by Régis Soavi

For the first time in its history, Tenshin, our dojo in Paris, is closed for an indefinite period, as are all the dojos in our school (Milan, Rome, Turin, Ancona, Toulouse, Amsterdam, etc.). This is all the more exceptional given that the dojo has never closed since it opened in 1985. There are sessions every morning, all year round, regardless of vacations or public holidays.

The Itsuo Tsuda School is a special school because we practice Aikido, of course, but also Katsugen Undo (Regenerative Movement), which can be practised alone at home. And for a small number of students interested in the ancient koryū that are at the origin of our art, there are also sessions dedicated to the weapons of the Bushūden Kiraku Ryū school. This school, which includes many kata, has in its teaching curriculum the practice of bare-handed jūjutsu, Naginata, Kusarigama, Bō, Tessen, etc. There is also work on other techniques that come from the two-sword schools, Niten Ichi Ryū.

Despite the closure of dojos, as far as I know, almost no one has stopped practising. Some people practice weapon kata at home, but above all, we are fortunate to have a first part in the Aikido sessions (a kind of Aiki-Taisō) that my master, Tsuda sensei, had practised with O-sensei, and which he already called “solitary practice.” This first part lasts about twenty minutes and can be done in a small space (equivalent to a single tatami mat). What differentiates it from gymnastics is that it focuses on breathing and the circulation of ki in the body. In some ways, it resembles the exercises that some Tai Chi practitioners do, with its own specific characteristics, of course. This solitary practice can therefore be done every day. I know that practitioners also take advantage of this break to read or reread the books of Tsuda Itsuo (nine books published by Le Courrier du Livre – Paris) but also, as I have often recommended, the great authors and philosophers such as Chuang Tzu, Li Tzu, Sun Tzu, or even The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.

While no practice is obviously a ready-made solution to the situation we are experiencing, it is clear to me that having a daily practice helps us to stay on track internally. Tatsuzawa Kunihiko sensei, 19^th master of Bushūden Kiraku Ryū, a school with over four hundred years of history, talks about Kakugo 覚悟, which is usually translated as determination or clarity in the face of a situation. His personal interpretation struck me as relevant in the light of the crisis we are currently experiencing. When asked, ‘Why do people still practice such an ancient art?’ he replied, ‘It is to achieve stability of the heart (Kokoro). This is what Kakugo originally meant. Kakugo is difficult to translate into English. It means conceiving of oneself without dreams or fear. Becoming, having the mentality of Nec spe nec metu in Latin. Without hope of reward and without fear of punishment.’¹Tatsuzawa Kunihiko, « Le sens de la beauté » [‘A Sense of Beauty’], interview by Yann Allegret, Karaté Bushido N° 371 (October 2008) Practice, even when solitary, helps us to regain our breath and inner calm.

Similarly, philosopher Hans Jonas – whom I have sometimes quoted in my lectures – seems to me to be particularly relevant in these uncertain times. On the occasion of the Rio de Janeiro environmental summit in 1992, the newspaper Der Spiegel published an interview entitled Closer to a fatal outcome. When asked by the journalist about the plundering of the planet and whether he thought it was possible to change our way of life, he replied, unfortunately already visionary: ‘Paradoxically, in my view, hope lies in education through catastrophes.’²Hans Jonas, Une éthique pour la nature [An Ethics for Nature], pub. Flammarion (Paris), 2017, p. 39 Nevertheless, there remains this imperative that concerns us all, which he expresses as follows:

‘Act in such a way that the effects of your actions are compatible with the permanence of an authentically human life on Earth.’³Hans Jonas, The Imperative of Responsibility, 1979

Afterword, January 2021

Ten months have passed, ten months of restrictions, ten months of a nameless night, with no end in sight. The rise of an insidious form of authoritarianism on health grounds that is currently taking place is leading us all to a form of self-censorship, so as not to hinder the resistance that has been put in place almost everywhere in this “new world” that is far from being a “new world.”

The stability of the “Kokoro” is maintained by our practices; without them, tensions would threaten to overwhelm us and we could succumb to the surrounding atmosphere.

A different atmosphere

All our dojos have been able to stay open and pay their rent despite being closed for months, thanks to the unique association model they have adopted since their creation, some as far back as the 1980s. The dojos belong to all their members, who are like “room-mates,” so it is of their own free will that they come together to keep these places of practice alive. The members pool what is necessary, without depending on any subsidies, municipal facilities, or even customers. Thus, this mode of operation, which usually seems quite fragile, is in fact proving to be quite resilient in the period we are going through.

The first part of our Aikido sessions, “individual breathing practice,” continued everywhere, depending on the weeks when it was legally permitted, sometimes in parks, as in Milan, to recreate the missing connection, or else at home or at the homes of friends who were already practitioners.

Everyone was able to continue practising Katsugen undo (Regenerative Movement) at home, alone or with their family, as they do whenever they are unable, for one reason or another, to come to the dojo. This practice, which allows the body’s innate movement to express itself, contributes to the overall balance of the individual. By keeping the involuntary system active, it promotes early reactions, accelerates and amplifies the regulatory aspect of the body’s functioning.

Contacts and exchanges between members, both nationally and internationally, have enabled the circulation of information and references, texts and books, emphasising and thus activating once again the cultural role of dojos. No one could have predicted what we are currently experiencing, but perhaps this excerpt from a poem by Estelle will calm everyone’s strength and guide them towards Non-doing, Wu-wei:

In a world undergoing destruction,
Building places where another space-time reigns,
Where another relationship with life is created,
Where beings can flourish. […]
The only way not to sink is to keep swimming.

Demori⁴Demori means “I remain” in Cathar (Occitan). Estelle Soavi, « Bâtir » [‘To Build’], Utomag N°4 (June 2020) [online: http://estellesoavi.fr/utomag/ ]

Régis Soavi

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Article by Régis Soavi (on the topic “Coronavirus, thoughts on the situation”) written in March 2020 for the review Aikido Journal n° 74

Régis Soavi

Notes

• 1
  Tatsuzawa Kunihiko, « Le sens de la beauté » [‘A Sense of Beauty’], interview by Yann Allegret, Karaté Bushido N° 371 (October 2008)
• 2
  Hans Jonas, Une éthique pour la nature [An Ethics for Nature], pub. Flammarion (Paris), 2017, p. 39
• 3
  Hans Jonas, The Imperative of Responsibility, 1979
• 4
  Demori means “I remain” in Cathar (Occitan). Estelle Soavi, « Bâtir » [‘To Build’], Utomag N°4 (June 2020) [online: http://estellesoavi.fr/utomag/ ]