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What We Practice
At Nippon Kan, we practice the martial art of Aikido.
In this place we call the dojo, we work and train together,
developing ourselves. Our dojo is a special place, but not
because we try to learn deadly forms of self-defense or practice
super-cosmic meditation. Special powers training is not found here.
Day by day we practice, utilizing motion and sweat to discover and
develop ourselves. Practice, just practice.
“The practice of Aikido techniques is only one of many ways
to discover and establish oneself,” stresses Gaku Homma Sensei,
Nippon Kan’s Founder. “Everywhere in the daily life
around us we can find hints about our true nature.” He speaks
of one such hint in his elephant story, a parable he tells in his
Aikido classes for beginners. By relating Homma Sensei’s elephant
story to you, I hope I can explain one of the founding principles
of Nippon Kan’s philosophy.
“About two hours north of Tokyo by train lies the town of
Nikko, nestled deep in the mountains. Nikko is the site of a vast
temple complex that houses the burial grounds of the first Tokugawa
Shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa. Build amidst the ornate and elaborate temples
and shrines is an ancient treasury house. Under the eaves of the
building hangs a very curious woodcarving of an animal. Its nose
is shaped like that of a pig. The feet are those of a cow. Its body
is like a hippo, and it has enormous ears. What on earth could this
be?…It’s an elephant!…The wood-carving was done
in 1635, a time when an elephant had never been seen on the islands
of Japan. Reports from travelers to the greater Asian continent
were filled with wild stories about this strange animal. The wood-carver,
listening to these accounts, used his own imagination to create
a very interesting carving of an ‘elephant.’
Don’t we all formulate images based on outside influences
in our life, just as the woodcarver did? It is natural that our
beliefs about martial arts are based on our exposure to them. Think
about yourself—what was your first exposure to martial arts?
What kind of “martial arts elephant” are you carrying
in your mind?Martial arts came to the United States from the Orient.
Somewhere over Hollywood, martial arts became filled with flashy
special effects and violence performed by stunt crews. Something
we all know but tend to forget is the fact that movies aren’t
reality. Months of filming and meticulous editing turns massive
amounts of movie footage into a two-hour final product that, through
publicity and popularity, can have a powerful influence on its viewers.
It is possible that we’ve created a ‘martial arts elephant’
in our heads based on what we have seen in the movies. Aikido, along
with any traditional martial art, cannot be understood based on
a foundation of misconceptions. If you seek to learn a martial art
only as a means of self-defense, or to achieve some sense of cosmic
enlightenment outside of yourself, you haven’t quite gotten
the ‘martial art elephant’ out of your head. Instructors
who teach these concepts, guaranteeing easy mastery, are not for
real.
Nippon Kan is built around people who do not need self-defense—a
society that does not need self-defense. That one does not need
to be armed with techniques or reach for some super-power outside
oneself for strength in dealing with everyday life is a main principle
at Nippon Kan.”
As individuals, we have created many “elephants” in
our own minds, not only concerning Aikido. They tend to weigh us
down with anxiety and fear, even though they exist only in our imagination.
At Nippon Kan, we try to rid ourselves of stubborn personal “elephants”
by practicing the Japanese martial art of Aikido through motion
and sweat. In this way, we can discover the strength of our more
natural, original selves. This is an main principle behind our practice
here.
So please grab that “martial arts elephant” by the tail
and remove it from your head. Misconceptions take up valuable room
that can be filled with Aikido practice.
Too many elephants in your life? Come join us!
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