Blog
Edgework & Somatic Regulation
 Saturday, February 1 12:00 - 3:00p In tracking my own somatic regulation on & off the mat, I've come to understand some of my own patterns that arise in response to conflict, and how it relates to trauma resolution. Resolving trauma happens on individual & collective levels all the time, and is part of what is going on in our systems regularly, even without direct acknowledgment of the process. If you think back to the last time you stubbed a toe, you'll probably notice a subtle shift in embodied awareness at the recalled feeling. And yet, it's likely that that injury was resolved without a great deal of internal story or conscious processing. Nevertheless, since healing, the body has new subtle wiring that comes into play to avoid the same injury in the same place again. When we look at the ways our patterns around what we perceive as conflict arise, they are likely to show a complex web of interrelated subtle wiring, mapping our embodied healing processes throughout our lives. When we show up at the dojo, we of course encounter all of these patterns. And we follow the insightful training methods of Ki-Aikido as we witness those patterns untangling & rewiring, in alignment with our balanced center & freedom of movement.  What I've noticed is that I greatly benefit from the classes when, from time to time, all my "stuff" comes up and it is able to be met & regulated in the moment. Not something I'm trying to "get through" and then take home to unpack & process later. Knowing y'all through the years, it's likely that training includes a mix of both for everybody. What I've also noticed is when someone else is having a breakthrough in their own patterning, I learn something parallel that benefits my own healing.So I'm offering a special class, specifically to look at the places where we meet our edges on the mat and to unpack the underlying patterns of trauma & resolution that are naturally occurring therein. I'd like to ask everyone to bring an awareness of where you commonly feel stuck/triggered/frustrated when training, and if applicable, to come with an art in mind that specifically calls up this reaction. I want to start with small-group and full-circle conversations in which to examine & establish the safety of the container. This can be edgy work, so I want to ensure we create a listening space in which our individual senses of safety are humming with ki flow. I want to witness & work with our edges together, as the nervous system's ability to self-regulate can be greatly supported by co-regulation among others. While this is all very much included in Tohei Sensei's methodology, my hope in setting aside this class time is to slow things down, to allow extra space for working through the underlying processes in ways that may open insight into individual & group patterns as they find resolution through our training. -Phlaurel |
2020 New Year's Seminar with Nonaka Sensei
 This
year, we were honored to experience Eric Nonaka Sensei teaching our
annual EKF New Year's Seminar. Nonaka Sensei is Assistant Chief
Instructor of the Hawai'i Ki Federation, Head Instructor of Mililani
Hongwanji Ki-Aikido - and has been training for nearly 60 years. Nonaka
Sensei began by demonstrating the power of the mind with a simple
shokyu ki test, which tests physical posture. When the student tried not
to get nervous, the physical posture was not stable. However, this
changed dramatically when Sensei advised the student to "Be OK with
everything. Say, 'I am keeping one point.' 'This is so good.' 'I am
perfect.'" As Sensei noted, it was easy to see how easily mind works for
you - or against you. "Words are so powerful."  Throughout
the seminar, when called to demonstrate arts or practicing with a
partner, these themes continued. If I was thinking about doing the
technique correctly, concerned about moving my partner, or worried about
my ability, my stability and connection with my partner suffered. When I
remembered his phrases -- "It doesn't really matter." "It's already
good." "I can do anything you want me to." -- there was ease, lightness,
and connection.  These same points of mind
connected directly to bokken practice on Sunday morning. If I did
something to resist a ki test on the bokken blade, I was not stable. As
Sensei offered, when we feel pressure, don't resist -- "Feel yourself
getting more relaxed!" Likewise, when I made raising the ken a separate
act, preparing to "do" something, I was not stable. Instead, Nonaka Sensei reminded us of Curtis Sensei's teaching, "The sword is always cutting." Don't
interrupt that act, and don't make it a big deal. Nonaka Sensei also
reminded us of Suzuki Sensei’s "Four
Points": 1. So what? 2. Be natural. 3. Do nothing. 4. Don’t worry, be happy. I
was amazed by the power and fluidity of Nonaka Sensei's weapons forms,
as well as his tremendous kindness and humility in teaching. Towards the
end of the seminar, he shared his response when someone once asked him
about his swordwork, "When did you get it?" His reply: "Still trying.
Never ends. Lucky me." Lucky us, to know such a teacher. Mahalo nui loa, Sensei! We are grateful for your presence and support. Our friend Nakita Federov captured the weekend of training and Ohana in photographs, which you can find here. |
Foundations of Ki-Aikido: A 5th Kyu Intensive
Participants who keep the agreements for Advanced Completion can expect to be ready to test for Shokyu and 5th Kyu by the end of the program. The full list of program agreements are available here. Schedule
Registration This program is open to all dojo members, and is focused on supporting new members in preparing for Shokyu & 5th Kyu. There is an application for this program. An online application is
available here, and a printed application is available here. Applications are due by
Wednesday, January 22. |
New Year's Training: January 1, 2020
 We'll gather around 7:35 AM at the dojo for tea and light breakfast,
followed by a very special morning of training. We will travel to the
Mississippi for Senshin no Gyo (river misogi), then return to the dojo
for Sokushin no Gyu (bell misogi) and weapons training. If you have never practiced river misogi before, please read Poppele Sensei's brief blog post. We will break around 11:30 AM for a
potluck lunch and conversation featuring "Renewal of Creative Path"
questions 4-8. These questions invite personal exploration into the
particular gifts, talents, and vision each of us carry, and lead into
releasing expectations and crafting a vibrant, joyful vision for the
coming year. These questions are available here to give you an opportunity to reflect on them before we gather. We look forward to practicing with you as part of our community, and hearing your insights and inspiration for action in 2020. RSVP is encouraged. Please contact Kirsten Welge to let her know your plans. We look forward to kicking off the New Year together with you. |
| Attachments:
Renewal of Creative Path JP 2015.pdf
Quotes & Reflections from National Instructor's Seminar
 "Experience.
Feel. Master. Sometimes we think too much, explain too much. All we
have to do is experience. Feel with the whole body, and learn from
this." - Shinichi Tohei Sensei
"Let me know the state of my mind. You don't have to get some result first!" - Tohei Sensei "What is my basic concept? Push? Or keep one point and touch?" - Tohei Sensei
"Keep one point and test." - Tohei Sensei This is very simple, but can be very difficult to practice. What can help us with this?
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Pre-Aikido Play Dates
 However, we have so appreciated the energy and enthusiasm of your little ones! And so we looked for ways we could say yes We are excited to be launching a new series specifically for kids ages 4-7, on a trial basis for the month of October. We will meet on alternate Wednesdays (October 2, 16, and 30) from 5-5:30pm. Kids should wear soft clothing with no zippers, strings, or rough decals. Parents will be asked to remain on site, although you will not need to participate in class Our time together will be spent developing healthy relationships by playing cooperative games. We will be learning Ki-Aikido principles in a developmentally appropriate way, building confidence, cooperation, and community with a focus on fun. As your little one learns how to participate in a dojo community, we will be preparing them for our older Kids Class. At the end of the month, we will discuss any adjustments that would be helpful and make plans for continuing through the school year. For this mini-series, we suggest a donation of $30-60, depending on your family’s circumstances. After October, families will be encouraged to set up an ongoing monthly membership at a payment level you can afford. Please contact us to sign your little ones up – we can’t wait to play with you! |
Leveling Up: A Reflection on the Kids Class Exhibition
 As we spent the year sharing our experiences, students of all levels were given ample opportunity to get a taste of the essence of this practice. We taught each other through games and exercises, as well as learning and practicing basic techniques. We shared stories each week of how we had (or hadn’t!) embodied these practices in our daily lives. And all of us, week after week, placed ourselves at the feet of our teachers to learn the basics anew. As a capstone event, we had the joy of hosting Ileana Shaner from Greenville, South Carolina, and she led one of our kids classes in April, giving us deeper instruction on backwards rolls and ukemi. What a deep privilege, to learn together in this way! Our year of training culminated with a Kids Class Exhibition on Friday, June 7th. Thanks to encouragement from our friends at the Boulder Ki Society in Colorado, we were able to use their rubric for ranking kids belt levels, and we hosted a demonstration for the first kids ranks of 10th kyu and 9th kyu. Before the exhibitions, Poppele Sensei let us know that while the content for the test would be Ki Tests and Ki-Aikido arts, the main grading criteria for the test would be how well the students treated each other, themselves, and the space. We expected to award a range of belts across those levels, but we were in for a surprise – all members of our kids class shone brightly that day and exceeded expectations!  Overall, our exhibition was simply one big celebration of the growth these students have attained this year – not just in their ability to perform techniques, but in the largeness of their hearts and the integrity of their character. It truly is a joy to train together. Congratulations to all! Note: to download a full size copy of either photo, right click on the image. |
Kids Class Exhibitions and Social: Fri, Jun 7
 Following the presentation of their yellow belts, we will celebrate with a potluck social. Everyone is invited to come support our dedicated younger students for this special event! Following the exhibition, our kids program will be on summer break until September. If you have a young person who would be excited to learn Aikido, please plan to join us in the fall! View this event on  |
Seminar Reflection: Ki Development and Music-Making in Daily Life with Ileana Shaner Sensei
 Shaner Sensei masterfully embodied her theme of Ki and music-making throughout the weekend through her teaching, pacing, and the flow of the seminar. We began with hitori waza, our one person exercises. Shaner Sensei emphasized that in every hitori waza, the movement naturally originates from the breath, from the one point in the lower abdomen. This unification of breath and action naturally leads to cleanness of movement. There is living stillness between each beat of count/movement, like rests between notes of a song. When we move, we can also notice: Are we adding, controlling, or tensing? We can let our movements be free, relaxed, and uninhibited. This was especially evident in udefuri choyaku, where many of us noticed we were adding to our natural movement and over-rotating the trailing arm, while tensing the forward arm and raising the shoulder. This breaks bodily integrity and causes instability. However, when the trailing arm comes to rest in line with the shoulders, and the forward shoulder and arm are relaxed, the body is naturally stable and strong. Shaner Sensei then invited the kids from our regular Friday classes onto the mat for a special Kid's Class. As she led us through games to practice nonverbal communication and connection, taught backwards rolls, and reviewed an art, several themes of teaching our younger members emerged:
 We can approach our arts and taigi similarly. We can be anxious and focused on our mistakes – “I will never be good enough to do this perfectly!” Or, we can choose to enjoy practicing these beautiful arts with our friends, opening to our breath and movement, learning together how the art moves. As we approached these challenging arts with this positive intention, students from fifth kyu through yudansha participated fully in leading and receiving these techniques with full attention, experimentation, and enjoyment. The seminar concluded on Sunday with Shaner Sensei leading a Yatra yoga session, guiding us through feeling our breath, stretching our bodies, and staying with our reactions and emotions as we explored different and unfamiliar postures. The pacing of the yoga, leading into our closing session of Ki breathing, was a perfect coda to our weekend of moving in harmony.  Through relaxing and opening to the rhythm of what is happening - in our breathing, our movement, our techniques - we can fully experience this moment. We can delight in our friends' presence and community, appreciate their support, and thoroughly enjoy this practice, without becoming stuck, anxious, and dissatisfied. As Shaner Sensei shared during our Sunday yoga class: "Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment." -- Thich Nhat Hanh Thank you for embodying music-making in daily life, Sensei, and guiding our rhythms during the seminar weekend! We look forward to applying what we have learned of relaxation, rhythm, and harmonious connection in our daily lives. |
Reflection from the 2019 Shugyo Tassei Kigan Shiki Seminar
 In January this year, four of us from the Minnesota Ki Society had the pleasure of learning from Shaner Sensei at the annual Shugyo Tassei Kigan Shiki seminar in Merrifield, VA. Here are some of my notes and reflections from the weekend: During this seminar,
Shaner Sensei reviewed more of Tohei Sensei's carefully crafted pedagogy, and
taught several taigi to reinforce why Tohei Sensei developed this form of
training. Taigi consist of five to ten aikido techniques, performed with a
partner in a particular sequence. Taigi are another form of "tsuzuki
waza", or continuation exercises, that help us develop sustained
connection with a partner. The aim is to maintain unbroken connection with our
partner from the beginning bow of the taigi, through the final bow. Through
this connection, we support our partner, and are supported by them. Just as Tohei Sensei designed taigi as tsuzuki waza, he also incorporated elements of this continuation into the ki society pedagogy. The four basic principles to unify mind and body underpin everything we do:
The last principle is exactly the same as the first of the Five Principles of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido: Ki is Extending. We must be practicing mind-body oneness to practice aikido.
Similarly, the last "hitori waza", or one person exercise, of our standard aiki taiso is tenkan. When we practice tenkan, we extend our wrist as though inviting a partner to grab our wrist for a technique. Likewise, Taigi 1 begins with the same motion, leading our partner into katatedori tenkan kokyunage. Even in the aiki taiso, we see the connection to our arts: Are we practicing our invitation for a partner to grab hold and do aikido?
Every one of these connections is intentional. Likewise, each of the taigi has a particular focus.
This seminar, Shaner
Sensei taught Taigi 2, 4, 10, 11, and 12. He also spoke to Taigi 3, 6, and 8.
Taigi 2: Katatedori Ryotemochi (Two hand grab of one hand)
Taigi 3: Yokomenuchi (Strike to the side of the head)
Taigi 4: Ryokatadori (Two hand grab of shoulders)
Taigi 8: Ryotedori
Taigi 12: Katatedori Ryotemochi
Performing a taigi correctly isn't easy. We must first memorize the order of the arts and develop confidence in performing each art in sequence. Only after the work of memorization is completed can we can train in the deeper meaning of each taigi, and practice balance, rhythm, and largeness with our partner.
I had a personal experience of this gap when demonstrating Taigi 2 with a friend from another dojo. Between anxiety about getting up in front to demonstrate, trying to remember the technique order, and worry about working with an unfamiliar partner: I was entirely in my head, separate from my partner. I was not supporting my partner, or allowing him to support me! As a result, the taigi was rough and bumpy - a solid experience of "wrong way".
I then had the golden opportunity of feeling a clear difference when demonstrating Taigi 8 just a few minutes later. I love this taigi's arts and flow, and I am familiar with the way it moves. I chose a partner from my home dojo. And this time, I decided to choose a different intention: have fun, and support my partner in enjoying this taigi. And, both of us had a great experience.
As Tohei Sensei often says, practice means sometimes yes, sometimes no. I am deeply grateful for Shaner Sensei's clear transmission of Tohei Sensei's teachings, and his commitment to our growth. And, I look forward to countless more opportunities to practice! |
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