Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu Australia

Happy New Year 2025 everyone!

明けましておめでとうございます

Hi Everyone

I just got back from another wonderful trip to Japan. As most of you know I have been travelling to Japan for many years now. I’ve lost count but it’s more than 30 times now….

Sensei wants me to share this with you. I generally don’t post much details of this kind about my trips. Many things are private and also very in depth and not for general interest. Anyway this is a long post so only interested people will read it!

Initially I went many times in spring as it suited my timetable. It turned out this was the time of my Sensei’s birthday to. And, so it became a tradition that I go every March. Spring is so beautiful in Japan!

What I didn’t realise initially was on the day of my Sensei’s birthday it was also sadly the day his Father passed away. That meant that over the years I would attend the memorial services at the temple and also the Kondo family gravesite…. I leant a lot about the Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies.

This year was the same. I went to the Kondo family event marking the 47th anniversary of their father's death. All three Kondo brothers were there together with their wives. The brothers are: Katsuyuki, Takayuki and Masayuki Kondo, the second of the three brothers Takayuki, said to me that Rachael is always here at our father's memorial service…? I told him that I come for his older brother’s birthday, everyone laughed and he said, "Oh, of course, it's my brother's birthday.” It was really funny.

Sensei is always so generous and I have many beautiful gifts he has given me over the years. This year was very special as he has given me this very important medal which is an antique and very important memorabilia for Daito Ryu. Sensei wants me to let people know about this particular gift as it's rather fascinating for everyone who is interested in Japanese history and culture, in particular Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu.

This medal is given from the Emperor of Japan to Admiral Isamu Takesh*ta 　竹下勇 in 1928. Which is Showa era year 3.

Admiral Takesh*ta is a very important person in Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu as he helped to spread the word as he was a great admirer of the art and enjoyed practicing it. Kondo Sensei has many documents and pages showing Admiral Takesh*ta’s research and notes recording training. Admiral Tekesh*ta was not only an Admiral but a diplomat. He travelled the world and met with President Roosevelt at the Whitehouse and moved in high level circles that got the art known to people from the higher echelons of Japanese society.

It is interesting to note that Japanese measure time very differently from us, it’s really amazing actually. Of course they have Gregorian calendar now and time. But for example in old days the the time was measured by where the sun was in the sky and it was different of course in the winter to the summer. The times were the hour of the rabbit, or the chicken etc… and it was a ratio of daylight depending on the time of year and sunlight. Amazing huh. And so it is with years. They of course have years like us now but they measure years in the reign of the Emprorer of that particular era. Anyway, I digress

When a new Emperor comes to reign it is a very special time of course. Rather like our new years honours but more special as its a lot rarer as its change of Emperor. They have new era awards. Medals are issued to valued members of Japanese society. This medal marks such an occasion when the era changed from Meiji to Showa era. This incidentally leads us to Kondo Katsuyuki as he himself received a new Emperor’s era award in Reiwa era year 1 being 2019. He was one of 510 Japanese people selected out of 120 million people. Kondo Sensei’s award was for service to the Ministry of Defence & government agencies.
As many of you know Japan does not have an ‘Army’ per se owing to the situation after WW2. It is called the Japan Self Defence Force.

So, to the actual award medal….. The ceremony is called 'The Daijo sai no Gi ceremony’. The central ritual of the Daijosai Imperial Ceremony marking the succession of the new Emperor. You can see in the post the photo of the actual Imperial throne where the Emperor sits. I included the photo as that is the image marked into the medal. The writing on the back is Daijo sai no Gi and the date Showa 3rd year 11th month.

When Kondo Sensei received his award it was held in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace from the 14th to the 15th 2019 although the award was really in 2018.
The ceremony involved the Emperor offering new grains and other offerings to the altar and praying for peace and bountiful harvests for the nation for the first time since his accession to the throne. In addition to Prince and Princess Akishino and other members of the Imperial Family, 510 people attended, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Who as we know as since sadly passed away.

So there we are. That's a lot of history. Sensei gave this most special gift to me. Some of you may be aware that I served in the British armed forces and spent time in the Royal Navy and Army….. Sensei knows how much I love being on the ocean and it's my home and he thought this a very fitting gift for me his DRAJJ student who loves the sea 🌊

Enjoyable training last night

Ippondori
Kirikaeashi
Gyakudedori
Ryokatahineri
Kotegaeshi
Shoulder aiki practice.

Next session 7th November

Our Tuesday session went well
We did
Ippondori ( of course)
Koshi guruma
Kirikaeshi
Shimiegaeshi
And Bowing practice ( of course ; )

Our social media manager failed and forgot to take photos 😵‍💫 ( that would be me…😬🤣)

Here is a photo I found on social media with a wrist lock that looks very similar to one of the DTR moves.

Anyone care to comment which one…. 🤔
Hopefully this will distract you from the social media managers failure 😝

Gi wash
Getting ready for Katsuura seminar 2023
Time for a new Gi……. ?
Nahhhh 🤣

#柔術 #大東流 #大東流合気柔術 #セミナー

Monthly first Tuesday of the month Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu training

Great class last night.Awesome to have Tris with us warming up from Europe’s -8 C !

First class of 2023!
Four awesome people stepped onto the mats to kick off our monthly DTR classes.
Lots of cleaning ( which we didn’t show you) first to get started but here we are again.

Ready for another year of doing our best and exploring ourselves and the universe with the help of our dojo friends.

Gambatte everyone!

#大東流合気柔術 #合気道 #柔術

Well we had a two hour session that went really well.
We did
Ikkajo
Hanmi nage
Ippondori
Gyakudedori ( idori)

We also very briefly touched on the 6 tenets of Daito Ryu
Rei
Metsuke
Maai
Kuzushi
Kokyu
Zanshin

Next session will be second Tuesday of 2023 10th January!

After that we will go to first Tuesday of the month

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone!

#大東流 #合気道

Shimbukan dojo Friday 28th Oct 2022

No words to express the gratitude I have to be able to train at the Shimbukan dojo again after over 3 years post Covid.

So much history and Spirit in this amazing space which Kondo Katsuyuki Sensei created and opened 53 years ago.

I first trained in this dojo for the annual summer seminar for 10 days in 2007. So many memories in this place over the years for so many people.

This is a very special place indeed.

We trained mainly Sankkajo which I had mostly forgotten 😬 but Sensei soon reminded me 🤣

What an honour.

Immense Thanks to all my training partners and Sensei especially for so much. 🙏🥋🌟

#大東流合気柔術 #大東流合気柔術 #大東流 #合気道 #武道

Well finally here I am back in Japan to do some training. I’m here on a very short whirlwind trip for 6 days.
Today I was introduced to the pleasures of learning Yonkajo with non other than Mr Marc Trudel.

Marc has recently been making deep investigations regarding Daito Ryu history and culture and I am sure many of you have benefited as I have from his sharing of all his research and findings. The fact he does this in his own time and freely shares with us his hard earned knowledge shows what a dedicated and sincere person he is.

Marc was very kind to me and only going at about 10% of his Yonkajo techniques but it was still intense!

I first met Marc, I think it was 2008 at a summer seminar in Katsuura. We all trained together and later he moved to Japan so he could train at what was then the Hombu dojo (Shimbukan dojo). His training at the source shows in everything he does.

We can never take training for granted. We never know what could happen next. Life throws us all unexpected hurdles.

But more than ever, especially after Covid lockdowns to be able to train again at Shimbukan dojo with Marc with him showing me the next level of techniques I need to learn next was truly unforgettable.

More to come…..
This was the last session today so I will be posting about the other sessions in due course!

Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu

#大東流合気柔術