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Thursday, November 1st 2007
CONTENTS:
1. Michael Williams Sensei Teaching At Nathan
2. New Wynnum Dojo - Bay Side Budokai
3.
4. The Unfettered Mind
1. Michael Williams Sensei Teaching At Nathan
Michael Williams Sensei will be teaching at Griffith Nathan dojo on Thursday 15th November 7-9pm, it is his only chance to teach in
dojos can make it.
Costs are as follows:
$15 for casual attendees (inc.those from other dojos) and $5 from monthly fee payers
at the door.
2. New Wynnum Dojo – Bay Side Budokai
David Kolb Sensei, a prominent aikidoka in
The Bayside Budokai is a not for profit martial arts club based in Wynnum, on the bayside of
Quality instruction is provided in three Japanese martial arts or budo: aikido, iaido, and jodo. Each art is an individual tradition in its own right, however shared concepts and basic principles mean that students can practice one or all of the arts on offer.
The club aims to provide a supportive and safe training environment where we work together to reach our full potential.
Our motto is heijo shin kore michi meaning that the aim of training is to develop a calm undisturbed state of mind regardless of the situation. Training is not aimed at producing street fighters or samurai wannabes rather people of good character able to cope with adversity in whatever form.
We look forward to training with you soon.
Danny James
3.
Griffith Aikido was asked at short notice to provide a self-defense workshop at
Shirin Mohebbi, Ben Hamley and I were the Griffith Aikido participants. The idea was to show them some self-defense, not aikido as such. We spent some time talking through what their idea of self-defense was, and difficult situations they had found themselves in. Some of the women had found themselves in some quite difficult situations. It was agreed that self-defense includes concepts such as awareness, avoidance, risk assessment, etc. We then proceeded to do some activities to encourage them to relax, to use their voices, and to be aware of protecting their personal space before an attacker breaches it - very aikido. Finally we looked at a simple technique which is easy to remember, as trying to teach lots of aikido principles or techniques in one hour to aikido novices will mean most is forgotten. Of course, although the simple technique is effective in itself, the ladies were interested in asking “what happens then if….? Shirin provided a demonstration of how a technique can then be extended or modified depending on an attack. Ben was dispatched very efficiently several times. We then spent a little time reinforcing the simple technique before joining the ladies for a cuppa.
Overall, very enjoyable and Shirin, Ben and I were very happy with how the workshop went. It’s always great when the participants are so enthusiastic. As always, if you’re interested in getting involved with these types of community aikido activities, please let myself or one of the Executive or Instructors know and we’ll be sure to include you in the next one J.
Steve Mitchell
4. The Unfettered Mind
The Unfettered Mind: Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master.
by Takuan Sōhō; translated by William Scott Wilson.
(Kodansha, 1987; soft cover)
In a nutshell:
“Presumably, as a martial artist I do not fight for gain or loss, am not concerned with strength or weakness, and neither advance a step nor retreat a step.” Sort of like Zen and the art of swinging a sword…
The big picture:
Written in the 17th century not long after the climax and close of Japan’s bloody feudal age, this collection of treatises can be subtle as a stiletto or blunt as two short planks, but never fails to convey the wit and deep insight of the author. What else would you expect from a man who was not only a monk, artist, poet and gardener but also the namesake and alleged inventor of a pickle made from giant radishes!
Not just a budo classic but a classic of Japanese literature, translations of The Unfettered Mind are just as likely to turn up on the shelves of wealthy businessmen as to be found in martial arts dojo. And its author is such a part of Japanese culture that he even appears in a popular manga series.
Two of the lectures within were letters to members of prominent samurai clans. They eloquently address issues of martial technique and principle, as well as the proper conduct of mind and body. The other, The Clear Sound of Jewels, concerns the nature of desire and reality, life and death:
Human consciousness and the objective world unite, sundry thoughts are born, and from these many others are born in turn. Pulled by these thoughts, this body of form is received and produced. It is not simply something strange that has rained down from heaven.
Beginning with the single thought that has no beginning, the multifarious things thus come to be. When you go and look carefully for its source, being a single thought with no beginning, you find that it has none at all. Having no origin at all, the birth of the infinite variety of things could be called a mystery.
Look out for:
· “the interval into which not even a hair can enter”
· advice on the value of “right-mindedness” in The Clear Sound of Jewels
· the translator’s foreword and introduction (a little bit of historical context)
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takuan_S%C5%8Dh%C5%8D
http://quotes.zaadz.com/Takuan_Soho
Ben Hamley
Shirin Mohebbi
Email: shirin(AT)internode.on.net
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