22nd Urayasu Aikido Demonstration

The big demonstration is all done and finished. Due to the damage from last years earthquake the 21st Urayasu enbu was cancelled, making this year the actual scheduled 22nd annual demo. Congratulations to the Urayasu Aikido Federation on another great event. More than 700 people participated, add in the friends and families, somewhere near 1000 people were in attendance.

This years theme was "絆" kizuna (bond, tie, teamwork). Along with the regular demos such as kihon waza, kihon dosa, jiyu waza, buki, club demo, visitor group demo, and instructors, there were also categories for "family", "couple", "siblings" etc. Was great to see all the parents working together with their kids. Everyone had just 3 mins. to do anything they liked, but more importantly was all the time and communication spent together preparing.

Ando Shihan opened the enbu, Aiki-kai's Nakajima Shihan closed it. This pattern alternates every year for both the Urayasu enbu as well as the Kagami Biraki event. Urayasu's Aikido Federation is unique in the fact that it's a joint Yoshinkan / Aiki-kai organization. If both the Aiki-kai and Yoshinkan can work together maybe there is still hope for all of us original Yoshinkan people too.

As with any big event, lots of planning and preparation are needed. Just Ryu staff and a few folks from the Urayasu Aiki-kai wouldn't be enough. Many thanks to all the regular members who helped out not only the day, but even the Saturday before setting everything up. All the Tokubetsu Course members, Sakurakai ladies, the men and women from Urayasu dokokai, the Meikai University students and the other people from here and there who put there time and effort into making this year run smooth. Your help is definitely appreciated.

Also congratulations to all the individuals and clubs that received certificates and trophies for not only a great performance on the day, but for the continued effort put into both their training and dojos throughout the past year. You did yourselves proud!

Like any busy day, got to finish with a few beers. 100 or so people squeezed into the second floor cafe, suitably named "絆". Not only did everyone celebrate another successful event, but also Hotta Sensei and Mitsuhashi Sensei's "Independence day".

Next up on the Ryu calendar is filming for some new videos the beginning of June, Kids gasshuku and summer tests in July, Early morning summer training in August, then Ando Sensei is off to Argentina and Brazil for 2 weeks in September. Stay tuned for more posts!

Jim Dawes

Construction Continues

During the Golden Week holiday (see previous post) the main repairs on the dojo were done. They drilled down through the floor of the dojo and then injected two kinds of silicone which harden when they come into contact with each other. They did this over a couple of days, leaving it overnight and then measuring it the following morning to check for subsidence. The results were generally good and Ryu Dojo has risen up out of the mud!

Mission Control outside Ryu Dojo

The crew who did the work were specialist who came down from Osaka. After this they are going up to Fukushima to start work fixing earthquake and tsunami damage up there. Taihei is going to miss them a lot - they were a really friendly bunch who kept him entertained for hours! There are only a few more minor repairs, such as fixing water pipes, and a few more improvements and then it'll be done! Looking forward to the final result!

Golden Week

The last day before the Golden Week holiday was a busy one. Started with us pulling all the mats up, stacking them, and then again re-stacking them in the entrance for preparation of the dojo repairs. Then we went over to the Chuo Budokan for this years special instructor/representative only seminar. 36 teachers and dojo heads from various Yoshinkan Aikido Ryu groups gathered for an hour and a half of Ando Shihan explaining this years new test syllabus techniques.

(3rd kyu - 1st kyu) ushiro ryote mochi ikkajo osae ichi, kata mochi nikajo osae ni, suwari waza   yokomen uchi shomen iriminage ni

(Shodan) hanmi handachi katate mochi shihonage ni, kata mochi sankajo osae ni, katate mochi hijiate kokyunage ichi

 (Yudan) suwari waza ryote mochi kokyuho yon, mune mochi yonkajo osae ni

Following the training was the annual Yoshinkan Aikido Ryu NPO meeting. Due to the Ryu Dojo construction, this years conference was held on the 2nd floor of the Chuo Budokan. New Instructors were introduced, others were presented with their recent grading certificates, last years schedule, this years schedule, finances, events, changes and future plans were all discussed over tea and onigiri (Japanese rice triangle thing).

We finished off the day with just a few of us (main Ryu staff) over at a nice restaurant near Shin-Urayasu station celebrating Mitsuhashi Sensei's uchideshi graduation. Yes, that's right... The second one in just over a year. First Hotta Sensei, now Mitsuhashi Sensei. Leaving just Katagiri and I for the time being.

Mitsuhashi Sensei has been uchideshi for exactly 9 years. I first met him when I was still a member at Honbu dojo but would make the trips to Urayasu for Friday Kenshu. That was over 7 years ago (when Mitsuhashi Sensei was still a 3dan and newbie deshi). I remember training with him and thinking wow, if this guy can do this with just over a year of deshi experience, I need to get in here. Since then I've been fortunate enough to have been his uke for a couple demos, his 4th dan shinsa, and even our 5th/4th dan test. Mitsuhashi Sensei has been a great sempai, and taught me many things on and off the mats. We are going to miss having him here full time, but wish him the best with his continued success in the Chiba area.

Jim Dawes

Under Construction

The Ryu Headquarters Dojo was slightly damaged in the massive earthquake that hit Japan last year.  Due to liquefaction of the soil, the building has been leaning slightly since then.  On Monday, the company hired to repair the dojo started doing some work around the dojo to prepare for fixing it.  As far as I can figure out, they are apparently going to drill pipes into the ground and inject concrete underneath to lift up the side that sank downward.
At the same time, they are also going to do some other repairs and improvements so stay tuned for the new and improved Ryu Dojo!

Taihei was very, very excited to see this arrive this morning.

He also loved the cement mixer when it came to pour this concrete.

Stephanie

Saint Petersburg, Russia Seminar

The beginning of April marked Ando Sensei's 3rd visit to Russia in the past 6 months, and his 4th visit to Rustam Karminov's Sutemi Dojo in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This time Sensei travelled alone, and taught 3 kids classes and 12 adult classes over the 4 day seminar. A busy, but well attended seminar.

Other Yoshinkan representatives from all over Russia were present - Nikolai from Moscow, Andrey from Novosibirsk, Mikhail from Ekaterinburg, Rashit from Saint Petersburg, others from the Seiseikai organization, and more. Totalling about 50 kids and 80 adults.

Thanks again to Rustam Sensei and his students for hosting the event, all the people who travelled to attend, Kumakura-san once again for translating throughout the weekend, and all the students, friends and family for supporting Yoshinkan in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Jim Dawes

Shrine visit

Yesterday we went on our annual trip to visit Katori and Kashima Shrines (see previous posts). We just missed the pink and white sakura season and now the trees were starting to turn green. It was nice to see most of the damage from last year's earthquake has been repaired.

All the Ryu staff including Taihei and Kohei came along this time. While Stephanie watched little Kohei, I kept Taihei entertained (actually I think he was the one entertaining). We bonded through some simple English and deer riding (just a statue, not any real deer).

Jim Dawes