by Robert Wolfe
Although
the actual New Year, by the Chinese calendar, begins on January 26th,
we’ll hold our observation the morning of Saturday the 31st, with kagami
biraki (a “mirror opening”). During each of the regular practices that
morning, we’ll conduct hono-embu, formal, purely in-house
demonstrations intended not for physical spectators, but rather for the spirits
of those who have gone before us in the arts we practice. What you demonstrate
might be as simple as a few reps of nissoku-suburi or one of the taikyoku
kuzushi, or as elaborate as one entire element of your most recent test set.
Following the regular classes, we’ll meet at the Mikado Japanese Restaurant
(in the Hampden Centre) at 1:00 p.m. for lunch. In addition to being a
celebration of the New Year, kagami biraki is an opportunity to reflect on
one’s role in the preservation and transmission of these arts.
Another Amdur Sensei Interview
Dojo
alumnus Peter Hobart recently completed an interview with Ellis, to be published
in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Asian Martial Arts. The interview
touches on the history and development of Daito-ryu and aikido, the optimal
mindset for training, etiquette in the dojo, distinctions between koryu and
gendai budo, and a range of other very interesting topics. If all works out,
we’ll have copies of the issue with Peter’s interview for sale at the dojo,
once it becomes available. Subscriptions to the Journal are available at www.goviamedia.com.
Additional, Saturday Toho-Iaido Practice
As
announced last month, there will now be a toho-iaido practice on Saturday
mornings from 8:30 to 10:00 am, preceding the aikido class. Although the 9:00 to
10:00 am open mat period is being eliminated, aikido students should note that
there should be limited mat space available for warm-ups and prior to the start
of practice. Because several of the current aikido students plan to start
training in the Saturday toho-iaido class, and need to gear up for
swordsmanship, a batch order to the Kiyota Company will be placed in
mid-January.
No More Credit Cards
In
planning your future equipment purchases or seminar registrations, please note
that the dojo will no longer accept credit or debit cards for payments of any
kind. Maintaining the ability to process credit cards incurs an average of $50
to $60 in bank and merchant service fees each month, while being able to accept
plastic really doesn’t generate any offsetting income of and by itself.
Membership dues will continue to be collected by electronic funds transfer;
equipment purchases or seminar registrations can be made by cash or check.