Tenshinfol fiikido Heodquorters - tLlastmirster,Colifiornio, U.S.H. * lssue# 9 .1994 ffi'ffiffi.Yffiffi ffi,ffiyffiffi.ffi-L wffiffiffiffifu,ffiffi * ''.* Shihonllosotoke Fulito Visit incelebroting the26th Anniversury ofTenshinkoi AikidoFederolion f* Dditrrr's Note: 1l$g4l llN lpltrVlllEw Shihan MasatakeFujita, 8th Dan Aikikai ShihanNobuyoshi Tamura,8th Dan Hombu Dojo, Februrary1994 Aikikai Hombu Dojo, and Mrs. Rumiko Tamura, September1994 Phong Senseipresents a gift to Professor Phong Senseiappears on the cover of GeorgeKirby at Camp Budo 1994 Karate/Fung-FuMagazine on August 1994 Patrick Rene Dimayuga Sensei, Jean-MichelVessener Sensei, August 1994 August1994 -2 A letterfrom SenseiDang Thong Phong their annual day of tradi- endeavorfor the past 36 years. tion named Camp Budo. This year Camp Budofea- I place a lot of hope on you, dear tured I3 high-ranking membersand it is my wish that all maste rs frcm various mar- of you will wholeheartedlyjoin me tial arts from all over the in the furtherance of Aikido within world; wlnwill slnre their the loving embrace of our Supreme lmowledgewith all partici, leden Doslru Kissltomnnt (Jeshiba, pants. the heir to O'sensei Morhei Ueshibab legacy. Our Central Dojowas also involved Dear Tenshinhai Aihido Members and in several martial art demonstra- Dear Friends, I sincerely thank all Friends, tions in the community, as well as of you for hwing contributed ar- seminars at various locations. ticles and letters.for this special is- As you may have already lcnown,Aikido sue. I hwe also collected a num- Insi ghts, Tbnshinkai Aikido Federation b With our federati on b steadygrow th, ber ofphotograplrs to be usedalong Fontm is late in coming to your hands, the central dojo is becominglcnown with those articles and letters. The to the disappointment of its stafi This to more and morepeop,le. This de- goal of our newsletter is absolutely delay is due to broken continuity. How- velopment has allowed the federa- not to bring in a profit, howeverits ever, it is better late than never. fion to set up 2 blaek belt emmina- realization is very costly. More- tions this year, whereaswe only had over, we hmte to mail each new is- Several eventshm,e occurred in the re- one black belt examinationper year sue to dffirent locations,restulting centpast to our federation, such as the in the past. in a substantial amount of money formal visit to our central dojo by being spent on postage. Becauseof Shilnn Mas atake Fuj i ta, Aikilcai Hombu We especially appreciate the great that, I am askingfor the understand- Dojob General Secretary, and Shihan contri buti ons of Ai ki do Ins i ghts Mr. ing of each and every member: Nobuyoshi Tamura, Aikikni European James Wenrick and his wife, Mrs. Upon receivingyour issue of Aikido Representative, and hts wife, Mrs. Neta Wenrick, who spent a great Insights, please remit your contri- Rumiko Tamura. Also, two Aikido Del- many hours perfecting manuscripts bution of a fu, dollars to offset its egations "fiom France ledbyMr Patrick before they were sent to the print- printing cost. Rene Dima1ruga,representing Salara shop. Anotherpersonwe can never Dojo, and Mr. Jean-Michel thank enough is Mr George Kongo Your generous support of Aikido Wiesener,representing AiHdo Club Shoji, a member of Tenshinkaiwho Insights in your giving of your time, D'Mady and two of their studentscame has sacrificed much of his time to articles, letters and tofollowing the to train for eleven days at our central assisf us during the visits by Shihan way of Aikido is contributing to Dojo. Fujita and Shihan Tamu,ra. Mr. much growth. May you confinue to Shoji rs also the liaison between pursue your chosenpath of devel- Another no less important eventwas re- Aikil(ni and the TbnshinlmiFedera- opment. ceiving an invitation from the editor of tion. It is through him that a better Karate Kung Fu Magazine, Mr Robert relati onship were achi evedb e tw een Sincerely, Young, to appear on the page -front of the two organizations, allowing me i ts August '94 i ssue, The Ju-Ji tsu to further understandmy responsi- Sensei Dang Thong Phong organization led by professor George bility and my role in the develop- Prcsident Kirby also invited me to participate in ment of Atkido, which has been my TbnshinkaiAikido Federation -3- I ,I a : i aa shownumy dfficult techniquesin or- Shihan MasatakeFu der to keep the interest of the many accomplishedblack belt students. Visits TenshinkaiAikido Headquarters As we beganI watchedthe movements, of Fujita Sensei.I noticedmy tension By Regino Uliono andthe tensionofother studentsdrop- ping away. Fujita Senseistarted with The morning wasbrisk. As I enteredthe TenshinkaiHeadquarters, Aikikai Dojo, for very basicmovements. A relief came the weekendAikido seminar,the atrnospherewas friendly and bustling with move- over me. I smiled as I was reminded ment. ldany studentshad anived early while otherswho werejust aniving walked that the basicswere very importanLno quickly with a senseof purpose. Someshrdents were shrdyingtheir speochesto be matterwhat rank. In thosebrief mo- given in honor of our specialvisitor while other quickly arrangedthe furniture for the ments I was remindedof other such many expectedguests. There was time to gleet past acquaintancesand meet new experiencesof surprise. people.Throughout all the hustle there was a definite order, cqlm and mindfirllness by all the membersof the Dojo. Each studentseemed to recognizethe importanceof As is often said while studying Zen, the day. returning to one's center,the simple and elegantis availableto all, yet this is mostdifficult to achieveeven for the accomplishedsince often there is cloudingwith many expectationsand opinionsabout the natureof our real- ity and true self. In readingPlato's dialogues(a life time challengefor myself)returning to the simplewords of the masterphilosopher againand again always revealssomething rich and meaningfulthat it brings intense joy and a deepawareness of how truly elegantthe mind is in its simplicity.It alsobrings a laughand embarrasment asone seeswhat wasalways there, so obvious,yet missed. It is apparent whenone sees that onecan let oneself see.A newpnla;zllrlrg question emerges, Shihan Fujita took a picture wit'hrenohinkaimembere aftnr claso. "How is it that I could miss such beauty?" It is so simple. Each prac- Arranging our gi's we kneeledin line preparingto meetShihan Masatake Fujita. In tice, whetherit be the way of Zen, or the background was the hum of voicesfrom the audience.It was l0:00am. Dang masteringand practicing the say of Thong Phong phong sensei walked into the room as it becamequiet. Senseiintro- thought of Plato, or studyingthe ide- ducedFujita Senseiand the classbegan. als and techniquesof Aikido, is striv- ing for excellenceandsimplicity of Among the Aikido students,it was awe inspiring to seemany black belts kneeling mind. Each as a spiritualjourney quiefly. some had come from as far anay as France.As we all sat quietly, t feli bringsto thosesincere students as in- concernedand somewhatout of placegiven thesemany advancea aitiaou. i imag- telligibility and onenessand a union ine it would be like ty'atican entering the in from with all its robedcardinats or like with thebeauty and essence of theuni- attendingzen sesshins(mediation retreats)when visiting the Roshisare surrounded verse. by all the accomplishedstudents. That's what it was like for me as I I wondercd,what kind of day it was going to be. I expectedit to be rough, hard, watchedFujita Sensei spend the morn- physically taxing and certainly very difficult and confising. I was also concerned ing returningto the basicsteps. I felt about possibleinjuries since the dojo was very crowded. I had only returnedto the a suddenoneness with all in the room, dojo a month prior following a 6 month hiatus becauseof a knee injury. Another and with the many spiritual paths I studenthad rolled into my leg. My tension and anxiety increasedas we began. I havetaken. For in that moment,I rec- expectedI would haveto spendmost of my time being watchful of other studentsand ognizedagain that, of course,it's less time learning any new movements. I also expoctedthat senseiFujita would simple.My tensionwas gone. -4- For thefirst morningwe practicedthese practicing for many hourswithout even dojo'sshrine to O'Senseiand with large basic and simple stepsover and over noticingthe time. It did not occurto me gnns, we smiled and watchedthe cam- again. SenseiFujita took his time. On until I reflectedon this later that after- eras took our picture. I left that last the zurfaceit appearedlike a beginning noon what had happened.There was a evening with greater insight into the class. Anq thoughthe movementswere shift in train- basic and fundamental,it was obvious ing. The tech- the basics required profound mastery; niques were reviewing them for everyonewas wel- more difficult comed. Fujita Senseiwould then build and we moved and add slight variations,but he always quickly through returned to the same basic stepsand many tech- showedhow the variationswere exten- niques.We did sions of these simple elegant move- not returnto the ments. basic stepsas I felt relievedas I was remindedat its frequently. simplicity and by the end of the day, I Many otherstu- had more energy.I left more concen- dents could trated and one-pointedthan I had ar- keep up, but I rived.And surprisinglyI wasin lesspain was struggling than I had felt since my return to prac- andconfused. I tice. did not glve up. I experienceda On the morning of the secondday, it different kind wasmuch lie the first day.However, by of relief that the afternoon,I noticedI wasmore dis- daybefore I fin- tracted. My energylevel took a brief ishedthe semi- nosedive and my tension returned,I nar. I wasdefi- wastired and awiueof pain. I felt awk- nitely tired. ward and definitely more awareof dif- However,I was ferencesbetween my self and the other not let down. studentsaround me.