Musubi Issue 4
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BIRBIRANKAANKAI EEUROPEUROPE NEWNEWSSLLETETTERTER MM UU SS UU BB II IsIsssuue 4 Januaryry 20201122 CONTENTS TheTran relatismionshipssion between th e- Sensei Part and II thIe Student 1 Transmission - Part III Christophe Peytier now addresses the topic of the Sensei-Student 2 Editorial Relationship 4 Sacred trust n the trans- that united them, developing some 5 Armoury of the teacher mission of very closed circles, with initiation rites, traditional and very strict and rigid rules. These 6 Finding your own way artIs in Japan, Master-Disciple relationships were the Teacher- progressively substituted by a 7 An iron dIscipline Student relation- Professor-Student relationship, with ship is a corner- Christophe Peytier the development of universities, at the 8 Longtime training stone of the end of the Middle Age (or even before construction. Let us remember that the with some early universities such as 9 Understanding cultural training usually lasts around twenty Louvain, Salamanca or Coimbra). background years. During that time, a relationship The two fundamental reasons will develop, with very particular roles supporting the creation of universities 10 A healthy dojo assigned to each party. The Sensei were: must help the student to express all a) The willingness to enlarge the 11 Training with injuries his potential. In fact, the ideal of a curriculum and the variety of Sensei would be to develop students disciplines taught. 12 Aikido and Omotokyo better than himself. This is the mark of a true great Master: the ‘little masters’ continued on page 2 16 Ethical behaviour want to keep some things for 16 Japan Tsunami Fund themselves. On the other hand, 17 Jenny Curran the student will display an 18 Promotions immense respect for his master, Please note closing date for going so far as to July 2012 issue: 1 June 2012 handle the small- est details in the life of the latter. It may lead to a situation of quasi- slavery. This rela- tionship used to r e exist also in our i t y e a P b Western world. a e r h a For example, the p T o t a i s i v builders of cathe- r l y h S C drals in the XIIIth : o m t o o century were well r f h P o t known for the o h Chiba Sensei with Jürgen Schwendinger extremely com- P (uke), Austria Summer Camp, July 2008 plex relationship Chiba Sensei with Christophe Peytier (uke) BIRANKAI EUROPE Technical Director Shihan TK Chiba 8th Dan o c n a r F European Birankai Shihankai : o t Norberto Chiesa 6th Dan, Birankai o h France Editorial P Gabriel Valibouze 6th Dan, Birankai France n 2011 we continued to work towards developing a stronger and more MIke Flynn 6th Dan, British unified and efficient European body. Birankai IThe First Birankai Europe Summer School 2011 with Shihan TK Chiba Chris Mooney 6th Dan, British 8th Dan and Shihan Etsuji Horii 7th Dan, Aikido Kobe Sanda Dojo, Birankai Kobe, Japan, was hosted by British Birankai and held in August in Dee Chen 6th Dan, British Birankai Worcester, UK. Chiba Sensei has directed that the annual Birankai Daniel Brunner 6th Dan, Birankai Europe Summer School be held in the UK for two more years. Switzerland Since July 2010, we have amalgamated the two newsletters Shiun and Patrick Barthélémy 6th Dan, Musubi to produce a united Birankai Europe Musubi. Our present project Birankai France to update the Continental Europe website to reflect this new cohesive European body is in progress. Member Countries Our thanks to Jenny Curran as she completes her stint of recording for Birankai Austria posterity all BB summer schools since 1997. She has mentioned that Birankai France she enjoyed being a part of the summer schools and she will sorely miss Birankai Germany the camaraderie and all the friendships she has nurtured over the years. Hellenic Birankai On behalf of Birankai Europe Shihankai I would like to thank all mem- Birankai Israel bers for their support and loyalty over the years and we look forward to Birankai Poland working together in 2012. Birankai Portugal Have a Happy New Year. ☯ Birankai Switzerland British Birankai Dee Chen BE Musubi is published twice a year in January and July. English edition available on www.britishbirankai.com and the French edition on Transmission - Part III www.birankai.eu/shiun_fr.html continued from page 1 b) The necessity to scale to an example, the very famous violin maker Individual article reflects the increasingly large number of Stradivarius, in the late XVIIth century, author’s own views. All submis- students. was signing his early pieces ‘Antonio sions may be edited due to space Indeed, one of the main limiting fac- Stradivari - alumnus Amati’ (Student of constraints and should be sent to tor of the Master-Disciple relationship Amati), when in turn, fifty years later the Editor or Assistant Editor or is its inherent lack of scalability, since his student Carlo Bergonsi would sign Sub Editor. the depth of the established relation- his pieces with the mention ‘sotto la ship demands a strong inter-addiction: disciplina de Antonio Stradivari’ (under Editor: Dee Chen the master must be sensitive to each the discipline of). Niccolo Amati, [email protected] step in the development of his disciple, Stradivari’s master, was a first class Assistant Editor: Suzanne the disciple will be submitted to the violin maker (in fact the direct descen- Brunner [email protected] orders of the Master and give every- dant of the inventor of violin!) and Sub Editor: Chris Howlin thing he has in this relationship, often indeed during the first twenty years of [email protected] to the detriment of the individual his creation, Stradivari’s violins clearly Design Consultant: Franco Chen liberty, for each of them. resembled those of his master. But This type of relationship used to be progressively he developed his own very present in our Western world, but style. That is the exact process: a has almost disappeared nowadays, master needs to foster the develop- however it continues to exist in Japan. ment of his disciple, up to the point © Copyright 2012 All rights reserved. In Europe there has been some where his student will be able to Reproduction is prohibited without express famous cases of such relationship breakthrough and fly with his own written permission. amongst artists and craftsmen. For continued on page 3 BE MUSUBIMUSUBI JaJannuuararyy 22001122 Transmission - Part III continued from page 2 wings, potentially becoming even that it is enough to show the move- and behind: it was possible, from this better than his master. Or not. The ments and correct the techniques until spot, to pull the scabbard, leaving the disciple must submit himself to a rigor- the proper level is reached. That the samurai in the impossibility to draw his ous discipline of imitating and learning, deeper aspects of the art will be dis- sword without cutting his own belt. I until the moment where he will be covered by the students after many felt that, to walk, this position was the ready to develop his own style, to years of practice, independently of the proper one. My teacher never taught recover his freedom. One needs to teacher. The other way of thinking me that. But one day he made me support a lack of liberty for many years insists on the necessity to preserve the understand that this was the proper before being able to express its own Teacher-Student relationship, other- way, thus I was on the right track. talent, and therefore attain true wise a part of the art will be lost from One could argue that this is an freedom. This appears paradoxical, one generation to the other. obsolete attitude, and that no one for sure. Considering what was said in the walks in the street with a sword any- When one deals with the spread of first part of this article on the ‘collec- way. Sure, but the process of remain- oriental martial arts, one cannot lose tion of conditions’, it seems to me very ing vigilant, to discover a martial posi- sight of this Master-Disciple relation- clear that the Master-Disciple relation- tion, to feel that one’s master remains ship. In particular, we must ask our- ship will be a key element in the sensitive to one’s progresses, even selves: how can this type of relation capacity of a Sensei to put his stu- without exchange of words, corre- continue to exist, considering that dents in the desired conditions, as well sponds well to the idea here nowadays martial arts are spreading as the capacity for the students to expressed regarding this Teacher- worldwide? leverage these conditions. For exam- Student relationship. How can a European or South ple, as I was once walking next to my In conclusion, it appears clearly that American teacher transmit oriental Sensei in the street, I remember this relation (whether we call it Master- martial arts? It seems to me that there becoming conscious that I needed to Disciple, or Teacher-Student) is a key are two trains of thoughts: the first way walk slightly behind him on the left relationship to foster the ‘collection of of thinking is to say that this Master- side. I became aware that in the old conditions’ that will allow the disciple to Disciple relationship is not a mandato- times, the young disciple need to do reveal his maximum potential through ry factor in the transmission. That tech- the same with his master, since the serious practice, until going beyond niques can be learned by students and weak side of a Samurai was on the left the mere techniques.