THE IAIDO NEWSLETTER

Volume 2 number 3 absolute #5 Aug 1990

An occasional publication of very limited distribution: Send your stories, comments or announcements to Kim Taylor, Dept. of Animal and Poultry Science, room 220, (519)824-4120 ext 6225. PHOTOCOPY AND SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER!

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SEMINARS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Send all information on seminars etc. to the editor as soon as possible. It's incentive to publish the next issue.

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CLUB O' THE MONTH

Twin Cities Aikido Center

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota USA.

Instructor Dr. Dale Schwerdtfeger began his training in Takeda- ryu Aiki-jitsu and Iaido under Tsumura Keiji in Tokyo, the summer of 1976 and has continued under him for part of every year since. Tsumura Sensei teaches Muso Shinden-ryu Omura-ha and the ZNKR Sei Tei Gata. Schwerdtfeger Sensei has trained through the three levels of Muso Shinden Ryu and holds the rank of 5 dan in the ZNKR Iaido section. He is a current member of the Tokyo chapter of the ZNKR and is cleared to sit on grading panels for that organization. Dale has also trained in the Hoki-ryu and the Zen Nihon Iaido Renmei under Tetsuo Nakamura Sensei in northern Japan.

Schwerdtfeger Sensei began teaching informally in 1976 and has continued to the present, the formality and quality of instruction rising as his qualifications rose. Dale has gone to considerable effort to stay current in his Iai practice and is more than willing to help new or current clubs in their training. Anyone interested in arranging a seminar should contact him at the address listed at the back of the newsletter.

Instructional times The club holds a training session Saturdays at the Aikido Center from 1:00 to 2:30 PM. and holds an uninstructed practice Wednesday evenings. Training is strictly according to current Japanese form and as such is "conservative but not dated".

Write and tell us about your club, when do you practice, what style, are visitors welcome, let us know what's happening. ========================================================

Do not lay claim

to any special path

Look to your footing

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FOOTSTEPS DOWN AN ECHOING PATHWAY

By Malcolm Copp-Taylor.

World Copyright 1990 All Rights Reserved.

Pass down smoothly from the lee of Mount Kasagi, where the J.N.R. Kansai line whips around playing catch as catch can with the waters of the Iga and Kizu Rivers.

Leave the sterile conformity of the pleasant railway carriage and step out onto the ferroconcrete squares of the station that bears the name of the mountain, you are close, but not close enough.

Still nearby and three centuries back you will find the heartland of those who proudly bore the name of Yagyu. The stones of the road are still in place, like the spirit of Budo that pervades them....not immediately apparent, and missed totally by some, but there all the same. Tread this way lightly, for warriors have walked this way before you, step by step will bring you to the village that still bears the name - Yagyu mura.

Yagyu, name of names, subject of legends; sit a while and as the sun crests the hill where the falcon flew, remember..............

Muneyoshi, whose blood flowed pure Yagyu, pupil of the great Nobutsuna and heir to the Shinkage school, remember him, for without him the tale has neither beginning nor end.

Know now Munenori, swordsman to the Shogun, and seeker after the truth that is Zen.

Thereto follow as night and day, Mitsuyoshi, and the foundation is laid.

Look back further than your eyes can see or your heart can feel, and there in the secret darkness you will find them. No one who picks up the sword and follows where it leads can be without some rememberance of them and the legacy that is Yagyu.

The paper lies faded, and the ink caked dry, but they will live again, if you let them....through your training.

The dojo is said to be a place of Life and Death, but it is also a place of spirits and the memories of those who trod the path before....just listen, their's are footsteps that can be heard. ========================================================

TECHNICAL NOTEBOOK

From the Sei Do Kai, University of Guelph.

SEI TEI GATA OF THE JAPAN KENDO FEDERATION

TACHI-AI NO BU (STANDING SECTION)

6. (ROKUPOME) MOROTE ZUKI (two handed thrust)

Two opponents and yourself walk toward each other, another opponent is following behind. The nearest opponent in front draws and prepares to strike while the opponent behind continues to approach.

NUKI TSUKE

Begin as for Kesa Giri taking two normal steps and grasping the tsuka on the second. On the third step, with the right foot, draw the sword keeping the edge facing up.

Draw so that the right hand comes to about eye level

As the kissaki clears the koiguchi perform saya biki and cut down across the opponent's face. The kissaki moves up by your left ear, then diagonally across the face to finish so that the right hand is lined up at the same height as your left hand (navel level). The kissaki finishes inside your right shoulder and at throat height.

The tsuka gashira points at the opponent on the draw, and there is a narrow channel for the blade to travel in, the stroke is therefore not wide. The edge stays up, and you cut down across the face after drawing upward.

The kissaki cuts from the opponent's right temple or eye level, through the tip of his nose to the other side of his head. This is one angle for the cut on the face, the other angle is for Sanpogiri.

KIRI TSUKE

Move the left foot up to the right as you swing the tsuka over to the seigan position. Move the koiguchi to the tanden at the same time. Grasp the handle with the left hand. Stepping forward with the right foot thrust forward into the opponent's suigetsu.

Move the tsuka to the tanden as you step up to the handle, the kissaki should stay fixed in space. Move up to the sword, don't pull the sword back. Do not thrust so far that you go right through the opponent since you must remove the blade for the next action.

Thrust with a strong shibori action.

Pull the blade out and bring it to the right hip as you turn 180 degrees to the left. Shift the left foot to the side as you turn on the balls of your feet. From the position on the hip the sword is raised to jodan as the turn is completed. Keep the blade horizontal. Step forward with the right foot and strike down the rear opponent with kiri otoshi.

Turn left 180 degrees again while raising the sword to jodan. Step forward with the right foot and finish the second opponent to the front with kiri otoshi.

Leave the tip at the same level (in the opponent), pull the blade straight out as you turn to cut to the rear. When turning again to cut to the front don't let the tip drop. These cuts are crisply done without being rushed. You must finish each opponent step by step.

When turning, don't let the kissaki drop. If it does this means that the little fingers of the left hand have relaxed. A dropped tip promotes the slide forward and 'whip' of the sword during the cut.

When turning for the second kiri otoshi shift the left foot over, and turn on the toes. There is no need to pull the tip out of the opponent this time.

Both downward cuts should be big and with okuri ashi.

CHIBURI

Remain standing as you snap the blade directly out to the right side as was done in Tsuka Ate. The kissaki should be just slightly down from horizontal.

When standing this chiburi finishes wider than the kneeling version.

NOTO

The noto is the same as for Kesa Giri.

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Here is comfort

You may leave the training hall

without looking back

It is still there

It will be there tomorrow

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You are bored

Practice is not interesting

You've done this before

Wake Up!

You are dreaming

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You are too tired to practice

Coward!

Look at that child with a crooked leg

Watch her walk

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THE DOJO MISS MANNERS

The martial arts and especially Iaido begin and end with manners. Often new students and visitors mistake the meaning of these manners. They confuse forms of respect and care for subservience and, on occasion, some type of cult control. Here are some thoughts on manners in the dojo. Please think about these and send us your own observations on what manners mean to the Budo.

VISITING A DOJO

For those in the martial arts, the special forms of etiquette expected of students and visitors to the dojo are at least familiar if not practiced. What about someone who just wants to go and watch a class? Many potential students never become involved in the martial arts because they are afraid that they will be beaten up or worse if they neglect some obscure rule of behavior. Others are afraid to visit because they think that spectators are forbidden and the martial arts are something secret.

Nothing could be farther from the truth if what is being practiced is a genuine martial art. Firstly, a legitimate dojo would have absolutely no problems with having a visitor. There is nothing to hide and if the students in class are disturbed they are rather inattentive students. There are, of course those who think they have something to hide. These tend to be the same people who are trying to make a living at teaching the arts. "If you want to see what it looks like, sign this contract for a year's worth of lessons."

Secondly, a visitor would never be expected to know all the special rules of behavior of what is basically an art form transplanted from another culture entirely. Visitors are, however, expected to exhibit common good manners. The same that they would exhibit in any public lecture or demonstration. Simply behave like an adult in society. Be quiet and try not to disturb the class. That's it. Of course common sense is good too, like not walking on a mat where people have their faces ground around with your muddy street shoes. Dojo manners are really no different than ordinary manners and unless you were brought up amongst the barnyard animals you certainly know how to act in public.

Remember that good manners are always recognizable, as are bad. If you go to another culture and sit down to a meal, you are not going to know the correct table manners. Fine, only someone who is rude and ignorant of life would expect you to. Use your own good manners and pay attention to the people around you. If you perform some horrid and offensive act you'll know soon enough. If it was done because of your own good manners, it's a culture clash not bad manners and your hosts will know that.

Good manners from another culture are easily seen. If you are using good manners from your own culture then they will be taken as such and any mistakes will be forgiven. If you are using bad manners from your own culture it will simply be seen that you are still a child and you will be treated as such, either scolded or ignored.

Of course anyone actually visiting a dojo to watch the class is probably going to behave politely. There are other situations where polite behavior seems to be thrown away.

Iaido is practiced at Guelph in a room with doors at either end. Occasionally someone will wander in at one end and out the other. You have to ask yourself what could prompt such behavior. Walking through a class full of people who are swinging sharp objects seems downright stupid let alone rude. Perhaps these people are actually too dull to see the danger of an accident. Then again, they are at a University. Maybe they just don't want to walk around? Why are they in a gymnasium if they don't want some exercise? Would they cut through a classroom with a class in session to save some steps? Perhaps they are being deliberately insulting with their bad manners? With a class full of well armed people? Not likely. No, the only conclusion possible is that they are still children and they were never taught good behavior.

People who were never exposed to the martial arts are not the only ones capable of bad manners. There is a shortage of space on this campus and classes are held one after another all evening. Recently, one class (Aikido) was lined up on the mat, listening to the concluding remarks of the sensei. I happened to notice a visitor from the next class (ninja) in the dojo. The visitor wasn't simply waiting for the class to end, he was happily going through a set of kicks. Not only was the class currently in session not a kicking type art, but the next one wasn't either (the last time I checked). Just what this person thought he was doing is beyond me. If he was showing everyone his form, it was bad. If he was challenging the class, he was too small. Who knows what he was thinking of? One thing he was, was requested politely and quietly to leave.

For those of us who share dojo space, let's use the proper manners. The class currently in the room should try to finish on time and the one coming in should wait outside or watch quietly. It is enough for one or two people to enter and stand quietly to remind the instructor who has gone over time that there is another class coming in. Some people have a poor sense of time and do need to be reminded, especially if there is no clock in the room. If, as has been known to happen a class regularly can't get it together to get out within 5 or 10 minutes of the proper time, have a talk with the instructor. If that doesn't work talk to the department which sets the times and classes. Don't demonstrate your poor upbringing by disrupting the previous class in the hopes that will get them out faster. It will just create bad feelings.

NEW STUDENTS

Many years ago there was a particularly choice new student who joined the Aikido class. To be fair, he did seem to be normally a little slow on the uptake, but his manners were somewhat amazing. The best of them all was his habit of lying down under the photograph of the founder of the art just before the class started. The rest of the class was of course lined up on the other side of the room facing the picture, and now, our friend. He was ignored completely by the other students and soon dropped out of the classes.

The moral obviously, is to pay attention. Even a complete beginner should be able to see where everyone lines up. If you are wearing a white belt, or none at all and there are white belts at one end and coloured belts at the other, where do you line up? Good for you! Find out who the seniors are and follow their actions, this helps you catch on to both the etiquette and also the techniques faster, and it also keeps the seniors on their toes because they know you're watching.

Come to think of it that was a time of pretty heavy drug use, maybe he was a little burned out?

Remember that not all etiquette is transferable between martial arts. Manners certainly are, but the specific forms of etiquette are not. Pay attention and do what the class is doing. If they bow quietly, deeply and slowly, don't slap your thighs and snap out a nod. If they answer the instructor with a shouted thanks! or yes!, don't keep your mouth shut. When you're in a class, you're in that class, not another one.

EXPERIENCED STUDENTS

Once, long ago I was in Banff for an Aikido seminar with an instructor and several assistants from Japan. Since I was looking for Iaido instruction at that time I had taken along a sword and I asked the teachers if they had any experience that they could pass on to me. As it turned out they didn't but I was invited to practice what I knew during the lunch hours.

While practicing one lunch an instructor from British Columbia told me that since I was there for an Aikido seminar, and that since the gymnasium we were practicing in was for that time an Aikido dojo, it was inappropriate for me to perform another martial art. What was the correct response? To tell him that it was a school gymnasium and not some sort of sacred ground and besides the sensei told me I could? I thanked him and put away my sword. He was right.

Leaving aside the question of whether it is good to practice more than one martial art at a time, is it polite to perform techniques from another art while in class? If you find yourself doing something from another art, immediately ask yourself why. Sorry, apologize first to your partner and then ask yourself why. If it was an honest mistake, the technique just popped up, then forget it. If you were showing your partner what you do in some other art in this situation, or if you were trying to impress someone, have a serious thought as to why you're in this class. The only art you should practice is the one you're practicing. If you do other things than what you're being taught, it is called rude but what it means is that you're not concentrating or paying attention.

In the civilized world, you need never fear giving offence if you simply use common courtesy and common sense.

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What kind of swordsman

do you wish to be

A good swordsman?

a bad one?

A master swordsman perhaps?

Go home

come back to practice

when you are alone

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TANDEN BO OR TANREN BO?

Malcolm Copp-Taylor Sensei of Yugenkan dojo in England suggests that tanren bo, not tanden bo might be a more appropriate name for the training tool described in the last issue. "Musashi wrote that to train a thousand times is Tan, to train ten thousand times is Ren, thus tanren means tremendous discipline, and is analogous to 'spiritual forging'".

This gave me a bit of a jolt since I had not seriously considered the name prior to this. In true, couragous form I asked someone else to explain the names.

Goyo Ohmi Sensei of the University of Guelph Iaido Club expanded on "tanren". The "ren" character means training while the "tan" character is similar to "kimo". Kimo means spirit or feeling, it is the "essence" of a living being and is often thought to reside variously in the liver, heart, gall bladder or other organ. It is what infuses that being with it's particular attributes.

Perhaps the "kimo" of the budoka could be said to reside in his or her tanden. Suspecting this to be a bit simple-minded I sought a bit further.

Tanden bo is the name by which I was introduced to this little instrument of torture. It was one of the weapons in an Aikido dojo. I asked Bruce Stiles Sensei of the University of Guelph Aikido Club for further clarification of the name and concepts. Stiles Sensei pointed out that "tanden" refers to the physical while "tanren" has a more spiritual connection. In this way you choose the name according to the practice you intend. If you are working on the physical then it is a tanden bo, if you are working on the spiritual you may wish to call it a tanren bo. This is the simple explanation and Bruce went on to explain that a true Budo seeks to reconcile both the physical and the spiritual.

There must be physical practice in budo before the spiritual aspects can be studied. It is suggested by some that when you are over 60 you can start on the spiritual practice of budo, but even then you are not done with the physical exercises. They are never over until the doctors say so.

In actual fact, each practice is contained in the other. During the development of the student, the training will stress one or the other in a cyclic process that never ends.

Many thanks to all the sensei who contributed to the discussions above. In true budo style, the choice and responsibility of name for this tool must be left to the user.

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A teacher who will not scold

should be avoided

Kindness is seldom what it seems

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MAILING LIST ADDITIONS:

Malcolm Copp-Taylor, Yugenkan Dojo, Unit 19, Charlton Trading Estate, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, BA6 8ER.

Ted Davis, Dept of Biology, University of Victoria. Box 1700 Victoria B.C. V8W 2Y2

Don Harvey, 81 Sandcliffe Road, Midway, Burton-on-Trent, Staffs. DE11 7PH.

Dr. D.W. Schwerdtfeger, 8580 Lakewood Shores Road NW. Rice, MN 56367.

MAILING LIST

l'Aikido de la Montagne, 3734 Avenue du Parc, Montreal Quebec, Canada. H2X 2J1.

Roy Asa, c/o Japan Camera Centre, 88 Lesmill Rd. (Don Mills) Toronto Ontario, Canada. M3B 2T5. (FAX (416)445-0519)

Mitsuru Asaoka, 2445 Cape Horn Ave. Coquitlam B.C. Canada. V3K 1K1 (604)525-5080 FAX(604)520-5999

Jim Callfas, 88 East Lynn Ave. Toronto, Ont. Canada. M4C 3X2 698-8688.

Central YMCA Aikikai, c/o Stuart Rae 375 Brunswick Ave. #504, Toronto Ontario, Canada. M5R 2Z3

Kazuo Chiba, 3846 Eagle St. San Diago California USA. 92103

Malcolm Copp-Taylor, Yugenkan Dojo, Unit 19, Charlton Trading Estate, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England, BA6 8ER.

Stephen Cruise, 10 Glenborough Pk. Willowdale Ontario Canada. M2R 2G5 (416)229-4986

Ted Davis, Dept of Biology, University of Victoria. Box 1700 Victoria B.C. V8W 2Y2

Doshikan Kendo Club, c/o Shozo Kato 124 East 79th St. Apt 3A New York NY. USA 10021(212)535-6470

O. Fujii,

Don Harvey, 81 Sandcliffe Road, Midway, Burton-on-Trent, Staffs. DE11 7PH.

International Kendo Federation c/o Nippon-Budokan 2 Kitanomaru-koen Chiyoda-ku Tokyo Japan. 102 (211-5804, 211-5805) Japanese Swordsmanship Society, PO Box 1116 Rockafeller Stn. New York, New York. USA 10185 (212)691-2891

JCCC 123 Wynford Dr. Toronto Ontario Canada. M3C 1K1

Ken Zen Institute, c/o Kenjun Kasahara 152-158 West 26th Street New York NY. USA 10001 (212)741-2281

Roy Kennedy, 124 Glen Springs Dr. Scarborough Ontario, Canada. M1W 1X8

Larry Nakamura, 24 Beckwith Road, Etobicoke Ontario, Canada. M9C 3X9. (416)622-2962

New England Aikikai, 2000 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge Mass. USA. 02140 (617)661-1959

New York City Kendo Club, c/o Noboru Kataoka 46 West 83rd Street New York NY. USA 10024 (212) 874-6161

Goyo Ohmi 43 Milington Cr. Ajax Ontario, Canada. L1T 1R3 (416)683-8346

F.Y. Okimura, 7557 de Normanville, Montreal Quebec, Canada. H2R 2V2.

Renbukan Dojo, c/o Mr. Tamio Tateno, 207 Nelson St. Brantford Ontario, Canada. N3S 4C2.

Pierre-Paul Rivet, 12 Desmarteau Boucherville Quebec. J4B 1Z9.

Robert Savoie 532 Avenue Duluth E. Montreal Quebec Canada. H2L 1A9 (514)288-8679 or 842-0342

Dr. D.W. Schwerdtfeger, 8580 Lakewood Shores Road NW. Rice, MN 56367.

Sei Do Kai Iaido, c/o Kimberley Taylor, Department of Animal Science, University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario, Canada. N1G 2W1. (519)824-4120 ext 6225 FAX (519)836-9873

Marion M. Taylor, 32 Bedford Court Amherst, MA USA 01002 (413)256-0219

Valley Aikido, c/o Paul Sylvain, 131 King St. Northampton Mass. USA. 02140

Peter Verra, 1452 Paddington Ct. Burlington, Ont. Canada. L7M 1W7. (416)336-7159

Katsuo Yamaguchi, 3-24-1 Shinbori Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Japan 189. (0425-65-9146)

Yasuo Yamashibu, Tonda-cho-1-4-2, Okayama Japan 700. (0862- 25-5471) (FAX 0862-23-9433)

Yugenkan Dojo, c/o Mr. Bill Mears, 100 Elmwood Ave. Crystal Beach Ontario, Canada. L0S 1B0. (416)871-7772 ext. 314

Zanshin, Ecole D'Aikido et Iaido, c/o Donna Winslow, 5425 Bordeaux #503D, Montreal Quebec, Canada. H2H 2P9 (514)521-6786