Tag Archives: shioda

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.

Interview, Translation

An interview with Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Isoyama, Part 1

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Hiroshi Isoyama and Steven Seagal
A few weeks ago I was watching Michael Schiavello’s interview with Steven Seagal in which he named Hiroshi Isoyama (磯山博) as the Aikido instructor who has influenced him the most.Hiroshi Isoyama sensei began training in the Iwama Dojo in 1949 at the age of 12 as a direct student of the Founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. Over a long career in the martial arts, he has been Chief of Defensive Tactics for the Japan Self Defense Force Academy, and also instructed the U.S. Army in self-defense tactics. I still remember his comment about starting to teach Aikido to the military – "They didn’t believe that Aikido works – I made them believe".
His trademark Ganseki Otoshi demonstrations are always a crowd pleaser at the annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration.
This is the first part of an English translation of an interview with Hiroshi Isoyama sensei that first appeared in the February 2009 issue of Gekkan Hiden ("Secret Teachings Monthly"), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan. It was also 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.There was a short introduction to this work in the article "Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder".
I previously posted an English translation of the interview with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei from that collection in two parts (Part 1 | Part 2).

Essay

Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross

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Entrance to the Izanagi Jingu on Awaji IslandThe banner celebrates the 1,300th anniversary of the publication of the Kojiki
Remember Izanagi and Izanami from "Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven"?
If you don’t, Izanagi and his spouse (and sister) Izanami were tasked by the Gods of Japan to stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven (Ame no Uki Hashi / 天之浮橋) and create the islands of the Japanese archipelago.
But…you really should go back and read the other article first, since the rest of what I’m talking about here will make much more sense in that context.
Here’s a fun fact: in the Nihongi, which is the oldest book of classical Japanese history after the Kojiki, these gods go by the names of the "gods of In and Yo" (陽神陰神). O-Sensei was aware of this, and often referred to In and Yo in terms of Izanagi and Izanami.Anyway, I hope that you remember them, because they were a very common element in the speech and writings of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.
If you remember, the male and female gods stood on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and stirred the sea with the jeweled spear (Ama no Nuboko / 天の沼矛), creating a vortex. Drops of salty water falling from the spear formed the first island (Onogoro Shima / 淤能碁呂島), whereupon the divine beings descended from the Bridge to the earth below.