessions. Uchideshi training does not begin or end with practising Aikido as the live-in students also share in performing various duties, going from Aiki-En maintenance to working in the garden and contributing their skills at special once-off projects.
Uchideshi usually develop their Aikido skills very quickly, at the same time learning how to manage themselves, people and situations. The challenge of becoming an uchideshi is one that must not be taken lightly. Accepting this responsibility will lead to valuable personal development through training, a process that is priceless in everyday’s life.
UCHIDESHI PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS
The Program is open to both men and women
There is no age limit
Beginners are welcome
There is no minimum or maximum time of staying
Enrollees must have the financial means to support themselves for the entire duration of their designated term
Aiki-En Italy does not act as sponsor for visa applications. If required, live-in students must obtain their own visas for their intended stay in Italy. Only applicants with full legal status will be accepted in the program.
UCHIDESHI PROGRAM EXPENSES CONTRIBUTION
To participate into the Uchideshi Program at Aiki-En Italy, all participants – no exceptions made – will be required to contribute to the general costs connected with your staying in the following measure:
Per day: €40
Per weekend: €70
Per week: €200
Per month: €500
These expense contributions entitle the live-in students to avail of:
Private or semi-private lodgings
Use of Aiki-En Italy’s facilities
A minimum of 1 2hr Aikido session daily
Meals
Laundry
Live-in students will be expected to share cooking/tidying up/laundry/maintenance responsibilities with sensei’s family.
HOW TO APPLY TO AIKI-EN ITALY UCHIDESHI PROGRAM
Since occupancy at Aiki-En Italy may vary throughout the year, we require perspective uchideshi to apply at least two weeks in advance of the time of their intended staying. For general information about the Uchideshi Program email us here.
To enter the Uchideshi Program, applicants are asked to fill the form below.
We committ to answer to all enquires within 3 working days.
I want to begin by thanking Simone Chierchini sensei for offering some of his precious time to your “trusted comic-book-man San Ovo”. I took the liberty to ask him 5 small questions to put together this little interview, that I am now sharing with you, friends and brothers of the Orbassano dojo Bushi No Kami
by OSVALDO RIGHETTO
OVO SAN:
If Aikido was a one of the five senses, which one would be?
SIMONE:
Certainly the touch. There is no deeper way to perceive movement and capture the emotions of a person.
OVO SAN:
How important is for you, sensei to bring Aikido where there is none?
SIMONE:
More than any rank or qualification. I did it already for 20 years and will continue to do so until my strengths will permit it. I prefer tilling virgin territory rather than fight to put foot on soil already trodden by all.
OVO SAN:
Do you consider yourself someone who brings harmony and peace in the name of Aikido?
SIMONE:
I am trying to pacify myself , first of all , and to communicate a good example with my acts . I hope to be remembered in the future as a good coordinator of people’s common purposes, rather than as yet another pupil of some famous sensei. The value of an aikidoka should be measured by his ability to live a balanced and solar life, by his capacity to positively affect the Aikido community and society around him, gradually expanding the diameter of his actions as a kind of concentric circles that flow from the first.
OVO SAN:
What would you change in Aikido today?
SIMONE:
Nothing. It is not for anyone to change the macro-systems, we can only live in them. In my micro-system (family, dojo , organization) , I want to bring Aikido outside the narrow confines of the dojo, making it more visible and useful at a community and social level. I want to live it with my children and students as a daily dimension, and not as something to be done a couple of times a week, like a course in English.
OVO SAN:
When you sees a junior student, do you ever think whether you were like him or not?
SIMONE:
No! but simply because I started to go on the mats when I was not walking yet , so obviously I do not remember…
Takemusu Aiki! For sure I do not want to make an attempt on explaining this highly spiritual term. But, I would like to tell you a personal anecdote of how I came in touch with this term at first hand
by ROBERT MAIER
In the late Eighties, when I came to the Ibaraki Dojo in Iwama for the first time to study Aikido at Saito Sensei´s I had almost no experience in Aikido at all. Having lots of ideas in mind about the Spirit of Aikido, which I got from several Aikido teachers of different styles in Germany I longed for the ultimate truth that might be given to me by the closest student of O-Sensei Ueshiba, Saito Morihiro Sensei. But, nothing came over to me. Saito Sensei even refused to tell anything about the spiritual side of Aikido. There was nothing but mere technical training. Every now and then he suddenly gave very short demonstrations of his marvellous Takemusu Aikido. He always ended up with a infectious smile saying “It’s technique, no magic!”.
Now I really have to admit that in the beginning I regarded Saito Sensei as being only a quite an uneducated railway worker who could not get even a glimpse of O-Sensei’s spiritual teachings. So my hunger for learning something about the spiritual background of Aikido still was not satisfied. The only straw I could catch at was “It’s technique, no magic! Ha,ha,ha…” And believe me it was really hard technique. Even as a former Karateka I doubted that changing over to Aikido had been the right decision for my further budo life.
One day, rummaging in the books and papers former uchi deshi had left in the chisai shokudo (small kitchen) of the dojo, most of them not worth mentioning, I found a postcard written by a student back home to the others left behind in the Iwama dojo: It showed two saints walking along their path one of them saying with a big gesture to the other: “Believe me, Takemusu Aiki is the best!”.
The following weeks and months I learned that bearing these two sentences in mind was all I needed to find access to the spiritual side of O-Sensei’s Aikido. Next I noticed that despite the feeling of brutality of the techniques of the Iwama Sempai as uke, there was no force on their side. My inability of taking correct ukemi made the techniques brutal to me. By the way, Nemoto Sensei, another generous and humble Sempai of the Iwama Dojo with brilliant ukemi showed me the right way in a private lesson.
So I came to the conclusion that if you have proper kihon waza training there is no need of talking and speculating about the Spirit of Aikido. It is all packed within the techniques passed on from O-Sensei by Saito Sensei in Iwama to our present Shihans Paolo Corallini and Ulf Evenas. All you need is the belief that what you are doing is the right way for you.
Try hard to be as humble as Saito Sensei used to be and concentrate on always bringing out the best form of the technique you are practicing with all your mind and body.
Takemusu Aiki the ‘undescribable’ term, is manifested in the huge number of techniques Saito Sensei has got from O-Sensei and systematized in his great heritage called Takemusu Aikido, which helped me a lot over the years, in my private life and as well as in my work dealing with children of all ages and social backgrounds and difficult to educate. When I get stuck in a problem not knowing how to deal with it I always step back to the practical excercise of Takemusu Aikido and an answer will show up.
It’s all in the technique! Go ahead, practise Takemusu Aikido and unpack…
Among the many questions that Hitohiro Saito Sensei politely replied to, you can read of the special connection between his father, Morihiro Saito Sensei, and the Founder of Aikido Morihei Ueshiba, at whose side he lived for 26 years; have an idea of the father/son, teacher/student relationship among Morihiro and Hitohiro; hear the version of Hitohiro sensei in relation to its break with the Aikikai Hombu Dojo… but also what it means the inheritance of the Founder of Aikido today and the prospects of Aikido in an increasingly disharmonious world
On the occasion of the Dento Iwama Ryu Aikido International Koshukai, held in Modena, Italy on 24-25-26 June 2011, Simone Chierchini had the opportunity to realize a video interview with Hitohiro Saito, Head Instructor of Iwama Shin-Shin Aiki Shuren-kai (岩 间 神 信 合 气 修练 会), the school founded by Hitohiro on the death of Morihiro Saito Sensei. The interview, held in the premises of Utensileria Modenese, generous sponsor of the Koshukai directed by Hitohiro Saito Sensei, took place in the presence of the European Senpai of Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren-kai and was made possible thanks to the valuable work of Giancarlo Giovannelli, who acted as interpreter.
CHIERCHINI
The first question I would like to ask, Sensei, does not concern Aikido but rather the News: living in Japan today, what does it mean the tragedyof the Fukushima disaster for the average Japanese person?
SAITO
The earthquake and tsunami directly caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The world’s nuclear agency has revealed deficiencies in the management of the nuclear power plant, therefore there are also human responsibilities for what happened. However, let’s leave that aside. In the early days, the reading of data relating to the leakage of radioactive material from the plant were very high, but fortunately at this point the level of radiation in areas relatively distant from the central are gone down.
Currently, people who feel with the nuclear issue the most are the mothers who have young children, because the smaller is the child and more consequences of radiation exposure over time. Immediately after the accident we had the problem that the authorities did not provide correct information, there was a kind of censorship. This has caused a reaction and now I feel that what is communicated to us is the truth.
Finding a better balance with Nature
I live in the Ibaraki province, at about 150 km from the city of Fukushima and I think that we should not risk to be exposed to nuclear radiation: it’s a matter of time, of course. However the incident has made everyone more sensitive to the problem.
CHIERCHINI
In relation to the last problem, one could say that this is the tip of the iceberg: our world is gradually becoming further removed from its natural state and one could argue that it has become more and more disharmonious. In this context, how does it fit the practice of Aikido as a way of harmony? What responsibility lies with Aikido teachers in this kind of world?
SAITO
I don’t know if I can provide a correct answer.
Humans are an element of nature. There is a theory that if human beings disappeared from the planet, it would revert to its ideal state; this is paradoxical. In Aikido, however, the Founder thought that mankind had the role of governing nature in order to achieve an ideal condition.
The Founder used to speak of misogi, an activity of purification with which should training sessions in Aikido should start. When an inner conflict begins, from time to time we are faced with choices. If we possess decision-making skills, this is good, because each time we can make a conscious choice between good and evil.
I live in a rural area, away from the disaster area, however at the time of the nuclear accident I was still able to see the force of reaction of the nature. When practicing Aikido, if the students learn how to avoid negative, destructive attitudes towards others, that is their partners, certainly they will develop the same behavior in relation to nature, of which mankind is part.
O’Sensei preached non-violence. If one acts as I said, mankind could return to a more balanced condition of greater harmony between humans and nature.
The Way of the Warrior, Budo and agriculture, Nogyo, are complementary. The point of contact between the way of the warrior and agriculture is that both prepare for adversities and because of that it is also important to begin from the basics, the kihon. When we are forced to face nature’s caprices, we all must collaborate so that the problem at hand is solved or reduced.
CHIERCHINI
Next question brings us deeper in the world of Aikido and especially of Iwama Aikido: Sensei can you explain for our readers the role of Morihiro Saito Sensei in relation to the teaching of the Founder?
SAITO
When the second world war ended, my father became a student of O-Sensei’s dojo. There was only O-Sensei’s practiced in the dojo. At the time, my father got a job with the state railways and used to work at night, returning home in the morning. According to the custom of the time, the ones who had worked at night were entitled to two days -with the night in between – off; therefore he could spend many hours with O-Sensei.
Morihiro Saito at a young age
The idea of O-Sensei when he came to Iwama was to practice both agriculture and Budo, so my father helped O’Sensei to work in the fields. The Founder was born in an era when those who taught martial arts were always with their students, who lived with their teacher. The teacher eventually tended to become attached to this type of student who worked the land and trained with him, because they were always together. This is the uchi-deshi system, where the internal student lives in the house of his sensei. My father experienced this situation.
Post-war Japan was a poor country, because all the resources were used during the war. Students who helped the Founder, also had their field to cultivate, because there was nothing to eat. Those who could not or would not help O’Sensei in his agricultural activities, gradually gave up and were not to be seen anymore. In the mentality of a typical Japanese of that period, the ones who could not or would not help the teacher in these other extra-dojo activities, did not feel that could be taught the techniques at all.
My father had the good fortune to continue to stand alongside his teacher; so at times, even as they cultivated the vegetable garden, O-Sensei would think of a new technique, put the hoe and say: “Saito! Go to the dojo to get the bokken!”. Then, in the middle of the field, or wherever they were, they moved from farming to martial arts. In the evening came the other students of the dojo, known as soto-deshi (external students) and my father often had to go work for the railroad. During the day, however, for many years he was able to see and study with care the techniques of the Founder.
At that time the idea of paying in cash the teacher was unheard of; the student helped his teacher providing manpower. Since there was not much money and O-Sensei himself was not at all wealthy, to say the least, my father and the other students organised small money collections and donated what they could put together to the wife of the Founder, Hatsu, to pay for the electricity. Basically at the time O-Sensei did not earn anything, had no fixed income, just because there was not the idea of a fixed monthly fee to be paid to the teacher. Apart from the labor force received by the students, the only cash income for him came from the granting of Dan grades: once the ceremony was over, the student who had received the Dan put his offer on the kamiza. Also, when O-Sensei visited other dojos to give what nowadays we would call seminars, he received “thanks” in the cash. Some time soon after the war ended, some of the students used to bring sacks of rice to thank O-Sensei for his teaching efforts.
My father has always been close to O-Sensei and in many occasions he has declared that his role was to transmit all that he had lived in contact with the Founder. I repeat, this is what he always told me.
CHIERCHINI
What are your memories of the Founder, Sensei? Especially your memories of Morihei Ueshiba from a human point of view.
SAITO
My father was gifted the land on which to build his house from the Founder, then he got married and after we, brothers, were born. I remember that my mother was always in the Ueshiba family home to help them. Therefore we newborn children lived in the house of O’Sensei, because our mother was always there.
I have not seen O’Sensei the first time when I started doing keiko, I saw him as soon as I was born! And I’ve also heard O’Sensei’s kiai when I was still a fetus in the womb of my mother… I do not think to the Founder like an outsider, for me he is some kind of a grandfather.
Family photo: Morihei and Hatsu Ueshiba
He was a man who had something special: if the aspects of daily life that concerned him were common, he was a awesome person. My parents always addressed him using referential language and I felt the distance, the stature of this person.
His posture was always correct, I have never seen him break it: even when he drank, he took the cup with both hands, thanking the gods, then placed it down once more with both hands, formally, according to the traditional system. We saw that this person was so revered by our parents, therefore in his presence we were always polite, because it was natural that we respected him: he had an important aura around him.
I had a beautiful image of O-Sensei and his wife, I never perceived them as two elderly people similar to the other village elders. Both were very devoted. Mrs. Ueshiba, having been born in the Meiji period, a historical period of transition, was a person who paid great attention to food and knew how to manage the economy of the house.
AIKIDO MAYO 