Demostración de Minoru Mochizuki

Un vídeo interesante de un joven Minoru Mochizuki recién llegado a Europa.

Curso multidisciplinar Nihon Kobudo Aragón (y 2)

El curso impresionante. El trabajo de Kempo Fu Shih de Raúl Gutierrez fue de una velocidad, precisión y contundencia terribles. Aun no sé cómo se pueden dar tantos golpes en un sólo segundo. Se trabajó desde agarre de las solapas, desde jab y desde patada frontal.

Del Aikijujutsu Yoseikan Ha con que nos obsequió el Maestro Miranda quedarnos con el control y la precisión de las técnicas. Trabajamos desde Mune Dori (con algún detalle histórico siempre interesante) y desde Ushiro Ryote Dori en progresión; desde el Te Hodoki hasta Ashi Tatami, pasando por el omnipresente Yuki Chigae. No sé qué me duele más esta mañana, si el Kabe Kake o el Ashi Tatami… Me lo pensaré a lo largo tdel día.

Por la tarde Sergio Hernández nos hizo sudar de lo lindo con el Bo de la Yamanni Ryu. Y sí, el Bo era de 182cm de largo.

Y para finalizar Pau Ramón mostró parte de las técnicas de intervención con Yubi Bo. Dolorosisisisimas. Seguro que se me bloquearon varios chakras. Tengo todo el ki en los dedos de los pies y no me quiere subir. Técnicas «sencillas» que requieren mucha precisión (cómo no) y derriban al más pintado.

Curso multidisciplinar Nihon Kobudo Aragón

Dejo aquí el cartel del curso, calentito, calentito…

Es una gran oportunidad para trabajar con los Maestros, que os recomiendo no dejeis pasar.

A Kicking Grand Ma: Old Age is a Myth

“Old age? There is no such thing!” Mme. Jeanne Lieberman replied in response to a query whether her age of 92 plus was weighing on her. She was martial arts Grand master who lived in France. This was her response to a question by Claude Bobin. He was interviewing her. Check the 1978 September issue of the Indian Reader’s digest and you can read the article. The summary is given here.

Mme. Jeanne Lieberman started learning martial arts at the tender age of 63, when most of us would prefer retiring from the armchair to the sofa- watching the antics of our grand children. But for her, it was the beginning of a new life- a life of conquering and self–discovery plus a whole new vista of opportunities and healing for a lot of people past 60. She had prepared herself though. She was a regular practitioner of Yoga. And she had-Inspiration-lots of it!

She joined a Judo Dojo (martial arts school) in Paris. When she went to enroll, the joke goes that the instructor asked if it was for her son or her grandson.

Imagine his surprise when she replied it was for her!Her astounding progress soon put an end to the apprehensions of her instructor and her younger classmates and she completed her black belt in sharp five years! Inspiration to her classmates!

She didn’t rest on her achievement, though. She went to Japan and started polishing up her Aikido skills that she had started learning in France. Aikido is a non-violent form of self-defense. She practiced under Master Tadashi Abe for four years before she secured her black belt in Aikido(!).

No, that is not the end of the story. At the age of 72, she started learning Kung fu (Wing Chun).She received her black belt in Kung fu at the age of 80, from Master Hoangnam at the famed Shaolin temple, China! Astounding Inspiration, isn’t it? To think how much an old lady would exert, pushing herself to the limits.

Her diet is very simple: a carrot for breakfast, an egg for lunch and a potato and a spoonful of honey for supper.

Mme Lieberman’s dedication paid off abundantly. She achieved such a level of prowess that she was able to perform unbelievable feats. She has demonstrated her prowess in several ways: In one demonstration she pinned a trained (black belt), 1.8 m tall, 200 kg athlete to the ground in less than one second and then repeated the feat nine times!

Pretty tempting skill to acquire isn’t it? This should be inspiration for young and old alike.

Mme Lieberman is not an aggressive person. Her personal philosophy is rooted in silence, tolerance, understanding and love.

She returned to Paris and started her own martial arts class. She developed her own synthesized style based on the three martial arts and Yoga. Most of her disciples are in their sixties or seventies. Some of them have had extraordinary experiences. One seventy year old student was attacked by two young muggers in the dark side alleys of Paris . She was able to ward off their attack easily and hold one of them in a paralysing arm lock, with him begging for mercy.

At a time when we keep hearing stories of estranged and isolated old people, who have been abandoned by their children, Mme. Lieberman’s story is heartening in that it gives inspiration to stand up for ourselves, dig into the resources within ourselves and prove to ourselves and the world that we can take care of ourselves, and much more!

Martial arts are a sure fire way to keep oneself fit and old age at bay. Martial Arts also help to maintain peace of mind and to develop suppleness of the body.

Martial arts are one of the best ways to spend ones excess time. Of course this statement would not appeal to the enthusiastic follower, who has dedicated his life to perfection in martial arts.

The lives of people like Jeanne Liebermann convey Inspiration in us to achieve all that we are capable of. They give inspiration to transcend our limits.

Interview with Kuniyuki Kai (1999)

As a young judo enthusiast, Kuniyuki Kai found that he was regularly defeated by bigger, stronger opponents. This led him to take up karate in order to strengthen his body and confidence. Kai later discovered Yoshinkan aikido which he promptly added to his martial repertoire. Though initially skeptical of the efficacity of aikido’s techniques, this art now forms the central core of his training. Today Kai continues his study of various classcial martial arts in search of a way to realize his dream of integrating these martial systems into his aikido.

To read more visit http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=479.

For more information on Kuniyuki Kai, visit Seibukan homepage at http://www.seibukanbudo.org.

IMAF Taikai 2007 at Cala Montjoi

This year’s Taikai at Cala Montjoi has been a complete success. The organization has been just perfect, and the location a good combination of sun, sand, sea and tatami.

We counted with the presence of Jan Janssens (7th dan Aikijujutsu Yoseikan), José Guisado (7th dan Goshin Jujutsu), José Miranda (6th dan Aikijujutsu Yoseikan Ha), Pau Ramon Planellas (6th dan Nihon Kobudo), Juan Antonio Salas (5th dan Aikijujutsu Yoseikan Ha), David Buisán (4th dan Goshin Kenpo), Pere Soler (4th dan Mugai Ryu Iai Heido), Xavier Teixidó (3rd dan Aikijujutsu Yoseikan Ha), Miguel Ángel Ibáñez (3rd dan Aikijujutsu Yoseikan Ha) and others, among the Sensei. The best in their specialities.

We could practice a full weekend of Aikijujutsu, Jujutsu, Nihon Taijutsu, Iaido, Iaijutsu, Aikuchi and other martial disciplines.

I never step out of the «aiki tatami», where Senseis Janssens, Miranda, Salas, Ibañez and Teixidó did their best to try to teach us some of the techniques of their two different Yoseikan lines. Miranda Sensei’s line, Yoseikan Ha, includes techniques from old schools, usually meaning Daito Ryu, but also Aikuchi, Jo Gatame, etc. We could say (or, at least it seems to me) that this line is more traditional and painful in its forms.

Janssens Sensei’s Yoseikan tends to be more dynamic in its application. Rich in Sutemi Waza, this line doesn’t invest time in making complicated human knots with its ukes. Instead, tori gets rid of his ukes in a quite expeditive manner.

I also attended the Aikuchi class by Miranda Sensei. Those expecting a class in Tanto Dori didn’t get what they were ready for. In this work, it is tori who’s welding the aikuchi (tanto without tsuba), and it is the aikuchi wielder who «wins» in the kata. A very interesting work, from a different perspective.

Saturday night, the attending groups prepared an exhibition in honor of Javier Juarez Sensei, recently deceased. The Spirit of Budo was present all over it, with demonstrations of Aikijujutsu, Jujutsu, Kenpo, Iaijutsu, Nihon Taijutsu, Aikuchi, Jo Gatame, Tambojutsu, even some Hojojutsu… It was a very emotional moment.

At the end, my whole body was acking for a complete day and night… But I loved it! Hope to see you all next year!!

Katori Shinto Ryu: Warrior Tradition

Koryu.com has finally released the all too expected book on Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu written by Soke Risuke Otake. For a long time, «The Deity and the Sword» has been listed for up to USD500 in some online stores, so for all of you that didn’t want to spend that lot of money this is great news. This one-volume 336-pager is based on the earlier 3-volume work, reedited and redesigned, and for a much cheaper price.

This book contains a lot on history of the School, the techniques and the strategy for which it is famous. Some extra information about the more esoteric principles (such as the kuji in) can also be found in this great work.

More information at http://koryu.com/store/katori-shinto-ryu.html.

Shu Ha Ri

“Shu-ha-ri” significa, literalmente, aceptar el Kata, diferenciarse del Kata y descartar el Kata. El propósito del entrenamiento en un ambiente Japonés clásico casi siempre sigue este proceso educativo. Esta aproximación única al aprendizaje ha existido durante siglos en Japón y ha sido clave en la supervivencia de muchas de las más antiguas tradiciones Japonesas.

Estas incluyen ámbitos tan diversos como puedan ser las artes marciales, la composición floral, él teatro, las marionetas, pintura, escultura y poesía. Si bien el Shu-ha-ri ha funcionado bien hasta la era actual, nuevas aproximaciones sobre el aprendizaje y la enseñanza están alterando este método tradicional Japonés de transmisión de conocimientos.

El artículo completo, traducido por Óscar Recio, en http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=222&lang=es.
Original version, by Yukiyoshi Takamura, at http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=222.

Por cierto, que O’Sensei ya hablaba de esto cuando decía eso de «Entra por la forma y sal de la forma». Algunos se quedan únicamente con el «sal de la forma», sin comprender el proceso, sin crear una base sólida. Creo que es un mal muy extendido en el Aikido de hoy día. ¿Por qué no escuchamos a los Maestros como Takamura Sensei?

The real secrets of Jujutsu

During the practice of ‘ran o toru’, a free style method of practice used in the Kito Ryu Jujutsu system, Iikubo would repeatedly throw Kano, even though he was thirty years older than the young man. Kano began to analyze the process of throwing, to see what makes it effective. During this analyzation, Kano came upon three discoveries. Once he implemented them, he was capable of defeating nearly anyone. Upon relating these concepts to master Tsunetoshi Iikubo, he was admitted into the Okuden, inner traditions, of the Kito Ryu, and allowed to view the scrolls and books of the system.

Read the whole article at http://www.yoshinjujitsu.com/real_secrets_of_jujutsu.htm.

Back to training!

Yesterday I went back to Aikijujutsu training after three weeks of «dojo holidays». People was training hard, so I ended up exhausted. Sensei divided the class in two groups, so we trained the nage waza (throws), the shime waza (chokes) and the katame waza (pins) of the kihon or fundamental technique.

How hard is it to stand up every time someone crash you into the mat!!

Great to be back again in dojo!