Above the clouds, there is the immutable sky, the heart of pure sky, Tenshin.
(Itsuo Tsuda)

 

In these troubled times [March 2020 lockdown], when our daily lives have been disrupted and practising in dojos is impossible, we would like to remind you that it is still possible to continue your individual research and practice.

Here are a few suggestions for not just enduring the constraints, but taking advantage of them to do things that we don’t necessarily do on a regular basis.

Practice

Every day in our dojos, we do what we call “respiratory practice”, a set of movements codified by Itsuo Tsuda based on what O-sensei Ueshiba practised. While many today would call it Aiki-Taisō, Itsuo Tsuda referred to it as ‘solitary practice.’ So, although we do it in groups in the dojos, it is possible to do it at home, every day if you wish. It does not require much space and can be done silently.

It is also possible to practise katas and suburis with bokken or jō. You can also do visualisation work by repeating movements slowly, whether in the role of tori or uke (with your eyes closed if this helps you to block out your surroundings).

Katsugen Undō can of course be practised individually. If you have already done an introductory seminar, you will be familiar with the triggering and stopping exercises.

Deepening your practice in other ways

We also recommend that you take the time to read, or reread, the foundation of our school, the teachings of Master Tsuda. He wrote nine books, all translated in English and published by Yume Editions, as well as a posthumous book, Heart of Pure Sky.

In addition, on the ITS blog you will find numerous resources with articles on Aikido, Seitai, calligraphy, Japan, the concept of body, etc. They are also sorted by category under the ‘deepen’ tab on the website.

Several videos are also available on our YouTube channel.

And why not take the opportunity to discover Yashima magazine, in this March 2020 issue (No. 7). You will find two articles by Régis Soavi sensei: ‘Reishiki: a Music Score’ on the theme of etiquette in Aikido, and ‘Seitai’, an introductory article on this subject.