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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297785612016-07-06T13:41:28.560-07:00takemusu-scribblingsjack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-2844004750979430412016-05-22T21:36:00.002-07:002016-05-22T21:36:55.726-07:00Morning classes

Our Friday morning 6:30am class has been on hiatus due to the fact that Mark Tucker sensei(Taken 1990 Mark is first row, at the very end to the right) has been recovering from back surgery. Mark sensei is one of the dojo's most senior students and he has sent me an email announcement for me to post in this blog:

San Jose Aikido Community and friends. I would like to announce the restarting of Friday morning classes on May ?th. Everyone of all levels is welcome and invited to these energizing sessions. Better and longer-lasting than a shot of Starbucks. The quick jolt is from 6:30 to 7:30 allowing for early exits to get to work.

For those of you that are not familiar with me. I have been training for 36 years at the San Jose Dojo. For about 30 of those years I have led a morning class. Aikido has been a long, fun, and wonderful journey which I will share with others for the rest of my life. Through our practice we will continue to work toward what is ahead and not be complacent about where we have been. We will evolve with an ever-changing world, work beyond our limits, and work on having a satisfying training experience that stays with us in our quest for peace and harmony for all. I look forward to train with and help all that choose to participate. Please contact ne with any questions at email@example.com.

Mark

Thank you,

Mark Tucker

President

Tucker Construction, Inc

1725-D Little Orchard St

San Jose Ca 95125

408-287-1424

I am happy to see that this class is going to continue. Back in the eighties when I first took over the dojo I started this class. During my training period at the Shingu dojo in Japan the 6:30 to 7:30 am class ran Monday through Friday. It was always a challenge to make that early class, which I tried to do whenever possible. The evening class 7:30 to 9pm was much easier for me. But in the eighties my daughter came of school age and she needed to get to school early. So I started the early class to make sure I was up and ready to take her to school. At one time we had the class 3 weekdays a week, although I believe the Friday was the first and then it expanded to at its peak 3 days. For a period I would teach the class, drop my daughter off at school, Head over to San Jose State to teach Aikido there . Finish a little before noon. Head back to the dojo to teach noon. Then usually go to the fountain at the then 4th Street Pharmacy for a quick lunch. Usually tuna salad sandwich and coffee. Then pick my daughter up from school and either drive her to an activity or back to the dojo, where we lived. As you can see I was busy being a parent. I think by that time I was having other people teach children's classes, although I may have still taught some. And then I taught most evenings. So my schedule was quite full parenting and teaching, something my daughter is now experiencing being a working parent. Over a period of time the noon classes grew and the early mornings shrank. But Mark sensei has kept the Fridays going and I wish him luck and support in continuing them.

One story about my training in the early classes in Japan. During a hot period Hikitsuchi sensei would teach, so it could be great training. But the foreigners were expected to make pretty much every class. As a good friend once remarked, "Aikido maiasa", which translates as "Aikido every morning" but which could sound a lot like and sometimes feel like 'Aikido my a**". I remember vividly one morning(I had probably been out late drinking with Hikitsuchi sensei) I decided to sleep in, figuring he would probably also sleep in. The class ended at 7:30 am. To my surprise at about 7:35 there was a pounding on my dorm room door. I opened it and there was Hikitsuchi sensei. He was somewhat agitated that I had slept in because he had schedule a radio interview on All Prefecture radio at 8. So the true meaning of "Katsu Hayahi", that speed that transcends time and space, came into being. A very quick change into clothes. A drive across the Shingu river on the bridge that connected Wakayama and Mie Prefectures, which was usually, crowded and slow at that time. We made to to his house, rushed in to hear the phone call from the radio station. We both had to pretend we were calm and there waiting for the call. My Japanese was good at that time so I began the interview. I guess I was an oddity. An American of Japanese descent training in Japan in a traditional Japanese martial art. So the questions were pretty easy. Which Japanese foods did I like. Did I have a Japanese girl friend. How did I feel about the Japanese people. That sort of thing. But it began to get a little tiresome after awhile. So when they finally asked me why I was doing aikido, I started quoting Hikitsuchi sensei and his interpretation of Osensei's teachings. Well sensei immediately took the phone and began a lecture on Aikido, which the people at the radio station obviously found not interesting. So they quickly ended the interview. Which of course more than suited me.I think I was interviewed by the Shingu newspaper in a similar vein and I think I still have a copy of that. That was an example of my days in Shingu.

You had to constantly be ready for anything. Especially the unexpected. Which didn't prepare you but made the unexpected and the dealing with it hopefully a learning experience. The Japanese word is 'Shugyo' or special training. When Osensei meant 'training never ends' he didn't mean 'keiko'. He meant 'shugyo'....

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-67330447562769786542016-05-01T20:29:00.001-07:002016-05-01T20:29:45.970-07:00Osensei Revisited 2016...an Overview

Last weekend was the 5th Osensei Revisited weekend, again led by Robert Nadeau shihan. It was well attended, with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday classes. I want to personally thank all those from my dojo(Aikido of San Jose) who attended and supported the event. Nadeau sensei's vision and leadership(He was a direct student of the Founder). Inspiring classes taught by Mary Heiny sensei and other instructors. So it was quite an event!

Osensei passed away on April 26 1969. So this workshop falls close enough to that date that this workshop can be seen as honoring him and his teachings. I taught the Saturday 7am class, which was focused on staff work. At the end I chanted Amatsu Norito and Kami Goto, which are Shinto chants of purification that Osensei practiced and was said to be fond of. The actual day of his passing was also honored with Norito and Kami Goto at the end of the noon class at my own dojo.

Nadeau sensei has made his life's work taking the things that were personally passed onto him by the Founder and fitting them into an experiential process hopefully mirroring Osensei's own process. Those who have not attended this event please consider doing so next year. It will be virtually the same weekend, April 23, 24, and 25. Teachers and schedule will be announced as the date draws closer, and this year I will try to keep updates a regular feature of the Osensei Revisited Facebook page.

So what were the takeaways from this year's event?

1,Nadeau sensei feels Osensei's spiritual direction is quite different from what is usually stressed. He views the normal as being very much an upper or awareness based system. Visualize a point as a starting place. Then put an expanding series of half circles above the point. And the space between the half circles can be finer dimensions or astral planes. Heaven is oftentimes seen as an attainment and one ascends there.

2. Now visualize the same point and make a series of half circles downward. In contrast to the upper awareness style, this is often missed. The downward direction represents more an experience/feel unfolding,
which takes us more towards not a finer, but a deeper, more original sense of who we are....Carl Jung once said that any tree wishing to grown to heaven must have roots reaching the other direction. We are not talking about heaven being less than the other place, but more that the journey must balance light/dark and leads to an individuation as opposed to a perfection based on finer to finer.

3. So now see the diagram as a series of concentric circles radiating outward from the central point and ideally balancing the upper finer with the deeper more original. So finer must be equal to deeper. Instead of heaven as an end journey, it represents an original state that is both beginning and 'end'.

4. Now let's take the whole sense of things expanding outward and say there is an equal and opposite movement back towards the core point. So just as the upper finer is balanced on the outward as deeper, so there is movement back, Osensei's 'echo' where the outer heaven returns to itself in the core point. Osensei is quoted as saying " Heaven is right where you stand and that is the place to train.(oneself)".

5. The movement outward becomes a dimensional process. There is a small circle around that point that is aware and feels itself to a certain level of identity. The next larger circle has and even deeper and finer sense of itself as an identity. Most of us are trapped or walled in to that first level. Various processes taught at the workshop such as center/circle, fire/water, chanting(sound vibration/silence) are to help you turn the walls of those first levels into membranes that can be passed through. If you haven't made any of the Osensei Revisiteds this alone is worth the trip.The center/circle, fire/water, and chanting techniques were passed onto to Nadeau sensei directly from Osensei. A lot of this is alluded to in Osensei's lectures and writings, but they seem to be obscured by the Shinto that is everywhere.

6. Osensei oftentimes expressed the importance of 'Ame no Uki Hashi', ie the Floating Bridge of Heaven.
Using this model one can theorize what he meant.by that. Another revealing Osensei quote:'' Unite yourself to the cosmos, and the thought of transcendence will disappear. Transcendence belongs to the profane world. When all trace of transcendence vanishes, the true person.....the divine being....is manifest. Empty yourself and let the divine function."......

7. So why does Osensei come down so hard on transcendence? Perhaps it's because going finer even if one goes deeper as well perhaps one can lose one's way. The universe is after all a vast place. But if the universe is a vast tree( used in some mythologies) then the original point is it's seed. So uniting with the cosmos probably means an inner one. So that first or beginning circle, a core or fundamental being place, possible not as exciting as the finer planes of the universe, would contain all the finer. This is what Nadeau sensei understands as the bridge. In a world of no sight, one sees. And that bridge extends all the way out, but also returns to itself..

8.Osensei loved the Kojiki, the Japanese book of creation. There there was an original heavely brine. A type of chaos that was all things , ie infinite possibilities, all oxxuring infinitely. And it congealed into an infinitely dense point, Ame no Minakanushi no Okam, and expanded spherically outward in the sound Suuuuuu.
One way to look at this is that there was an original Source, Unnameable, Unknowable, God, whatever, that created itself as an original Soul, which then entered a universe or creation(also coming out of source) to find itself but also to return to itself. This is the echo. And at any point in the journey, there is the here and now of the bridge connecting yourself to both the beginning and the ultimate of yourself. Completing that journey heaven would be where ever you chose to stand.

Hope you enjoyed the summary. Hope to see you all back next year. And in case you're wondering, yes, there was time for some very good aikido training in the event as well........

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-47542421773021172492016-04-02T21:51:00.001-07:002016-04-02T21:51:07.087-07:00Review: Born to Be Blue

I was looking forward to March 25th because two films on my watch list were going to open. The obvious was 'Superman v Batman'. The less obvious was the Chet Baker film 'Born to be Blue'. Well the latter was opening nowhere in the Bay Area, so I went to see the former. Enjoyed it. May see it again even. Well this weekend the Ethan Hawke/Chet Baker film opened in the South Bay and decided to give it a look. I must say I was somewhat uneasy going to see it. After all there is so much negativity around Chet in books that I was afraid of what might be highlighted in this film.

Well, the film is a HIGHLY fictionalized account of Baker's life. It uses the device of Chet being cast in a film playing himself, juxtaposed with flashbacks to his earlier mega-popular years. In an interesting touch his teeth are highlighted. At the age of 12 or 13 Baker lost one of his front teeth in an accident playing with friends. He played with that missing tooth. Later, as shown in the film, he suffered a major beating which not only knocked out his other front teeth(top), but according to Artt Frank, gave him permanent nerve damage. He was told he would never play again. So in the current time of the film, he is shown wearing dentures.So you can chart his timeline in the film by the way his teeth are shown.

A major part of the film is Baker's comeback from the beating, relearning how to play, and getting another gig(he had a famous one in his very early years) at Birdland in New York City. Apparently Hawke learned to play the trumpet for the film. Anyone who has played the trumpet realized the horn is a cruel taskmaster, and when learning you are going to struggle and make horrible sounds. So this part of the film has some realism to it. For an excellent eyewitness account of Baker's real comeback, ie relearning to play the horn, check out Artt Frank's excellent 'Chet Baker:The Missing Years' http://www.amazon.com/Chet-Baker-Missing-Years-Memoir/dp/0988768747/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459656317&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Chet+Baker++the+missing+years+book+artt+frank

Of course a major part of the film is Baker's drug problem. Hawke's sense of Baker is around these lines. He comes across as high......somewhat passive......very self absorbed......a leaf at the mercy of the wind. Contrast that with the real Baker. He was multi lingual. By his own account during his time in Jail in Italy he learned Italian and came out a fluent speaker. There is an interview on youtube where Baker gives an interview exclusively in Italian. And there is the fact that Baker was a natural musical genius. He could hear any song and play it in any of the 12 keys. If he heard it twice he could solo to it. Very little of this side of Chet if any is brought out in Hawke's portrayal of him.

For me the most interesting part of the film was the apparent wound he had from male figures that he gave power to. The portrayal of Chet's father is chilling. Nothing his son can do is good enough to please him. And the Miles Davis character in the film tells Chet his playing is sweet...like candy.....and to come back when he's lived some. Baker was very inluenced by Davis's 'Birth of the Cool'. In fact in his autobiography
"As Though I Had Wings' he states that twenty years later he still listened to that album. In an interview when asked what he listened to when he was not playing, one of Chet's answers was 'Miles old stuff'.

The music in the film is a disappointment. Hawke sings several Baker songs well, but it is obvious he is copying Chet. The trumpet solos are skillfully done but none of it is Chet's own horn. So I guess this is where I some it all up. If you want to do something different and want to go see a jazz movie, I think this will keep your attention. But if you want to know or to hang out with Chet Baker, check out HIS music. There is no substitute.

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-59745625715359319762016-02-13T22:04:00.000-08:002016-02-13T22:04:13.510-08:00Supergirl

I've been enjoying 'Supergirl' (Mondays CBS 8pm). I followed the character from her beginning in Action Comics. Then in an 80's feature film in my opinion that was much better than it was regarded at the time. And so now it is a weekly show on a major network. It is produced by the same people that do 'The Flash"
(Tuesdays CW 8pm). Both shows are on my watch list.

So what makes 'Supergirl' an important show? It deals with power from another angle, that of a woman. Comics do overtime evolve and story lines change. Originally in Action Comics she came from Argo City, which flew off when Krypton exploded, and overtime the land under the city was being changed to deadly Kryptonite, so Kara Zor-el was sent to Earth to be with her famous cousin. She was a young teenager, hence the title 'Supergirl'. The plot lines have changed and the character is in her mid-twenties and reacted in episode one to being branded Supergirl by media mogul Cat Grant(Calista Flockhart).

One basic tenet of the show is that while her cousin Kal-el(Superman) came to Earth as an infant and always felt like an outsider, Kara was in her mid-teens and much more fully formed psychologically being raised on her home planet of Krypton.Hence her wanting to bring those around her into her life as Kara/Supergirl. James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) , her adoptive sister Alex(Chyler Leigh), and Winn Schott(Jeremy Jordan) are all part of her 'team' aiding her as much as she saves them. It is a nice touch. The sense that her friends and sister are family, replacing those she lost on her home world. The Jimmy/James Olsen character is much different and stronger than the Jimmy in Superman lore. So the feeling on inclusion, bringing others on board for support is a major part of the show. Women tend to be more team oriented while men are more competitive and 'fight alone'.

Along the lines of power from the female angle, Calista Flockhart's Cat Grant is a fascinating character. Initially she is portrayed very much as over assertive and ends justify the means. But as the show progresses this gradually changes. She softens. We see the undevelopped vulnerable parts of her come to the surface.
And she becomes a support and an ally to Kart/Supergirl..

Melissa Benoist is absolutely fantastic as both Supergirl and Kara. The scenes with her and Calista Flockhart are very well done, usually extremely funny."Here's your latte , Ms Grant!". But she portrays Kara with such a vulnerability, which is what makes the show go. 'Supergirl' is a show about becoming. She is finding herself both as Kara and the Super hero as they intertwine and unfold. Superman is an established, finished product. Supergirl is evolving, changing, growing.........And Kara is as Melissa Benoist portrays her, a Funny Valentine...

"Is your figure less than Greek...
Your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart

But don't change your hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little Valentine stay

Each Day is Valentine's Day...."

Watch the show and see if you don't agree....

Here is a video I did for Valentine's Day:

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-9407150011949091132016-01-17T22:19:00.000-08:002016-01-17T22:19:00.256-08:00On being granted the shihan title

Last week I was informed that at the New Year's 'kagami biraki' in Tokyo, Hombu dojo had awarded me the title of shihan. It was a bit of a surprise. Not something I was expecting or bracing for. It has a little bit of history with me. I started aikido in 1969 with Robert Frager and Robert Nadeau senseis. At the time they were fresh off having trained in Japan at Hombu dojo. I consider them both direct students of the founder Ueshiba Osensei. When I went to Japan and started training at the Shingu dojo the term came into my consciousness. Anno, Yanase , and Tojima sensei's (top photo upper row) were referred to by that title. The last 2 held 6th dan. And Anno sensei was at the time 7th. So it was natural to assume the title came with an upper rank. I returned to the Shingu dojo several times in the early ninties. At the time I was a 6th dan and surprised to hear Yanase sensei, definitely one of my all time heroes, refer to me as Jack shihan. I later found out that at the Shingu dojo when you received 5th you had the title of shihan. But when the area leaders here received their upper ranks I found out that the title didn't come with a rank promotion. Sometime in the early 2000's Nadeau sensei received the title. I arranged a special dinner for him on that occasion and got quite a group of his longtime students to attend. He along with Frank Doran sensei and Pat Hendricks sensei now hold the title of shihan. It is an award that must be conferred upon you and not necessarily tied to high rank. Although you must hold a high rank to be awarded the title. Confusing?

The Japanese characters mean a teacher who is an example to other teachers. It is often referred to as Master Instructor. But when Tojima sensei visited in 1979 he stated that there was only one Master in Aikido, and that was Ueshiba Osensei. And I believe that to this day. So I prefer the first definition. Certainly the 3 Shingu teachers were definitely role models for me. Anno sensei does that to this day. And the 3 division heads of CAA also I find wonderful role models.

Along with my fellow CAA members Frank McGourik sensei, Michael Friedl sensei, and Cyndy Hayashi sensei also received the title. So I wish them the heartiest congratulations. I especially want to than Hayashi sensei for all the tireless work she has put into the Association. I am sure this award could not have happened without her effort and dedication.

It was December of 1969. I had just completed a quarter of training at the UC Santa Cruz Aikido Club. I went with Robert Frager sensei on a field trip to the Mt View dojo. Walking around the dojo I came upon this certificate

I wonder how many of even the Japanese instructors ever got awarded one of those? It is signed by second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba and by none other than Ueshiba Osensei himself! Quite a document!

The only teaching certificate I hold was issued to me in April of 1973 by Master Choy Kam Man , certifying me as a t'ai chi ch'uan instructor. But this is definitely quite an honor I would like to thank all the instructors and students of Aikido of San Jose who have supported me over these many years. Without you none of this would have been possible!

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-27128421253322387182015-11-08T20:27:00.001-08:002015-11-08T20:27:29.574-08:00Happy Birthday 2015

Today is my daughter's birthday. Happy Birthday Jenny! She was born in 1978. We along with her husband Dover shared lunch in San Jose's Japantown at Okayama. Moving one building down towards Jackson St she was born at the old dojo on North 6th St. Her Mom and I did a home birth with midwives. She emerged 3:45 in the afternoon after a long labor. I had the honor of catching her as she came out. So we had an immediate connection. This year in January I performed their marriage ceremony. And early next year they are expecting their first child. It is amazing that all this has unfolded thus. I am so proud of her. She is so passionate and caring and really values people. She still styles hair, has become a Pilates teacher, and just keeps going forward.

In late summer of 1974 I left Santa Cruz to ostensibly go pursue a PhD at Monash University in Melbourne Australia. I went via Japan and while there decided to stay there and major in Aikido, not Russian studies.
But my Mom had had cancer surgery just before I left and the prognosis was not good. When Robert Frager sensei was leaving the UC Santa Cruz Aikido Club in 1975 to found ITP(now Sophia University), the chief instructor position opened up. And I took it and returned. My mom was seriously ill and though she courageously battled the cancer for most of 1975, she finally died in September of that year. I was able to spend most of that year with her. I was at her side the moment she crossed over.

It is interesting how this year has revealed to me how much her death has effected me. To be right there at the moment she passed. It was an honor, and though I was 27 at the time, part of me really had to grow up.
But the sense of loss was overwhelming. What has struck me in the last couple of weeks is that the universe takes, but it also gives and over the long haul everything evens out. Though I was there the at the very moment my mom left, I was also there for the first breath my daughter took. And I see her unfolding and growing, with a wonderful partner in Dover, soon to be a mother herself. Wow!

Some realizations take years, but they hit you in an instant.

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-42237641902695450892015-10-19T20:05:00.003-07:002015-10-19T20:05:36.446-07:00My Masters Degree

In a recent conversation with Robert Frager, he revealed to me that the only book Steve Jobs had on his phone was Paramahansa Yogananda's 'Autobiography of a Yogi'. I originally read that book for The Psychology of Far Eastern Religion at UC Santa Cruz during my senior year(1970) taught by the same Robert Frager.. A very important chapter of that book for me was "My University Degree". Yogananda attended college yet never went to class, preferring instead to be with his guru, Sri Yukteshwar.. His senior year he did not intend to take his qualifying exams since he never went to class. But he was berated by his guru:"Do you have so little faith in God?" So Yogananda relates in his book how through a series of miracles he passed his exams and got his university degree.

During my senior year at UC Santa Cruz I started studying Aikido with Robert Frager sensei. I was introduced to meditation. I took both the aforementioned class on Far Eastern Religion and a class on Mind/Body Harmony. And in Spring of 1970 started my practice in Tai Chi Chuan with Steven Malamuth, a direct student of Master Choy Kam Man.. Upon my graduation in June 1970 it was pretty much set in my mind that my life path would be internal martial arts(aikido and tai chi) with an emphasis on the spiritual, ie meditation. But my parents wanted me to go onto graduate school. I was a natural science student at Santa Cruz. I got accepted in biology programs at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. But I had an unofficial minor in Russian and applied to and was accepted at both UC Berkeley and UCLA in Phd programs in Slavic Languages and Literatures. But a Masters Program in Russian at UC Davis surfaced and offered me a full fellowship for a 2 year program. Since I wanted to pursue my dream, basically in the short term go to Japan and train there, I chose to the 2 year program over the Phd programs.

Once I was at Davis it was apparent I really didn't want to be in school. Aikido was only once a week my first year and twice a week my second. Alan Grow, a direct student of Robert Nadeau sensei, taught an Aikido club there. My first year was able on weekends to go to San Francisco and continue my tai chi trarining this time with Master Choy himself. My second year I helped organize a class for Master Choy to teach on the Davis campus which gave me a chance to take what I had learned from Steven and refine further under his teacher. I practiced both morning and evening. I was also at the time really into Yogananda's Self Realization Fellowship meditation which I also did morning and evening preceding my tai chi. My second year I was slso doing Shotokan karate 3 nights a week. So even though I went to my graduate classes you can see my heart was not into that at all.

My facebook page says I studied Tai Chi Ch'uan at Davis. That is largely true. Much more than the Russian classes was my study of tai chi. It was largely due to Master Choy that I was able to keep my center in the midst of being in grad school, not wanting to be there, yet having at the same time to attend classes, deal with graduate level politics. And it struck me that even though my professors had advanced degrees and lots of mental knowledge, their depth of being could in no way approach that of my tai chi master. He encouraged both my study of aikido and even the karate, saying that would give me a good mix.

Well as I was completing my two years there I was so turned off by the experience academically that I figured I would just to to Japan and not take my exam. So I was surprised that the Professors came to me and asked me to test. So I decided to go home for the summer of 1972, having completed my classes for my Masters, come back to take my exam in the fall. So there I was at my parents' house in Santa Cruz, really hitting the books, dreaming of going to Japan to train basically in Aikido but also to keep up my tai chi practice. And during that summer I kept up my meditation as well. And that chapter from Yogananda's Autobiography was fresh in my mind each day.. Yogananda did it. So could I.

So late fall of 1972 I want back to the Davis campus and took my exam. I think my written was so so . I needed to ace the orals to get the degree. Mainly my feeling was that this was for my parents. Getting an advanced degree was not important at all to me but it was very much so to them. Then I could go off to Japan if not with their blessing, at least with the sense I had completed it for them. I was told that I took a very strong exam and passed. The only thing I can say is that all the meditation, the training daily in tai chi, the aikido classes, even the karate classes had given me enough in the don Juan/Casteneda sense enough 'personal power' that they really did not know what to do with me so they passed me. I was free. Ironically one of my professors, the one I really respected, turned up as the Departmental Chairman of the Russian Department at Monash University in Melbourne Australia and offered me a full Doctoral Fellowship to go there and pursue a Phd. My parents were ecstatic.

But having finished up my Masters I was free. I planned to leave for Japan in April of 1973. I was an Ikkyu, brown belt, so hopefully I would get my black belt there. But to my surprise Master Choy certified me as a teacher of tai chi just before I left. So my thiniking was, that was better than a shodan. Tai Chi had the advantage of being something I could practice everyday. And it sustained me through that difficult period. And I practiced the tai chi morining and evening everyday of my first year in Japan.And even though I have practiced over the years, I am once again on a daily practice schedule.

I returned after a short year in Japan( 9 months). August of 1974 I left for Melbourne Australia to pursue my PhD by way of Japan. But that is a story for another day............

The tree in the photo above is where I did my daily tai chi practice for two years at UC Davis. I am with my friend Vladimir, a Siberian Wolf. I went with my friend Dianna Lynne to the Mother EArth festival at Davis, found the house where I stayed and sought out the tree. It remembered me........

Next June I will be taking a journey with other members of Aikido of San Jose to Aikido of Bali Hai. Here is a video I just completed........
 jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-16502853882578341982015-09-13T20:53:00.002-07:002015-09-13T20:53:36.490-07:00A Program for Training in Paradise

We now have tentative dates for our group trek to Aikido of Bali Hai. June 15th to the 27th. We should slso have some sense of what will be covered during the 12 days or so of the event. One thing I would like to prioritize is some discussion about the nature, purpose of Aikido. When I was in Japan there was quite a bit of time devoted to discussion. Oftentimes in Japan, Anno Tojima and Yanase senseis would come over and in some cases we would talk all night about the topic of what Aikido truly was. This is no substitute for training, but traning without this can be directionless. And one can get better in a directionless way. What is tricky as I have found out in the ensuing years is that everyone must find Aikido for themselves. And in some ways you could say the search for Aikido might be a significant part of searching and finding yourself. Nadeau sensei and I still spend significant time at coffee shops and restaurants discussing Osensei, his history, his process, the direction of Aikido as it has been laying out the the last 50 years. I have also had the same discussions with Robert Frager sensei, with Mary Heiny sensei, with Linda Holiday sensei. And when I connect with Anno sensei either here(mostly these days) or on a trip to Japan, the same topics always come up. I want the people going to in coming times keep these discussions going.

Now we are all different. And that is a strength. So those going(and those following this) I want you to give some thought to questions you might have about Aikido, Osensei, what training means to you, what your goals are................That is first. Secondarily we will come up with a plan or approach to the training. One thing that was constantly in our consciousness as we were training in Japan, and I am referencing Mary Heiny and Linda Holidays senseis as well as myself, was what is Aikido and what is my purpose in Aikido.

Some thoughts I had. I would like to cover the weapons to some extent. And to cover the sound practices. I had a request for kototama. Here I would like to be able to format practice as opposed to mainly theory and history. Would people be interested in learning some of Osensei's formal chants such as the Amatsu Norito?
My thought is that we should come up with a structure for the training. Also schedule time for discussion. And in addition time for both individual and group recreation..

We currently have 7 people committed with one strong maybe. We probably have room for 3 more from the dojo. I would like possibly 2 more from outside the dojo, but this should be people with either a strong connection to the dojo or to me. So onward!jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-49769172940856934882015-09-06T11:56:00.002-07:002015-09-06T11:56:50.195-07:00Aikido of Bali HaiI made my first trek to the island of Kauai in 1996. I went alone. I loved the musical 'South Pacific' and of course the sequence with the island of Bali Hai. In the stage presentation the characters onstage just looked out towards the audience with a sense of vastness and reverence. Your own special place. You live on a lonely island lost in the middle of a foggy sea. Bali Hai is your own special island. And I remember sometime in the very distant past listening to the great Dodger announcer Vin Scully where he was filling some space between what was happening between pitches or innings and he said referencing the movie version of 'South Pacific' that the Bali Hai sequence was filmed on the island of Kauai. So having a longing to journey to Bali Hai, a place that doesn't exist in the 'real'world, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the physical island of Kauai. What I found was a lush tropical paradise with mysterious mist covered mountains, verdant plant life, and clear blue ocean on pristine beaches. It was a wonderful stay. And I passed a sign reading 'Bali Hai Realty' and the thought crossed my mind, 'wouldn't an Aikido of Bali Hai be great?'

So that thought always lingered in my subconscious. I made two more trips in 2012 and 2013. I skipped 2013 because of a trip to Japan. But on very short notice my daughter's time share in Kauai opened up and I made a very unexpected trip late last month. And this time in Princeville on the way to Hanalei Bay I saw another sign, 'Bali Hai Salon'. So the thought reawakened. And I put it out again but this time on Facebook accompanying some photos of my trip to the island and upon returning back got a response. A small group of Aikidoists from my dojo would like to go next summer. So game on!

So instead of a physical dojo Aikido of Bali Hai is instead a journey. June sometime in 2015, the dates to be determined. Aikido training 8am to noon so even though we start early everyone will have an afternoon and evening to enjoy 'paradise'. I don't want a huge group so I imagine it will be basically just people from my dojo and those connected to me.

The actual structure of the training is to be determined. I have my vision, but will try to be open to suggestions. But what I want to emphasize as the purpose of the trip is more than just go to a great place and train in 'aikido'. Yes there will be training and I'm sure there will be ample time to enjoy the island and spend time with friends and fellow aikidoists. But I allude to the song. For those of us who'live on a lonely island....lost in the middle of a foggy sea....' it will be about finding our 'own special island'.Our

own special place.

So that is my vision. Now we will all see how that unfolds.jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-18178884385915051482015-06-26T14:48:00.002-07:002015-06-26T14:48:38.419-07:00Congratulations! And a Sad Obituary.......

I have to share both a an incredibly happy moment, and at the same time acknowledge an incredibly sad one.First happy: Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors on bringing the 2015 NBA Championship to the bay area. For those of us who have followed you for over 40 years and in particular following you through a magical regtular season of 21-2 that eventually led to67-15 and led to the 16 playoff wins needed for a title, thank you! I must admit having to radically shift my whole paradigm on what it means to be a sports fan to keep up witih you. You passed test after test during the 82 game schedule, then you capped it off with an incredible playoff run that had its anxious moments.

Probably my favorite playoff moment was game 3 on the road again New Orleans. You were trailing by 20 points going into the 4th quarter. Against all odds you came back. Stephen Curry's corner 3 tied the game n regulation and you went on to win in overtime. Also being down 2-1 against Memphis and in the finals against Cleveland and coming back with 3 straight in both to take both series. I must admit my faith was tested.but rewarded.

And what was the overriding theme of the season? Success built on sacrifice. There are many examples of this but two come to mind. First a couple of seasons ago we made the playoffs and defeated a 3 seeded Denver team to advance. I remember thinking this one player was a real pest. Making shots, especially 3's. against us. Playing lock down defense. I realized he was a pest because he was so good. That was none other than Andre Iguodala. Well he became a free agent and because he sensed what was building here and wanting to be a part of it, he took less money to sign here. This is an unheard of sacrifice in today's world of professional sports. And this season he was asked as a former all star, a member of the NBA;s all defensive team, and a starter his whole career, to come off the bench, which he did. What was his reward? For playing defense against Labron James in the finals and stepping up offensively when needed, he was voted MVP of the finals. And all star Davit Lee willing to sit on the bench and contribute when asked to allow the emergence of Draymond Green was another example.

The commitment to defense, to sharing the ball on offense, and to playing a fun uptempo game on both ends was a fun alternative to the star power based isolation sets of the NBA. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. And the Warriors will be good for awhile. If Stephen Curry concentrated strictly on scoring, taking more middle distance shots and getting to the free throw line, there is no doubt in my mind he might lead the league in scoring. After all he led the nation his last year at Davidson. But he is willing to be a more transparent superstar to let this team be the focal point. And to have both the regular season MVP, Curry, and the NBA finals MVP, Iguodala, is telling and indicative of team success. And fan enjoyment and pride.

And now for the sad. Yesterday Patrick Macnee passed away at the age of 93. He was John Steed of the British show 'The Avengers' to Diana Rigg's Mrs Peel..And the word sacrifice is important here as well. His portrayal of John Steed was revolutionary as well. Here was an intelligent, powerful male outwardly steeped in tradition, who was none the less able to allow an unforgettabe performance by his female partner literally steal the show. Steed and Mrs Peel were equals, but he was the established star. When first asked to play the role he was given the James Bond books to prep him. He found the violence and obvious sexism 'tiring' so he created a unique character. The recent gentleman spy film 'Kingsmen' owes a lot to the John Steed character. He didn't carry a gun, preferring his steel plated bowler hat and umbrella as well as his intelligence to solve problems..And when things really got tough there was always Mrs Peel to the rescue.He was a gentlelmlan and treated women well, and this was a sixties show. I don't think he really gets his due. He is more Andre Iguodala-ish in his contribution. Not the obvious. I will personally miss you. In 1988 I had a chance to meet him. He had written a book, an autobiography(Blind in One Ear') and was set to have a local book signing. A high school friend and I went but due to his wife's ill health he was forced to cancel. Oh well. Steed/Patrick, I will miss you. And wherever Mrs Peel may be, I'm sure she is a little sadder as well......

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-13131064812027001502015-06-01T19:34:00.000-07:002015-06-01T19:34:39.687-07:00A Very 'Radical ' View of the 2015 NBA Finals

I mean no real disrespect with this blog. Maybe this is just a Warrior fan having to wait 40 years to see his team once again in the finals. And projecting things and truths around this that have not merit. But that aside.....
Ready?

The finals match-up between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers represents a clash between the old order and the new order that must come. If not in the finals later in some other form...Mainly this is reflected in the stars representing the two teams. Lebron James for Cleveland. Stephen Curry for the Warriors.

Years ago Carl Jung was happy to hear that to the holy trinity of Father/Son/Holy Ghost they were considering adding the Virgin Mary. First the Trinity is a 3. In Jumg's psychology 4 is the number of wholeness representing the Self.. He considered Western Spirituality to be overly masculine based and thus adding a fourth which was feminine made him feel like society was moving in his model closer to balance.Now my uses of the terms masculine and feminine have nothing to do with gender. Masculine could easily be Yang, positive, fire, heaven......and feminine easily yin, receptive, water, earth.....other metaphors could be used to describe what I mean to say. And one cannot really exist without the other so it's just a question of which one predominates. And we are due for the pendulum to shift. So, with that out of the way......

Lebron very easily represents thus what you would call the masculine element, which has ruled for a couple of thousand years. Remember the Goddess based religions which were based on the feminine were buried by the dominance of what became Christianity. It is revealing that his nickname is "King' James........The basketball hierarchy is in love with size, speed, and power.......I'll make my battleship bigger, faster, stronger, more high tech than yours. The establishment(to use a sixties/seventies word) is about a power structure of haves and have nots.We see this especially economically in our society and culture. Labron has freakish physical gifts that he to his credit, through hard work, personal development, has parlayed into a very successful public image and playing career. But he is definitely a 'have'....
 I totally respect Labron the player, the person, the persona.......But in this way he is the old order......and of the establishment.

Contrast that with Curry. Whereas Lebron's high school games were broadcast on ESPN.......Steph was unable to get a scholarship to a major program and wound up at Davidson. And even though an outstanding high school player he was considered too small, too weak, not athletic enough........which followed him into his professional career for awhile. Even though he made a huge splash in the NCAA's taking Davidson to the elite 8, and led the nation in scoring his last year at the collegiate level. he had his doubters....Was he tough enough to make it as a pro? I found it revealing that he was the leading vote getter this year for the all star team. It seems we are ready to embrance a different paradigm. Curry embodies skills that embrace more the feminine, and again I stress this word has nothing to do with gender. He moves with a deceptive yet very skilled attack, using what Bruce Lee called a broken rhythm. In his movement phrasing he is very much like Chet Baker in jazz. Never in a rush. Seldom if ever forcing a shot or play. Sometimes seeming to play even too casually. Yet tough. As opposed to a 'King' we have a 'baby-faced assasin'. What other name would the basketball establishment give him? Both shooting and driving to the hoop he puts up floating shots which go in from great distance and over the reach of tall long-armed shot blockers at the hoop. We are seeing basketball moving back more towards an art form. Even though the way he plays does differ he reminds me of the great Earl Monroe. So Steph's power comes from an ability to mix his energies and to create basketball 'Magic'......He is Billy Batson/Captain Marvel's Shazam to Labron's Superman..

So I am waiting for the finals to start. Will the new order replace the old? Will the establishment win again or will we be treated to a new order? Let's tune in and find out!jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-56224334918297193502015-04-01T13:22:00.000-07:002015-04-01T13:22:30.079-07:00On Winning and Losing...Sports vs AikidoI enjoy the world of professional competitive sports as a fan. Locally we have enjoyed the Giants recent success, three world series titles in the last 5 years.....And we are now enjoying the Golden State Warriors as they are moving towards the best record in professional basketball and being a serious contender for the NBA title.How do we equate this with winning and losing in Aikido, which has a non-competitive structure?

One thing that I have come to realize is that you must look at things both from the standpoint of product and process........Product is easy. The ego thrill of winning in a dominant fashion. I remember in the recent World Series realizing our Giants didn't win in a way a lot of people wanted them to. While there were a couple of important home runs that won games, the Giants tended to play good fundamental baseball and often times the other team would make a mistake and beat itself.... a wild pitch, a crucial error...Everyone likes winning, being on top, identifying with a championship level team. So how does this fit into aikido?

I think we need here to go into process. The current Warriors are a good example. Rather than focus on beating the other team there are three keys to this team:

1. Playing good defense
2. Taking care of the basketball
3. Moving the basketball, ie the extra pass....someone with a good shot defers to someone with a great shot.

If they do these three things, the product, ie winning....entertaining moments....spectacular plays....will take care of it self. So what is process?

Process is inner referent. As opposed to fixing on a strategy to beat so and so, one prioritizes one's goals and one's inner development and growth. And there is a a clear inner commitment or intention to continue. In the Giants world series run a key game was the second game of the NLDS againts the Nationals, who had dominated them in the regular season. Our locals won game one, surprising the baseball world. Game two went 18 innings. I started following the game at its first pitch. I took about an hour off to have lunch and coffee with a friend. Then I continued.to follow it. It went on and on. 18 innings. Neither team could score. It would be such an advantage for the Giants to win this game and and go up two games to none. When it became apparent this was going to be long, I went to the place where I listened to the Giants game 4 victory over the Tigers in the 2012 World Series, with the same radio, and dug in as a fan. I went throug a lot. Just give up and get the score on ESPN......I felt almost as if I were in the game. But given the nature of sports someone had to win......And since I had committed to following the game and had gone to my 'magic spot' I was not going to move unitl it was over. 8 hours. A Brandon Belt home run in the 18th. Hunter Strictland with a big save. I remember having similar feelings when I was training in Japan. I can't do this. I should quit. Nothing works. What am I doing with my life. But the term was Gambatte or hang in there. So I continued past the negative. Buster Posey caught all 18 innings, an example of focus and process. And of course the Giants got past the Nationals, who were picked by most to win the NL pennant, and won both the pennant and World Series themselves. There is a lot to be said for clear intention and follow through. Choosing a goal and sticking with it no matter what. Honing oneself in the process, not fixing or worrying about the product....

Ueshiba Osensei stressed Masaka Agatsu Katsuhayahi or True Victory is winning over the 'I'/ego which is a neverending battle. Polishing oneself on a daily basis with the goal of going from persona/ego to self.. Most people fixate on the throw, or accumulating strength or rank...........Osensei stressed misogi which is a whittling away of the ego/'I'. And he also stressed shugyo or findng a path of personal transformation......and walking it....ie acheiving or completing your mission in life.......

It is ironic that the strength needed to do this does require a strong ego. A great athlete must have total belief in his or her ability to do what they must do.But something that has come to me recently is that the true strength therefore the true purpose of the ego is to surrender to the true self inside. Osensei talked about calling upon the limitless power of the universe, at the same time purifying oneself from the controlling ego that is ever persistent. The current Warriors follow an interesting pattern. There is a definite star on the team, Steph Curry. There is a rising star in Klay Thompson. There job is to dominate the offense . Yet they are a part of an offense that moves the ball like no other in the league. Everybody touches the ball. When things are going well the extra pass is always made. Draymond Green can play defender to all 5 positions on the basketball court. And their defense leads to early and good offense. Offense is product. Defense is hardwork, committment, and finally that word again, process.

In Aikido we have a daily chance to win over the competitive side of ourselves and to treat our partner as a team mate, not an opponent. And team mates can help each other grow.and improve as they together walk the path. So strength of technique, rank are in aikido product. Let us make sure we at the same time keep our attention of process, as the Giants of the last five years and the current Warriors have done so well.. And let's all try and keep Osensei's message alive in our hearts on a daily basis......

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-48562904693090178962014-12-31T16:37:00.000-08:002014-12-31T16:37:20.309-08:00Celebration of Love and Creation

It is the last day of 2014 and we are about to welcome in the New Year. Tomorrow we will hold our annual New Years training at Aikido of San Jose from 11am to 12:30pm. We've taken the last week off to let instructors and students alike rest.It has been a busy year. It has included among other things:

-A January trip to Japan to Hombu dojo and the Kumano Area.
-Another Osensei Revisited weekend in Occidental.
-A wonderful Summer Retreat in Santa Cruz made memorable by Anno sensei's presence
-Fall workshops in Roseville and at Sophia University with the Western States Aikido Association
-Seeing Betsy Hill sensei promoted to 5th dan
-Presiding over a great session of black belt exams earlier this month
-Learning that my daughter Jennifer and her fiance Dover will tie the knot next month

On the other side I have witnessed the passing of 2 dear aunts, one uncle, and my step mom. It is interesting that life is definitely always in motion. Children in the family being born while older members pass. The Giants win still another championship, the Warriors burst out of the gate, and the 49ers collapse. There is an impermanence to everything. Yet this gives everything a poignancy it would otherwise lack.

I would like to thanks Robert Nadeau shihan for his continued support and guidance. Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba for his warm welcome and hospitality at Hombu dojo. Anno and Yanase sensei's for continuiing in their own ways to walk the path. Mary Heiny and Linda Holiday senseis.....it is good to have friends. And the teachers and students of Aikido of San Jose for their continued support and growth.

In the 'Kojiki' Izanagi and Izanami stood on the floating bridge of heaven and with a magic spear created the islands of Japan. I decided they needed a love song:

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-45637863177153644732014-11-10T19:17:00.000-08:002014-11-10T19:17:23.787-08:00Go Giants!

I want to take this occasion to congratulate the San Francisco Giants for their third World Series Championship in 5 years! This was perhaps the most unexpected and least probable of all in their magnificent run. Both 2010 and 2012 featured exceptional starting pitching and depth of starters. This year especially in the World Series it was Madison Bumgarner and for the rest hope we make it to the bullpen, which has been outstanding in all three playoff runs to the World Series.

I guess what amazed me most about this team was how literally all the players stepped up in the playoffs and seized the moment. Facing teams with much better regular season records(the Giants were the lower of the 2 wild card teams) the Giants persevered. Players I considered automatic outs like Juan Perez, Joaquin Arias, and Gregor Blanco, all made siginificant contributions . I would urge them on while watching on tv and say "It;s the postseason! It's the postseason!" and indeed some magic seemed to come in the form of clutch hits.

And I must admit I continue to admire Bruce Bochy and his ability to adjust to the postseason.. No Matt Cain. Tim Lincecum up and down. He rode Madison Bumgarner all the way to the championship. One dominant starter. One dominant force of nature, quite literally. Most managers use a regular season formula for the postseason. Not Bochy. He might bring a late inning reliever in during the first couple of innings. He seems to read the game like no other. He trusted Hunter Strictland, a young pitcher, who, while having his problems, got some big outs in the playoffs. And he had his ace, Bumgarner , for the seventh and deciding game. He did not hesitate to use Jeremy Affeldt early when Tim Hudson faltered.

And what can we say about Madison Bumgarner? He might be the Giants most exciting player. I know I used to be glued to the radio or television not just when he pitched, but also when he hit. Remember he hit not one but two grand slams this year. I would follow his at bats in hopes he would hit one out. Exciting! And his performance in this postseason, especially the World Series, may never be matched. 2 wins and a save. A career Earned Run Average in the World Series of 0.29. More than anything else he was like a wall, projecting a feeling of 'loving protection'. He would not let the other team steal victory away from his teamates or from the Giants fans.Incredible!

Buster Posey had an up and down playoffs. He was thrown out on the bases at home plate several times. Though his overall postseason numbers seem okay they were low in the World Series and he had an extreme power outage. I believe all his hits were singles. Sports Astrologist Andrea Mallis informed me that he had Saturn on his Mars. Saturn is limitation, the cosmic traffic cop. Mars symbolizing energy, assertion, and aggression, is vital to an athlete, so Buster's offensive contributions were not what we came to expect. But his leadership, defense, and handling of pitchers was vital. And he caught every inning of the 18 inning Giants victory in the NLDS. Wow!

So obviously the key in the offseason is to sign free agent Pablo Sandoval. Their young core is capable of winning some more championships. Joe Panik at second base was a godsend. Andrew Susac during the regular season proved a capable backup catcher to Posey and provided some clutch pinch hits during the postseason. Matt Duffy came through with some big pinch hits in September to get the Giants to October and continued his hitting in the postseason along with some fine base running. So the youth is there adding another infusion of energy. So I hope Sandoval can be resigned, that the Giants can add another good starter to support Bumgarner, that Lincecum can find himself. So maybe this is the time they can go back to back. Go Giants!

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-13933905202689025472014-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:002014-10-26T15:06:24.881-07:00On Clayton Kershaw and Takemusu Aiki

The other week Robert Nadeau sensei showed me an interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle about what scientists have found out about our brain and learning.. Here is a link to that article:

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/UCSF-researchers-find-Kershaw-s-brain-works-5807131.php

Basically researchers at UCSF studying the brain's motion-control system found that the brain is geared to constant adjustment. Therefore any movement pattern over time will have a tendency to drift off course due to this. This was initially studied in macaque monkeys. And locally the researchers took advantage of this to check this in humans. They decided to study an elite athlete to see if this held for the human brain. The basis of competitive athletics is to be able to hone a skill to where it seems repeatable. Locally Golden State Warrior fans are treated to the astonishing accuracy of NBA all star Steph Curry and his ability to put the ball through the hoop from seeminly anywhere. A pitcher must in baseball be able to throw strikes and must able able to adjust them to game situations and to different hitters. So since most everything is recorded on film these days they studied Dodgers lefthander Clayton Kershaw , who during the 2014 REGULAR season had a season for the ages(21-3 won/lost and 1.77 earned run average). They traced him for the season charting only the four seam fastball. They found the same drift in his mechanics as he threw this pitch over time. AS much as we value the ability to repeat an action in sports over and over, this is not how the brain works or even wants to work.

So how might this relate to Aikido and more specifically to Ueshiba Osensei's Takemusu Aiki? One of the first things a student is taught is pattern. This is how you rolll. Front. Back. This is a side fall. As you get more advanced, this is a breakfall. This is how shihonage is done. Feet. Hands. Now this is how ikkyo is done. Now some of this is essential. Without a framework for movement practice is not possible.But the findings of the researchers seems to indicate any sort of emphasis that is too mechanistic and stresses repetition of the same movement is doomed drift due to the brains ability to adjust. In fact the brain wants to adjust. So my sense is that the pattern or form be taught in a clear way that emphasizes feeling and being in the moment. Therefore allowing the student to experience whatever pattern that is being presented as an alive experience as opposed to a set routine to some degree from the beginning is crucial. In more ancient times all learning was direct from teacher to student, ie jikiden or direct transmission. I remember a movement in 1974 at the Shingu dojo when Hikitsuchi sensei used me in front of the class for a sword demontration of take no ken(the sword of bamboo or circle). I attacked him with a shomen strike which is a quick direct movement. He seemed to shift into another space and followed a curved circular route to get behind me with his cut. It was eerie and wonderful at the same time. My quick time movement was met with a much slower time movement which exactly met and matched mine. When I demonstrate that movement I call up the same space. It is hard to teach someone like that as students try to be mechanical and repeat the movement. I only felt that once. It was never repeated.

Getting more into what Osensei might have meant by Takemusu Aiki, he is quoted in The Secret Teachings of Aikido as saying:

"Aikido has no forms because it is a study of the spirit."

Now here it is easy to say that he is getting esoteric and spiritual. But what does he mean by spirit? Oftentimes ki is translated as spirit.. Osensei referenced the 3 realms of manifest hidden divine. He also referenced spirit fluid hard soft(also translated as spirit, flow, willow diamond). What if leaving out divine and spirit, these represent the dimensions of the universe finer to less finer to dense. Let's postulate the existence and being of something that when it begins to move is spirit. And spirit as it goes from finer to denser begins to identfy as an ego or an 'I'. This 'I' gets so entwined with the dimensions finer to denser it forgets its essence of what it was at its beginning or inception. Hence the need for what Osensei meant perhaps by misogi, the unentwining of the 'I' and the stuff(dimensions of the universe finer to denser) so that the 'I' can return to its more original or divine level. The tendency in the manifest or dense level is to have a definite mechanistic approach to the movement. But the 'I' can too early have a memory of its more divine level and go spiritual way too quick. Either approach would to me obstruct both a true journey back to the more original or divine, and would also cause a lack of appreciation for the stuff of creation, which also came out of the divine.

Here are a few quotes from his The Heart of Aikido: The Teachings of Takemusu Aiki:

"Aikido is the eternal principle of the universe."
"Aikido is the heavenly truth that marvelously functions as takemusu aiki."
"Aikido is the way that harmonizes heaven, earth, and humankind"
"Aikido is the marvelous functioning of kototama and misogi."

So Aikido is or comes out of an eternal principle that perhaps defines and explains yet at the same time sustains the universe. It is not too much of a stretch to connect principle with heavenly truth, and to see his viewpoint that takemusu aiki is the functioning of that truth, ie how it works both with itself and within the dimensions of the universe. At present I read heaven as that original thing. I read earth more extensively to mean the dimensions of the universe from finer to dense. And humankind to mean our condition, ie this principle originally meant to be dynamically on the move now fixed as an ego/'I' mainly either in the dense material or on a spiritual journey looking for the finer. Currently I see kototama as a connector between the stuff and the 'I' allowing the 'I' to its more original state of being. We know that matter is really vibration, and the 75 kototama sounds might represent a type of code allowing the more divine aspects of both creation and oneself to manifest in the here and now. And of course misogi is referenced. How can one return to one's true being when one either locks mechanistically into physical movements or goes on a journey into the finer to find itself, ie transcendence? One thing Ueshiba Osensei was adamant about was that heaven, this more original sense of ourselves was right here and now, and that transcendence was of the profane realm, ie could lead you astray. But for those prefering a mechanistic physical approach, we goe back to his original quote:

"Aikido has no forms because it is a study of the spirit."

One thing I will admit is that studying Osensei's words is difficult because the same word, for example kokoro, can be read interchangeably as heart, soul, or spirit. For my own purposes when whatever it was started to move, ie the start of the universe or creation, I tend to call it spirit. The rest is for now at least the great mystery.

I think it is somewhat common to consider Takemusu Aiki as simple technical variation. Remember it is the functioning of that original heavenly truth. We can begin its study with the movements and shapes of the techniques of the art. But to begin to really touch that I feel we must begin to understand ourselves at truer and truer levels and to understand the universe/creation in the same way. Quite a load, I must admit.

As much as Aikido as a martial art shares some similarity to sport, I have found in recent years a closer connection to music.My sense is that Osensei, using metaphor, was a great classical player who as he got closer ot this own true self went into jazz. I think it is easier to see Takemusu Aiki in jazz terms than martial movement. Is a great classical background necessary to get to Takemusu Aiki? Miles Davis graduated from the Juillard School of Music. Chet Baker learned it on the street. His close friend Artt Frank recently emailed me that Baker even in the melody of the song never phrased the same way twice. I am not sure Ueshiba Osensei ever looked at even shihonage as something you repeated twice the same way. He said in the Secret Teachings that technique was totally dependent on the here and now situation.

The thesis of the newspaper article was that Clayton Kershaw's brain operated the same way a monkey's does. But so do all our brains. We are creatures of evolution and change....And hopefully development and evolution.

A word or two on Kershaw. He is brilliant at what he does. And in the regular season he owns the Giants. I compare him to in my day Sandy Koufax, who seemed to dominate the Giants whenever he pitched. But maybe someday we will meet him in the playoffs and see what happens. Go Giants!jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-91599129939978173362014-07-27T21:02:00.000-07:002014-07-27T21:02:54.324-07:00On Watching Osensei on Video

Recently 3 previously unavailable to the public Osensei videos were unearthed. I watched them and I was surprised at my response. I felt that most people watching him would probably have one of the following responses:
1. What's he doing? He doesn't look like my sensei?
2. When is he going to show me some technique?
3. Boy he's soft. I wonder if it's real?
4. He is so spiritual. Maybe if I meditate and pray I can walk through people like he does.

So I thought it might be important to highlight what I notice when I watch him. I started my Osensei watching almost from the beginning of my aikido career. Robert Frager and Robert Nadeau senseis were both direct students of the Founder. In 1969 they would once a month co-teach a weekend where they would combine aikido classes with energy work which was inspired by their contact with Osensei. There was a lot of meditation, chanting/sound work, and in those days there were no videos. So we would watch Osensei on 8mm and Super8mm home movies. And these were for me the highlight of the weekend.. I had started with another martial art, but upon reading about him I definitely decided aikido was what I wanted and I got my with when Robert Frager sensei started an Aikido club on the University of California Santa Cruz campus my senior year. And in the movies it seemed like he was working a form of magic. And it seemed as if the key to doing what he was doing was not in the technique but in something else. We did a lot of practices to become more aware of the energy/ki.. These were also tied to practices we could do on our own such as walking from center and playing with fields of energy. After my senior year, one academic year of aikido, I went to UC Davis for 2 years of graduate work. Since there was only aikido there in a club for once or twice a week, I had a lot of time to practice what I had learned in the workshops on my own. Energy work. Moving from center. Being present and aware. In 1973 I made the first of 3 major trips to Japan to study at the Shingu dojo. I was fortunate to go to a place where Osensei's spiritual message was recognized and stressed. So my perspective from Frager and Nadeau senseis was then balanced on the other end by Hikitsuchi, Anno, Yanase, and Tojima senseis. So what might I point out now about what I see when I watch Osensei now on video?

1. How naturally he moves. He seems to have no mental, physical, or spiritual set points as he demonstrates his aikido. He seems to avoid long deep stances( although you definitely see those in 1935 in the Osaka film) He is very free. Frager sensei showed films of Osensei to Moshe Feldenkrais, founder of the Feldenkrais method. Feldenkrais's response was he had never seen a human body in a gravitational field move that freely and perfectly. He did not reference the martial aspect of what was going on. He referenced only that whatever Osensei called aikido, when he was demonstrating it, his accomplishment was that his body moved perfectly. By comparison Feldenkrais once met Julius Erving(Dr J of basketball fame). Watching Erving move Feldenkrais correctly diagnosed this was one very advanced system of movement in human form . But he told Erving, correctly at that stage of his career, that thou;gh he had once been a 'god', that is was at this point not something Erving could do on demand anymore. . He noticed several sublte things in Erving's movement in response to gravity and posture that clued him in. Yet this same man said Osensei, and at a very advanced age, moved to in his opinion the ultimate potential of the human body in motion.

2.He is outwardly very empty/yin/receptive. When he touches his uke that person seems to be drawn into Osensei's gravitational field, much like a planet orbiting a sun. And Osensei's touch would appear to be very easy and deep. There appears to be no attempt on his part to control the attacker 'out there'.......He gives no weight to the attacker by trying to twist, jerk, pull, or leverage . And by being so fully receptive or yin, the postive or yang seems to kick in on its own as needed.

3.He understood very deeply the difference between strength and power and obviously chose the latter..Strength is a form of power, but his has a set point. Power is fluid. Just flip and switch and the lights go on. Or turn the faucet and water flows. Many people would see what Osensei did as soft. I would say he was fluid. One student who watched the recent video made an observation. He had seen a video of an elephant attacking people. The elephant would make little moves and people would go flying. He said even though Osensei's body was that of an aged man, he saw an elephant when Osensei moved. Is an elephant soft? I tend to see a dragon sweeping people with inivisible wings and a tail when I watch Osensei from a similar perspective. Power is the ability to affect change and may have little to do with putting strength into technique. Now I believe one can have ki strength as opposed to ki power. Mary Heiny sensei once said during a class in which she was present, Osensei stopped the class and berated the men for 'ude kurabe'...just a testing of arm strength in technique. And he said the women were much closer to doing aikido as he did than the men. So he is hinting that power is something that is not gender specific or in his case something that diminishes with age. He was once asked by Shioda sensei when he was the strongest, in his forties, fifites, etc. And Osensei answered him by saying he, Osensei, would be at his most 'powerful' his last day on this earth. I guess the larger question for all of us is how did Osensei 'flip the switch' or 'turn the faucet' and how can that apply to what we do?

4. He seems to have a sense for what the attacker does before the attacker moves. Having not set point of his own, perhaps he is able to 'read' the set point of the attacker? The other thing is that he often seems to insert in the mind of the attacker what the attack should be by gesturing or shifting his posture. We chould get a little Star Wars here and say this may be a little of ' These are not the droids you are looking for'.......I heard a story once where a karate club visiting Hombu dojo asked what he would do against a kick. They were then told they could train their best kicker, come back in a month, and see. Well their best kicker trained his best kick, mae geri(front thrust kick) for one month. On the fated day he faced Osensei and.......Osensei offered his wrist, the kicker went to grab it and took a flip. When asked after why he didn't kick, especially after all this prep, he simply said, "He offered his wrist...". So something more than we can at present explain I'm afraid.

And what I'm about to say means no disrespect to any person or teacher. But there is the very real possiblity that as good as your teacher is or my teachers are/were(some are now deceased)., the distance between them and Osensei might be virtually the same as the distance between us and Osensei. Just a thought. Hope this has helped. And here is the first video:

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-78085380678972946342014-06-29T20:30:00.000-07:002014-06-29T20:30:26.810-07:00Of Birthdays, Dragons, and other mattersIt's been quite a month of June. Steve Tsao, one of the pillars of our dojo, re-located to Taiwan, hopefully not permanently. And of course another birthday has come and gone. Classes continue at the dojo with a good new wave of new students along with our dedicated core of teachers and students. We are looking forward to the Santa Cruz Summer Retreat in July with special guest Motomichi Anno sensei. Fourth of July weekend coming up with reduced schedule Friday, full schedule Saturday(I intend to teach), Sunday off with regular schedule resuming on Monday. My father's birthday was July 4th so I always think of him this time of year.

Also this month was Fathers' Day, which I spent at the movies with my daughter Jennifer. She took me to see 'How to Train Your Dragon2'. The first was a movie I saw 5 years ago and really enjoyed. I've always been partial to dragons. I really liked the Elric books by Michael Moorcock, and of course Elric was being emperor of Melnibone, the dragon King. And in 'Stormbringer' he had to awaken the dragons with the horn of fate to bring in the new age. O sensei often referred to Ame no Murakumo Kuki Samuhara RyuO, the dragon king of aikido. In fact during World War II in Iwama he was asked by the divine energies to accept the mantle of dragon king

This is a portrait of him as the dragon king. Dragons to me represent the raw pure focces or energies of creation. The king or queen would be he or she who accepts the mantle to wield those forces/energies according to the design of the universe/creation, mostly in the service of purification. In the first movie dragons are thought to be the enemies of the Vikings. Hiccup is a brave young man who must fight his conditioning to befriend one. Gaining the dragon's trust the dragon becomes both an ally and a friend.

I must admit watching the first movie the dragon Toothless(anything but) reminded me so much of Tiger, whom those of you from the days of the Japantown dojo may remember. Tiger and I were so close it reminded me of the bond between boy and dragon in the film...In the second film Hiccup has learned enough from the dragons to give himself both Star Wars and Batman technology. This is a cool touch and not to be missed.I really like this because for me technology comes out of the forces of creation, energies intended to help us fulfill our individual mission/purpose to reach our full potential. Since dragons are mythological, this extends that to the realm of archetype. When technology becomes too material, we have our present world. In Stan Lee's words, 'Nuff said....'......I am obviously pushing this film because I would like to see a 'How to Train Your Dragon3'.........

Below is a video I did commemorating the bond Tiger and I had:

And here is a poem I wrote about him:

You could run,
 Feet flying
 Above the ground
 A streak of grey
 And black lightning.
 We would wrestle,
 Your face a mask
 Of some were-creature,
 Exuding fierceness:
 Your fangs and
 Claws would never
 Hurt me.
 We could nestle
 Like lovers,
 Your chin so
 Innocently perched
 On my throat,
 You body radiating
 A light that
 Kept me warm.
 You've ascended
 To be in the Energy
 Never again to incarnate.
 One with the universe
 Waiting for me.
 You are my best friend.

 -Jack Wada
 June 14, 2000

When I die,
 I will soar with angels,
 And when I die to the angels,
 What I shall become
 You cannot imagine.

-Jalaluddin Rumi

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-14921616903461054112014-05-05T19:56:00.000-07:002014-05-05T19:56:20.043-07:00Many ThingsIt's been awhile since I posted to this blog so this is going to be a smorgasbord. First, the Osensei Revisited weekend in Occidental CA has come and gone, so I'd like to address this first. It was nice to see Nadeau sensei so deeply energetic laying out Osensei's process without the Japanese language barrier and the confusing Shinto symbology. Nadeau sensei was one of the few(maybe the only) person Osensei fielded questions from. So his work the last 50 years or so is based upon conversations he had with the founder of Aikido in the very early sixties. And it was wonderful to see Mary Heiny sensei there as well. I thought it was a statement that a teacher of her stature lent her presence to an event where she was not a featured instructor. It was fun interacting with her and we got a chance to train a little bit during the course of a class or two. So props to both Nadeau sensei and Mary sensei.

It was exactly seven years ago that I took up the trumpet again. I remember it was May 5th 2007. I rented a trumpet(that I would eventually buy) and went to the cottage I was staying in the hills of East San Jose(which I miss) and tried to make a sound. I had played middle school through high school but with a weird embrochure(upper lip with tongue part of the embrochure). I didn't realize I was doing something different until someone tried to teach me to double and triple tongue and I realized my tongue was doing something it should not. So upon my graduation from high school in 1966 I pretty much gave up playing.. I would try to play with a more conventional embrochure(both lips with the tongue spacing the notes) but never stayed with it. So I was intent on trying it and I found I could not make a sound after 41 years. So I thought this is going to be short. I had been inspired to play again because I had discovered the music of Chet Baker. So I put on a Chet cd and to my surprise while in the energy field of his music I could not only make a sound, but could also freeform to his playing. So I did that for awhile before I could make a sound on my own. And I find that after 7 years my whole sense of what am embrochure is has radically changed the last couple of months. I got some tips from Artt Frank, which are detailed in his wonderful memoir 'Chet Baker:The Missing Years' and after 7 years am still going and playing everyday. So thank you Chet. And Artt.

The Golden State Warriors' playoff run has ended after a very memorable season and first round playoff run. An undermanned and undersized Warrior team minus its top 3 centers finally succumbed to a much bigger Clipper team in a heartfelt 7th game.Their only championship in the Bay Area was 1975. I remember that vividly because my mom, battling cancer at that time, was a real Warrior fan. When I was in Japan she would stuff packages she sent me with Sports pages of Warrior games so I could follow the team while I was in Japan training. This was before satellite tv and ESPN. And when I got back in spring of 1975 I was able to follow the Warriors, led by hall of famer Rick Barry, on their run to an NBA championship. Often I would have to teach evening Aikido and would miss a playoff game. And I would return home to eat a late dinner she had prepared and she would leave the score on a notepad. In that run the Warriors had to overcome a punishing 7 game series in the Western Conference with the pre-Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls, then face what many people thought was an unbeatable Washington Bullets team led by Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld. But the Warriors overcame double didgit deficits in most all those games to eventually win the title by sweeping the Bullets. And later that year when the cancer was very serious I would tell her to keep fighting, just like the Warriors. And when she did pass on later that year the Warriors were NBA champs. Even though this year's version was eliminated in spirit I feel they are the equal of the '75 team. Steph Curry is a superstar the likes of which this team hasn't seen since the Rick Barry day's.. He's the best shooter I have ever seen. I go to the Y and shoot baskets and work on moves I have seen him do. Not supremely gifted with size and freakish athleticism, he nonetheless creates a fascinating game that is incredible to watch. I know he won't win the MVP award, but I can't think of a single player who was more valuable to his team than Steph Curry was to the Warriors. Like many Warrior fans I watched Tuesday night's game hoping for a miracle, but was rewarded with an incredible show of spirit team wide. But watching Steph continue to dig in and fight, making shot after shot and free throw after freethrow was astounding. All the Clippers did was win. And they did play well. But their fans will never match Warrior fans who have rallied around that team when there was no outer reward yet continued to fight along with their team. And this goes all the way back to my mom, who unfortunately lost her battle with cancer. But her spirit never died. So to Steph and Klay and Draymond especially, thank you. Steph it moved me tremendously how you were able to hug and congratulate both Griffin and Paul.You taught me something important.

And here is the first Chet Baker song I ever heard and one of his most famous:

jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-25577508551847788152014-03-19T14:46:00.000-07:002014-03-19T14:46:51.406-07:00Endings and Beginnings

This time of year I begin to think of how close beginnings and endings can be. March 28, 1966.
March 20, 1968. So the latter date comes first in terms of this month. But the former came first in
chronological time. I first saw her on a Monday night , 10pm, ABC tv. And she exited on a Wednesday night 7:30pm same network. And sometimes a disappointment can become something you can't even name.
Of course I'm talking about Diana Rigg on the sixties tv show 'The Avengers'. I was expecting Honor Blackman(who had starred previously in the series and had gone onto international fame in a Bond film) and so I was disappointed when I first saw her. But this quickly changed as I got into the quirky off beat element of the show and her personal style of cool, intelligence, and beauty.

And off course just because her last episode viewed only set the stage for years of watching her on re-runs, then vhs, and now dvds. And as you can she we travel together. She was with me and my group on our 2006 Japan trip. I remember being in Japan summer of 1973, apart from all elements of my culture, opening an international edition of Time magazine, and there she was in an article on theater. After she left the show she went onto quite a run in theater becoming finally a Dame of the British Empire..

And she has been a role model. Her character Emma Peel was cited in TV guide as being still(in the then ninties) a woman ahead of her time. Very independent. Fearless. Unafraid to venture and stay on paths others fear to tread. I have tried to model elements of my life after her. I became interested in martial arts because that was something she did in the show.. It was almost as if if I needed a direction for my life I need look no further than her.

So I always look at March as the month of beginnings and endings and how close they can be. Here is a clip that was made to advertise the color episodes(In 1966 the episodes were black and white then in 1967 moved to color):

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-30233397468464299362014-02-11T19:52:00.000-08:002014-02-11T19:52:40.487-08:00On Being Promoted to 7th Dan

At the end of 2013 I was recommended for the rank of 7thdan by Robert Nadeau shihan. The promotion was recognized by Hombu dojo and the Aikikai and so last month(January) I was awarded that rank by Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba at his house in Tokyo adjoining Hombu dojo. That was one of the highlights of a week long sojourn in Japan for me and a small group that went with me. Other highlights include seeing Anno sensei and Yanase sensei in the Shingu area, visiting the gravesite of the Founder, and once again returning to the great waterfall in Nachi. I hope the trip was a positive experience for everyone in the group.

My last promotion(to sixth dan) was in 1991. That was a little on the fast side as I remember. After that I pretty much figured that was it. When I was first in Shingu Anno sensei was a 7th. Yanase and Tojima senseis were 6th.. Tojima sensei passed away at that rank. And my thought was always if I can die a 6th like Tojima sensei I will be happy. And life has a way of throwing you surprises such as this last promotion.

The biggest honor by far in this is the fact that I was recommended by Nadeau shihan. He is currently a 7th(though I hope he receives his next quickly). He is responsible for so many of the dojos in this area. And he has an international organization in his division 3 of CAA of which we in the San Jose dojo are a part. So thank you for your faith in me.

When I was in Shingu Anno sensei asked me if now that I was 7th did other people want it also. And I answered probably. We both had a hearty laugh. Just the way it goes. Steve Ditko(co-creator along with Stan Lee of Spider-man) received an award for his comic book art. He immediately chastised those giving him the award because he felt it made artists competitive and envious instead of just living for their art. Once I viewed this rank as an impossibility. A couple of Japanese instructors I was connected to flashed it saying get a big organization going and produce lots of yudansha. Teach lots of workshops. Then 7th.I am happy to say the only two teachers of note who have never had this conversation with me are Nadeau sensei and Anno sensei, hence my deep respect for both.

Sadaharu Oh received direct instruction from Osensei(not training but the philosophy and soul of aikido). In his last game he hit what he knew was his last home run. As he was rounding the bases one last time he had a deep realization that everybody, every teammate, every opposing player, had played a role in his development and accomplishment. He had a deep sense of Osensei telling him the whole world was one family. And so what I am saying is thank you, all my teachers, friends, and students in the art. I had to have an excuse to continue to show up. Year after year. Month after month. Class after class. Without you I am nothing and this promotion would never have happened.

So thank you to Doshu. I have always been treated with the upmost respect by the Ueshiba family. And I received a very warm reception at Hombu dojo.

Thank you to my first teachers, Robert Frager sensei and , again, Robert Nadeau sensei, for starting me out and instilling in me early the importance of staying connected to Osensei.

Thank you to Anno, Yanase, and Tojima sensei's for their guidance, strength, and example over the years. And to Hikitsuchi sensei for giving me a working sense of Osensei's philosophy.

Thank you to Mary Heiny sensei and Linda Holiday sensei for their friendship and support both in those early formative times in Japan and through the ensuing years.

Thank you to Professor Richard Bunch for sharing with us a wonderful training space lo these last 13(now) years.

And thank you to all those who have trained under me, with me at Aikido of San Jose, which will in the end be my body of work. Without you I am as lazy as anyone else. You gave and still give me an excuse to show up.

When in Japan I told Harry Concepcion sensei that the model for my work was that of a great(award winning) comic book writer, James Robinson. He took an obscure title and character, Starman, and made it his own and memorable. It ran 80 issues, and was so good it was in its entire run put out in hard cover. The formative first story arc(Sins of the Father) introduced threads that went all the way through the entire run and were neatly tied up at the end. In the last issue Robinson thanked his readers for supporting the title so that he could tell his story. My very first blog began with a phrase from Robinson's Starman, "And now a tale of times past…."……So I thank those who have given me a chance to show up and tell my story…..And as I told Harry in Tokyo, I'm not done…….

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-38290617572947240582014-01-27T18:43:00.000-08:002014-01-27T18:43:02.420-08:00Book Review: Chet Baker:The Missing Years by Artt Frank

It was my pleasure a couple of months ago to write a review of Linda Holiday sensei's book 'Journey to the Heart of Aikido'. And now I shift my focus to another book written by another dear friend. This is Artt Frank's memoirs of his time with jazz legend Chet Baker entitled 'Chet Baker: The Missing Years'. First I'll give my brief history with both Chet Baker and Artt Frank. I played trumpet middle school through high school. Even though I was first chair in the Soquel High School band I found out I was playing with a weird embrochure. My upper lip and tongue formed the embrochure. And when I tried to play with both lips in the embrochure, everything got unsteady. So when I went to the University of California Santa Cruz I pretty much gave up playing. I would try now and again but never was motivated enough to really practice enough to develop my embrochure the orthodox way. And I went on to become a martial arts instructor. But I always was somehow drawn to music. Finally in early early 2007 I was at Starbucks in San Jose and saw a cd for sale that featured Baker's music. I bought it and put it in my car stereo not expecting anything and drove away. The first song was 'Let's Get Lost' and the vocals blew me away. I had never heard anything like Baker's voice. And then I started to listen to his playing, and I was inspired to rent an instrument and try to play again. So after almost 40 years I tried to play with an orthodox embrochure and couldn't produce a sound. So I thought to myself this was going to end very quickly. But I put on some of Chet's music and when I was in the energy field of his playing I could somehow make a sound. And not only that after a few minutes I was free forming to his playing. This was something I absolutely could not do in high school. No written music, I couldn't play. So something was different.

So with the inspiration of Chet Baker's music I bought more of his cds and started practicing. And I wanted to know more about him, so I went online. I was disappointed to find that so much written about Baker the person had a negative slant to it. It didn't make sense. There was such a profound beauty and power to his playing and all I read about him was negative. So finally I came upon Artt Frank's website www.arttfrank.com. And I was happy to see someone who knew Baker personally talk about him in not only good terms, but with love and appreciation. So there was an email contact on the website and I emailed Artt and thanked him. He emailed me back and gave me his phone number and asked me to call him. I did and we began what is to me a very dear friendship. Artt has not only brought Baker the man, not the jazz legend, and made him alive for me, he has given me some great guidance in my playing and my approach to music. So both a mentor and a dear dear friend.

Now to the book. I must say that even though Artt has personally shared so much about his time with Chet with me, this book was still a revelation to me. I don't want to give too much away because I want people to read it for themselves. I was given an advance copy by the publisher. I am not sure of the release date, but there is talk of it being released in February. It would be fitting because Baker's signature song was 'My Funny Valentine'.

This book details the period of Baker's life that is completely unknown. In the mid-sixties Baker suffered a severe beating in which his remaining upper front teeth were knocked out. He had lost one at age 13. And both sides of his jaw suffered severe nerve damage. How he made his comeback and was able not only to play the trumpet again, but to play it even better is revealed here. And instrumental in that was the love and support he got from his wife Carol and from his friend and guardian angel Artt Frank.

So without giving too much away about the book, here are some odds and ends that are just the tip of the iceberg so to speak:

-Baker loved sweets. Especially sugar jelly doughnuts and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

-He had to deal with a lot of pain when he played. In the beating where he lost his 4 front upper teeth he suffered nerve damage to both sides of his jaw, so to play was to in some sense suffer. He took pain pills to play. And he had lower back pain from years of traveling from gig to next gig.

-Even though most people place Baker's comeback much later, his comeback was a gig in Los Angeles at a place called the Melody Room with Artt Frank on drums. And it was Artt's hard work and persistence that set the whole thing up.

-Artt goes into great detail about what set Baker's playing apart from other trumpet players both in tone and phrasing. And he offers a great insight when comparing Chet's playing to that of Miles Davis.

-Artt recounts Chet's process for freeforming, where and how he got his musical ideas. Not to be missed. I read it every day……

-Baker reveals to his good friend things about his childhood and history you won't find anywhere else. Also revealed is Baker's warm relationship with his wife Carol and his family life during this time when he was practicing for his comeback.

Several other things I will say. There is great attention to detail in the writing. Artt said being an ear and heart player he had to learn music just by hearing it. So he has a wonderful ability to remember things. And even though he has played with other great musicians, he began early to write things down about Chet Baker. So the dialogue is in Chet's words and in Artt's words.

And Artt not only doesn't dodge the drug issue, he takes it head on. But with incredible compassion and understanding. He personally questioned Chet about his drug use and challenged him on more than one occasion. But he was also there whenever Chet needed him. In some ways the book reads like a novel in that there is much suspense in it. It is a historical memoir so we all basically know how it turned out. But for example how Artt got Chet to his comeback gig at the Melody Room left me on the edge of my chair. Chet put Artt through a lot, but through it all everything was met with such devotion and love from Artt's side. And without Artt there would have been no comeback for Chet, and so much of his music would not have come into the world.

Being a martial artist I have seen speed. But Artt Frank when he plays the drums has the fastest hands I have ever seen. They move like flames. He once shared with me that Chet loved Bruce Lee and Japanese Samurai movies and that they would watch them into the wee hours. Ueshiba Osensei,the founder of aikido used the term takemusu  to describe his art. It means martial art that is tied to unlimited creativity, where movement are spontaneous and created appropriately in the moment. My sense is that Baker was doing a similar thing in music. His freeforming was really composing. He was a genius. And having the opportunity to see and even to play a bit along side Artt, I put him right next to Chet.

If you are someone with an interest in jazz history this is a must. If you would like to see how love, devotion and compassion from Artt , combined with steely determination from Chet resulted in overcoming impossible odds, this book is also a must. A great read for all.

jack wadahttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-29370340650367737902013-12-18T22:08:00.002-08:002014-01-06T18:40:45.130-08:00Freeforming with the Aikido StaffA well known musician once asked Chet Baker to teach him how to improvise. Baker's reply was:"Improvisation is governed by your imagination, or lack thereof." Now imagination may appear to be a mental term that has no place in martial arts. But coming from a deep feel place and allowing what's inside to come out for me is imagination as well. When all that is learned is a skilled routine and more and more skill is added to that routine, I don't find much imagination in that. So I have put together this video on freeforming with the aikido staff. Again, one of our main premises is that much of the founder's use of the staff was influenced by his study and talent with the spear. Let's look at the spear for a second. In ancient times, I believe on the battlefield the spear was the primary weapon. When the spear was lost or broken, the sword was drawn. And the spear when extended out gives on the benefit of length when facing a sword. And the tip makes it a cutting /piercing weapon as well.

Now the length of the spear gives one an advantage, but it can also be a disadvantage should someone get inside that length. And while strong to the direction that the spear is pointing it may leave its wielder weak to attacks from the side and back. So this might explain Osensei's use of spins and sweeps in his spear based staff work.. Especially when facing multiple attackers or someone moving in on you inside the reach of your spear, spins and sweeps seem very practical. And on the other hand one can view Osensei's staff work purely in terms of energy movement and see that he was moving in a double helixing field of energy. There appears to be an active invocation of the archetypes circle to center and center to circle in his movements.

I have put the freeforming into five levels:

Level one: Learn the set. I do not believe one has to learn the entire set to freeform. But this set includes the basic hand and body changes for ikkyo, nikyo, sankyo, yonkyo, and gokyo. When you are beginning to study a language it is crucial you start acquiring a vocabulary. So this set represents a good foundation of words that can be later freeformed. This set must NOT be learned in a rigid rehearsed manner. Also the second half will give you more of a feel for the beginnings of freeforming.

Level two: Even if one has not learned the entire set one can take pieces of it, add the spins and figure 8 connective movements and you have the beginnings of freeforming. In learning a language this is the equivalent of not just knowing some words, but now being able to go around. Ask directions. Order at restaurants. Buy items at a store.

Level three: Build on the first two levels and add sweeps and changes of direction. This is now the language equivalent of being able to have a conversation. Good morning. How are you? Did you sleep well? Yes I did.

Level four: As you build on the first three levels you will notice a change in energy. The movements broaden out and become fuller, not just study patterns. And you will notice movements suddenly organize into fours. Cut Cut Sweep Spin. Spin Sweep Cut Counter Cut.Etc......This is the beginnings of being able to express yourself in a language. The beginnings therefore of power.

Level five: Building on the first four levels and the broadness and power of level four, at five you notice intricate but not mental slashes cuts and piercings out of the broadness of four. Like a surgeon wielding a scalpel. This is where one cannot just express oneself, one can create. Both Joseph Conrad and Vladimir Nabokov wrote beautifully in English, and it was not their native tongue.

So here is the video:

Here is the first video, going through the five basic changes:

And here is the second video. It goes through the second half of the form and introduces the two transitions, ie spins and figure 8's:
 jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-66326318369147175952013-11-24T18:40:00.002-08:002013-11-24T18:40:42.566-08:00Fundraiser TrainingYesterday we held our annual 'Keep the Lights On' fundraiser training to help us pay our power bill. We had a great turnout so those of you who supported the event, thank you very much. The emphasis this year was on the aikido staff. For the past two years Nadeau sensei has had me do some staff work as a part of his 'Osensei Revisted' weekend held annually in May at Occidental, California. My connection and work with the staff began many years ago.

As a new student in fall of 1969 I would go with Robert Frager sensei to workshops he co-taught with Robert Nadeau sensei held at Nadeau sensei's dojo in Mt View. They had both been personal students of Osensei and would hold weekends once a month where we would do energy work and aikido. The highlight of those for me was when they would show a movie of Osensei. This was well before the sophisticated video equipment of today, so we were watching 8mm and super 8 home movies ,basically ,of the founder. And I loved the ones that showed him moving with the staff. It was as if he were in a spirally, double helixing field of energy and the field was as responsible for moving the staff as he was. It was inspiring to me that someone of his age (or any age for that matter) could move that dynamically.

Flash forward a bit. In the next couple of years I was introduced to a 21 movement staff form and a 31 movement staff from, both coming from top students of Osensei. Yet neither of these satisfied my urge to be able to do the staff like Osensei did. I went to Japan in 1973 and was taught the ikkyo bojitsu form by Hikitsuchi sensei. This was 35 movements. And Hikitsuchi sensei would also demonstrate nikyo, sankyo, and yonkyo, which contained more circular movements. But well good, this still left me unsatisfied. In 1974 Hikitsuchi sensei visited Northern California for most of the month of May, teaching at the various dojos that had sprung up in Oakland, San Francisco, Stanford University, and Monterey. But he was based in Santa Cruz and stayed with me at my parents' house on 41st Avenue. One thing he brought from Japan for me was a bo. Though most aikido stresses the shorter jo, the bo is what is taught in Shingu at the Kumano Juku Dojo. One day in the afternoon(there were no classes going on so we were at home) he suddenly emerged with a very serious expression and said, " Bo o motte koi!"....(Get your staff!)....So I ran and got mine. He said something to me that was a bit on the mysterious side. He told me that the Kami sama(the divine spirits) had ordered him to initiate me into the deeper and even hidden secrets of the staff. And in no uncertain terms he let it be known it was not something he himself wanted to do. So we went out on the lawn and he started to do the movements we associate with Osensei. He extended the staff upward forming a center, then started to make circular spiral movements around that center up and down.....Then he started to move in a very free but focused way alternating circular sweeps and spins with thrusting movements. I sort of got the feeling he might be opening up a space or gateway. Then he motioned for me to stand in that space he had opened. So I went in and just stood there, not knowing what I was supposed to do. Then he yelled at me to start moving. But I told him I didn't know the movements he did. He said just move. So I went through the 35 movements of the ikkyo form, probably in a very rigid and wooden manner. Then he said something like:"Yoosh!!! dekimashita!!!" (It's done!!!). And when I inquired what was done or taught he was mysteriously silent. So I pretty much put that out of mind for awhile because the visit was pretty much all-consuming. Wherever he went I drove. I would park and then rush into class to be on call to be his uke and to take a lot of falls. Mary Heiny sensei was there, but she had contracted a very bad case of poison oak, had an allergic reaction, and pretty much could just translate. So I was doing double duty as chauffeur and uke. So after one month of this ended, it was decided I would hit Japan and Shingu one more time on my way to going to Australia of all places(Melbourne, Monash University) to pursue a PhD. A story in itself for another day. But in that interim when I was still at home I would take my staff outside to that spot where everything had taken place, and it would just begin to move. And after awhile I could go anywhere and the staff would begin to move. So even though I have been introduced to a number of systems, that experience in the 'gateway' has been my real teacher.

So more recently I have been interested in passing on what I have gotten from that experience. Since it took place in 1974, I have been working on this stuff for 39 years. Hard to believe that much time has passed. So I have taken the 5 changes, (4 I learned from Hikitsuchi sensei and the last one in the nineties from Kato sensei), formatted them into a basic sequence, added two transition movements, and here we go. One other thing I have done is postulate that the circular movements of Osensei result from the fact that his staff movements came from spear. Even though you can use a staff with a spear concept, the staff has one very yang end(the cutting/piercing end) and the other more yin(wooden) one. Extending the point outward gives you an extended control over what is in front of you. But other attackers from other angles can get inside that. So the turning movements of the staff and also the turning movements of the body may on some level result from the spear being used to cover a variety of angles fluidly and swiftly. In Linda Holiday sensei's excellent book "Journey to the Heart of Aikido" Anno sensei shares that Osensei had a 3 sided spear point fashioned out of a staff and that especially in his later years, would always bring that with him when he traveled to Shingu. I recently had Glen Kimoto sensei carve two of those, one for myself and one for Nadeau sensei, just to see what the energy of such a construct would be like. This was also recommended to me many years ago by Koichi Barrish sensei, who told me he got an incredible ki flow from working with the 3 sided spear. I must agree. So the feel of my new set is based on the spear rather than just the staff.

Of course Osensei's use of the spear was much more than just martial. I believe it was alchemical and shamanistic. My recent work with Nadeau sensei researching Osensei's work has led me to believe that implicit in Osensei's staff work were such things as center circle and fire water steam. And of course the kototama or sound work would be there as well. In the following video I have put together a beginning set of movements that actually go through all the five changes. I have a second half where I will go through some set movement to get people to move a bit more Osensei-like with the staff. But the ultimate thing will be for those holding the staff will be to let go and allow the changes to come freely and naturally of their own accord.

I believe Osensei's use of the staff was like a great jazz player with a great classical background. And that aikido's use of staff has drifted more into pop, country western, pop, or rock. Again wonderful forms of expression but not what I'm looking for. And hope to be able to pass on. I was listening recently to some of Chet Baker's early work in Paris. It's amazing how closely he follows the chord patterns through the bass. And yet at the same time how free and original his own sound and playing are off that structure. I hope to be able to pass on some of that.

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jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-58847830998551197902013-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:002013-10-07T13:18:11.799-07:00Book Review

I certainly didn't see this coming 40 years ago. But as I look back it does make sense. Linda Holiday sensei's book 'Journey to the Heart of Aikido' recounts her experiences as an American woman training in a very traditional martial arts school deep in the country. If she had trained in Tokyo she would have been sheltered by the presence of many other foreigners. But she, another foreigner Dick Revoir, and I spent most of 1973 training at the Shingu dojo(Aikido Kumano Juku dojo) in Wakayama Prefecture. So I was privileged to share some of the experiences in the first part of the book. It certainly does bring back memories. Often times one defines oneself in terms of what is going on in one's immediate life and it is easy to lose perspective on other parts of one's journey. So going through the book has been somewhat of a homecoming for me as well. Sometimes we don't realize how events shape us. And certainly this was a major part of my life as well. So this book and recent events have certainly brought up a lot of memories, mostly jumbled, that I have been sorting through and dealing with.

But onto the book. Of course Linda Holiday sensei is a dear friend so how to properly frame this? First of all, it is a truly marvelous book. And in simple terms it is a good read. I have seen translations she has done from Japanese to English, but I don't believe I have ever experienced this much of her writing. I was very impressed and it took me by surprise. She tends to write factually with feeling. And she can turn a very elegant phrase as she goes. I was reminded that when I first met her she was a student at UC Santa Cruz and I believe an art major. So it is not surprising to see that art background now show in her writing.

The first part of the book is her journey. How she started aikido locally at a club at UC Santa Cruz. People do not realize that at that time Aikido was not well known at all. I had started at that same club a year earlier, which had been started by Robert Frager sensei, then a professor of psychology at Merrill College. He was at that time closely tied to Robert Nadeau sensei, who had a dojo in Mt View. So for me at that time Santa Cruz and Mt. View were the centers of the aikido universe. And so for her to go from that environment to training where she did was quite a shift. These days someone in her position would be thinking about what they were going to do after they graduated. In Shingu we would oftentimes commiserate about people we knew going on to other things after college and here we were facing daily training, life uncertain and focused on the next training, and trying to figure out the secret of irimi nage. So given the change in cultural values such a journey is well not impossible certainly unlikely given the change in cultural values. The seventies were a time where people were searching for themselves. I had the year before she started taken Frager sensei's class the Psychology of Far Eastern Religion and began aikido training and the combination of that certainly changed my life. I remember leaving for Japan with a one way ticket and roughly $600 and trusting implicitly that everything was going to work out. I knew it. And everything unfolded pretty much perfectly. So I'm sure it was very similar for her.

The rest of the book is about the teachings of Motomichi Anno sensei. When we first arrived in Shingu Hikitsuchi sensei was the head of the dojo, the dojo-cho. The next tier down were the shihan, which included Motoichi Yanase and Yasushi Tojima senseis as well as Anno sensei. They were both 6th dans. Anno sensei was a 7th. It is touching how he has survived and even thrived in the tests of time. He was when we met him in his very vigorous forties, as were the other two. Hikitsuchi sensei was in his mid-fifties. They were all very active. The training was intense and physical. There was basically one gear: all out. I recollect it took us a bit to adjust to this. I had been attracted to the spiritual message of aikido when I began in the States. That message was there but in a different form culturally as well as training wise. There was no set, think, then do. Everything was intense and in the moment. One's conduct and behavior off the mat were also seen as part of one's development and shugyo(spiritual advancement). It could get physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting. Somehow though Anno sensei, Yanase sensei, and Tojima sensei would pull you through with their sense of commitment and inner strength. And Hikitsuchi sensei was often times the catalyst for sudden situational changes that could also be spiritual lessons.

Osensei is a great part of this book. And Anno sensei's impressions of him are from someone who knew him directly. Please consider that Anno sensei was basically a factory worker in a small coastal town in very rural Japan with minimal education. Through his contact with Osensei and his own striving towards personal and spiritual development, you see not only the knowledge but the wisdom he has developed. And that wisdom is shared in this book. But you see now what is termed lineage. Osensei was quoted in the book as saying aikido didn't come from him, it came from kami(spirit, divine energy, very difficult to translate). So the transmission goes from kami to Osensei to individuals like Hikitsuchi sensei, Anno sensei, Yanase sensei, Tojima sensei to those of the generation of Linda sensei and even myself. The term in Japanese(which was clarified for me by Laurin Herr) is jikiden, which is direct transmission. I remember attacking Hikitsuchi sensei and feeling I was in an energy field within which time moved granularly, like the full moon cut in the Nemuri Kyoshiro films. That feeling is still in my body. And I try to transmit that to my students. This book came into being from Kami through Osensei to the rest of us. Perhaps the lasting message of the book is not to be content to simple bask in its beauty and the profound beauty of Anno sensei's heart, which, incidentally, comes so wonderfully across. As Anno sensei did, as Linda sensei did in her devotion of the art and to Annos sensei's teachings, put it in your body. Tojima sensei once told us, knowing we would go back to America at some point, not to try to memorize things. Trust the body. The body will remember.

Devotion was once described to me as when you love somebody or something the way you yourself want to be loved. And this is apparent in the book from kami to Osensei to Anno sensei to Linda sensei. And in that lies the real message of the book. The kami can be perceived as just forces or powers. Osensei went far enough on his journey he was able to find that kami is love. He passed that on to Anno sensei who has passed that on to Linda sensei. The training situation of the Shingu dojo in 1973 probably can't be duplicated. Time brings change. But I believe if the message of the book is deeply felt you can hook into this lineage. Anno sensei stresses effort. Put out the effort. Win over yourself. Don't give in to laziness or a sense of mental comfort. I interpret that as forging. Think of all the impurities in iron. Heating it in fire, shaping it, then immersing it in water. Time and time again. To me that is not effort. It is not giving up on that to which you are devoted no matter what. And continuing to go forth. As you can see, the book has inspired me as well……….

On Saturday October 5th the formal book launching was held in Santa Cruz. And yesterday October 6th there was training at Aikido of Santa Cruz. Anno sensei took the last class. We must not forget Mary Heiny sensei, who arranged for that seminal group of foreigners in 1973 to take up residence in Shingu and start training at the dojo. And upon coming back from Japan, Mary sensei was instrumental in setting up the Sister Cities connection between Shingu and Santa Cruz. She is also a very dear friend.

On a much sadder note I was informed that Tom Okamoto, one of the original students at Aikido of San Jose when the dojo opened in 1976, has passed on. He was in Hawaii and died in a swimming accident. A warm and vibrant man, he will be missed…….
jack wadahttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-29778561.post-40826150121727701382013-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:002013-08-31T22:38:15.221-07:00Japan Expo 2013Last weekend Aikido of San Jose participated in the first National Japan Expo, which was held locally at the Santa Clara Convention Center. We are honored to have been asked and our participation included two demos a day and manning a booth. Those who participated, thank you very much. It was a long and very full weekend made memorable by those who dedicatedly supported the dojo with their time and energy.

The convention center floor was very full of activity. We shared the martial arts proceedings with karate, judo, and Japanese sword. All in all I feel this was very important. It is important that aikido reach out to spread its message in different ways. We must continue to bring new energy in, and to do this we must continue to put good energy out. My thanks to Nadeau shihan who supported us by excusing us from the very important CAA(California Aikido Association) meeting and training. Since we joined in 2000 it is the first one I have missed.

One thing that was apparent to me is that Japan is a country that is very influenced by its mythology. Seeing countless young women and men in warrior costumes carrying swords and other weaponry made me aware how strong that mythological influence is. Japanese art, especially anime, is a world wide force. Sadly, since I don't watch tv( I used to catch what is modern on cartoon network), I was unfamiliar with most all of the characters people were being in their costumes. Aikido has a very strong mythological influence as well, and it is well it was given time at the event. The founder was born to parents who were thought too old to bear a male heir. But they went on a pilgrimage to the Hongu Grand Shrine, prayed for a son, and Morihei Ueshiba was born a short time later. Since one of the kami enshrined there is Susano the Storm God, Osensei heard from very early on he was a gift from the divine energies and a reincarnation of Susano. And his study of the Kojiki and Nihongi led him to frame his sense of the energies with the names and aspects of the Shinto Gods and Goddesses. Of course it is said that the Emperor descended from the lineage of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.

Our country is too young to have an established mythology like Japan and India, but my feeling is that mythology, being connected to archetypes, is reflected in popular culture. The films of Hayao Miyazaki, especially 'Princess Mononoke', have in them very strong mythological elements. And in our culture this is represented by super heroes and heroines. Among all the anime inspired costumes walked Captain America, Batman, Superman to name only a few. It was thus interesting to see this event connecting the mythologies of different cultures.

Of course one way of honoring these archetypal energies is to dress up in costume. That's why Halloween is so fun..........But I think it is time people realized that Aikido is one of the few things that can bring out and let one channel these energies in one's life. That is why I feel our participation was so vital. You can do more than dress up as a character you are drawn to. You can trace the energy that character represents and find it in your life, your world.

As you can see I found some stuff at the convention. Wonder Woman and Thor represent the mythological in both the Marvel and the DC universes. And I found She-ra, one of my all time favorites. My daughter and I used to watch her in the eighties......And the Bat shuriken was the first thing that caught my eye. I will have to practice......

Anyway, here is the video I just finished of our Saturday demo:

jack wadahttp://email@example.com