Multnomah Aikikai hosted Didier Boyet Shihan for an Iaido and Aikido seminar Feb. 7-9, 2014, in Portland, Ore.
An uninvited guest also arrived in Portland that weekend: a hard-hitting snowstorm that unfortunately competed with the planned weekend of training. Just getting to the dojo was a challenge – let alone training with a world-renowned sensei. The saying, “On the tatami and in life we experience conflicts, both constructed and natural,” couldn’t have been more true in this case. The city was virtually shut down.
Although Thursday evening class was cancelled, people with hearty four-wheel-drive vehicles picked up members from their homes for training on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Classes were small, allowing for an intimate “master class” training environment.
Drawing from four decades of practice, Boyet Sensei’s instruction inspired new ways of training, still being actively examined. The seminar reinforced the idea that many techniques can be utilized to exercise a training objective.
One of the strongest points examined was based on exercises to move one’s body off the line while keeping the angle of incidence narrow, creating a very streamlined, hip-aligned and narrow form to avoid attack. This idea and others were prime example of the reasons we should all continue to train at seminars like this, where you can gain invaluable lessons and insight.
While progress at the seminar was incremental, it was steady and motivating. Sometimes the fastest way to make progress is slowly – the same way snow was cleared from the city streets.
Here in Oregon we look forward to our next seminar: A celebration of Eugene Aikikai’s 20th Anniversary on March 15-16 with guest instructor Michael Flynn Sensei of Scotland.
– James Murray, Multnomah Aikikai
