Aïkido and Karaté, synergy The Way Yves Thelen Editor : Th. Plée Budo Editions Paris, 2013 Translation: Carlos Miguel Garcia Jané Photographs: Bernard Champon Yves Thelen is the technical director of the Shudokan, in Liège, and was Master Murakami’s representative in Belgium. His school has produced around sixty black belts in Karatedo, both in Shotokan and Shotokai styles, and in Aikido. He has also developed an original synthesis of their fundamental disciplines: Aiki-Karate-do. We can practise combat sports to release tension, to feel stronger than others, to win prizes in competitions, or to defend ourselves against an act of aggression. Nevertheless, the martial Way invites us to go beyond these considerations: the archer aims at himself through the target. The budoka seeks to sublimate all ideas of opposition and reassurance of the Self; he humbly walks the Way of letting go of the ego. « To win or lose or measure oneself according to techniques is not true Budo. » « In true Budo neither opponents nor enemies exist. We just need a spirit that brings Peace to all human beings in the world, not one that wishes to be strong and that practises only to beat an opponent. » Nocquet, A. « O Sensei Morihei Uyeshiba », Paris, 1975, pp 45, 61. « If instead of opposing the movements of your opponent, you moved with him in a natural way, what would happen? You will find that both become as one, and that when he moves to strike, your body will move naturally to avert the blow. And when you become capable of this, you will discover a completely different world- one that you had not know existed (…) The meaning of Karate ni sente nashi (There is no first strike in karate) cannot be understood until you achieve this state.» Egami, Shigeru « The Heart of Karate-Do », Kodansha Int., Tokyo, 1980, p 19 " The Zen and the martial arts have the same flavour. " Deshimaru, Taisen, « The Zen wayto the martial arts », London : Penguin " We learn not how to fight, but how to live without having to fight.” Reeve Colin, « Karate-do, the Peaceful Way », The Shotokai College, 2011, p.7 1 Foreword Since its creation by Morihei Ueshiba around 1920-1930, Aikido has remained pretty much homogenous within the Aikikai, organisation which is presided today by the founder’s grandson. Of course, according to the period in which his students were taught, and their own particular evolution, the experts that took Aikido across the world have personalised O- sensei’s teachings. O-sensei himself took pleasure in repeating that it is not possible for two movements to be identical in an art which is based on spontaneity. Whereas it is possible to distinguish different styles within Aikido, the situation in Karatedo is more complex. There are countless schools that claim they present particular approaches. The first break off between Karate as a sport and Karate as a martial way took place shortly after Gichin Funakoshi’s death in April 1957. Two months after that date, the Japan Karatedo Association (JKA) organised the first competition in Japan, despite the fact that the old Okinawan master had always forbidden it. His successor as the head of the association Shotokai, Shigeru Egami, became aware gradually of how inefficient “short and dry” blows were, and also of an obvious contradiction between the muscle rigidity imposed by hard practise and the essential flexibility needed for moving vividly. Also in 1957, Tetsuji Murakami, a student of Minoru Mochizuki, who had followed the teachings of Ueshiba and Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, travelled to France. Invited by Henry Plée, Murakami was to take over Plée’s teacher for a year. In reality, he would dedicate the rest of his life, and not just one year, to develop his way of Karate in Europe 1. Tetsuji Murakami kept in contact with other experts, like Tsutomu Ohshima and Mitsusuke Harada. Back then he used to teach a form of Karate close to the JKA, the style known as “Shotokan”, although he regretted the lack of sincerity and the mental weakness of many practitioners. Rumours abounded regarding Egami Sensei’s research (his colleague Harada was in contact with him), and a mysterious master named Noriaki Inoue, Aikido founder´s nephew. During a short stay in Japan in the autumn of 1967, Murakami was introduced to Egami by Ohshima. Although Egami was severely ill at that time, his charisma and his technical evolution captivated Murakami, who had guessed something in the same lines as Egami. Upon his return to France, he followed tirelessly this line of research. After a period that saw many disaffected students leave him, the “Shotokai” style conquered the hearts of those practitioners who, beyond a form of rhythmic boxing, were looking for a true martial way. Having become his official representative in Europe, Murakami and his students welcomed Egami during his trip in 1976. Shigeru Egami would pass away five years later. In April 1986, I was invited to join a group of French and Italian instructors to accompany Master Murakami to Japan. We paid a visit to O-Sensei Egami’s tomb and we practiced at the Shotokan Dojo and at the Fujitsu Club. Japanese experts demonstrated throws. I had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the relationship between Karate and Aikido. The masters replied that there was no need for such distinctions since what mattered is the Budo, the martial Way. Master Murakami died in January of the following year. After that, his disciples followed different ways. This fact accentuated the diversity in the practice of the so-called “Shotokai”. Some teachers wanted to maintain the practice at precisely that stage of evolution whereas others considered that commitment towards the Way that had been shown to them also meant 1 on master Murakami's biography and his relation with Egami Sensei, we recommend José Patrão's magnificent work, " On the path of the samurai ", Almada, on 2008. 2 following a path of evolution. That is how the research into Karate Shotokai and Aikido as complementary disciplines was imposed on those that taught both of them. In this spirit we have proposed the term “Aiki-Karate-Do” with the intention of paying homage to the founding masters of modern budo, particularly to Jigoro Kano, Morihei Ueshiba, Shigeru Egami, and Tetsuji Murakami. If the practice of Shotokai remains diverse it is because it shares Aikido’s intention of becoming one with the partner and its ideal of peace. In October 2003, José Patrão initiated the first SIM (Shotokai International Meeting), which took place near Lisbon. It gathered different lines of evolution within Shotokai. The second SIM, coordinated by Dr. Mohi Chowdhury, took place in London in July 2009. The third SIM was organised by Adam Prince’s team in Paris a year later. These events, along with the Murakami’s Memorial, show how much of the heritage of the masters remains alive, from Italy to Portugal. In the meantime, Master Harada has re-established a practice closer to original Karate and has continued leading courses in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Finland, among other countries. Aiki-Karate-Do presents itself as a synthesis of the three main Japanese martial arts based on empty hand combat (Aikido, Karatedo, Judo). However, it does not mean a return to old jujutsu. Each of the modern disciplines has brought about essential developments. Moreover, to synthesize doesn’t mean simply to add diverse forms, risking ending up with a heterogeneous catalogue of techniques. For instance, it would be stupid and against Aikido’s search for harmony to block an attack, as hard styles of Karate propose, and then pretend to be able to use the partner’s extinct energy to throw him or her with a movement taken from Judo. Our synthesis transmutes the basic elements of these martial arts and establishes another reading for the ideograms “bu-do”: “the way of war” can also mean “the art of bringing to extinction all spirit of hostility”. A martial art thus understood cannot be reduced to a form of exotic fighting. It would be simply criminal to draw up a list of vital points and natural weapons, continued by techniques for striking, dislocating, throwing, and strangling unless we develop some pedagogy based on respect towards others and the refusal of violence. The efficiency we seek is beyond an urge for power, a pragmatic need to defend ourselves, or our ambitions as competitors. Martial arts are Zen in action. They want to be the art of living. Combat is not the aim but the instrument that helps us face calmly all of life’s challenges. Aiki-karate-do in particular consists in a desire to unite in a single spirit, and in a single physical disposition, the capacity to put all our energy to work, like those athletes who give everything they have to beat their own record, and the tranquil indifference of the practitioners of Zen, who endeavour to keep the right posture without letting wondering thoughts disturb them. Is that an impossible ideal? Certainly it is. Achieving that goal is not essential. It is however essential to keep, as much as possible, the will to progress on the path thus paved. Vidéo on Youtube : http://youtu.be/3NeXSjcrFPE http://youtu.be/3Kg5KGzrryU http://youtu.be/5sUa1wnsnN0 http://youtu.be/0yyMy-sY6xw http://youtu.be/Fv3a6dtnb_o 3 INTRODUCTION PAGE 13 Let us quickly go over the main criticism any objective observer would have the right to make when encoutering the world of martial arts: We can witness in many countries the anarchic proliferation of a multitude of disciplines, of “styles”, of associations.