2018年6月28日木曜日

2018年寒稽古David Lynch

2018年寒稽古

Thoughts from the Southern Hemisphere Kangeiko in June
(by David Lynch)
On 29 June we at the Koru Dojo finished our week of early-morning Kangeiko!
It may be hard for Japanese readers to associate kangeiko with June, but please remember we are in the Southern Hemisphere with opposite seasons to Japan.
Although it doesn’t snow here in Whitianga, it has been quite cold enough for kangeiko, with heavy frost on the dojo roof and indoor temperatures around zero centigrade.
Only a handful of students attended the kangeiko, but they all seemed to enjoy the training and to benefit “spiritually” from the experience. There is something special about kangeiko that is hard to describe: perhaps it is a stripping back to basics through encountering the cold season “head-on”, and turning inward to find a rich source of energy.
There is no substitute for experience, and I feel it is the same with regard to the “spiritual” aspect of aikido which is probably more readily accepted in Japan than in the science-dominated West, although modern society may be reducing the difference.
I try to explain to my students that aikido comes from an ancient, highly sophisticated culture and has a psychological, or spiritual depth that is worth exploring, but it is not easy to convey this message, especially as I do not consider myself particularly qualified in matters of the spirit, and I dislike “preaching”. I feel it is mainly up to the individual to find the inner value of the training for himself, although we try to provide a suitable environment for that search.
Thanks to the lack of precedent for budo in this country aikido is often thought of in the single dimension of self-defence, even though I guess 99% of people have no need to physically defend themselves, and in any case we would have to admit than many aikido techniques are more of less obsolete, being designed for a different period in history.


Most aikido forms of “attack” could be criticised as impractical and anachronistic, in this day and age when samurai no longer strut the streets wearing two swords, and when the likelihood of being grabbed by the wrist in a “cross-over” grip would be as remote as the sudden appearance of a ninja in your bedroom.
Thus I find arguments over which technique is more “effective” than others to be rather pointless, so long as there is no reference to the inner teachings of the art—the coordination of mind and body, and the spiritual dimension. To overlook the inner teaching and focus solely on technique seems to me to be “putting the cart before the horse”.
I try to explain to my students that aikido provides us with tools for living a positive and healthy life, and has the further potential to teach us about ourselves and our relationship with Nature, but only if we are prepared to open ourselves to these aspects, accepting our vulnerability, without succumbing to fear or focussing too much on the need to be “strong”.
Egoistic attempts to make aikido training “realistic” seem to me to be highly unrealistic.

Should we not be a little bit ashamed of our ignorance of the deeper aspects of the art, rather than concerning ourselves with which dojo, or which individual is stronger or more effective?


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