Video of master Hiroshi Isoyama on Youtube

Rough and hard.
Demonstrates the martial potential of Aikido.
He was a long time student of O-sensei in Iwama.
He is currently chief instructor at the dojo that O-sensei built in Iwama, presently known as Ibaraki-Shibu Dojo.

From Aikido Journal’s Encyclopedia of Aikido:
“ISOYAMA, HIROSHI (b. 14 January 1937). 8th dan Aikikai. B. Ibaragi Prefecture. Civil servant, Aikikai Shihan. Began training in June 1949 becoming an UCHIDESHI in IWAMA Dojo while middle school student. Known for his powerful technique.”

There is also a very interesting interview of Isoyama Shihan on Aikido Journal.
(Link to interview here…)

Excerpt from the interview:

“Since many of your students among the American military police must have been much physically larger than you, did you have to come up with new ways to make your techniques work on them?

I certainly did. Practicing with people like that is completely different from working with people who are smaller than you.
Doing even something like ikkyo against a much larger opponent is very difficult, especially in terms of the way you have to enter and the timing you have to use.
Training with people like that was a great experience from which I learned a lot.
My kata guruma and ganseki otoshi techniques, for example, started out with me trying to teach koshi nage.
When I tried to do koshi nage on some of the taller men I found that they could just step over me; no matter how I tried the technique, I couldn’t manage to throw them because the height difference meant I couldn’t get my hips into a good position in front of theirs.
Then I had the idea to try putting them across my shoulders instead of across my hips, and that’s how I started using those techniques. I wasn’t trying to be rough or flashy, I was just trying to get the techniques to work. Necessity is the mother of invention!”

Proper mokuso

In Japanese, ‘mokuso’ means ‘meditation’.
I ask myself: how exactly do we practice proper mokuso ? What is the physical and mental attitude, what is the posture ?

Although ‘mokuso’ means ‘meditation’, practicing mokuso before and after training refers to a few seconds of “cleansing” the mind from the daily thoughts, for a better focus on the training.
At the end of the training, mokuso calms us and lets us reconnect to the external world, to the day-to-day issues.

Mokuso calms the mind (by eliminating the various excess thoughts not linked to the training) and body (by maintaining a still posture for a short period of time).

The usual posture is seiza (sitting on the knees), with the hands together in front of the Center. The hands may style a sphere, left hand above right hand, and thumbs touching each other’s tip.

About hand posture, here is an interesting excerpt from Aikidoka Magazine:
(Link to the article here.)
“In Aikido, we usually put the left hand over the right hand, thus respecting the greater importance that the Japanese place to the left side, which represents for them the soul, the spirit, life, contrary to the right side that represents the physical body, the material substance, the impermanent character of life.
This aspect can also be noticed at the traditional kamiza, which always has on the right side an old tree or something else that reflects the impermanence of the material substance.
Following this concept, we step on the tatami with the left foot and off the tatami with the right foot.”

What exactly do we do during mokuso practice ?

Professor Peter Goldsbury wrote some time ago in a discussion on the E-Budo forum about the teaching he received from some of the great masters he studies with (or studied with, since master Arikawa has left this world meanwhile):
(Link to the discussion here.)
“The two most eminent aikido teachers I have have given theories of 'mokuso'.
Arikawa Sadateru Sensei, for example, focuses on seiza: in silence you focus on lowering your centre.
Tada Hiroshi Sensei focuses on breathing. After hard training, in silence you bring your kokyu back to a state of calm.
To my mind both ways have the same overall aim.”

In other words, we concentrate on one simple thing, to wash away the other thoughts from our mind.

As a conclusion:
Mokuso is a short meditation performed at the beginning and the end of the training session.
The aim of mokuso is cleansing the mind from a multitude of thoughts, to be able to refill and harmonize with what is next (training, or daily life).
In Aikido, we practice mokuso sitting in seiza, with the hands together in front of the Center.
During mokuso, the mind focuses on a single simple thing, like the Center or breathing.

Fujita sensei seminar in Cluj

A couple of days ago, the traditional FRAA Aikido winter school took place in Cluj, a seminar conducted by Masatake Fujita shihan.
As it took place in the city where I live, it was easier for me to participate, usually going to practice directly from work, and then getting back to work.
Truth is that since the kids were born, I haven’t been away to many seminars in other cities, as the juniors are still too young to be taken care easily by one person alone.

During the first practice session of the seminar, I have been Fujita sensei’s Uke.
I enjoyed it very much, but it was pretty stressing. (Especially for my weary back…)
I noticed directly that sensei is carrying himself exceptionally well at his age of 70.
His technique is precise and very energetic, and the steps are economical and efficient, just a few steps on a very small surface.

Around 100 aikidoka from Romania, Moldavia and Serbia participated at the seminar .
Two consecutive evenings, Fujita sensei offered very enlightening lectures, with a lot of answers to questions from the audience.

Congratulations to my colleague Marius for a very good Shodan grading test !

Next Fujita sensei seminar in Romania: July 2008, probably in Arad.

Shoji Seki

A video of one of my favorite masters: Shoji SEKI, 7 Dan Aikido Aikikai, Hombu Shihan.
Shoji Seki is presently Chief Instructor (“Shihan Bucho”) at Hombu Dojo.
The video is filmed at the 44th Annual All-Japan Aikido Demonstration, organized by Aikikai in Tokyo, in 2006.

This is a demonstration where Seki shihan is performing slower, didactically, having a lot of care for the Uke.
Nevertheless, one can tell that he is sharp as a katana, crystal clear, precise, exact.


and from another angle:


From the Encyclopedia of Aikido offered by Aikido Journal:
“SEKI, SHOJI
(b. 6 March 1950).
7th dan Aikikai.
Aikikai Shihan.
B. Yamagata Prefecture.
First practiced aikido in 1969 in Tokyo.
Became professional instructor at AIKIKAI HOMBU DOJO in 1973.
Has traveled to numerous countries conducting aikido seminars.”

He was a disciple of Kisshomaru Ueshiba Doshu.

Master Seki has traveled to Romania twice, in 1996 and 1997, when he conducted memorable seminars, organized by George Raicu sensei.
I still remember Seki sensei taking ukemi for some (lucky) participants to the seminar.

And a story from Hombu Dojo:
I was there a few years ago, training one class each day and watching/studying from aside one or two more classes.
During the late master Arikawa’s class, the respect that the practitioners showed him was exceptional. Everybody strictly aligned, perfect silence. Me, in the back, on the wooden floor surrounding the tatami, sitting in seiza. It’s not too pleasant to sit on your knees, on wood, for several minutes.
After the beginning ceremony, training begins, and I sit with my legs crossed. Wrong !
The young instructor Teijyu Sasaki comes to me and indicates that I should sit on my knees during training too. Oops!
After minutes of sitting on my knees, Sasaki comes back and says “Ok, you should sit in seiza only when shihan is demonstrating the techniques and everybody else sits down. For the rest, you can sit with the legs crossed.”

Another day, I was watching master Seki’s class.
To avoid repeating the mistake, I was sitting bravely in seiza, on the wooden floor.
Master Seki saw me from the beginning, and on the first occasion came to me and asked me to not sit on my knees, but to sit down. (What a relief !)
This is one more reason for which I like master Seki. :)

Searching additional information on Seki shihan, I found this topic on the Aikido Journal Forum, from which I extract two suggestive snippets about the Japanese master:

“Very fast, very precise, very polite, very technical, very circular.”
Tony Rodrigues, Sao Paulo (Brazil)

“Very fast and sharp, with no messing about or surplus movement.
Along with Mr Hayato Osawa, Mr. Seki is really 'mainstream' Hombu, in the sense that the main influences on their training came from the late Kisshomaru Doshu and Kisaburo Osawa.”
Peter Goldsbury, Hiroshima (Japan)

The most important persons in the Romanian Aikido

For my fellow Romanians that are newer in the field of Aikido, I would like to mention here some of our conationals who have contributed during the years to the introduction and development of Aikido in Romania.
I chose them according to the following criteria: they were either pioneers that introduced Aikido, or they were (or presently are) leaders of important Aikido organizations, through which Aikido has been massively diffused to the practitioners.
I was limited by my own knowledge, therefore I apologize to those who have been omitted, even though they might be of the same caliber with those listed below.

In a somehow chronological order:

Nicolae Gothard Bialokur
(63 years old, Lausanne – Switzerland)
One of the pioneers of martial arts in Romania.
Formed the first Aikido study group 30 years ago, in 1977, in Bucharest.
Published a book on Aikido.
Presently lives in Switzerland and continues practicing Budo.

Serban Derlogea
(70 years old, Bucharest)
Started to study Aikido in 1977, under Nicolae Gothard Bialokur.
Together with Dan C. Ionescu and George Raicu, he is one of the Aikido promoters in Romania before and after 1989. (1989 is the year of the comunism collapse.)
Published two books on Aikido.
Presently continues to teach Aikido and Taijiquan at a dojo belonging to the Bucharest University.
He is ranked 5 Dan Aikido.
Website: www.derlogea.ro

George Raicu
(46 years old, Bucharest)
Started to study Aikido in 1977, under Nicolae Gothard Bialokur.
Distinguished himself as an Aikido promotor in Romania after 1989.
He is the president of the organization “Aikikai Romania”.
He is ranked 5 Dan Aikido Aikikai by shihan M. Fujita.
Website: www.aikikairomania.ro

Dan Corneliu Ionescu
(65 years old, Bucharest)
Started to study Aikido in 1979, under Nicolae Gothard Bialokur.
He is one of the Aikido promoters in Romania before 1989 and especially after 1989.
Published two books on Aikido.
He is the president of the “Romanian Aikido Federation” and the president of the “European Aikido Confederation”.
He is ranked 8 Dan Aikido.
Website: www.aikido.ro

Dorin Marchis
(39 years old, Cluj-Napoca)
An old time student of shihan Masatake Fujita and George Raicu.
Studies Aikido since the early ’90s.
He is the president of the “Romanian Aikido Aikikai Foundation”.
He is ranked 4 Dan Aikido Aikikai by shihan M. Fujita.
Website: www.aikikai.ro


I would also mention Ioan Grigorescu, Viorel Dan, Iulian Perpelici, Adrian Bunea, who have a long time activity through which they have contributed both didactically and organizationally to the improvement of Aikido in Romania.


If I have mistaken any data, please forgive and correct me.

My first grading examination in Aikido

It happened in April, 1994.
I was studying Aikido for 6 months already, at the Cluj University club. My instructor was Ioan Barbos, a 2nd Kyu by then. Training was held in the Judo hall at the Faculty of Chemistry, near the Central Park.
The club was affiliated to the Romanian Aikido Union (URA), headed by Mr. Dan Ionescu.

URA regularly held week-end national seminars in Bucharest, every 3 months.
At the April 1994 seminar, from Cluj participated a group of 10-12 practitioners.
Before the seminar, I remember that we were pre-tested for the grading exam by our instructor, Nelutu Barbos, to be sure we won’t be a disgrace.

Everything fine, we arrived in Bucharest after an 8 hours trip by train and we checked in in a worn-out one star hotel near the Northern Railway Station. After that, we got to the training sessions that took place at Ecran Club. The training was conducted by sensei Dan Ionescu, 4th Dan by then, assisted by sensei Ioan Grigorescu, 2nd Dan. I still remember I was impressed by Mr. Grigorescu’s Ukemi (rolling or breakfalls), very smooth and silent.

At the end there were the grading examinations, where the majority of our group from Cluj was tested for 5th Kyu, as we were beginners.
However, something happened that day or the days before the examination, there were some disputes related to the Cluj group, possibly some frictions between Mr. Ionescu and Nelutu Barbos, I don’t know exactly, since I was not involved.
Fact is that during the examination Mr. Ionescu was very irritated. From my performance I only remember demonstrating Ukemi and Katate-Dori Shiho-Nage. It must have been something else also, maybe Ikkyo, but I don’t remember.

The verdict was drastical: all people from Cluj were failed, except for Mihai A., who was promoted from 5th Kyu to 4th Kyu. It was unpleasant for us, then, because we didn’t think that we did something so wrong for that minimal level that we were tested for. I am convinced that Mr. Ionescu was too intransigent with us because the negative background that has been developed for reasons that I still don’t know. He wanted to teach somebody a lesson, but in the end I don’t know who learned what lesson.

Afterwards, I have been graded twice by Mr. Ionescu, no problem whatsoever: 5th Kyu in November 1994 and 4th Kyu in April 1995.

When you are “young” in Aikido, you give a greater importance to grades. That’s why any failure to promote is felt harder then. Now I understand that grades are not so important as practice and experience.
And if you practice Aikido for a lifetime, there is time enough for grades.

Where are they now ?

Dan Ionescu is still the head of the ex Romanian Aikido Union, now called the Romanian Aikido Federation (FRA).
He is also the president of the European Aikido Confederation (CEA), an independent organization not very big, grouping clubs from France, Romania and Great Britain. CEA was formed around the French master Daniel Brun, a former student of Tadashi Abe.
In CEA, Daniel Brun is ranked 9th Dan, and Dan Ionescu 8th Dan.
FRA has 15 dojos, while CEA has a total of 43 dojos (France 25, Romania 15, Great Britain 3).

Ioan Grigorescu separated from Mr. Ionescu’s organization some years ago and keeps a small independent organization with a few dojos. He is ranked 5th Dan by Dan Ionescu.

Ioan Barbos gave up on Aikido a few years ago, and is teaching Judo, his first love. As far as I know, he is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Sports from the “Babes-Bolyai” University in Cluj.

Mihai A. was, between 1994 and 1995, the first instructor in our dojo, nowadays known as the “Musubi” Dojo Cluj. Mihai doesn’t practice Aikido anymore since sometime around 1997-2000, if I remember well.

Video of Miyamoto shihan on Youtube

I found on Youtube a 4 min. video featuring Tsuruzo Miyamoto, Aikikai Hombu Dojo shihan.
The video contains Miyamoto shihan’s performance at the 44th All-Japan Aikido Demonstration held in Tokyo, in 2006 (I think).

He is one of the masters who’s Aikido I especially like.
Techniques finely chained, yet very energetical.
Uke is brought at the edge of the abyss and kept there.
A beautiful art of unbalancing...

I saw for the first time Miyamoto shihan at Aikikai Hombu Dojo, in 2002.
I found his approach very interesting, the Uke being brought at the limit of his balance, hoping to regain it, struggling for the balance, but controled permanently so that he doesn’t succeed getting up.

From The Encyclopedia of Aikido offered by Aikido Journal:

“MIYAMOTO, TSURUZO
(b. 3 March 1953). B. Fukuoka, Kyushu.
7th dan Aikikai.
Aikikai shihan.
First taught aikido by Morito SUGANUMA.
Trained at the AIKIKAI HOMBU DOJO from 1975-1979 as an apprentice instructor under the tutelage of Kisshomaru UESHIBA.
Presently instructs at the Aikikai and travels abroad conducting seminars.”

Unfortunately, I haven’t found any other information about him or videos with him.

14 years of Aikido

In 14 years of practicing Aikido, I have seen many things.

Of course, 14 years is not necessarily a long period. There are plenty of individuals that are practicing a martial art for more years than my 14 years.

14 years is a long period *for me*.

I realize that it will not be long until I could say that I practiced Aikido for half of my life.

(Actually, it’s 7 years until then, well, it’s not that soon… From these information, you can find out how old I am now, at what age I started practicing Aikido and how old will I be when I will be practicing Aikido for half of my life.)

On the other hand, I changed a lot in the 14 years. I believe much of the change is due to Aikido. And *I hope* that this change during the years was an evolution, a change for the better.

In the 14 years, I have met a lot of Aikido practitioners.

Aikido, just like other martial arts, has a high practitioners turnover rate. A lot of people coming, a lot of people going away in time, just a few people staying.

Let’s think about the “distribution” of those coming to a dojo:

80% practice less than one year, until they give up.

10% practice between 1 and 2 years.

5% practice between 2 and 3 years.

Only 5% practice for more than 3 years.

(Ok, I put the percentages on-the-fly, reality is different probably, but not significantly.)

But the overall impression is that in Aikido you meet a lot of people, and for me a lot of the people I met in Aikido became significantly important in my life. Either becoming my friends, work colleagues or business partners, I am glad to know them, and this is due to Aikido.

Do not think that I am promoting Aikido as a socializing phenomenon.

A lot of people are blaming this aspect of socializing through Aikido. They say Aikido is a martial art, not a place to meet your friends. Possibly, some believe that socializing may affect the training martiality.

This can be true, I couldn’t say no.

But socializing has a lot of elements similar to the Aikido “blending”, that “blending” often spoken and sought. I think that socializing, no matter where or how you do it, *is* blending, so socializing *is* on the Aikido Path, and not aside. Obviously, provided that it doesn’t diminish the concentration and the eagerness to practice the technical and martial elements of the Art.

Getting back to the 14 years that have passed…

Looking back, I would love to relive them once again, to go again through the learning phases and experience levels, to rediscover Aikido from zero, to meet again all the people and to revisit all the places.

Unless I am struck by total amnesia, I will content myself to rediscover each day small and beautiful aspects of the Art, and of course to continue discovering the misteries and destinations that the Path predestinates us.

And I also hope that, in a while, I will rediscover Aikido through the eyes of my children.

Aikido and the Blogular Lightning

Everybody is writing blogs…
Finally, the “Blogular Lightning” struck me too, and I decided that I’d like and it would be useful to me if I had my own blog too.
And because the subject that I would like best is Aikido, here we are.

Are there any Aikido blogs ?
Yes, there are plenty, I have found some interesting ones, and I continue to search for them and to sort them out.
I haven’t found *Romanian* Aikido blogs yet. If you know one, let me know.

I am curious how often will I be able to write. This has to do with external factors (what other problems I have to solve), and also with internal factors (my capacity to focus, will power, time management efficiency).
In other words, this is a good self-organization and communication practice.

I started with a Romanian version of this blog, and then created this English version. The two of them will go together, the articles being published in both of them.

So, stay tuned !