Chicago Aikikai 11/08

With Mitsugi Saotome Shihan and Jay Weik Sensei

26

The heavy is the root of the light.
The unmoved is the source of all movement.

Thus the Master travels all day
without leaving home.
However splendid the views,
he stays serenely in himself.

Why should the lord of the country
flit about like a fool?
If you let yourself be blown to and fro,
you lose touch with your root.
If you let restlessness move you,
you lose touch with who you are.

-Lao Tzu

True Victory

"Though one should conquer a million men on the battlefield, yet he,
indeed, is the noblest victor who has conquered himself." Buddha

Heron Standing in Water

"The bird moves when it must; it does not move when stillness is appropriate.
The secret of its serenity is a type of vigilance, a contemplative state. The heron is not in mere dumbness or sleep. It knows a lucid stillness. It stands unmoving in the flow of the water. It gazes unperturbed and is aware. When Tao brings it something it needs, it seizes the opportunity without hesitation or deliberation. Then it goes back to its quiescence without disturbing itself or its surroundings. Unless it found the right position in the water's flow and remained patient, it would not have succeeded." -Deng Ming-Dao

Thank You Dan Sensei!!!

Thank you so much to Dan Messisco for traveling into the rainy abyss to lead our keiko this evening. A great time was had by all and we hope you'll come back soon and often.

Seigo Yamaguchi Shihan

I Am That

"That in whom reside all beings and who reside in all beings, who is the giver of grace to all, the Supreme Soul of the universe, the limitless being - I am that."

-Amritbindu Upanishad

Acceptance and Resorption

In the sword there is no sword;
make a sword of the body.
In the body there is no body;
make a body of the spirit.
Like a firefly, round; by its
radiance, apparent.
Waiting not, scheming not,
thinking not, pausing not,
As if turning circles on a stage,
As if pressing a gourd in water.
-Kunii Zen'ya

Sakura Co. - Tools for the study of the Way

http://sakura-co.blogspot.com/

I Pray for the Freedom and Liberation of Tibet

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Guest Instructor

I am pleased to announce we will have a special guest instructor for this Wednesday's session. Doug Krohn is an assistant instructor at Shobu Aikido of Ohio under Jay Weik Sensei and a good friend. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

77

"The Tao of heaven is like the bending of a bow. The high is lowered, and the low is raised. If the string is too long, it is shortened; If there is not enough it is made longer.
The Tao of heaven is to take from those who have too much and give to those who don't have enough.
Man's way is different.
He takes from those who don't have enough and gives to those who already have too much.
What man has more than enough and gives it to the world?
Only the man of Tao.
Therefore the sage works without recognition.
He achieves what has to be done without dwelling on it.
He does not try to show his knowledge."
-Lao Tzu

43

"Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment." Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

8.7.8

"The hard and strong will fall. The soft and supple will overcome." -Lao Tzu

7.28.08

"...the human heart,...when perfectly placid and clear, reflects the very image of the Deity." -Inazo Nitobe

Jizo

Jizo is known for his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied; therefore,
he is regarded as the bodhisattva of hell beings. His famous vow, recited by many Buddhists, is, "Not until the hells are emptied will I become a Buddha; Not until all beings are saved will I certify to Bodhi."

7.23.8

"He Who Knows Others Is Wise. He Who Knows Himself Is Enlightened." - Tao Te Ching

7/19/8

Your spirit is the true shield. -O Sensei

Ryujin The Water Dragon

The embodiment of yin.

7/16/8

The summer weapons intensive in DC was terrific! Great training, good friends, good food...
I brought back some new katas and deeper pieces from the instructors. Thanks especially to George Ledyard Sensei for all of your insight.

ASU Weapons Intensive

I will be away for the ASU Summer Weapons Intensive and class will be cancelled for the next two Wednesdays. Our regular weekly keiko will resume on July 16. See you then - Danny

Chikyokan 7th Anniversary

Congratulations to our home dojo Shobu Aikido of Ohio for 7 great years of Aikido.

5.28.08

Beside calm water
under shade trees
on soft summer grass
we find the way.

Kumi Tachi

May 24 & 25 Shobu Aikido of Ohio will be hosting a weapons seminar focusing on Saotome Sensei's Kumi Tachi (or Aiki-Ken) katas #6-10.
Saturday 10-12 & 3-5
Sunday 10-12

5.7.8

"The triangle represents the generation of energy and initiative; it is the most stable physical posture. The circle symbolises unification, serenity and perfection; it is the source of unlimited techniques. The square stands for form and solidity, the basis of applied control."

"When the triangle, the circle and the square become one, it moves in spherical rotation together with the flow of ki, and the Aikido of sumi kiri ("total clarity of mind and body") appears."

- Morihei Ueshiba O'Sensei

4.30.08

"Day after day train your heart out, refining your technique: Use the One to strike the Many! That is the discipline of the Warrior." -O'Sensei

4.28.08

Thank you to Bill Gleason Sensei and Jay Weik Sensei for their insight and instruction and all the Okugyo participants for their sincerity and generosity throughout the past week's training.

Okugyo

There will be no club meeting this week. I will be participating in the Okugyo Aikido Intensive in Vermont. See you next wednesday.

Things seen and unseen

The way that can be followed is not the eternal way.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth
While naming is the origin of the myriad things.
Therefore, always desireless, you see the mystery
Ever desiring, you see the manifestations.
These two are the same--
When they appear they are named differently.
Their sameness is the mystery,
Mystery within mystery;

The door to all marvels.

-Lao Tzu

4.9.08

"Practice is everything. This is often misquoted as practice makes perfect."
-Periander

4.2.08

Completely relaxed, breathe in uke's attack and move through with complete freedom.

Wake Up

Evening Gatha
Let me respectfully remind you,
Life and death are of supreme importance.
Time passes by swiftly and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken.
Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.

3.26.08

Bodhidharma

Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish. -ovid

Resistance

Through the practice of Aikido and understanding of it's principle, one learns to receive another's attack, putting an end to the action-reaction trap. Unlike action-reaction, receiving allows us to break the violence-begets-violence scenario that continues to devastate the world around us. Instead, the aggression is fully accepted to be released peacefully back to the universe.

3.19.08

True victory is victory of self; may this happen at the speed of light!

iroha poem

Although its scent still lingers on

the form of a flower has scattered away

For whom will the glory

of this world remain unchanged?

Arriving today at the yonder side

of the deep mountains of evanescent existence

We shall never allow ourselves to drift away

intoxicated, in the world of shallow dreams.

3.12.08

tonight at keiko we were privileged to have jamie from burlington, vermont stop in to train with us. the group had a good practice working on some of Saotome Sensei's lessons from last weekend. it is always interesting to see how conflict breaks down to simply who controls the center.

Aiki Shrine

Here are some photos of a recent trip to the Aiki Shrine in Myakka City, Fl.

Aiki Shrine (pt. 2)