Biran Online

Birankai instructors T. Grimaldi and L. Klein of Fire Horse Aikido taught classes at the first-ever All-Connecticut Aikido Friendship Seminar at Greater Hartford Aikikai last weekend. There was excellent turnout for the event, including more than a dozen Birankai Aikido teachers and students. We really enjoyed training and making new friends. See you next time!

L. Klein

Check out the beautiful new website for Birankai Aikido Summer Camp 2014 in Forest Grove, Ore.

URL is birankai.org/summercamp/

Early registration ends on May 10, so reserve your spot at the discount price today!

Welcome to our newest Birankai Aikido dojo, Northwest Michigan Aikikai in Traverse City, Michigan.

Chief Instructor Katherine (Roo) Heins started Aikido in 1994 and
trained with Chiba Sensei in San Diego for five years. After leaving
San Diego, she spent seven years in Tokyo practicing at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo under Aikido Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba.

In addition to her godan shidoin rank in Aikido, Heins Sensei holds yondan rank in Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido and shodan rank in Shotokan
Karate Continue reading “New dojo in Michigan”

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 Continue reading “Boyet storms Portland”

The Seattle Seahawks win the 2014 Super Bowl, Birankai 2014 Summer Camp returns to the Northwest – no coincidence!
Check out the new Birankai Aikido 2014 Summer Camp poster, with an original design by Ben Root from Siskiyou Aikikai. Root took his inspiration from a Northwest native story, “Raven Steals the Light,” in which a trickster bird brings the light of the sun to a darkened world.
See you all in Portland! – L. Klein

By Meido Moore, Shinjinkai

Bright, breezy autumn weather greeted attendees at a November 3rd ceremony dedicating the zendo of So’tekizan Korinzenji, “Patriarch’s Target Mountain, Shining Forest Zen Temple,” or Korinji for short.  Korinji is a new Rinzai monastery near Madison, Wis.  Zen priests, students and supporters from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Utah – including a number of Birankai Aikido teachers – gathered together to witness the event.

The ceremony began at the newly constructed Korinji gate, which I was pleased to dedicate by sprinkling salt and water on its posts while reciting the hak’ku darani, the heart Continue reading “Korinji Monastery Dedicated”

Nearly 50 aikidoka packed the mat at Fire Horse Aikido in New Haven, Conn., for a Birankai seminar on Friday with George Lyons Shihan of Bucks County Aikido. Great training, great teaching and New Haven’s world-famous apizza!

See more videos at Biran Online’s channel on Youtube.

Japan-based Birankai master to visit Oregon

Check out the video above of an entire class with Didier Boyet Shihan last year at Athens Aikikai — Boyet Shihan will be teaching a seminar at Multnomah Aikikai in Portland, Ore., Feb. 7-9. More info on the seminar here.
Below is newly posted video of Boyet Sensei from 2012 Birankai Summer camp in Bronxville, NY.

The Birankai North America Senior Council and founder T.K. Chiba have announced the 2014 New Year’s promotions. Congratulations to all!

Rokudan

Rodger Park, Huron Valley Aikikai

 Godan

Thierry Diagana, Mumei Shudan Aikido, Singapore

Yondan

William Champion, Ventura Aikikai

Gary Payne, San Diego Aikikai

Sandan

Jeremy Cail, North County Aikikai

Mark Drake, North County Aikikai

Kevin Liu, North County Aikikai

Cindy Moore, San Diego Aikikai

Val Vullev, Riverside Aikikai

Nidan

Michael Bristol, Mountain Coast Aikikai

Edward Morales, Ventura Aikikai

Or, Happy New Year! Birankai dojos across the country held special practices in waning hours of 2013 and early hours of 2014 to celebrate the coming Year of the Horse.

San Diego Aikikai rung in the new year with Misogi harai, zazen and aikido misogi. Aikido misogi is traditionally practiced at Hombu Dojo with 108 suwariwaza shomenuchi ikkyo, the number representing the multitude of worldly passions said to cause suffering in the Buddhist tradition. Members prepared soba, nishime, tempura and inari for the after-party.

At Fire Horse Aikido in New Haven, Conn., we did 108 ikkyo followed by yosenabe, oden, miso soup and a range of fine foods and beverages. Midwestern teachers gathered in Ann Arbor for New Year’s.

And check out this performance by the Brooklyn Aikikai house band at their New Year’s celebration, which lasted until 7 a.m. the next day:

Here are some of the New Year’s traditions observed at Aikido Hombu Dojo in Japan:

Etsunen-Keiko: New Year’s Eve practice. Read this report on the event from Birankai’s own Roo Heins in the Hombu Dojo newsletter.

Hatsu-Keiko: First class of the year with Doshu. This class is attended by most Hombu senior members and instructors, who practice with general members. You may end up getting schooled by a high-ranking shihan for an entire class! (Trust me, I know.)

Kagami Biraki: The “breaking the mirror” celebration held about a week after New Year’s. Members pound rice into mochi and then enjoy grilled mochi and sweet bean soup. Read about this event from the perspective of a Brazilian student in this item in the Hombu newsletter.

Kangeiko: Mid-winter training period where members are encouraged to train every day for 10 days. Read this report from Guillaume Erard and see the souvenir prizes for participating.

Happy New Year to all!

L. Klein

A big thanks to Rob Schenk, who has uploaded to YouTube the Jack Arnold slideshow we all enjoyed so much at Summer Camp in San Francisco this year.

Please also check out the moving tributes here on the Aikido Daiwa Facebook page.

Dear Friends, It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Jack Arnold Sensei, who died peacefully at home this morning with his wife, Melinda, and his students by his side.

Arnold Sensei’s passing came just after Aikido Daiwa hosted a wonderful seminar by Didier Boyet Sensei that was attended by 70 people and served as yet another confirmation of his incredible life work. Arnold Sensei attended the Saturday evening party in good spirits and was able to view the legacy of his dedication to Aikido.

He is loved and cherished, and we will all miss him.

The members of Aikido Daiwa

By Michael Márquez, Ventura Aikikai

Life and death. When thinking recently about what to write for this essay, this is the first thing that came to mind.

Certainly, I also considered the several years of training I have experienced: the effort, time, sweat, injuries, frustration and joy. I recalled the support of my family, my wife and two daughters, and their understanding of my evenings away from home training, my Saturday mornings at the dojo, my attendance at Summer Camps and seminars. Memories of arriving home late in the evening as my two daughters are getting ready for bed, spending a few moments with them as they smile, running to me as I walk through the door, sleep heavy in their eyes, and listening to them telling me about their day.

My wife asking me about my training after the girls are in bed, and listening to me as I try to explain the joy of having done iriminage well after struggling with proper entry, or finally taking a decent breakfall for kotegaeshi. My fellow Aikido practitioners, who patiently Continue reading “Aikido’s Big Questions”

Birankai North America Summer Camp will be held July 18-23, 2014 at Pacific University at Forest Grove, Oregon, with featured guest instructor Yoko Okamoto Sensei, 6th Dan, of Aikido Kyoto. Watch for more information here at BiranOnline after the new year.

 

This interview appeared in Biran in 2002. The interview was conducted in Japanese and translated by John Brinsley.

Q: Sensei, when and where were you born?
A:  February 26, 1945. In Yamaguchi prefecture, in a village called Obatake..
Q: How big was your family?
A:  I have two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. Five of us.
Q: What was your childhood like?
A:  Well, of course I was a diligent student! (laughs) No, that’s not true. I was raised in a small fishing village near the Japan sea. We weren’t fishermen, although we fished some. My father was a priest. It was a pretty poor village. Ate a lot of sweet potatoes as a kid. But there was a lot of fish, too. I never thought of us as poor. There was always enough to eat. And there was fruit from the mountains nearby.
Q: Why did you begin Aikido? Continue reading “From the Archives: Murashige Sensei Interview”

Life, death and the role of teachers were among the topics tackled by a group of 32 Birankai aikidoka this weekend at Bucks County Aikido’s 10^th annual sesshin with Genjo Marinello Osho.

Practitioners from as far as New Mexico, North Carolina and Michigan gathered at the farm of George and Patti Lyons to train in Rinzai Zen and Aikido weapons as they enjoyed the mostly mild weather.

Everyone survived, and sat strong. For the first time, sesshin participants also harvested lavender as part of the samu – or mindful work – period at the conclusion of the retreat.

In the early hours of the final day, members learned of the death of Mark Murashige Sensei, a treasured Aikido teacher in San Diego. A sizable group of us at sesshin had lived in San Diego and benefited from Murashige Sensei’s generosity, good humor and infectious enthusiasm for Aikido practice and life. We sat with our grief and concern for his family and friends.

In the final hours of the event, Genjo Osho led us in Dai Segaki chanting for the deceased and intoned the following dedication:

One stream of a valley

pours the ambrosial nectar,

Ten thousand peaks of pine wind

strike the Dharma drum.

On this 13^th day of October 2013,

offering incense and pure water

with Dai Segaki chanting

let us dedicate to Mark Murashige Sensei and

all known and unknown deceased Dharma

brothers and sisters.

May the sun of wisdom shine

brighter and brighter,

And may we all cease wandering

in the darkness of ignorance.

L. Klein

 

Our condolences to Jack Arnold and the members of Aikido Daiwa on the loss of Toma Rosenzweig, who died this week at age 73. He had practiced Aikido for 40 years and was a stalwart Birankai member in Southern California.

To me, Toma was in many was a model sempai – devoted to the art of Aikido and his teacher, Jack Arnold. He was also a help to those of us coming up as kenshusei, always offering a word of support or a kind gesture. I’ll never forget spending a cold night on the mat at Daiwa in advance of a seminar to wake up to a warm box of donuts thanks to Toma – an unexpected and much appreciated gift.

Toma will be greatly missed.

L. Klein

The honking of geese flying south. The sound of rain. The feel of grass against your aching toes. The taste of rice gruel at 6 am. The sound of the gong at 4 am.

The annual sesshin, or Zen meditation retreat, at Bucks County Aikido is a special experience.  A small group of Aikidoka spends the weekend in the Pennsylvania countryside. Each person immerses themselves in both Zen and Aikido weapons practice under the guidance of Genjo Marinello Osho of Chobo-ji in Seattle.

This year is the 10^th anniversary of the Bucks County Sesshin, and I’ve been lucky to attend about half of them. You’ll find me again this October listening to the wind, shuffling off to dokusan and clinking my bowls. Where will you be?

L. Klein