Aikido World

A few pictures taken on the last day of the Kenshusei camp, summer 2007 in Chicago.

by Maite Sensei
Translated from Spanish

Tomorrow has been one week since I’ve returned home.

I haven’t has a chance to sit down.

Honestly, it was a month that left a deep impression. 95% of everything was different.

The electrical plugs, the houses, the walls, the vehicles, the streets, the streetlight signals and the food. The people, the way you relate to other people, even the names of the Aikido techniques and I’m not referring to “how you say tanto” in Spanish (ha ha ha).

It has been a great effort to attempt to learn everything and I hope I didn’t create an uncomfortable situation or cannot be corrected to the cultures.

I didn’t have the opportunity to meet Toyoda Shihan, but I have seen his spirit and dedication in each and every person. Honestly you do a grand job to spread Aikido, and in the margins of political and economical questions, I want to say I feel very content to be part of AAI.

I want to thank you for the effort to see the sensei and kyu ranks and for transmitting all the techniques to me. Also thank you (Toyoda Sensei) for making me feel at home. I hope I contributed in some manner the advancement along the path that we come together, on the path of Aikido.

It’s hard for me to express in words all the wonderful experiences, including the injuries, exhaustion, and lack of sleep, the blisters on the feet, and the lack of understanding the language. But I feel the best expression for me was Kenshusei, the poem I wrote and placed in the announcement board at Tenshinkan.

WHEN THE BODY I SET FREE FROM THE BODY

WHEN THE MIND CEASES TO THINK

THE SPIRIT REJOICES AND THE SOULS BECOME ONE IN OUR DAILY TRAINING

Sincerely,

Sensei Maite

Maria Teresa Fuertemoreno Manero holds the rank of sandan and is the dojo cho of Aikisur dojo in Madrid, Spain.

By Pedro Villarreal

The Kenshusei program was a lot of fun and full of new experiences for me. First of all, it was my first time in Chicago so that was all new to me; I had never visited a city that dense before. As for the program, I did a lot of things we don’t get to do often at our school club, such as meditation (I never knew it could hurt that much when your legs fell asleep, heh), and  much more extensive weapons training. The last few years at our club, we haven’t trained as much with weapons, but I believe we are going to fix that. I also was able to train under many different sensei and got to see their unique styles. I saw that they were all different even though they all essentially trained under the same sensei.

Learning techniques I already knew but in a unique style was an interesting
experience. The hardest part for me was training for most of the day. It’s something I had never done before, and I was surprised I was able to get through the days. I figured I’d be dead before I finished each day. Oh and sleeping on the wooden floor sucked too.

Pedro Villarreal is a 4th kyu student at the University of Houston Aikido Club in Texas.

by Adam Nelson

The last 30 days I spent as Kenshusei at Tenshinkan dojo under the instruction of Toyoda Sensei, Rehrauer Sensei, Casey Sensei, Parks-Casey Sensei, Shereyk Sensei, Garza Sensei, and Spies Sensei were enjoyable, painful, and rewarding. From the first day everyone treated me as an equal. Being the lowest ranked among all Kenshusei, I felt unsure from time to time what was expected of me. Sometimes I felt the expectations exceeded my ability. But that didn’t matter in the end, because I learned the only thing that matters is that I always offer 100%. Even through injuries and fears there is always some way to pushed forward.

There were so many new experiences in Chicago: from new food to new people; trains, shopping malls, and the enormous Sears Tower. The dojo felt like a world apart from the world I was comfortable living in. I really grew to like it. There were so many things I learned about myself. I had no idea how to do laundry, drywall, lead warm-ups, count to five, or sometimes even walk on my own feet. I also surprised myself a few times by being ambitious and cooking dinner for 11 people. In a way I felt obligated to return some of the thanks for everything my friends had given to me.

Drywall was a big surprise. I had not expected to learn the art of Aikido through screwing up large sheets of dusty drywall in the basement of the Japanese Culture Center. However, even that was a learning experience. I got to know each of my fellow kenshusei better, and learned how to work with them instead of working against them. Then, when we practiced, this state of mind carried over onto the tatami. I also found out that I had enough patience and understanding to handle getting my teeth knocked out of my mouth, which can be quite a surprising experience.

Few have the time or the ambition to do what is involved in the Kenshusei program. I am very grateful, and thankful to all who offered their experience, knowledge, wisdom, and their bodies to help me learn. The month of July 2007 will be important to me for the rest of my life. I am so glad for the opportunity, and that I was able to go to Chicago and make life-long friendships through Aikido.

Adam Nelson is a 4th kyu student at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater in Whitewater, WI.

by Stephanie Ragno

Originally, my reasons for going to Chicago for the summer Kenshusei program were simply to improve my aikido, to gain experience from the massive amounts of training that I would be doing, and the influence of so many wonderful instructors. However talking to those who had been through it in past years in the months before the program, I realized that there was so much that I was missing from the whole concept, a mental aspect that I had never really thought about.

The moment I made it to Tenshinkan dojo, I put down my bags and immediately changed and went out on the mat for class. That’s when it really hit me. This month was going to be harder than anything I’d ever experienced. There were times during Kenshusei that I thought that there was no way I could make it through that next class or that I asked myself if I could really force myself to get up from that last fall. This was the mental part that I’d been missing, the strain put on my mind from being so tired constantly. But somewhere along the way I was able to overcome that negativity. Except during Zen of course. Zen was still torturous.

One of the things that I enjoyed the most as a Kenshusei student was the fact that you were never alone. If you screwed up and were doing the 300 workout because of it, if you were hurt or even just tired, there was always someone right there with you. Being a part of a group like that made me want to try even harder at everything. I felt like I could do more and last longer than I ever could before. My limits were stretched, but I made it through mostly intact. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Stephanie Ragno is a 4th kyu student at Shinjinkan dojo in Houston, TX.

by Kim Donovan

Summer Kenshusei is nothing like normal classes. Just being there, you’re put on the spot; sometimes, even in your dreams. There’s nothing more interesting than waking up at two in the morning and hearing your sensei yell “Okay, it’s weapons class!” and then getting up, to see you’re the only one awake.

It may have been the seven hours of class, six days a week. It may have been the hour-long session of zen each morning - sometimes, a straight hour with no break. But over the course of that month, you could sense the bond forming between the Kenshusei. We were in this together. We would end it together.

Kenshusei was abnormal for more reasons than just the classes. We had a strange obsession with 300, both the movie and the intense workout that Toyoda Sensei had us do if we screwed up. Every day as we swept and folded sensei’s hakama, we grew to expect various movie quotes, Pulp Fiction being our favorite.
I still remember when we played “Assassins” with corn cobs, and can’t help but chuckle when I wonder how many people were frightened by us that night. And now that I’m back in school and taking level 3 Spanish classes, the one thought that runs through my head is “Me gustan las cervezas - CEREZAS!”

I can still hear Maite Sensei laughing at my blunder.

It makes me sad that now I don’t see many of these people on a day-to-day basis. But I realize that we are all still together, in spirit. We went through it, and came out alive, together. Nothing would change that.

Kenshusei, assemble!

Kim Donovan is a 2nd kyu student at Soshinkan dojo in Burbank, IL.

by Luke Bahar

For the third time I have ventured out to a now familiar scene known as Tenshinkan Dojo in the Chicago, IL. For the third time my hunger for knowledge within Aikido, physically and mentally, has grown and surpassed what I thought it could. That is a lesson in itself: Knowing that there is always more to learn. That should always be kept in mind.

This time around, just as the previous two, I picked up new attributes that further my aikido. The first year I focused on technique, the second on learning how to teach and this third time more on gaining leadership qualities as younger students are coming through. This is important as I am an assistant instructor for the aikido class at the University of Houston. Granted, unfortunately due to summer school, my tenure at Tenshinkan as part of the summer kenshusei was dwindled down to one week instead of the month of July. However, during that time I tried to do everything better and harder to set examples. Examples to show that kenshusei never retreat. Kenshusei never surrender.
During my conscious efforts to break through my own limitations I encountered the timeless art of shugyo as I endured shikko until my knees bled. Unfortunately, this too was short lived as Batman sent me off the mat. I also found a bit of shugyo during, what Scott refers to as the purest form of torture known to man, zazen meditation. I took pleasure in watching the newer kenshusei unable to stay awake and seeing how they feel the pain for I remember it well. I also enjoyed the greetings from strangers who made the venture to kenshusei as they introduced themselves to me with memories of my kenshusei past, such as biting through my face during suwari waza.

Just as well, I took pleasure in sharing memories from the past couple of years and reminiscing with Alex. Watching her come full circle to a leadership role and start telling everyone what to do all the time was very enjoyable. It was also great for me to see some of the students I help teach at UH attend the kenshusei program. It shows their dedication and they, hopefully, got to see my dedication as they learn the difficulties of kenshusei.

As usual, the kenshusei experience, be it one week or the entire month, is very memorable and beneficial. Even just during that one week I gained many memories and valuable lessons I will not soon forget: Being inducted into the twenty minute club, meeting the closest real-life person to Batman, more dented arms, the depth chart/roster of the New York Yankees, Corn Cobb Assassins, Driving the Lac, Serenading passing cars in traffic, etc. Too many to list all of them. But the most important lesson I learned the week of this kenshusei experience was to watch my mouth while in ear shot of Father Steve.

Thanks to everyone for their help and generous hospitality.

Luke Bahar is a 1st kyu student and assistant instructor at the University of Houston Aikido Club in Texas.

by Alexandra Wood

I came to kenshusei a week early, and was welcomed by a huge flood in the basement! Sad panda. Toyoda Sensei and I got to scoop water out of the basement for a long, long time.

This was my third year at kenshusei. Unlike the previous two years, the main challenge for me was not so much the physical strain. The physical strain was definitely still there, but I had much more of a challenge with mental strain. There wasn’t as much pressure put on me this year to push myself to do more, so I had to place that pressure there myself. I also worked on making myself more clear and sharp, not just technique-wise, but mentally as well. Oh yeah, and I learned how to drywall! Unfortunately, zen was still just as painful and not enjoyable as before.

I had fun in Chicago again, as well. Getting to see all of the sensei and all of my aiki-friends in Chicago is always refreshing, and I value the friendships I made with my kenshusei buddies. I also enjoyed dance dance revolution. And corn-cob battles. And pandas. Can’t forget the pandas.

Alexandra Wood is a 1st kyu student at Shinjinkan dojo in Houston, TX.