Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 10:53:27 -0500
From: scott.e.crawford@DELPHIAUTO.COM
Well, now you've done it!
I'll try not to repeat too many other people's reviews. This is
definitely long-ish, so I'll split it into two parts. Take a deep
breath and dive in!
AIKIDO-L 2000 SEMINAR REVIEW, PART 1 OF 2
Back and still recovering, I have returned from Boulder both wiser and
more stiff and tired than I left. Suffering from a serious case of the
"blahs", I realize I'm in the throes of PSLS (Post Seminar Letdown
Syndrome). Sounds like it was a great weekend, huh?
It was.
First Impressions...
When my plane was landing in Denver, I looked out of the window and saw
snow flurries. I immediately began dreading our decision to hold the
seminar in the Rockies. My concerns turned out to be unfounded, however,
as the weather was overcast until Sunday afternoon, but otherwise fine.
Friday...
After picking up Sean Fogarty and Philip Akin Sensei, we proceeded to
Boulder -- an easy drive of, oh, 30-40 minutes or so. Philip and I
ranted on about politics within the Yoshinkan community. Sorry, Sean,
we _must_ have driven you crazy on that trip!
After a quick check-in at the hotel, we decided to head over to the
dojo to make sure we could find the place. When we got there, we ran
into Jun and the Knight who says "Ki", Craig Hocker, who was, incidentally,
wearing his only pair of long pants. Those whacky Texans forget that it
gets cold in other parts of the country!
Since we were "in the neighborhood", we stopped next door at Bujin Design
to check out the place. It was smaller than I had anticipated, but when
I thought about it, it was as big as it needed to be. Until *WE* all
showed up.
Ikeda Sensei greeted us warmly, and invited us to look around. I think
we overwhelmed his staff, though. Five or six people packed into the
front office really fills up the place!
After a fine Vietnamese lunch, I took a quick catnap before going to the
regular 7:15 class at Boulder Aikikai taught by Ikeda Sensei. It was
an interesting class, but I was nowhere near acclimated to the altitude,
and was sucking wind and guzzling water the whole class.
At this point, I started to worry that I might not be able to train up
in the rare air. Fortunately, I discovered that a night's sleep seems
to help one's body "reset" to the thinner air. By Saturday I was OK.
A late dinner at TGIFridays rejuvenated us, and it was back to the hotel
to crack open a nip of the single malt. Somehow, my room ended up as the
gathering place. I guess a bottle of scotch can do that to a room...
At around 12:30 am (after having been up since 4:00 am), I politely told
everyone to get the ^*&% out... with loving kindness, of course. ;^)
Saturday...
What a joyful experience to have so many friends come together from all
over to share what they love. Even the always-gruff Michael Hacker
pointed out that we're all family -- he wouldn't go to so much effort
simply to meet up with some friends. Damned fine words for a fellow
with a tengu in his shorts.
As customary, the first class was taught by the host, Hiroshi Ikeda
Sensei. I found him to be not only an astounding aikidoka, but also an
incredibly receptive and open-minded host. We listka are, to some
degree, open-minded about other styles -- otherwise we wouldn't be
subscribed to the list and attending its seminars.
Ikeda Sensei, however, is not a listka, and had no particular reason to
welcome us into his home. However, he went out of his way to point out
that everything we were to see over the weekend was aikido, and it all
had value and merit.
He stressed that some of what we were to see might not suit us ("Hot
and Sour Chicken Pizza Aikido"). Other things, we might find to be
unexpectedly wonderful ("Smoked Salmon Pizza Aikido").
He reminded us over and over that we had to evaluate everything we saw.
"Your aikido is yours. My aikido is mine. The things you
like, make part of YOUR aikido. What you don't, you don't
have to keep. But, if you don't TRY, you'll never know.
Just like smoked salmon pizza."
Ikeda Sensei gave me a lot of smoked salmon pizza aikido, that I hope
to be able to incorporate into MY aikido some day.
I think what may have impressed me the most was that not only did he
"talk the talk", but he also "walked the walk". As far as my poor
memory goes, Ikeda Sensei was on the mat for every aikido class, sampling
it all -- looking for that smoked salmon pizza. He didn't come on the
mat as "Host" or "Sensei" or even "7th dan". He came, like us all, as
a student -- trying new things, learning new ways of looking at aikido.
I can't say that I've ever had a nanadan taking ukemi for me. What a
rush!
[Note: The spell-checker tried to change "nanadan" to "Canadian". I
wonder if that means anything?]
Peter Boylan taught a mini-class on Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo that reminded
me how much fun it is to play with sticks. But Peter, next time you
call me up, let's make sure that we've practiced together more recently
than 8 months apart -- I couldn't remember anything but honte uchi and
hiki otoshi uchi. (And not too well, either!)
Peter has an infectious love of koryu, which is obvious in how he carries
himself on the mat. I get the impression of an excited little puppy who
only gets let out to play every once in a while... So, when you take his
leash off, he's so exited about getting to play, you're afraid he's going
to piddle on the mat.
God love ya, Peter [Obligatory reference to last year's seminar]. You
can come play at my place any time. Bring your sticks.
Next was Philip Akin Sensei's class. As a Yoshinkan practitioner myself,
you might think that I would be the least suprised by Philip's class. It
would be natural for you to assume that I wouldn't be hit with any
tremendous revelations or unexpected discoveries. You would be wrong.
Every time I train with Philip, I come away with a different understanding
of Yoshinkan aikido. I don't mean learning new techniques, I'm talking
about a completely new way to think about what we do, and why.
For all the commonality and consistency inherent in the Yoshinkan style,
Philip always shows me something I never realized before -- new ways to
think about movement, about what and why we do certain things, about what
it means to truly DO aikido.
All this despite the fact that there's only ONE beautiful shape in
Yoshinkan aikido (an egg, in case you don't remember). ;^)
Even though we've only trained together a few times, there's no one I'd
rather call "sensei" than Philip. Boy, I hope he's not reading this;
the ego boost may overload his poor aging body! (Hi Philip!)
Straight back leg. 95 degrees. Osu! (Sorry, that just slipped out)
The third full-length class of the day was taught by Julian Frost Sensei.
Let me start off by saying this: I don't want to hear any more whining
about how _Yoshinkan_ is a hard style! Julian shared with us a
smorgasbord of techniques that you just don't see every day: chokes,
neck throws, sutemi waza... great stuff.
Most of it was rather disorienting to me, as it was so different from
my standard fare, but it was a rush when you finally got one (mostly)
right. No wonder he and Chuck Gordon got along so well!
Emily and I had a prearranged deal that I would be her "uke" for her
mini-class on massage. (It pays to know people in high places, huh?)
When her class started Chuck Gordon dove over to the ground at her feet
(a typical position for him, I think!), and Peter Boylan dove on top of
him, trying to preempt his massage.
Your mistake, gentlemen, is that you didn't anticipate that I had talked
to her in advance, and secured my spot as MFCTAMU (Most Favored Chew Toy
And Massage Uke).
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