2nd Aikido Seminar, Day 1 (Hi-ya!)

I’ve been back from the first day of my second Aikido seminar in Egypt. I have been really fortunate in being able to attend these seminars. The class was taught by Gakku Homma Shihan of Nipon Aikido, and he is based in Colorado. The shihan is an eighth dan (out of 10) and was the last uchi deshi for O’Sensei. This means he was the last live in student for the founder of Aikido (something very impressive).

The shihan seemed like a great person. He was very funny, relaxed, and completely full of knowledge about Aikido. The first thing he did while we were lined up waiting for class was too stand in front of us and press he jo (staff) against his belly trying to make it stick. Then he tried it on his back. The first time it didn’t work the second it did. The staff was floating held against his back. I at first thought this was some Aikido secret, but then he laughed and turned and everyone saw that he had tucked the jo into the stiff part of his hakama. (martial art skirt). That was a great start to class.

The class consisted of doing some techniques out of nikyo including headlocks and full nelsons. Then he moved onto pressure points. I learned some new tricks. (Miguel, Pete, and Sempai watch out!) After that pain ended we did work with the jo. His staff seemed to be an extension of his body moving fluidly as an extension of his arms. Shihan said that the jo is not a weapon but a dance partner. He said that he didn’t focus a lot on kata because it can make you very stiff. Rather he focused on fluidity and natural movement, and we did some cool twirling warm-ups. He taught us an 18 jo-kata, which I promptly forgot, and then we watched some demos of the kata by the two students who came with him.

I am exhausted and a little, but there is another class tomorrow and I have a little more to say. For the past five almost six months I have practiced Aikido at the Shooting Club Dojo solely with Egyptians. It was really weird to be practicing Americans again up close and personal (besides my roommate who is actually out of the country for two weeks). Instead of working with guys (and great guys they are) named Nour, Omar, Abdel-Rahman, and Hasan, I worked with a guy named Brian and the other American there was Jason. It was just weird to me to see Americans in the dojo in the first place. I have been the only one there for a long time, so it was different and good to not be alone on the mats (not that the Egyptians haven’t made me feel 100% welcome).

During the call to prayer, shihan moved with the call with his jo fluidly and beautifully matching the voice’s rise and fall in his own movements. It was really something to see and something that I had never even pictured or considered. The fluidity and the jo warm up techniques were the really eye opening things that I learned today, something that I will take back with me. I really can’t wait to get back and put my own jo and bokken (sword) in my hands again.