Category Archives: Dojo Scuola della Respirazione

Dojo Scuola della Respirazione, EN, FR, IT, Non classé

Bamboo Bends but Does Not Break

This old Chinese proverb is the source of many martial arts, both Chinese and Japanese, but we often find it very difficult to live by it on a daily basis. Our society leads us to be either dominant or dominated, strong or weak, fighting or giving up. Staying the course without being rigid, bending without breaking: this is what the members of the Scuola della Respirazione dojo in Milan have had to face for three years. Since 2020, they have been doing everything they can to buy the dojo premises, which are up for sale. A sale that threatened the very existence of the dojo. But as Itsuo Tsuda sensei said, ‘sometimes it is better to fail than to succeed’1Itsuo Tsuda, One, Foreword, Yume Editions, 2016, p. 9, and as in ancient tales, it is when all is lost that we discover ourselves.

The story of a ‘failure’ by Eloïse Soavi

Three years! 1,095 days, 26,298 hours, 1,576,800 minutes. Our entire being focused on a single goal: to purchase the premises located at Via Fioravanti 30. In this, we failed. But we gained something else, something far more valuable. Although the beginning was difficult and many arguments broke out over the slightest thing, the daily obstacles in our path eventually erased these differences. Just as the river polishes pebbles by knocking them together every day, this daily struggle punctuated by setbacks eventually smoothed us out. On 30 October 2023, the purchase of the premises located at Via Conte Verde 4 in Milan was signed. Work has begun and, drop by drop of sweat, it is time to conquer our new space and build our new dojo.

Click on the arrows to scroll.

The exterior and interior in their original condition

The first blows of the hammer

Creating the changing rooms, mezzanine and staircase

Plumbing, electrical work and tiling

The future Workshop of Painting-Expressing

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Notes

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    Itsuo Tsuda, One, Foreword, Yume Editions, 2016, p. 9
Dojo Scuola della Respirazione, EN, Non classé

The Only Thing that Doesn’t Change is that Everything Changes All the Time

Thunderclap in the daily life! The place in which the dojo “Scuola della Respirazione” has been for thirty years in Milan is for sale. As a result, the existence of the dojo is threatened.

Five years after the tour de force of the dojo Yuki Hō in Toulouse, once again one of our places of practice is in danger. Like Toulouse, the dojo is a beautiful space located in a quiet courtyard, within a district of the city now quite popular and in this case too, the selling price is very high.Yet, rather than giving up, we have taken this challenge and turned it into an opportunity.

The dojos are associations, with modest funds, but we cannot imagine these places disappearing, swallowed up by real estate developers. We must therefore look for solutions, pool them, move heaven and earth in order to buy the place ourselves. Starting from 0 a few months ago, most of the capital was raised by private individuals and a bank loan. Today, we are not far from being able to make this dream come true. To achieve this goal, the dojo Scuola della Respirazione is starting a crowdfunding and needs help.

Each participation counts, and each of us has the chance to change the course of history so that these places of practice, exchanges, culture, these places of life remain in the cities. Some defeatists think that we act like Don Quixote who leads useless combat, but the experience of the dojo Yuki Ho in Toulouse has shown us that it is possible, if we all get into it, brick by brick. ‘The only thing that doesn’t change is that everything changes all the time,’ says the Book of Transformations, the Yi Jing, and in the hexagram K’an – The Abysmal, Water – says: Water sets the example for the right attitude under such circumstances. It flows on and on, and merely fills up all the places through which it flows; it does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge, and nothing can make it lose its own essential nature. It remains true to itself under all conditions.

Participate in this adventure by allowing this purchase: go to the crowdfunding page.

Articles_Blog, Dojo Scuola della Respirazione, IT

Presentation of The Path of Less

Conferenza 2

The magnificent Grechetto Hall of Palazzo Sormani, in Milan, which has hosted, on Friday, 12 Feb. at 6am, the presentation of the book The Path of Less by Itsuo Tsuda, published [in Italian] by Yume Editions.

Cover_ItsuoTsuda_LaViaDellaSpoliazione_WEBThe event, organized by the Scuola della Respirazione in collaboration with the Central Municipal Library of Milan, took place in front of a large and attentive audience. After a short video presentation on the philosophy and thought of Master Tsuda, some practitioners of the Scuola della Respirazione read a selection of excerpts from The Path of Less.

Later, Régis Soavi, host of the evening, by answering to the questions of the interested public, talked about his experience on the importance of the practice philosophy and Itsuo Tsuda‘s books may have in everyday life.

The organization of the evening has involved a lot of us and it was an interesting exchange with the library staff, who contributed to the unfolding of the evening with care and sensitivity.

[Click on photos to enlarge]

 

Aïkido, Articles_Blog, Dojo Scuola della Respirazione, EN, FR, IT

spot workshop 2016

We are pleased to propose this short video showing the work of Régis Soavi.

A work that he keeps on doing for over thirty years, during workshops and in the daily practice.

You can find all the dates of the next workshops on this page: https://www.ecole-itsuo-tsuda.org/en/stages/ (subtitle available in French, click the first icon to the right of the video)

© Itsuo Tsuda School 2016

Filming and production by Valentina Mele and Marta Andreose