Two Cranes Aikido Newsletter Winter 2001

The year of 2001 was filled with exceptional teachers and dedicated training. Having just completed our 6th anniversary seminar I am appreciating the students and teachers who have devoted themselves to daily, weekly, monthly practice. On the tail of the seminar came the rain - not just rain, but monsoons. As I traveled to the dojo last night, standing water in some places begged me to surf my car. I wondered who in their right mind would battle the roads to train tonight. Lo and behold you arrived in trench coats and brimmed hats and trained ferverently!
This anniversary invites me to reflect on how wonderful a "catch" this dojo space has been for us. As the Greenlake community prepares for unsettling expansion plans (at least from my humble point of view) I am encouraging myself to appreciate this precious training space that we have for four more years. A former TCA student now residing in Montana gently suggested, "the next space will be perfect for our growing needs. Have a little faith." So as time zooms by and I am aware that we will need to begin preparing for the next perfect space sooner rather than later.

Wishlist

As the community matures, I have a desire to provide more opportunities for training and community engagement as students have requested of me. For starters, I would like us to offer more theme classes, such as energy, body care, metaphysical awareness, weapons take-away practice, and perhaps an additional ongoing weekly sword class. And for parents of our children and teen students, a training day so they can experience gently moving in the practice their kids and teenagers engage in. In addition I would like to see training stretch past the mat, like Aikido and related movie nights, a lecture series on O'Sensei and the philosophy of Aikido, a newsletter committee to assist me in generating several newsletters a year in which students express views on training and outside related interests. And perhaps most crucially, a committee to begin the search for a new dojo property (preferably close to where we are now). Oh, and a garden out front would be nice....

'01 Seminars

There has been so much training; so much precious teaching. We were so fortunate this year to have Patty Saotome Sensei, Motomichi Anno Sensei, Hiroshi Ikeda Sensei, and Denise Barry Sensei. In addition, my first teacher, Mary Heiny Sensei, returned to Seattle this year, after 15 years in Canada. Her monthly teaching at the dojo is invaluable to us. Thank you, dojo community, for supporting our guest instructors.

Patty Saotome Sensei shared with us her crisp lines, noble posture, and completely awake stance. She models the power of attitude in self-defense, initiating from center in every move; her hara glows golden, the color of power.

Motomichi Anno Sensei arrived in Seattle during that second wave of cherry-blossom bloom. He remarked on how the blossoms blew in through the dojo door, scattering on the mat like jewels. Anno Sensei gave us the jewel of his heart and soul, addressing the topics of gratitude, acceleration, and fizzle/zanshin, while inscribing magnificent centrifugal spirals from a centered place. His lines extended out from a center point inside him and enveloped uke as they whirled beyond. When asked to attack, I came at him with all I had and took flight on these lines he lassoes. It was a transforming feeling.

Then Ikeda Sensei in May: fresh from knee surgery, he moved like liquid glass. Clean, sharp, compelling, firey movement that said, "Wake up." "Connect at the center. Connect before it happens; it's already happened. NO lapses, no gaps." He enjoyed the students, flowing through the room offering his arm. At moments if felt festive. Everyone engaged in serious, joyous learning.

Denise Barry Sensei encouraged us to consider how we might displace our opponent without him minding so much because the blend would be effective and respectful. Her contactfulness, precision, and humor were a source of inspiration to students.

As I have said before, it is our plan to bring you instructors from around the US and Japan to stretch your training experience. This year, the process of presenting seminars become easier: Cynthia Wold and Kris Allott established a seminar planning protocol, putting the brown belts in charge of handling a myriad of details and assuring that seminars come off without a hitch. Thanks, all. A blackbelt prerequisite is after all organizational adeptness.

And of course, food is essential to any seminar's success. Joey and Ray's Boathouse dine us so well and have since we opened Two Cranes. Out of town Senseis react with venerable agog, surveying the display of fresh fish and the pleasurable tastes. And the potlucks: The food you all cook is to die for. Lenny's contributions always stand out; I am still recovering from a particular white chocolate raspberry torte concoction. Special thanks to our party hosts Sara Snell and family, Mary K. McNeil, kids, and Helmut, Bob and Priscilla Rathbone, and the Perlmutters, for opening up your homes. You know, in Denver Nippon Kan Aikido School has its own restaurant adjacent to the dojo. It doesn't slip my mind how great food and great aikidoists go hand in hand.

Black belt Exams at Two Cranes

The Shodan and Nidan candidates of this fall showed exemplary practice. When a student agrees to test, the whole dojo benefits from the increase of energy flowing. Chris Moses came to Two Cranes with a decade of training under his belt and in preparing for his test exhibited outstanding focus, tenacity, and courage. Months of after class preparation inspired many who witnessed this ritual to train a bit harder. His demonstration was heartfelt and inspirational.

Kris Allott, Jeremy Hulley, Cynthia Wold, and Juan Nyugen trained nearly every day for months. Their studentship, humility, ferocity, and kindness poured through their tests, which I will further reflect on in the next Newsletter. I feel deep gratitude to you in witnessing your dedication to practice.

Kyu Exams

Our sets of kyu tests in February, May, and September '01 included 30 candidates whose efforts proved outstanding. Demonstrations of this nature stretch the practice of the candidates, and invariably challenge and inspire the training of the whole community. The hours of additional training that happen for the purpose of exams deepen one's sense of practice. You can feel the ki held in the walls of the space. A visitor watching the tests said remarked, "I felt nervous and I wasn't even out there. But it seduced me into imagining, 'What if it were me?'" It is exciting, the acceleration of skill and understanding that happens when we put our intent behind our wishes. Awareness follows intent.

In Appreciation

I wish to acknowledge the people who contribute to the life of this growing community. A thank you to Sara Snell and Rew Adams for assistant-teaching in children's classes, Brian Porterfield for managing our web site, Mary K. McNeil for photography, and Juan Nguyen and Kris Allott and now Jeremy Hulley for teaching energy awareness classes on Wednesday nights. Thank you to Chris Moses for providing filtered drinking water, Brian Snoddy for his recycling contribution, Liz Ryker for assisting me in arduous business details, and Lakshmi Rao/ Kelly Neu for handling incoming calls and keeping the public informed. Nat McCully has been generous with his filming and gorgeous dan certificate creations, and Jen Stoakes updated the dojo directory. Thanks to Julie Johnson for her excellent assistance in editing this newsletter, Scott Blaufeux for his proficient handling of gi orders and Taryn Sass for keeping clean towels at the door. Last, but most important, I want to acknowledge our instructors for their reliability and excellence of teaching.

Mary Heiny's Return to Seattle

The beginning of the millennium was marked by the return of Mary Heiny to the Northwest. Mary has been a primary and continuing inspiration to me in my training. She never stops studying; I think of her as the Alexandra David Neal of Aikido. She is always encouraging her students to participate in every aspect of practice and never discourages us from examining other teachers and training styles that support a "do no harm" approach. Now Mary is teaching classes twice a month at Two Cranes. This is Two Cranes' gift to the school that we offer these classes to you free of charge (of course, donations for these classes would never be turned down). Private training sessions with Mary are also available upon request (particularly valuable prior to kyu exams).

I began training with Mary in 1979 at Seattle School of Aikido. I was living in Boulder, Colorado at the time and a dear friend urged me to come to Seattle to check out this woman Sensei who ran a futon business and had trained in Japan. Skeptical but curious, I needed to make a trip home anyway. I arrived to the event of a nidan exam. You could feel the electricity in the air. It was as if the dojo had its own weather system going, the way the walls crackled. I remember few of the details except that the nidan candidate looked like Medusa, long flowing unbound hair flying chaotically as she wove a randori web: the spider and the fly. That was it. I returned to Boulder, packed up my bags, and began training at Seattle School the following week. I was home.

Children's and Teens' Camp this summer

The kids and teens at TCA made a spectacular commitment to practice the last week in June. Children trained in the morning from 9-12 and teens and advanced ranked younger students trained for three hours in the afternoon. Some attended both sessions.

They trained with vigor and dedication. They could feel their attention spans, endurance, and capacity for absorbing new material being stretched. They grew together in a rite of passage that involved teamwork, cooperation, courage, and a sense of humor. Witnessing this level of dedication moved me. Helmut expressed expansive generosity in his teaching. He gives 100% love and direction, play and awareness. And he is innovative, taking what he learns himself and transmitting it to the children.

Aikido is so great for young people. They get to practice directing their intent and being response-able for what they think and feel. Feedback in aikido is immediate; so too is the ability to see options and access more than one way to deal with a situation. And kids see cooperation happen constantly. Practice operates in a generally fair setting, so there's a reliable degree of safety present.

As a psychotherapist I sometimes see the damage that comes with not being able to live in your own skin, yet you can't get out either. That predicament can tie us up in knots-knots that are hard to undo. Children appreciate feeling their energy [ki]. They appreciate feeling the boundaries of their skin and their energy that extends past their bodies. They appreciate having an impact and flowing with direction as they learn the roles of uke and nage.

I am seeing this differently now than I have in the past as I witness children who have trained for four to five years or more. I am watching with curious eyes what happens when they advance in their ability to lead energy. It stuns me to watch a girl under four feet tall direct the attention and body of a man double her size and quadruple her age. And she feels good about it. In practicing Aikido she learns that attention directs the energy and intent directs attention.

Other Events:

Antioch University classes at Two Cranes - Most years since 1995, I have taught Aikido as martial art and spirit practice to the BA students at Antioch University. This year was a particularly vital experience for me as I was blessed with assistants Jen Stoakes, Lynda Freeman, and Julie Johnson. They shared their training with students new to the concept of blending with an opponent. Because students could train with experienced practitioners they learned so much more than they might have. I enjoy the opportunity to offer Aikido to those who might not otherwise run across it.

On the way - Congratulations! Christina and Brian Porterfield are expecting their first baby this spring.

Santa Cruz Summer Retreat

Seven hearty Two Cranes students ventured to the beaches of Santa Cruz for five days of intensive training. Upon their return they filled the dojo with their exuberance and increased understanding.

Upcoming Dan promotions March 1

Mark these dates on your calendar. Michael Friedl Sensei from Ashland, OR will conduct a seminar for adults and children March 1-3, '02.

The Welcome Mat

"The first task of the beginning Aikido student should be to learn to see - to observe with an open mind what his eyes tell him and to keep his spirit receptive to the deeper meaning behind the techniques."

In 1985 I began my graduate studies in body-centered psychotherapy in Mill Valley, CA. The Tamalpais Dojo was a five-minute drive from school, and I managed to get there often. Preoccupied with every facet of psychology and specifically the client-practitioner relationship, I found myself noticing how Richard Heckler Sensei greeted visitors to the dojo. With kindness and curiosity, he would glide to the visitor bench, expressing enthusiasm, sometimes a subtle playfulness, and always a compassionate detachment. Often times, Aikido was not the first subject of discussion; rather he would find out something about their lives that might relate to a budding aiki interest. I was not accustomed to seeing teachers engage with visitors during class, and his skillfulness caught my attention; I recognized that this simple act had a profound impact on people. For many, it was their first taste of Aikido.

A great teacher once suggested that I treat each visitor with genuine respect-perhaps the next O'Sensei just walked in the door, who can know? How people arrive here is as interesting to me as what draws them to aikido, for regardless of whether they decide to train, some part of them has been touched by the thread of the art.

Some inquirers will call Two Cranes and ask if they can visit a class in session. They seem to be consciously preparing themselves for the event, selecting the type of class they wish to see and arranging the specific time. There are also the people who stand outside, pushing their noses to the glass, as if trying to be in the room and invisible simultaneously. Occasionally there is the passerby who looks, then looks again and finds herself wandering in the door to answer the question, "What are those people doing jumping around in those white and black outfits?"

How a visitor enters the space speaks volumes. Some wait in the doorway, timidly looking for permission to enter. Others appear comfortable enough to simply take a seat and mindfully direct their focus to watching. Then there is the occasional professional looker who takes a seat with a snap-snap attitude that demands, "Get over here and tell me what this is all about."

This Wednesday afternoon offered such a variety. The first visitor stopped in and sat down to observe, looking curious and respectful. His manner suggested, "I am simply watching-no immediate attention required." From the center of the mat I experienced that breezy, optimistic feeling: "A curious soul inquires and offers the gift of potential." I nodded at him and continued with class. After a while, I sat beside him and asked if he had any questions I could answer. He said, "It looks quite complicated. I cannot see the kata in it." "Have you trained in Aikido before?," I asked. (I've learned to not make any assumptions; you never know.) No, he had not, but he'd had several years of karate training and was now looking for something different. I briefly explained why no kata: that the ultimate teaching is in cultivating the ability to respond appropriately to the interaction as it unfolds. I was thinking to myself, "Couldn't I possibly say that any more simply after all these years," when he replied, "Yes, that's it. I'm ready to shift from a combative first half of my life.... I have never seen Aikido before but I think this is what I want to study."

I've heard this sort of comment many times before - and sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't. The practice for me is to be completely welcoming and also completely unattached. From this place I don't need them to love the art or join the school; they are free to choose. More and more I say, "Aikido is not a particularly easy art to take up. Like any practice it doesn't work very well unless you can carve a few hours a week out of your life to train and a few more to dream about it. And be careful, if you do get hooked-who knows what you might come to see in yourself, or to quote Tom Read Sensei, 'your not self.'

"The second visitor appeared in the last minutes of class. Wasting no time, she announced, "I am dojo shopping. What does Two Cranes have to offer me?" Many glib responses sprang to mind, so I took a deep breath before opening my mouth. "What are you looking for in a practice?" I asked. "The best deal," she replied. Another deep breath: "I imagine if you look hard enough, you will find it."

"Since Aikido is a martial art whose purpose is the refinement of the human spirit and the promotion of peace on the world, the Aikido dojo includes the influences of both the warrior societies and the religious dojo. Aikido is not a religion, for it has no dogma or doctrine, but it is a deeply spiritual pursuit. The Aikido dojo is a temple of the spirit, both that of the individual human being and the divine spirit that imbues all things in the universe. Aikido is not meant to be an abstract theory of spiritual values, but a practical training that strengthens your courage, your internal serenity, and your ability to relate to others. It is meant to change your mental attitude so that you do not revert to aggression and violence under stress, but instead continue to behave in a fashion that prevents or stops conflict. Aikido is meant to give you the courage of your convictions."

Why I Practice Aikido

People appear at a door not far from Greenlake three times a week for various reasons. The most basic of these are obvious but essential. Some people wish to better defend themselves from attack, and others just want to have a good time. Still, I the practice of Aikido has virtues are greater than these, virtues which are very valuable to me. I have remained, and have continued in Aikido since I've become attached to Two Cranes Aikido and everyone in it, and because it has fulfilled many of my hopes and wishes. When I joined the community a few years ago, I embarked on my endless quest to make the world my dojo!

As a human being living in the land of commerce in the 21st century, my life unfolds at an almost hectic pace. Each and every day goes in the door and out again in what seems like no time. Problems to fix and jobs to do turn up by the minute. Yet my time spent training at TCA seems almost like the opposite.

Rather than a sewage system, Aikido seems as if it were an immense river. There are no stresses, and I am free to proceed at my own pace. Whatever the reality of it may be, I do not feel like I'm constantly judged by instructors or peers while I'm training. As a result, there is a place without any stigma attached, a place where I can relax and advance simultaneously. During training I feel as though I'm in my element. From the year I began to read, I've been searching for what, exactly, that is, and I have finally found it. I especially enjoy Aikido, and it is suited to my abilities. I can express myself freely and without limit, and there are still many things I have to learn. I can make friends with adults, teens, and children without having to worry about what clothes they wear or what books they read. It is a circumstance where I can judge every person only by what is inherent in them.

I have to admit that I would not train so intensely if I had received instruction in Aikido from a different set of teachers. Each one brings something different to the dojo, and what they all have to share is invaluable. Those who teach sometimes seem to be making great sacrifices, and they make the greatest contribution to this dojo. The presence of each is a very real force in my training and my life.

Everything in and about TCA seems to be in perfect harmony, and that is something I wish for in my life as well. Of course there are altercations and misunderstandings in the dojo, but they are like rocks in a river, and everything passes beyond. Aikido is a solace from the rest of the world, and coming to the dojo to train fills me with a changing, indescribable energy which gives me a boost for the rest of my day. Not only is it good for the body, Aikido is also good for the mind and spirit. I hope that my future in Aikido will be as rewarding as my past has been. I have become more calmer and more aware in my years at Two Cranes Aikido, and that is an irreplaceable gain.

Aikido as Civic Education

I am attempting to absorb the steady pressure of another person on my wrist without collapsing my arm and without keeping my arm rigid. "Be like a fire hose full of water!", uh-huh. As I begin to move Kimberly sensei walks up to me and says again, patiently, "Do not lean forward so much, stand up straight, open your heart. How can your heart be open when you are leaning forward, shoulders bunched in?"

What Kimberly has told me in the dojo dozens of times I have said to myself and to my students many times in my social studies class regarding discussion. If you fill the classroom with your own voice how can you hear others? If you do not have confidence to believe that you do have a voice how can others hear you? Open your heart and mind to the possibilities of your own experience and the experience of others. What I needed to do on the Aikido mat I needed to do in the classroom. So did my students.

This is what led me to introduce the basic techniques and principles of Aikido into my high school classroom. On the one hand, it was absurdly arrogant to do so; I had no right to begin teaching Aikido after only four years of training. One the other hand, the training had such a profound affect on me I wanted deeply to introduce it to my class - I had to use it. I told my students I am a student of this practice, not a teacher. I told them I wanted to share this new practice that I was studying, not teach it, but share it.

The impact has been amazing. In one particular elective class entitled Citizenship and World Affairs last semester, we practiced Aikido for seventy minutes out of the 250 minutes we had each week. In our Aikido time, we practiced breathing techniques, stretching, irimi, tai-no-henko and the beginning of many other moves. We did not practice rolling or falling, we had no mats and this was still a social studies class, not PE. Only one day, when Helmut was kind enough to join me for a class, could we try full techniques. The key was to make specific connections between the process of grounding, connecting, blending, and resolving in an Aikido technique and grounding, connection, blending, and resolving in a discussion. The typology came to look like this:

As a civics teacher, I was thrilled to deepen my ability to teach for democracy by using Aikido. As a student of Aikido, I deepened my understanding of the fundamentals of the technique as I tried to demonstrate them (and realized how poorly I really understood them), and as students asked me questions and I tried to explain knowing they really needed to hear Mary Heiny and Kimberly, not me.

Perhaps best of all, students saw their teacher present himself as a beginning student. The physical distance that was broken by actually grabbing each others' wrists and trusting classmates to take care of each other was profound. I was an uke for each student many times during the semester. In that moment that student was in control of an exchange between teacher and student. How often do we allow that to happen in our classrooms in this nation where we are supposedly teaching for democracy? There were many wonderful benefits of introducing Aikido that I am only beginning to understand. But, this Aikido-as-Civic-education is a wonderful path to be on! Thank you Kimberly sensei.

	Ground	Connect	Blend	Resolve
Aikido	Be centered Breathe	Feel your partner, but do not collapse	Move so that you are joining with the direction of your partner	Find a place of mutual safety
Tai-no-henko	Establish mai-ai	Uke grabs nage	Nage begins to turn	End both looking in the same direction
Discussion	Organize your thoughts, speak clearly, do your homework!	Listen to what others have to say, ask for clarification	Seek common ground, what are points of agreement?	Is there a point we can agree upon, or at the least can we agree to disagree?

Newsletter

Issue No. 3 - Winter 2001

Inside:

Wishlist