Tag Archives: katori

Interview, Translation

Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961

1 Comment
Yoshio Sugino and Toshiro Mifune

  Director Akira Kurosawa observes Yoshio Sugino and Toshiro Mifune on the set of “Yojimbo”, around 1961 Sometimes called “the Last Swordsman”, Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男 / 1904–1998) began his martial arts training in Kodokan Judo around 1918. Becoming dissatisfied with Judo he began to train in traditional Yoshin Koryu jujutsu. Around the same time, in 1927, he also began to train in Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu with the … Continue reading Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961 »

Dutch, Essay

Aiki Budo is de Weg van Menselijke Ontwikkeling [Dutch Version]

Comment

 
 Aiki Budo is de Weg van Menselijke Ontwikkeling
*This is a Dutch translation of the article "Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development – The philosophy of Aikido…maybe?", courtesy of Ernesto Lemke of Seikokan Aikido.
Ik was door Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s boeken aan het spitten, ‘The Spirit of Aikido’ en ‘De Kunst van Aikido’ en het viel me op dat er in beide boeken nagenoeg geen vermelding stond van Daito-ryu. Uiteraard zijn beide geen historische werken maar ik vond het opvallend vreemd dat er geen melding werd gemaakt van de kunst die Morihei Ueshiba langer dan 20 jaar bestudeerde; de enige kunst waarin hij licentie had om les in te geven; de enige kunst waar hij (naast zijn eigen kunst) ooit certificaten van bekwaamheid in uitgaf.
Ok, laten we doorgaan naar ‘Best Aikido, geschreven door Kisshomaru Ueshiba en Moriteru Ueshiba. Hierin wordt Daito-ryu kort vermeld als een van de vele kunsten die Morihei Ueshiba bestudeerde maar er wordt niets verteld over de diepgang van de studie van die andere kunsten. De tweede editie meld het feit dat, met uitzondering van Daito-ryu, al die kunsten uitermate kort bestudeerd werden al helemaal niet meer.
De tweede editie eindigt met te impliceren dat Morihei zelf ook maar enige wezenlijk verband met Daito-ryu ontkende. Dit is een veel voorkomend thema. Bekijk dit artikel maar eens voor een ander voorbeeld van het verdoezelen van de geschiedenis van Aikido.
Ik weet het, dit is een oud verhaal. De meeste mensen zijn tegenwoordig op de hoogte van de grote technische erfenis die Aikido Daito-ryu schuldig is, hoofdzakelijk door de inspanningen van Stan Pranin van Aikido Journal.
Ter aanvulling, in twee voorgaande Blogs, ‘Kiichi Hogen en het Geheim van Aikido’ en ‘Morihei Ueshiba, Budo en Kamae’ heb ik de mogelijkheden van een verband tussen de kern trainingsmethodes van Morihei Ueshiba en traditionele Chinese krijgskunst paradigma’s verkend.
Maar hoe zit het met de andere helft van de kunst? De grote filosofische en spirituele herbestemming van de krijgskunsten die zogenaamd door Morihei Ueshiba werd geïmplementeerd?

Interview

Tetsutaka Sugawara: Aikido and Taiji

4 Comments

From left to right: Lujian Xing, Moriteru Ueshiba, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Yucai Qiu (All China Sports Federation), Tetsutaka Sugawarafrom "Aikido and Chinese Martial Arts: Its Fundamental Relations" by Tetsutaka Sugawara and Lujian Xing
"Internal Strength" magazine was published by Mike Sigman in 1993 and 1994. Only six issues were ever published, and it is no longer generally available, but some of the articles have been archived on the "Internal Strength" website.
A friend of Mike’s, Mike Jones, later started "Internal Martial Arts" magazine using the same formatting as the old "Internal Strength" magazine.
Mike (Sigman) sent me this article about Tetsutaka Sugawara (菅原鉄孝) by Jason Chung from issue 6 of "Internal Martial Arts" and suggested that I post it here so that it would remain available to the general public. It was relevant to discussions that were going on in April 2000, and I hope that it you will find that it is still relevant to discussions ongoing today.
While I was living in Japan I met Tetsutaka Sugawara through one of my instructors, Hiroyuki Hasegawa (長谷川弘幸), who trained with him in Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū  (天真正伝香取神道流) , and I have always been impressed by the variety and depth of his research projects.
Here is a short biography from the Sugawara Budo website (also known as the Sugawara Martial Arts Institute / 菅原総合武道研究所):
Tetsutaka Sugawara was born in Hokkaido in 1941. In 1960, he began Aikido at the Hombu Dojo, Tokyo, under O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido. In 1961, he became uchideshi under O-Sensei at the Ibaraki Dojo.In 1964, he returned to Tokyo and entered Chuo University. In 1973, he established Minato Research and Publishing Co. (currently Sugawara Martial Arts Institute, Inc.) In 1975, he entered the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu receiving the ‘kyoshi’ instructor’s license in 1986.April 1992, introduced Aikido to Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, Beijing University of Medical Science. November 1992, received Kyoshi-license of Okinawan Goju-ryu Karatedo by Yasuichi Miyagi. June 1993, introduced Aikido to Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medical Science in China. May 1995, received Aikido 7th Dan by Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Introduced Aikido to Chengdu Institute of Physical Education in China. Received the Lecturer’s License of Shanghai Institute of P.E. He is currently visiting 12 countries teaching Aikido and Katori Shinto Ryu.

Essay

Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development

7 Comments

Aiki Budo is the Way of Human Development
I was looking through Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s books "The Spirit of Aikido" and "The Art of Aikido" and I happened to notice that there is virtually no mention of Daito-ryu in either one. Of course, neither of them are historical works, but I thought it odd that there was no mention of the art that Morihei Ueshiba has studied for over 20 years, the only art that he was ever licensed to teach, the only art (outside of his own) in which he ever issued certificates of rank.
OK, moving along to "Best Aikido", written by Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Moriteru Ueshiba. In this one there is a short mention of Daito-ryu as one of the many arts that Morihei Ueshiba studied, but no mention is made of the relative depth of study of those arts – the section entirely fails to note the fact that, with the exception of Daito-ryu, all of those arts were studied for very brief periods of time.
The section ends by implying that Morihei himself denied any substantial connection with Daito-ryu. This is a common theme, check out this article for another example of the sanitizing of the history of Aikido.
I know, this is kind of an old story – most people these days have been made aware of the great technical debt that Aikido owes to Daito-ryu, primarily through the efforts of Stan Pranin at Aikido Journal.
Additionally, in two previous posts, "Kiichi Hogen and the Secret of Aikido", and "Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae" I explored the possibility of ties between the core training methods of Morihei Ueshiba and traditional Chinese martial training paradigms.
But what about the other half of the art – the great philosophical and spiritual repurposing of the martial arts that was supposedly implemented by Morihei Ueshiba?