Translation

Koichi Tohei: Aikido Comes to Hawaii

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Koichi Tohei demonstrates Sankyo in Hawaii
In "Morihei Ueshiba: Untranslatable Words" we explored one of Koichi Tohei’s experiences during the 1961 visit to Hawaii by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. For those that are interested, Koa Kimura’s photo journal of O-Sensei’s visit to Hawaii is available on the Aikido Hawaii website.Koichi Tohei originally visited Hawaii in 1953, at the invitation of the Hawaii branch of the Nishi Health System.
Between 1953 and the opening of the Honolulu Aiki Dojo in 1961 Aikido experienced an explosive growth in the Hawaiian islands – the Hawaii Aikido groups were even able to raise funds to send to Japan for the repair of the Aikikai hombu dojo, which had been damaged in the bombing of Tokyo during WWII.

Essay, Translation

Morihei Ueshiba: Untranslatable Words

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Katsuzo Nishi – Founder of the Nishi Health System
In 1927 Katsuzo Nishi created a system of health exercises called the Nishi Health System (Nishi Shiki).
His theories are characterized by the idea that the human bone structure and positioning of the internal organs are basically the same as those evolved for the mammalian species that ambulate on four legs,  but human beings have adopted an upright two-legged life style that places unnatural structural strains on the human bone structure. This results in problems like obstruction of the flow of food through the intestines (constipation) due to the unnatural (vertical) positioning of the organs. As methods to compensate for these structural defects, Nishi conceived and encouraged the use of treatment through exercises such as the goldfish movement spinal column exercise and the lateral vibration exercise known as the “Haifuku Undo”.
It so happens that Nishi was himself a student of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, and the Nishikai (the organization formed around the Nishi Health System) was instrumental in inviting Koichi Tohei to Hawaii in 1953.In 1961 the students of Hawaii dedicated the opening of the "Honolulu Aiki Dojo", the first Aikido dojo constructed outside of Japan. Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei came from Japan, his one and only trip to the United States, to dedicate the opening of the dojo.

Essay

Masters of the Universe, the Aikikai and the Shihan Certification

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Masters of the Universe®, Mattel Inc.
"Shihan" – most often translated as "Master Instructor". Sound pretty important?The term wasn’t used much when I first started Aikido, but it seems to be the title to have nowadays.In Japanese, the Kanji for Shihan (師範) break down to "instruct" and "model"  – or "model instructor". This makes sense, especially considering normal Japanese methods of instruction – this would be the guy that everybody else copies, or hopes to copy.The usage of the word varies from art to art. Some arts issues Shihan certifications, some don’t. Some arts (like Shodokan "Tomiki" Aikido, which only has two, although it is also used as an organizational title) have a very limited number of Shihan, some have many. In Judo, Jigoro Kano is usually called "Kano Shihan", as Morihei Ueshiba is often called "O-Sensei" in Aikido.What does "Shihan" mean in the Aikikai (I’m only going to talk about the Aikikai here)?

Essay

Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder

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Profiles of the Founder, BAB Japan 2009
開祖の横顔 (Profiles of the Founder) was published in Japanese in 2009 by the publisher of Gekkan Hiden ("Secret Teachings Monthly"), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
It contains 14 interviews with direct students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. None of these, to my knowledge, have been translated into English, but some of them are quite interesting.I’m not going to translate any large portion of the interviews, but I’ll pick out a few interesting sections here (note: I haven’t included the Japanese because, unlike Morihei Ueshiba’s own explanations, the speech of his students in these interviews was very straightforward).

Essay

Aiki, Iki, Kokyu, Heng-Ha and Aun, Part 2

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Heng Ha Er Jiang (哼哈二将, the two Generals Heng and Ha), from Fengdu China
Above are two more Kongo-rikishi ("Guardian King") statues of the type that we talked about in Part 1 of "Aiki, Iki, Kokyu, Heng-Ha and Aun".This time the statues are from the ghost town of Fengdu China – which is an entire city modelled on the Chinese Hell of Taoist mythology, built more than 1800 years ago. The City of Ghosts was a place of worship before the flooding of the Three Gorges due to the Three Gorges Dam Project.  Today it mostly lies underwater – except for the sections that have been reconstructed (with some of the original structures used) for the tourist industry.In the picture above the General Heng stands on the right – 哼, for inhaling. Note that his mouth is closed and his abdomen is contracted (this is the Naraen Kongo in Japan, with his mouth closed in the "un" syllable of "Aun").The General Ha stands on the left – 哈, for exhaling. Note that his mouth is opened and his abdomen is expanded (this is the Misshaku Kongo in Japan, with his mouth open in the "A" syllable of "Aun").