Biran Online

A group photo taken during Birankai North America Aikido Summer Camp 2014. Thanks again to all who made this great event happen!

More videos and photos from 2014 Birankai NA Summer Camp will be posted as soon I can get organized after my travels (sorry, photo team!).

For now, please enjoy these clips shot at camp this year of Bernadette Vargas Sensei of Aikido of Albuquerque. Vargas Sensei, 4th dan shidoin, is a dynamic presence on the mat and co-chief instructor of Aikido of Albuquerque.

More footage of Vargas Sensei and other Birankai North America instructors will be posted as we embark in earnest on our video project highlighting female teachers.

Please take the time to make to make sure that your instructors and senior students are represented online with action-packed video!

Liese Klein

After Birankai Summer Camp, several of us traveled to Portland and then north to Seattle for more classes with Yoko Okamoto Sensei of Aikido Kyoto. These videos are from a session at Seattle Aikikai, a thriving dojo run by Malory Graham Sensei.

A big thanks to Okamoto Sensei for her inspiring teaching and dynamic presence during her visit!

Liese Klein

 

 

The mats are rolled up, the weapons have been packed away and we’re sore and tired — from dancing up a storm last night! Camp 2014 is over, but we’re happy to report that we’ll be back in the Northwest again for Camp 2015.

More Summer Camp photos here and videos on Youtube in the days to come — I’ve got to pack!

L.Klein

Our last full day of camp and we’re trying to squeeze few last bits of information into our brains as we push our bodies to the limit. Lots of good friends and great training!

Check out some photos below from camp-goers Continue reading “Snapshots from camp”

Dan and teacher tests tonight had everything we’ve come to expect from Birankai Aikido tests: Racing ukes, strong training and spirited debate in the examination committee. But one thing missing was a familiar face at the shihan table: Jack Arnold Sensei of Aikido Daiwa. Arnold Sensei passed away this year and his powerful Aikido, sense of humor and link to our Birankai roots is sorely missed.

A moving tribute to Arnold Sensei by Dennis Belt was published in the Summer Camp print issue of Biran and will be posted soon. RIP, Arnold Sensei.

L. Klein

Highlights of today’s training:

Lots of powerful Aikido from young people at this year’s Birankai North America Summer Camp! Many of these kids are second-generation Aikidoists growing up in the art and are great to train with.

 

It wasn’t exactly Germany v. Brazil, but the annual Birankai North America softball game pitting the East Coast against the West this year was a bit of a rout. It’s not really important who won or lost, but let’s just say certain issues of time zone, jet lag and cultural acclimatization had one side at a distinct disadvantage this year. We’ll be back to spank you next year, West Coasters!

Meanwhile, midway through camp, we’re all a bit sore and the laundry is accumulating. Off to Zazen this morning…

Yoko Okamoto Sensei of Aikido Kyoto has been teaching a series of interesting classes at Birankai Aikido Summer Camp, with a focus on establishing a solid axis of movement. Her high energy and sense of humor make for an great class!

Camp so far has been dynamic, with crowded mats, strong training and lots of socializing. There’s even a classic car show on campus for entertainment! Now where did I pack my pepto…

More videos at the BiranOnline channel on Youtube of BIrankai teachers including John Brinsley of Aikido Daiwa, Alex Peterson of Joshua’s Forge, Kristina Varjan of Aikido of Kohala and Deena Drake of San Diego Aikikai. (We miss you, Josh L!)

Outstanding class with Neilu Naini Sensei of Clallam Aikikai to start Birankai North America Aikido Summer Camp 2014. It’s nice and cool (by East Coast standards) in Forest Grove, Ore., although we’re generating a bit of heat on the mat!

More videos at the BiranOnline channel on Youtube and more to come as I wrestle with the balky wifi!

– Liese Klein

 

 

Jenny Flower Sensei of Athens Aikido and our friends at Hellenic Birankai are producing some great videos lately, including the one above of a “tiny tigers” kids class.

See also the seminar-length videos below of Robert Savoca Sensei of Brooklyn Aikikai, Didier Boyet of Tokyo and Juba Nour Sensei of Baja Aikido.

Only four days until Birankai Aikido Summer Camp in Oregon! It’s not too late to register or plan a trip to this year’s camp, featuring Yoko Okamoto Sensei of Aikido Kyoto and a roster of Birankai Aikido shihan and senior teachers.

If you’re already booked for camp, don’t forget to bring the necessities: A laundry bag, detergent pods, incense to freshen your room, a bottle/wine opener, plenty of athletic tape and festive clothes for the party and pub night!

Thanks to Green River Aikido for sending along some great video of Kathy Stier Sensei as part of our new Birankai Aikido Video Project. Several of the videos have also been added to the new “Women of Birankai” playlist. See the rest in the “Uploads” section of the BiranOnline Youtube channel.

Kathy Stier Sensei has been practicing Aikido for more than 25 years and runs Green River Aikido with her husband, Dave Stier. Their dojo, in Greenfield, Mass., is beautiful with Zen garden-style landscaping out front.

Watch for an essay from the Stiers’ daughter Jessica in the upcoming print edition of Biran, to be distributed at Birankai North America Summer Camp in Portland next week. The title: “Growing up in Aikido.”

-L. Klein

 

Check out these excellent photos from this past weekend’s Aikido of London Summer Camp. Birankai veterans Stevie Boyle, Richard Edmunds and Ismail Hasan taught Continue reading “Summer Camp in London”

Calling all Birankai dojos and friends worldwide: We need video of our
instructors, especially our senior women!

Inspired by some recent Aikido events here on the East Coast with very few women instructors, I created a new Youtube
playlist this month on the BiranOnline channel called “Women of
Birankai.” But I soon found that many of our  teachers have few or no
video clips online. Time to take action!

Please take it on yourself to film any female (or male) instructors in
your dojo and post the footage to YouTube, then send me the url. Phone
cameras are fine – just keep the clips short (2 minutes or less) and
action-packed. Try to get in close and use a tripod, if possible. You
can share the footage with me via Dropbox if you don’t have a YouTube
channel; email me at sensei@firehorseaikido.org.

No time to waste! Please take the time to capture our talented
instructors so we can share our Aikido with the world. Many
prospective students search for video when they are contemplating
starting Aikido or choosing a dojo, so this can benefit all of us.
Liese Klein

Birankai Summer Camp is less than a month away! Early bird pricing has passed but you can still sign up here.

Some more clips from Yoko Okamoto Sensei’s classes at 2011 Birankai Summer Camp — she’ll be the featured instructor at this year’s event.

 

New video of Yoko Okamoto Sensei of Aikido Kyoto from 2011 Birankai Summer Camp featuring many of Birankai’s top female instructors. Deadline tomorrow for registration for 2014 Camp with Okamoto Sensei!

Other camp activities below: Shihogiri with kombu on an Oregon coast beach!

Check out the newly posted video above of Yoko Okamoto Sensei of Aikido Kyoto from 2011 Biranki Summer Camp. We’ll be posting new footage of Okamoto Sensei at the Biran Online channel on Youtube every week or so until 2014 Birankai Aikido Summer Camp — then new video!

Time is running out to register for 2014 Birankai Summer Camp at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. The deadline for regular registration is June 5 — after that late registration prices apply. Register here now to train with Okamoto Sensei and our top-notch Birankai instructors.

If Okamoto Sensei’s incredible technique and teaching aren’t enough reason to sign up, check out my “shaky-cam” footage below of the vistas not far from camp on the Oregon coast…

 

Check out new May issue of Musubi, the newsletter of Birankai Europe. (Access French

versions of Musubi here.)

Some highlights:

• Chiba Sensei on “The Challenge of Age” (from a 1988 essay): “It can be said then that the true study of art (or life as art) only begins at forty. Although physical ability may begin to decline at this time, the physical aspect is only a part of what is

  

  required to be a fine Aikidoist.”

• Anne Ducoret Sensei of Paris on “Understand the Centre of Gravity”: “While we constantly use our centre of gravity in Aikido and usually in all physical activities, we are not fully aware of its constitution and its operation.”

There’s also information on Birankai Europe Summer School (camp), to be held this year in Wroclaw, Poland, featuring Miyamoto Sensei. Camp dates are July 26 to Aug. 2. Contact Information and online registration can be found here.

Also, don’t forget that the deadline is June 10 for the Summer Camp print issue of Biran, our Birankai North America Newsletter. Essays, photos, art, poetry and seminar reports are welcome! Send contributions to sensei@firehorseaikido.org.

L. Klein

Congratulations to Enmei Hunter, chief instructor of Logan Square Aikido, a new Birankai dojo on the northwest side of Chicago.
Hunter Sensei, 3rd dan fukushidoin, has been training for 20 years and helped run Shinjinkai dojo in Chicago. Birankai instructor Chris Wagner Sensei, 2nd dan fukushidoin, will also teach as an assistant instructor at Logan Square Aikido.

Logan Square is a fast-growing neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago Continue reading “New dojo in Chicago”