TAYORI
Selected Articles from Issue 18
September 2002
2002 TAKAYAMA-SENSEI
Kazuyoshi Takayama-sensei from Meishikan Aikido Dojo
in Chiba, Japan will be in Hilo and
coming to teach aikido at our club.
Takayama-sensei is a certified martial arts instructor in Japan where
one must pass certification as an instructor to instruct martial arts. This means more than just having a black
belt. It indicates knowledge of other
things, including human anatomy and and an awareness of safety and
well-being. Takayama-sensei’s sensei is
Shigeo Saotome-sensei who heads the Meishikan Dojo in Chiba. He is a highly regarded and respected aikido
practitioner and instructor.
Takayama-sensei’s wife, Cynthia, was born and grew up
in Hilo. They come home to Hilo every
year to visit with her parents. The
past couple of years, we have been really fortunate to have Takayama-sensei
come to our dojo and instruct some classes while he is here in Hilo. Those who were able to practice with him
really enjoyed the classes that he taught.
This year he will be instructing our
Open and Advanced Aikido classes on Monday, September 16. He will also try to make it to our Youth
Class on Wednesday, September 18. He is
a talented, knowledgeable, and entertaining instructor. We really look forward to practicing with
him. Please make every effort to attend
the classes taught by him. We are sure
you will enjoy him and learn some good stuff.
OKAGE SAMA DE!!
“Okage Sama
De” was the theme of the 41st Annual Lantern Parade held recently in Hilo. The term itself implies a feeling of
gratitude to our ancestors and predecessors for the good life that we are now
enjoying. This is something that is
good to remember and keep in mind. We
are fortunate and we owe it to our ancestors.
We are what we are, what we
know, and what we can do, because of our ancestors. We owe everything to all
those who went before us and helped to create and fashion our
lives. The parade helped us to express
this feeling, and we were very happy and proud to participate.
This year’s parade was held on Saturday, August
3. The parade started from the new
County Building, and passed through downtown Hilo. There were many people who came out and enjoyed the parade,
watching it pass by from different locations in downtown Hilo.
The Hilo Seishikan Aikido group was headed by
instructors Sadami Yamamoto-sensei, Ruth Walker-sensei, Dennis Marshall-sensei,
Robert Kamau-sensei, and Carrie Yonemori-sensei. They received assistance from
several others. The beautiful
banners that were carried by our marching unit were made by Valerie and Jessica
Galacgac, Janie Nagakura, Etsuko Tulman, and Marshall-sensei. Pictures of our marching unit and the parade
were taken and produced by Debbie Fujimoto.
We would like to express our thanks to each one of
these people and to all those of you who took the time and made the effort to
march in and participate in the parade on behalf of Hilo Seishikan Aikido. We
truly appreciate all of your efforts.
MAHALO!!
We look forward to
participating in next year’s parade.
We see this as a good opportunity to participate in a community-wide
activity. We also feel this is a very
good group activity for our club.
AIKIDO RANK TESTINGt
Hilo Seishikan Aikido will be holding its annual Fall
Rank Testing in November. The dates of
the testing have not been set yet due to the November General Elections coming
up this year. The dates will be
announced as soon as they are set by the instructors. At any rate, the testing is coming up and we should all be
preparing ourselves for the testing.
The instructors will be going over the basic arts and
concepts of Seishikan Aikido to help prepare each one of you who will be
testing in November. The arts
themselves are important in regards to what they indicate about the
individual’s development in training with Hilo Seishikan Aikido. While the time and number of classes one has
practiced are important, the performances of the various arts required in the
testing are indications of other important considerations in ranking. One thing that a student’s performance shows
is the level of understanding of the basic concepts of aikido. Does he understand the goals of our
aikido? Does he have a concept of the
correct performance of the arts? Does
he show awareness of possible dangers, signs of relaxation, of power, and
self-control? Performance of arts go a
long way in showing discipline, efforts in learning and training, and knowledge
and acceptance of basic teachings and procedures.
Also playing a part in determining an individual’s
rank is his/her overall development and
improvement. The individual’s personal
development in terms of traits and habits are considered. Things stressed in our classes and lessons
are looked at. Does he/she pay
attention and make strong efforts to try what is taught in order to learn? Is the person aware of and appreciative of
others in the class? Is the individual
learning and acquiring traits that we
are stressing ? Promptness - Is
he/she on time in coming to class and turning things in? Compassion
- Is he/she aware of and
concerned for others in class?
Politeness - Is he/she bowing and thanking the sensei and
fellow class members? Honesty and
Truthfulness - Is he/she honest and truthful with him or
her self and others? Cooperative - Is
he/she abiding by club rules? Helping
by sweeping the mat and participating in club activities?
These are all important aspects of one’s total
personal development. We feel that one
needs to be aware of and appreciative of all of these things in order to be
totally able to defend and promote oneself in all situations. These developments can go a long way toward
helping one in his/her every day life.
Please keep this in mind and it will show in your overall development.
SEPTEMBER
For many of us, the month of September always represented the month in which the new school
year started, and our summer vacation
ended. Yes, in the years past, summer
vacation started in June and ended at the ending of August. So the month of September always brought to
mind the starting of the new school year.
In recent years things have changed.
More than a few schools have adopted modified schedules, and now some of
them start up their new school years at the ending of July or beginning of
August. At any rate, the summer
vacation has ended, and the new school year has begun with the coming of
September.
This year, September also brings the Primary Election
for our election year, 2002. The
Primary Election Day is Saturday, September 21. We have been asked to cancel our classes on the Primary Election
Day, the day before (Friday the 22nd) and the Monday following (the 23rd). All of this is to accommodate the election,
its preparation, and cleaning up and putting things away. So, please note and mark the dates of class
cancelations. The following Friday and
Saturday, another organization has reserved the Waiakea Recreation Center for
its use and we have also been asked to cancel our classes on those days -
Youth and Open Classes on Friday, September 27, and the morning Open
Class on Saturday, the 28th.
September also marks the classes taught by Takayama-sensei
of Chiba, Japan. He will be instructing
the Open and Advanced Classes on Monday, September 16. He will probably also be instructing our
Youth Class on Wednesday, September 18.
Be sure to mark those days on your calendars.
One last thought about the month of September - If
you have any friends, siblings, parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents or
whatever who are interested in practicing aikido, this is a really good time to
get started. Encourage them to do
so. We like to think of our aikido as
being great for the whole family. We
have several families all involved in practicing aikido with our club. This is great. Friends practicing together is another great thing. It gives you something to share and do
together.
“Aiki
is the expression of Truth itself. It
is the way of calling people together and reconciling them with love. Whenever they angrily attack, smilingly
reconcile them. That is the true way of
Aiki.”
Uyeshiba
O-sensei
Back to:
HILO SEISHIKAN AIKIDO
O-Shima Ryu
Hilo, Hawai`I
Questions, comments, etc.
