Aikido East London

“Aikido is not limited to a mat space…”

We did ikkyo, shihonage, kotegaishi to confirm the importance of basics. You know training can be kind of boring – year after year the same thing, over and over. That’s what it is – nothing exciting… it’s just like a meal you eat every night, night after night. If it’s something very exciting you get sick. A healthy meal is sort of a boring meal – no excitement…

All of Aikido is to work with your body. The body is the foundation for everything. Work with your body…

Of course, Aikido is not limited to a mat space like this. There is a huge world out there, what I call big Aikido or big dojo. Practice Aikido principles within the big Aikido, right out there! That is what true Aikido is.

-- T.K. Chiba, from Oct 2, 1998 lecture at Siskiyou Aikikai, Ashland, Oregon --

Today, May 13th, we acknowledge the anniversary of the passing of Morihiro Saito Shihan, 9th dan. His practice spanned 56 years. He spent 23 of those years with Aiki founder, O'Sensei.
Here is an excerpt from a tribute to Saito Shihan written by T.K. Chiba:

"...The training and atmosphere at Iwama were not only different from what I had experienced at Hombu Dojo but very much the opposite. Because Hombu training strongly emphasized the flow of ki, naturally I was thrown into confusion at first.

A large portion of the membership at Iwama Dojo consisted of local farmers, hard workers who spent all day in the fields. They had thick bones and great physical strength, combined with a peculiar local character known as “Mito kish*tsu,” a type of manliness close to gallantry. Altogether, it was quite an opposite culture from Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. Because it is in the capital of Japan, Hombu’s membership consists of white-collar workers, intellectuals, businessmen, politicians and university students.

Any members who came to visit Iwama Dojo from Hombu must have looked pale and weak from city living to Iwama members. Indeed, the Iwama students treated us from Hombu as such and challenged us vigorously. It was a matter of survival for members from Hombu Dojo, including Hombu uchideshi like myself.
And Saito Sensei was on top of that mountain, which we had to climb with all our might."

"One must overcome the greatest enemies of budo: anger, fear, doubt, hesitation, scorn, and vanity, and develop a firm soul and great courage. One must be penetrated by the necessity of victory over oneself. It is through the repetition of daily practice that one vanquishes tiredness, weariness and comes to know a taste for effort, the importance of perseverance and the joy of winning over difficulty."

-Nobuyoshi Tamura Shihan, 8th dan
On the mental aspect of Aikido

London East Aikido
Re-Opens
Tuesday 18th May