Monthly Archives: May 2013

Interview, Translation

Interview with Aikido Shihan Shigenobu Okumura, Part 1

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Shigenobu Okumura sensei, from Aikido Tankyu #37"Remembering the Late Okumura Shigenobu Shihan" (亡き奥村繁信師範の思い出)
"Budo is not just moving your body. At the end is whether to live or die, your view of life and death."   -Shigenobu Okumura
Shigenobu Okumura was one of the few pre-war students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba to remain at Aikikai Hombu after the war. Born in Hokkaido in Taisho year 11 (1922), he was a senior instructor at Aikikai Hombu dojo until his passing on August 12th, Heisei year 19 (2008).
He began Aikido in Manchukuo – the Japanese occupied Manchurian state "Manshu-koku" under Kenji Tomiki. While a student at Manshu Kenkoku Daigaku he was drafted into military service, and was later repatriated to Japan after three years as a prisoner of war in Siberia.
I remember watching him through an entire All Japan Aikido Demonstration one year as he sat and took notes on each and every group and individual participating. I’ve often wondered what those notes contained, and what happened to them.
This is the first part of a two part English translation of an interview with Shigenobu Okumura sensei that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 ("Profiles of the Founder") in 2009. It originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / "Secret Teachings Monthly"), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
There was a short introduction to this work in the article "Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder".
I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).

Dutch, Essay

Morihei Ueshiba en de Weg van het Kruis [Dutch Version]

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Ingang van Izanagi Jingu op Awaji IslandDe vlag is ter ere van de viering van het 1300 jarig bestaan van de Kojiki
*This is a Dutch translation of the article "Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross – Izanagi and Izanami cross the Floating Bridge of Heaven", courtesy of Ernesto Lemke of Seikokan Aikido.
Herinner je je Izanagi en Izanami nog uit "Aikido en de Zwevende Brug van de Hemel"?
Zo niet, Izanagi en zijn echtgenote (en tegelijkertijd zijn zuster) Izanami hadden de opdracht van de Goden van Japan om op de Zwevende Brug van de Hemel (Ame no Uki Hashi/ 天之浮橋) te staan en de Japanse archipel te creëren.
Maar….je zou eigenlijk eerst het andere artikel moeten lezen aangezien de rest van wat ik te vertellen heb alleen via die context duidelijk wordt.
Hier is alvast een grappig weetje: in de Nihongi, het oudste boek van de Klassieke Japanse Geschiedenis (op de Kojiki na) worden deze Goden de “Goden van In en Yo” (陽神陰神) genoemd. O-Sensei was hiervan op de hoogte en verwees regelmatig naar In en Yo in termen van Izanagi en Izanami.In ieder geval, ik hoop dat je je ze nog kunt herinneren want zij waren een veel voorkomend element in de uitspraken en geschriften van Aikido Grondlegger Morihei Ueshiba.
Zoals je wellicht weet stonden de mannelijke en vrouwelijke God op de Zwevende Brug van de Hemel en roerden met de juwelen speer (Ama no Nuboko/ 天の沼矛) in de zee waarop zij een maalstroom creëerden. Druppels zout water vielen van de speer en vormden het eerste eiland (Onogoro Shima/ 淤能碁呂島) waarop de heilige wezens neerdaalden van de Brug naar de aarde.

Essay

Aiki is Love, isn’t it? Aiki isn’t Love, is it?

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"Ai – Ki" – "Ai (Love) – Ki"
The dichotomy between Aiki as a technical principle and Aiki as a spiritual principle has come up in a number of conversations recently, but I suspect that this has been a matter of discussion since Taisho year 14 (1925), upon Morihei Ueshiba’s spiritual experience after defeating a young naval officer’s attack with a bokuto (bokken):
武道の根源は、神の愛–万有愛護の精神–であると悟り得て、法悦の涙がとめどなく頬を流れた。I attained the realization that the source of Budo is the love of the Gods, the spirit of Universal Loving Protection, and tears of ecstasy streamed endlessly down my cheeks.

Translation

Strange, Odd and False Theories of "Aiki"

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Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan demonstration Aiki-nage on Masaru Takahashi Sensei
Masaru Takahashi (高橋賢), one of the senior surviving students of the famous Daito-ryu instructor Yukiyoshi Sagawa, entered Sagawa Dojo on May 5th of Showa year 47 (1972).

Sokaku Takeda’s Eimeroku, showing Morihei Ueshiba’s Kyoju Dairi certification on the right
Yukiyoshi Sagawa (佐川幸義) was one of the senior students of Sokaku Takeda, Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei’s instructor in Daito-ryu, and was actually designated as the successor to Takeda at one point in time. He began studying Daito-ryu under Takeda Sokaku after first learning the art from his father, Nenokichi Sagawa (佐川子之吉 1867–1950), who was a student and ardent supporter of Takeda, as well as a holder of a Kyoju Dairi (assistant instructor’s licence) in Daito-ryu – the same license that Morihei Ueshiba himself received from Sokaku Takeda. Yukiyoshi Sagawa received his own Kyoju Dairi certification in 1932.
Takahashi Sensei instructs at the Sagawa-den Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Sagamihara branch dojo (佐川伝大東流合氣武道相模原支部), at the Daito-ryu Sagawa Dojo hombu (大東流佐川道場本部) in Kodaira city, and has published a number of books and articles researching the Japanese martial arts and Daito-ryu. This article is an excerpt from his book "The Truth of Daito-ryu Aiki" (大東流合気の真実), which was published in Japanese by Fukushodo Co. Ltd.(http://fukushodo.com/) in September 2007.Another excerpt from this book appears in "Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Masaru Takahashi and Breath Training in Daito-ryu".