The year 2003 has only three months left, but for Nippon Kan, the next three months will be busy with activities. My name is Yoshi Shishikura, and I am the Nippon Kan Japan Branch Assistant Director. I have been staying at Nippon Kan headquarters in Denver for the past few months, and am happy to report on some of the activities I have been able to participate in, and of projects scheduled for the rest of the year.
Attending the Aiki Expo 2003
Aiki Expo 03, sponsored by Aikido Journal, was held for the second consecutive year in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 19-21st. Homma Kancho, assisted by four of Nippon Kan’s instructor staff attended this event as an instructor and demonstrator. Homma Kancho would like to thank Aikido Journal’s Chief Editor Mr. Stanley Pranin, Executive Editor Ms. Ikuko Kimura, and Aikido Journal staff and supporters for all of their hard work putting on this event. He would also like to thank all students who participants who attended his classes, for making it an enjoyable event!
For his demonstration at the Expo, Homma Kancho used a bokken that was given to him by students in a small village dojo in the mountains of Brazil. Fashioned by children students from a branch of a local tree, the bokken was too light for normal use. To strengthen the bokken, it was reinforced with rebar and rebalanced. Before he began his demonstration, Homma Kancho told the audience “There are students in many parts of the world who cannot afford designer bokken or jo, or even a simple keiko-gi for practice, and yet they practice admirably. We cannot forget this as we practice, and must return our focus to what is truly important in Aikido”. In November, Homma Kancho plans to return to Brazil, where he will give the bokken back to the students of the village.
Nippon Kan Beginners Class Fall Sessions in Full Swing
This year’s fifth beginner’s class series held graduation in September and the last six week session of the year begins in mid-October. Attendance this year has been consistent with years past, and it is projected that 500 students will attend Nippon Kan’s beginners classes this year. For Nippon Kan, beginning students are a very important part of the dojo, and the beginner’s class program is one of the most important programs we offer. Continuing more advanced students have a lot to learn from beginners. Beginning students are our mirrors, and reflect what they are taught and the attention they are given.
Visit to Yama Dojo in Telluride Colorado
Homma Kancho and I (Yoshi) took a tour through Southwestern Colorado to visit Yama dojo (mountain dojo) in Telluride on the weekend of September 28-30th. The aspen trees were changing and in their peak of blazing golden colors, making it a spectacular drive. Nippon Kan Instructor Rick Thompson organizes Yama dojo, in the mountain town of Telluride. Homma Kancho has written about his reflections on that trip in a new article titled “Traveling Without Navigation”.
Fall School Field Trips to Nippon Kan
School field trips to Nippon Kan began early this fall for Elementary,
Middle and High School students in the metro Denver area. Coinciding
with Asian study modules, Nippon Kan hosts hundreds of Denver
area students who come to Nippon Kan for a first hand look
at Japanese culture. These tours are unusual in their scope
and content, and have become very popular with teaching staff
along the Front Range. Since this year’s 2003 school
year began for Denver students in September, Nippon Kan has
hosted over 250 students. Denver school children and young
adults are given an extensive tour of Nippon Kan with hands-on
demonstrations of Japanese arts such as origami, shodo, and
Aikido, and lessons in Japanese language, history and culture.
The tour and lecture contents are modified to fit different
age levels and focus of study. The fieldtrips include a tour
of the Nippon Kan dojo, folk art museum and gardens, culminating
in a traditional Japanese lunch prepared and served in Domo,
Nippon Kan’s country style restaurant. The cost for this
two-hour experience including lunch is $10.00, of which $7.00
is donated to AHAN, (the Aikido Humanitarian Active Network).
These contributions help fund AHAN humanitarian projects world-wide.
Since these field trips are held during school days, Nippon
Kan staff instructors take time off from their regular jobs
to volunteer their time for these activities.
Fall Bokken and Jo Intensive Clinic
Held October 4th, 2003 this intensive clinic was instructed by
Nippon Kan Instructor Andrew Blevins Sensei. Blevins Sensei focused
on teaching bokken and jo relationships to open hand techniques,
basic Nippon Kan weapons kata and suburi which make up the basis
of Nippon Kan’s teaching method. Much time was spent going
into detail on correct posture and body movement. This was also
a training exercise for Blevins Sensei in implementing project
organizational skills. Under Homma Kancho’s direction,
office and staff members were encouraged to allow Blevins Sensei
to formulate and implement his own curriculum and planning for
this event. A concentrated afternoon, a good time was had by
all.
Time to Say Farewell! Mongolian Exchange Student Returns to Homeland.
On October 4th, 2003 Nippon Kan students and friends from the
Denver Mongolian Community gathered in Nippon Kan’s ger (traditional Mongolian nomadic house) to bid farewell to Bold
Tumenjargal. A graduate uchideshi from Nippon Kan, Bold has finished
his six years of study in the United States and is returning
to his homeland of Mongolia. As a student at Nippon Kan, Bold
received dual shodan certification from Nippon Kan and Aikikai
Hombu this past July. It is everyone’s hope that he will
be able to continue his practice of Aikido as a future instructor
in Mongolia. The farewell party lasted into the night, and a
collection was taken up among senior Nippon Kan members to present
Bold with a bit of extra traveling fare. Homma Kancho counseled “Because
you have been in the United States for six years means that you
have lost those six years experience in your own country. What
you have learned here has been valuable, but while you have been
away, your country and your life back home has changed. Don’t
worry, take your time getting re-acquainted before you established
your new life. Congratulations on your efforts”.
Nippon Kan has many cross-cultural and humanitarian projects
with Mongolia, including the support of
Orphaned children in Ullaanbaatar, and on a local front, a support
of the printing of the Denver Mongolian Newspaper.
October Hakama Kai Meeting
October’s Hakama Kai meeting was held on October 6th, 2003.
This meeting of Nippon Kan Hakama members is held monthly on
the first Monday of the month. At this meeting, recent activities
and upcoming projects were announced and discussed. At this meeting
Homma Kancho spoke to Hakama members about his thoughts on the
Aiki Expo 03 held in September.
Homma Kancho spoke “At the Expo, I was able to watch demonstrations
put on by many different groups of Aikidoka. It was a valuable
lesson for me in that it was clearly evident which demonstrations
were exhibitions of real Aikido and which were copies, but not
real.
In Japan there is a parable told about the idle son of a rich
Japanese merchant long ago. This son, being mostly inept at the
business skills of his father, was left most of the time to entertain
himself. Ambling aimlessly around town one day with an attending
servant, he stumbled across a sign advertising the “School
of Yawn”. How odd he thought. A school to teach you how
to yawn! “Why even I could master that” he declared,
and ran inside to join. Every day he went to the school and studied
for hours on end, on how to yawn. He practiced his posture and
technique, and yet according to his teacher, did not improve
at all. “This is more difficult than I thought” he
muttered as he tried again and again to perfect his yawn.
Thinking his master a crazy fool, and totally uninterested in
this new study of his, the attendant sat near the door and waited
for the lesson to be over. He shifted his position uncomfortably,
and finally, out of complete boredom, twisted his body, raised
both arms over his head and let out the biggest yawn that anyone
had ever seen! “LIKE THAT, JUST LIKE THAT” the teacher
shouted as he jumped to his feet pointing excitedly at the attendant
by the door. “THAT WAS IT! THAT WAS THE PERFECT YAWN!…
This story, while comical, illustrates what is real versus what
is just a copy, and the value that lies in this lesson. In our
practice of Aikido, there is what is real and what is only mimicry
of real movement. I believe that a real danger lies in believing
in demonstrations where instructors toss unresisting skillful
ukes repeatedly into the air. The danger lies for the mind of
the instructor who might believe that it is they who achieve
these results with the quality of their throws, not the cooperation
of tumbling ukes. Especially young instructors can fall prey
to this trap. This trap only deepens if the instructor does not
realize this. At the Aiki Expo 03 demonstrations, there were
a few Aikido demonstrators that reminded me of matadors playing
with bulls. Their movements were very dramatic and flamboyant,
and I kept waiting to hear the crowd yell “Ole!”.
There were also other martial art demonstrations that were very
seriously done with a high level of skill and understanding.
I found it to be a wake up call for all of us as Aikidoists,
and I learned a great deal from this experience.”
After practice, everyone gathered in the Nippon Kan garden to
enjoy the evening air. The night was crisp with hints of fall.
Homma Kancho brought from the kitchen a gigantic steaming iron
pot filled to the brim with a freshly picked matsutake mushroom
(quite valuable for mushroom lovers) stew he had prepared. Everyone
enjoyed the evening over steaming bowls. It was a delicious treat.
October Homeless Meal Service at the Denver Rescue Mission
This month’s homeless dinner service was held on Sunday
the 12th of October. As usual after morning practice, students
gathered in the Nippon Kan Garden to peel and chop vegetables
and meats for the evening meals. After the prep work was finished
and cleaned up, the pots and containers of ingredients were moved
to the mission where the meals were prepared. Taking into account
that many of our mission guests like to have second plates, we
prepared enough to serve the standard 350 meals. For this meal,
Denver University Japanese Student Association President Yukako
Ikada and assistant Kosuke Kitazawa joined Nippon Kan staff of
volunteers. Many thanks for their help!
Like any fine eatery, it seems we have developed a loyal clientele
at the mission! There was nothing left, when dinnertime ended,
and everyone seemed genuinely happy with the meal.
Next month, on the weekend of November 15-16th, Nippon Kan will
hold a special Holiday
seminar. (link here) This seminar will
be held to raise funds for the holidays for our orphaned children
in Mongolia and Brazil, and for our guests here in Denver at
the Denver Rescue Mission. We are planning a special holiday
dinner at the mission for the holidays, with gifts of socks and
gloves for all of our guests. The seminar will include an hour
scheduled for homeless meal prep, so that all Nippon Kan students
can pitch in and learn their way around a carrot and a potato!
Only at Nippon Kan!
Mongolian Traditional Music Classes Begin at Nippon Kan
Nippon Kan is sponsoring traditional Morin Huur, (a classical
Mongolian viola-cello like instrument) classes to be held at
the Nippon Kan ger (Mongolian traditional nomadic house) twice
a week, beginning the week of October 12th. The Morin Huur is
a Mongolian string instrument with two strings made from horse
tail hair. The head of the instrument is carved in the image
of a horse. These classes will be instructed by Ariunbold, a
world reknown classical master of the Morin Huur. Ariunbold has
played with the Mongolian National Orchestra and has instructed
students from all over the world. These classes will serve to
strengthen the ties that the Denver Mongolian community have
with their own native culture, and also will serve as a tool
of cultural exchange for resident Denver area students. This
project is a continuation from last summer, when Nippon Kan sponsored
the hand crafting of 10 Morin Huur, to be used for this purpose.
If you are interested in more information on classes offered
please contact Emily at 303-894-0100.
Other Activities Scheduled at Nippon Kan
Homma Kancho's Fourth Quarter Seminar Schedule
| Oct 17th -19th |  |
Ostrava, Czech Republic. Seminar hosted by the Ostrava Police Department. |
| Nov 7th –9th | Mexico City, Mexico. AHAN International Fundraising Seminar to Benefit Children with Cancer. | |
| Nov 15th –16th | Nippon Kan Dojo Denver, Colorado. AHAN Fundraising Holiday Seminar. | |
| Nov 21st –23rd | Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Seminar hosted by AHAN Rio de Janiero. | |
| Dec 5th –7th | St. Andrews, Scotland. Seminar hosted by St. Andrews University Aikido club. |
Nippon Kan Dojo Schedule
| Oct 13th, 14th 18th, Nov 4th | |
New beginners class sessions. |
| Oct 18th | Civic Center Park. 13th Annual Fall Volunteer Work Project “Put the Beds to Bed”. | |
| Nov 3rd | Nippon Kan November Hakama Kai meeting. | |
| Nov 16th | AHAN November Homeless Food Service at the Denver Rescue Mission. | |
| Dec 1st | Nippon Kan December Hakama Kai meeting. | |
| Dec 20th | AHAN End-of-Year Denver Mongolian seniors celebration at the Nippon Kan Mongolian ger (traditional nomadic Mongolian house). | |
| Dec 21st | AHAN sponsored End-of Year special holiday meal service at the Denver Rescue Mission. | |
| Dec 24th-31st | End of year dojo schedule to be announced. |
This report was written by
Yoshiaki Shishikura, age 41, Nippon Kan Japan Branch Assistant
Director.
Yoshi-san was an exchange student in the United States from 1981-1985,
and was instrumental in the development of current Nippon Kan
planning structures and activities.
A large Japanese contracting firm currently employs Yoshi-san
in the International Division.
Currently on sabbatical, he is assisting Homma Kancho with Nippon
Kan activities in the US and abroad.