Balmain Dojo Seasons Greetings

We all wish you Merry Christmas and very delightful 2007.

Seminar with Rosso Fernandez sensei 6th dan

On Saturday 18th November Terrey Hills dojo hosted Rosso Fernandez sensei for a one day seminar. Rosso sensei, 6th dan, is head instructor of Auckland Aikikai in New Zealand.

50 aikidoka from east coast Austalia participated and 4 from NZ came across with Sensei.

AKI Aust were invited and 19 aikidoka attended in support of Paul Sinkinson who is the head instructor at Terrey Hills dojo. The Terrey Hills dojo is an independant dojo affiliated to Honbu.

The other main group to join the days training was Colin Hacketts students from the Central Coast who are under the auspices of United Kingdom Aikikai and follow Chiba sensei. A small number of other aikikai members also attended including the Castle Hill dojo which is under the instruction of Bill Haynes and maintains affiliation through Central Coast.

Such a diversity of backgrounds and perceptions of aikido and its method of practise were relatively quickly melded under the instruction of Rosso Sensei and people made sincere efforts to work together co-operatively for the sake of the art. There was very little competitiveness which is a sure sign of good hearted people. The opportunity to experience each others way of ukemi seemed to be relished and was a source of exploration..

Rosso sensei's emphasis was more than technical and touched on a number of areas of practise. It must be said that bringing together a group of aikidoka from differing backgrounds and creating a harmonious enviroment is not easy. This day was a success in this regard due to the efforts and character of both Paul Sinkinson and Rosso sensei and also in great part to all the participants. In my experience the standard and level of practise was good. New friendships and connections were made. I must say I met some nice people and genuine souls who love aikido. What more could you want from a day ?

The day at Terrey Hills was an important part of the forward momentum. Hopefully we will see more of you, the reader, at the next one.

Aikido Beginners class Spring 2006

We had 6 people (3 women & 3 men) attend to the last beginners class and they all joined the group afterwards. So we are having another beginners class on 2 Mondays, 30th October and 6th November.

The purpose of this 2 session course is to introduce our style of Aikido to people who have no experience but are interested in starting Aikido.

You can join and start Aikido with us any time throughout the year after you observe one class and that is how we have been increasing new members over the years. But if you feel more comfortable starting with other beginners, this course is for you.

You can call 0425 286 714 or email me to notify your attendance or for any enquiries.

Please arrive 10-15 minutes on the first evening prior to start time for the payment and registration.

Look forward to seeing you!

For more information
http://www.aikidosydney.com/enquiries.html

3 dojo Cross-Training at Terrey Hills

The day was started by Colin Hackett's speech "Make new friends and go home". If it was the theme of this godo-geiko (cross training), we can say it was very successful.






This cross training between 3 different groups just happened after our instructor Steve Seymour spoke with Paul Sinkinson from Terrey Hills dojo at the cafe after training one time. This year we have been trying to expand our circle a little bigger by opening invitations to other groups or training with other groups. We met Paul Sinkinson through training at Sugao Gakuen, Terrey Hills. Paul trained 3 years in England then Honbu dojo in Japan 2 years, then New Zealand 10 years followed by Australia 18yrs. Paul knew Colin who is a student of Chiba sensei from England and they are all 4th dan. Because of their openness, this event happened without any conflict and ended up with 48 people attending (20 from A.K.I. - well done).

It was quite a pleasant day even though most were not sure about training with different style aikido groups in the beginning. But surely we experienced O-sensei’s concept of unification in the art of aikido at the end of the day which reminded some of us of the first day we started aikido.

Thanks to Paul and Terrey Hills people for your hospitality and Colin and his students who came all the way from Central Coast for the day!
A good effort which did create new friendships. We look forward to the next opportunity.





I think the day was tremendous and I think the winner of the day was Aikido!

I'm in complete agreement with you and Stephen on your views. I think everything that needs to be said has been said by you two and I agree completely. The feedback from my guys was very positive. I think we've been christened " The Three Musketeers" so watch out!

I think we've laid the foundation for things to come! I'm sure O'Sensei was pleased at the outcome - this
is what its all about working together. I feel honoured at having Aikido friends like you and Stephen, we are all passionate at what we do, we are not blinkered, Aikido is always in a state of progression just as we are always in a state of progression as human beings. Lets try and work together for the good of Aikido and for what it means to us as individuals.

Thanks for a great day
Colin


I'd like to thank everyone for turning up the other day at Terrey Hills. The day was a big success, and if we could do this once a quarter I'm sure we would build a stronger goodwill base for our clubs individually and it also gives our students the feeling they belong to a larger group, the extended family of Aikido.

Paul

Numata sensei one day seminar at Balmain

Numata sensei’s training session at Balmain was a little different from your standard Aikido training (if there is such a thing). He introduced us to some “body awareness” type movements that at one point made the Dojo look more like a drama class than a martial art training.

It was quite funny to experience the change in atmosphere as everyone watched in enjoyment as he proceeded to demonstrate this “funny” walk with arms entwined above your head and prancing along with exaggerated hip movements to really get everything going. Everyone then glazed in disbelief as he motioned for us to line up and do the same.

It didn’t take long for everyone to get into the spirit of things and start “prancing” up and down the mat in a most unorthodox way that simply made you feel good (either because you were secretly laughing at the way you must look, or the fact you were learning to use all of your body to walk. Something we probably don’t think to do everyday).

He also explored two quite simple shoulder exercises to increase our awareness throughout the upper body.

Firstly, with clenched fists and biceps bulging (a bit like a boxer shaping up but with his guard way down low) rotate the shoulders slowly in a large circular fashion. Try rotating in both directions but bringing the shoulder up and back then down and forward definitely seemed to feel a little more natural than in the other direction. Pay attention to the distance from your ear to the shoulder joint while rotating.

There’s not really much structural in there connecting the arms with the torso. In fact the single point of connection is the where the collar bone joins to the top of the breast bone. This is the pivotal point for the rotation. The scapula (shoulder blade) is not actually connected to the ribs at all but rather should move freely over the ribs with lots of space as you rotate the shoulder.

Continue with the rotations and expand your awareness to the whole muscle group that drives the shoulder (and therefore the arm). It really starts from more than halfway down the back to right up under the ear. So the rotation should really involve the entire spine as well. Even the hips come in to play somewhat so you can maintain your balance while rotating.

The second exercise was a further exploration of the connection (or disconnection) between our arms and the body. With arms outstretched like Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man one hand is turned palm up and the other palm down. Now continue the rotation of the downward palm until the arm has gone full circle and the palm is facing up again (not so easy at first but persist a little). Slowly swap rotations from one arm to the other engaging as much of the upper body as possible. Don’t be afraid to let your hips join in as well.

This rotates the whole shoulder and begins to lift the scapula from the ribs giving a real sense of space under there. Something we probably don’t realise too often as the tensions build up throughout the day. It’s such a simple exercise the can be practiced almost anywhere and only takes a few moments to open up the space throughout the shoulder disrupting the habitual tension patterns we may have acquired during the course of our day.

I can’t remember his exact words but the benefits as Numata sensei suggested was “old man who can do this very well, grow very old, but still look young”. I tend to believe him.

Trent Adamson

Aikikai Australia 40th Anniversary in Melbourne

In January 2006, there was a gathering of Aikidoka from around the world in Melbourne, Australia, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Aikikai Australia. Guest instructors included Doshu and his deshi Kodani Sensei; Sugano Sensei, founder and chief instructor of Australia; Yamada Sensei from New York Aikikai; Takase Sensei from New Zealand Aikikai; Ken Cottier Sensei from Hong Kong Aikikai and a number of Australian teachers.

The attendance of those outside of Aikikai Australia was initially refused. International Aikikai members were welcome but Australian-based Aikikai affiliates (such as AKI) were not. This dissolved into resistance after a period of time and eventually acceptance at the end of November 2005. Finally, other Australian based Aikikai groups were permitted to attend but only for the 3 days that Doshu was in attendance. The AKI Australia members were invited personally by Doshu in May 2005 whilst attending his keiko and enbukai at Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura.

So 11 AKI members from around Australia attended and participated with 400 others in an university hall the size of a basketball court. There was little air inside and the temperature outside was 35-40 degrees with 90% humidity. Ukemi was impossible due to too many people, and the last day the temperature reached 42 degrees! Inside seemed even hotter!

Putting aside the attitudes of the host organisation and the atrocious conditions, we all made the most of the gathering. We met old friends and made new ones. The teaching of Sugano Sensei was very interesting and impressive; a most humble man in my opinion. Yamada Sensei is a powerfully built man and his waza was also powerful. Takase Sensei was technically precise whilst Ken Cottier was relaxed and effective.



Kodani Sensei (a Honbu Dojo uchideshi) was left behind on the Saturday by Doshu to join in the training and to teach the last class, but he was also left alone by the participants due to his reserved nature and lack of English. This was noticed by Edwin Waters from AKI Sydney who approached him and spoke with him in Japanese. Kodani Sensei remembered him and our group from Hachimangu Shrine in 2005 so this seemed to make him feel more at ease. Also Ayano-san spoke with him and he asked her if she could act as translator for his class. She was fitted with a microphone and translated for him. She looked like Madonna performing at a concert! Kodani Sensei's class was very enjoyable.

It is my belief that AKI Australia made a good impression as a group of open minded Aikidoka whose skills were also noticeable amongst the many people there. One of the most noticeable impressions was that we are very lucky indeed to have such excellent teachers in AKI Thank you to Takeda Sensei and our senpai.

- Stephen Seymour

Year End Camp at Sugao Gakuin with Suzuki sensei

The close cooperation between Australian and Japan continued at Summer
Camp at Therry Hills in December 2005. It felt like a continuation of
the relationships and training we had started to develop during our
visit to Japan in May 2005 and I hope it only serves to deepen the
relationship between us.

It was great to see Yass-San, Hiroshi-San, Genichi-San and Sato-San
again and to learn from them on the mat. We greatly appreciate them
coming to spend time with us and to share with us their Aikido.

Photos © Graham Monaghan

It was also good to be able, in some small way , to pay back the
generosity and hospitality that we all received on our visit in May.
Just as our Japanese hosts introduced us to sake, shochu and the
shinkanzen, we thought the lest we could do was to ensure that our
guests on this occasions learnt more about Australian wine, beer and
beaches. May the cross cultural education continue!!

Louise Ingram

Clock here to see more photos