The weather’s just getting chilly now on the East Coast and I’m already looking forward to 2015 Summer Camp… Newly posted video here from this year’s event in Oregon. Find more new clips on BiranOnline’s Channel on YouTube. Also check out my videos from a seminar this past weekend with Dang Thong Phong Sensei of Tenshinkai: He’s 80 years old and threw me so hard I got the wind knocked out of me!
Also please take note of the new calendar listings on the right side of this page — this calendar is maintained separately from the main Birankai.org listings so let me know if your event needs to be added.
Enjoy! L. Klein
One of Chiba Sensei’s many gifts to the Aikido community has been his weapons system, and we teachers vowed to further polish and emphasize our bokken and jo work at this year’s Birankai Summer Camp.
Below is the full text of an essay by Chiba Sensei first published in a 1999 issue of our Birankai newsletter. Also posted here for the first time are videos from Chiba Sensei’s advanced weapons class at the 2011 Birankai Regional Seminar at Long Mountain Aikido in Granby, Mass. (The second video is at the bottom of the text.)
Also be sure to check out the great videos from a personal collection being posted in recent weeks on the Facebook page of Sonoran Aikikai.
Then get out there and pick up your weapons!
L. Klein
The Position of Weapons Training In Aikido
A Consideration of the Unity of Body and Sword
By T.K. Chiba
Many people have asked me about the relationship between body arts and weapons training in Aikido. Most of those questions were influenced by the opinion (either positive or negative) towards weapons training by professional Aikido teachers, both those who positively incorporate weapons training in their Aikido practice and those who do not. These opposing practices inevitably create confusion among Aikido practitioners Continue reading “Chiba Sensei on weapons”
Birankai Aikido practitioners and friends from four states gathered this weekend in Providence at Main Street Martial Arts for intensive weapons training with Katharine Heins Sensei of NW Michigan Aikikai.
Classes focused on underlying principles like hand rotation, weight shifting and arm position in both jo and bokken forms.
Birankai is lucky to have several dojos that offer uchideshi programs: A chance for students to immerse themselves in the practice of Aikido. Uchideshi life is hour after hour of training, interspersed with hour after hour of cleaning and other dojo chores — all designed to build martial skills, awareness and the true spirit of Japanese budo.
Now one of our Birankai uchideshi needs some financial support from our community to continue her program. Lola Shapiro from Brooklyn Aikikai works very hard and has been a real credit to her dojo and teacher with her strong training at Summer Camp and other events. (See the clip below of Lola taking ukemi for Didier Boyet Sensei at Fire Horse Aikido earlier this summer.)
Lola’s a third of the way to her goal of $3,000 with only two weeks left — let’s get her the rest of the way!
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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.”
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