"You might ask what is the most important thing in Aikido training. It is to look at yourself, your innermost soul. The reality of your own life must surely lead you back to its origins, to the beginning of the universe. If you succeed in doing this, you will intuitively realize that your past, present and future, already integral parts your being, are manifestations of the divine will and the love of God. Each of the individual cells of your body carries a map of the divine plan of creation. Because of this we can realize directly the great love of the creator. Universal consciousness is our birthright. We must go beyond all antagonism and disunity."

-Morihei Ueshiba, -Osensei

Masakatsu Agatsu Katsuhayabi

True Victory is Self Victory! Harmonize yourself with the heart of things and find salvation right inside your own body and soul!

Contemplating this world I sometimes sigh with lament but then I continue my battle bathed in swirling light bringing closer the Day of Swift Victory!

Newsletter

Issue #2 - Summer 2000

To the Community of TCA

Five years ago the original goal of this dojo was to create a place for a few of us to train, specifically Dan, Ann, Joey, Richard, and Michelle. We needed a place to practice our art and if there were some people who wished to join us, we were encouraging. Helmut and Karen joined us in our passion.

Since then the community has grown in ways I could not have imagined. People of all ages and all walks of life train here for varying purposes. Some people wish to get in shape, while for others, self defense is a primary piece. There are also those students who seek to live more fully in their bodies. Many of us seek opportunities for self-examination in an open terrain, and find those on the mat. Still others discover new reasons to stay and train that are different from whatever originally brought them in the door. Whatever your reasons for training, you are dedicated practitioners devoting yourselves to practice once or many times a week. It is inspiring.

While on the subject of training, it's appropriate to acknowledge the dedication to training demonstrated by the children, the teens and the parents of Two Cranes. Their consistent attendance in practice and their rousing desire to learn is inspirational to me as a teacher. They fill the dojo with joy and curiosity and we are the richer for it.

Still, many of you have mentioned how difficult is to juggle martial/spiritual practice along with the endless responsibilities and demands of daily life. Not to mention the physical discomfort that can go hand in hand with training. Knees, backs, shoulders, toe nail loss. I can only nod and say Yes, I know. Aikido is not an easy practice and it doesn't necessarily get easier with more time in. As the subtleties increase, so does the probability for being close to getting it right, and still missing the point entirely. If you let yourself be jostled by the potential that you won't get it, value village gets one more gi for sale.

At the same time, people of all walks of life comment on how the busier they are, the more necessary spirit practice is in balancing their lives. One of our students skilled in time management noted that training can sometimes leave him with more energy than he arrived with. I have found that to be true. Ki is that thing that informs and infuses you, if you can just get to the dojo.

Yet sometimes the discomforts that we have when we enter the space do not go away when we practice. There are those feelings that will not be stuffed, that stubbornly surface in the most inconvenient moments. How do we be gentle with ourselves in this state. That is definitely a skill worth cultivating. And creating a place to actively practice this gentleness is another way that practice assists us in our everyday lives. Somewhere we must learn how to be with discomfort and practice gives us opportunities to develop this skill.

Zen Abbott Genjo Marinello, who conducted our annual Matsuri celebration this April, speaks well to this point. "With great determination and dedication to our training we slowly learn how to let go and let be in the midst of our great doubt and complexity. We come to a place where we are truly free to do what needs doing without procrastination or hindrance. There is a great joy that arises when we can meet life so unfettered. somehow our training quietly nurtures our freedom by cutting through our complexity to the deep innate flow that animates all things. We can not direct, control or initiate this flow, it is not ours to direct, but we can learn how to let ourselves move in a more simple, direct, Natural Way."

A final note: We are perhaps a week away from signing a new lease. Dan and I agree that we won't sign until we know there will be new roof over our heads and temperature control . But it looks good and the owner is offering us a 5 year commitment. So it appears that we will have 5 more years to enjoy our training in this inspiring space and 5 years to reflect on where we might train next (as renewing will not be an option.) Perhaps when the time comes, the next appropriate place of practice will effortlessly appear. One can always hope.

In appreciation

Thank you for your participation in Misogi practice. Flowers, (Yes!!) - non stop flowers have filled the dojo in the new year thanks to Linda, Sara, Kelly and others, (my definition of a thriving place of practice.) Last month under Richard's direction and Gene's taping expertise, the dojo got a new coat of paint. Thank you so much to all who assisted him. Brian Porterfield has created a web site with Dan Murnam and Dan McAbee's help and Rew has offered us web site videos of Anno Sensei and Mary Heiny. So great. Julie Johnson is responsible for designing and editing our newsletters as well as creating vibrant promotional material which can be found in PCC news and soon other venues. Money has been donated generously in the name of a new mat. Again, thank you so much. On that note if you don't have a task here and would like to pitch in, please see the misogi Queen Karen Sticklen. she can help you out.

TCA Seminars of 2000

Thank you for supporting the seminars we have sponsored. When a senior teacher brings his/her heart and depth of knowledge to a school, the consciousness of the school takes a leap; awareness increases am delighted to bring these instructors here so they will share the experience of their practice with you. Below is a recap of seminars we have hosted in 2000.

Patty Saotome's illness required me to teach our first seminar of 2000 with the assistance of Lee Crawford Sensei. Training was rich and you were supportive. Thank you. Then Mary Heiny Sensei visited for an evening in March. "Aikido is transmission," she says. "You get touched. It moves you. Over and over again if you train 2 months or 20 years it is all win, no lose. The experience of the movement, the philosophy, the principles are tools for skillful action. Aikido is a multi layered study in self-correction. There are so many things to consider in learning this practice. Let yourself notice and allow material to flow thru you. Choose one thing to concentrate on: feet, hips, hands, center, flow.

In April Anno Sensei blessed our training. I will never again shake my head in disbelief when thinking "70 people" in the dojo. "Heart, heart, more heart, " he said. "If you're technique doesn't work, open your heart more. Be like nature: pure flow." His kokyunage looked like a cresting wave. I was awestruck as I watched him move Dan ( it looked as if Sensei was running the crest of the wave behind him and sucking him in.) Dan was thrown before he ever reached Anno Sensei. He scurried to catch up and ride the wave as though bodysurfing.

Hiroshi Ikeda Sensei has been a patient teacher of mine for 20 years. The study has been clear and concise: "initiate connection from your center"- find your center- engage from your center. In May he embraced us with his vibrant sense of humor and his precise and powerful method. "Just connect." Students from dojos throughout Seattle celebrated together in training. Following class on Saturday afternoon, Anne Yamane organized members of her Northwest Taiko group to offer us a performance/ practice session. We shared the power of the drums and witnessed the group's moving artistry and inspiration.

Seminars boost our training, make our blood pump and deepen our commitment to practice. Again thank you so much for supporting them. We have one more to go this year. Two Cranes will sponsor Mary Heiny Sensei on September 29-October 1. She needs no introduction. As my first teacher, Mary provides a deep source of inspiration for me and I know for many of you. In addition at this seminar we will celebrate our shodan and nidan candidates and throw a great fete. Gambatte. -K.R.

Anno Sensei's Visit

Aikido as the path of friendship

A direct student of Osensei, Motomichi Anno Sensei was born in 1931. He began Aikido training in 1954 and was promoted to 8th Dan in 1978. Anno Sensei is the Chief Instructor of Matsubara Dojo in Kumano City and Senior Instructor at Aikido Kumano Juku in Shingu, Japan.

Motomichi Anno Sensei visited Seattle Wa. in the spring of 2000. During Sensei's visit Linda Holiday and Mary Heiny Senseis graciously acted as translators. Below are reflections of the time spent.

In the fall of 1999 I received a phone call from Linda Holiday Sensei. Following greetings etc. Linda shared that she had invited Motomichi Anno Sensei to Santo Cruz in the spring of 2000 and then asked if I would like him to teach in Seattle during his visit. I wasn't sure I heard her right. The possibility that Anno Sensei would teach in Seattle had not entered my head. That conversation began six months of rigorous preparations on the part of Linda Holiday, Joanne Veneziano, myself and the students of Emerald City and Two Cranes Aikido dojos.

Anno Sensei arrived the evening of April 6, to 5 days of flawless weather in Seattle, Washington, which in itself is a magical phenomena. The first morning as we traveled across the city, the Olympic and Cascade mountains appeared in their bold splendor. Lake Union shimmered in the sunlight and Rainier glistened. In addition, the cherry trees were in full bloom. It was one of those stunning mornings. Anno sensei asked if we might pull over to take it in.

He honored the mountains with a bow and exuberantly reported that his heart was heavy from the beauty. "Itai, Itai. My chest is aching from the joy of the experience." He described the mountain peaks and waters as "so big, so spacious." I felt him say that here in nature is where the Divine spirit is so available to us. If we ever have any doubt of its existence, this is where we can go to for assurance that Spirit is radiant and pulsing through our cells, through our universe. The immediacy of Anno Sensei's connection to the natural world made me pause.

* * * * *

Anno Sensei requested that we visit the dojo before evening training so that he might acquaint himself with the space. He walked through the dojo saying "okii des ne." His reverence for the space was remarkable. Perhaps I just have not noticed before how teachers' enter a dojo space, but in this case as I sponsor my teacher, Mary Heiny Sensei's, teacher, I am noticing each detail. Sensei bowed to every image of O'sensei and fondly reported stories of O'sensei. Then we knelt down to bow in and chant the Norito. Cherry blossoms floated in the breeze. As we were leaving the dojo, he acknowledged that the spread of Aikido from Japan to America indeed was happening here in a sincere way.

Formal training began with a brown and black belt class Friday evening at Two Cranes. Sensei set a tone that invited people to train deeply. "If the technique isn't working properly, open your heart more," he advised. Half way through class he asked people to share their Aikido with him. One by one they got up. Not only did people enjoy themselves, but they came together from many dojos that evening. Affinity of intent as opposed to antagonism; likeness as opposed to difference was acknowledged in training. Heart transmission superseded styles and organizations. Honoring flowed through the air.

Emerald City Aikido Dojo's mat space stretches maybe 1000 square feet. 70 people poured in on Saturday morning. I worried that students would be discouraged, if not outright disappointed that there was no room to move, much less fall down. But as we bowed in and began practicing kokyuho I recognized that something entirely different was occurring. People were training in a spirit of exhilaration; dead serious, laughing, intently looking and sincerely engaging in making connection.

When taking ukemi Sensei held my hand as if guiding me down a path. I experienced his lines as keen and expansive, available and effortlessly readable. My heart was bursting and I could not stop smiling. I could feel where I died and I could feel ki surging through my veins. He spoke of the necessity to connect from the heart. "I am not teaching technique. I am encouraging you to connect with your heart." Anno Sensei runs a deep aspect of O'sensei. Terry Dobson once said, "it's not to hear my voice, it is to touch me. When you touch me, you touch the lineage, you touch O'sensei." This was true now. Anno Sensei's message over and over: "Open your heart. Let us share friendship. Let us be one family. We are all part of a divine universe."

* * * * *

Anno Sensei was serious with the children. Emerald City and Two Cranes Aikido young students bowed in with Sensei and sat patiently as Linda and Sensei translated his greetings. Then warm-ups began. Sensei was deliberate and detailed in the teaching of stretches. "Extend through your heels as you lean over to touch your toes." Two step turns were broken down into the minute particulars. The percentage of weight over the forward bent leg 65%. The back leg straight. Sensei determined these children could handle a level of detail I had not thought would hold their attention. Then came techniques: kokyuho and katatedori ikkyo tenkan. Rolling practice came at the end. Sensei threw most every child both days and they rolled in delight. Then they threw him. The whole room was uplifted. Parents beamed.

He shared with the children his thoughts on failure. "The key to success is in having failure and trying again. Many failures lead to success." He went so far as to express that some times failures lead to more failures and the pathway to success comes with experiencing and moving through or working with our failures. Linda translated as Anno Sensei described a poem that had been close to O'sensei's heart. It involved the white spirit and the red spirit. The white spirit was likened to our essence- our naturalness. Our desire to be dedicated to polishing our spirit by training and continually reaching for the most genuine part of ourselves. He explained that when we are born we have a pure heart. We are unencumbered by ideas of who we might be and who we should be.

Then there is the red spirit. While our teachers and our parents try to help us succeed in cultivating our true self, things get in the way and can distract this effort. The red spirit in us is lazy. It wishes to sit back and play. It resists the practice to polish because it is hard work and this spirit doesn't want to work so hard. The red spirit is not bad, it simply needs discipline. Over time as we continue to commit to the practice of polishing, the red spirit's power over us softens. As we continue to practice the red and the white alchemize into clear spirit. Our essence experiences a quality of peace and light.

"Aikido is the path of friendship," he told the children. He offered that in that moment, the children are practicing exactly what is medicine for our troubled world. If you do not continue to practice Aikido you still can look back and recognize the quality of relationships you developed in your childhood and reflect on how deep and honest these friendships were. O'sensei said "Aikido is medicine for a sick world" and here was Anno Sensei infusing the children with a sense of their personal power and their potential to heal the planet by doing what they were doing in that moment. Extending, connecting, listening, centering and opening their hearts.

One of the children expressed that after his class with Anno Sensei, he felt different in his body. He felt a fullness, an electric charge. Another child relayed how much in the present she felt. "I wasn't behind myself, I wasn't thinking ahead. I was completely connected to myself and to Sensei. It was as if as when I reached out to grab his hand I felt a cord to his center. I was floating."

* * * * *

I feel blessed that members of Emerald City and Two Cranes Dojos were offered the opportunity to host Anno Sensei. I feel gratitude to Linda Holiday for making this trip possible, for her planning skills as well as her excellent translation and also to Mary Heiny, who brought her wonderful spirit, training and translation to this seminar. As well I wish to thank Joanne Veneziano, my partner in crime. At the close of training, students' expressed their deep joy with tears and laughter simultaneously.

There were many teachings. Below are just a few examples of what he shared with us translated by Linda Holiday:

"Aikido is natural movement. If you can walk, you can do Aikido. Raise your arm easily when someone comes towards you. Do not fight."

"Use the techniques to teach you about spirit. "

"I am in process. My understanding of this study is in progress,"

"Ma sa katsu agatsu. True victory, self victory." This is one of O'sensei's primary teachings."

"Extend kokyuho from your center in the direction of uke's heart. The line is a diagonal that arises up from the earth."

"Look straight out. Do not look around. Keep your focus crisp and clean. Do not be distracted by wandering thoughts."

"Do not fix your gaze on your partner. Look out into the universe and direct your partner with your mind. If you stare at your partner you will become distracted by their agenda."

"Open your palms in irimi to offer your heart and move in deeply to the center."

"Get bigger. Extend ki out your fingertips!"

"Don't concentrate on technique, instead work on opening your heart. Aikido is a heart to heart transmission."

"Be like nature."

-------------------------------------------------------

Anno Sensei

-Fritz Amer

"There is a field outside of right and wrong. I will meet you there."

-Rumi

It was an extraordinary experience to be in the presence of a teacher like Anno Sensei. At his core, Anno is a spiritual teacher and Aikido is the medium through which he walks his spiritual path.

By "spirit," I mean nothing dogmatic. I'm using it to refer to the human spirit, our individual ki and how we connect it to universal energy and to the ki of our fellow beings. In my opinion, this study is the essence of Aikido and the essence of our life's journey.

Anno Sensei has gone a long way on this journey.

What I saw as I watched him was a person who places his technique in the service of his exploration of heart and spirit. And that, if he had not been an Aikidoist, no matter what he may have done in life, from sweeping floors to corporate law, he would have used any situation he was in to further his quest for expanded consciousness.

Through years of training and inquiry into his own inner landscape, Anno Sensei has moved to a high level of receptivity. He has moved from reaction to response, from fear and its judgements to a timeless serenity. Both take stock of what is happening but reaction answers the situation by calling up an entrained reflex that may be appropriate or may not. This reaction is rutted into us and is very difficult to control. It reduces or even eliminates choice. Nowhere is this better experienced than on the mat. Even very advanced Aikidoists constantly work to overcome their tendencies and habits so that they will be free to choose how to respond in each unique situation.

Aikido is a process that entrains new patterns in order to eventually free us to be present in each moment with no attachment to the past or fear about the future. When we reach such a state of being, we will be able to respond rather than react. Response is choice rooted in our subjective perspective that allows us to feel all of what is before us: its intent, intensity, shape and rhythm and to answer it in an authentic way rather than deflect or flee from it.

I could see Anno Sensei's responsiveness in the way he never rushed and in the inclusiveness of his gestures. There was an inner power that allowed him to be modest without self-effacement and loving without judgement. This is a vulnerability that can be created only by the ultimate strength.

Everyone comes to Aikido for their own reasons and therefore there are many points of view about its purpose and methods. In Anno Sensei, I saw what I wish to achieve: an open heart and an open mind. He has transcended the martial aspect of the art because he has transcended inner conflict. There was no question of defense because he didn't see an attack. He responded to each situation by accepting it and offering himself to it without attachment.

Someone who was uke for Sensei said that he doesn't throw, he just places himself and you go down.

And what I heard him saying over and over was that if you want a good technique, change your heart. If you want harmony, change your heart. If you want good feelings, change your heart. In other words, place yourself inside and the outside will follow.

This is nothing less than what every mystic seeking enlightenment has said from the beginning of time.

back to top