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Aikido
for a Cause
by Jorge Gibbons
11-30-03
For three days in Mexico City, from November 7-9, 2003, I had the
opportunity to participate in an Aikido seminar whose purpose and
direction embodied many of the tenets that practitioners in general
usually neglect: community, service and interdependence.
The spirit of Aikido was masterfully displayed in the concrete
acts of the event’s organization, the compassion exhibited
in the purpose of the event, which was to support a children-with-cancer
organization in Mexico, and the graceful technique displayed by
Homma Sensei as he sought to impart not only his vast knowledge
of Aikido, but also his life history with Aikido and how it can
play a part in creating community in our everyday lives.
While hosting a seminar of this magnitude is not an easy task,
our hosts were impeccable in their commitment, timing, skillful
organization, and generosity. Eager volunteers kept the different
stations flowing and enabled the transformation of vision into
reality. The setup of the practice area and the altar were similar
to those that Nippon-Kan displayed in past seminars. The inspired
Mexican organizers implemented one of the tenants of our Aikido
practice: learn what is good, adopt it and translate it to your
own vision and understanding.
After the formal introduction on the first day of all parties involved
in the first Mexican International Aikido seminar conducted with
communitarian ends, we enjoyed a group of young dancers performing
several typical folkloric dances. The attitude, balance and grace
were a continuing theme throughout the seminar. Homma Sensei exhibited
one of his strengths traveling far beyond proper technique and
soft landings relating daily and seemingly unconnected activities
to the art of Aikido.
As official translator for Homma Sensei during the seminar, I had
the opportunity to assess the incredible quantity of energy needed
to teach and perform at very high levels.
At the end of my participation in the seminar, a little boy of
no more than ten or eleven years old thanked me for helping with
translating Homma Sensei, and asked me to convey a very important
message to him: “Please tell Homma Sensei that Andre says
hi, and tell him that I was greatly impacted by him in his last
visit and that he transformed my understanding and practice of
Aikido”. Touching lives on and off the mat seems to be the
driving force behind Homma Sensei and AHAN, the organization that
he created to bring Aikido practitioners independent of schools
and affiliations to create a better world. Utopist? Naïve?,
not for Homma Sensei, not for the children that receive the donation
from the seminar and certainly not for the participants that undoubtedly
took with them much more that Aikido techniques.
Related Articles:
Fundraising
Seminar for Children with Cancer in Mexico
New
Direction for Aikido
Visit to the Casa
de la Amistad
My Impressions
of the AHAN Fundraising Seminar in Mexico City.
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