Shinichi Tohei's Ki Weblog

Develop an eye

畠山渉 — 2010-07-07T10:31:59+09:00

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to apply the Ki principle (mind moves the body) which is the fundamental of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.

It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.

Develop an eye

This time, the article is for instructors and members who train Shinshin Toitsu Aikido.

Some time ago, there was a special TV program about a teen-aged girl who was working in a high-class Japanese-style restaurant. She had the desire to become a chef and have her own restaurant in the future. Therefore, she wanted to work in this high-class restaurant. However, at first, she was not able to get the job. Even so, she kept returning to the restaurant and repeating her desire to work, repeating anxiously, “I will work very hard at whatever you give me to do”.

Finally she was given an opportunity, and was permitted to work as a cleaner. She went earlier than any other workers every day and sought to do any type of work, of course including the cleaning job. And she learned more through each task she performed.

One day, her hard work caught the chief chef’s eye. He began to take her to the market with him every morning. He did not explain anything to her, but went around and chose ingredients to be used in the restaurant. She watched carefully and took notes. Gradually, she developed the eye to judge which ingredients were best.

Later, the interviewer asked her on the TV program, “Why did you want to work in this restaurant in the first place?”

She replied,

“I wanted to develop my eye to judge what is first-class”.

“What is first-class” is, in this case, not only the ingredients, but also includes any other aspects such as plates, bowls, and services. What she tried to do at the beginning was to develop an eye. I was impressed that this teen-aged girl had such an idea.

Koichi Tohei Sensei’s book “Shinshin Toitsu Aikido” was a text book for training Shinshin Toitsu Aikido, first published in 1972. Recently, this book has been re-printed for those who do not have the original book. This new printing includes a DVD of Koichi Tohei Sensei’s Shinshin Toitsu Aikido performances when he was 49 years old. I recommend that everybody watch this film repeatedly.

Let us assume we are going to take a long journey in the future. If the goal is clear, we can proceed toward it step by step. However, if the goal is unclear, we do not know where to go and will get lost.

It is the same with the training of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido.

By watching repeatedly the DVD until Koichi Tohei Sensei’s every motion is seared into your memory, this will enter into your subconscious mind. In other words, in this way you will make your goal clear and you will get closer to the goal step by step in your daily training. Without this, you will not know where to go and get lost.

Sometimes I receive questions like,

“Is this not too high a level for beginners?”

However, this is not correct. Because you are the beginner, you should begin by seeing the very best one. It may be too late to see this after you become a senior.

This book (including the DVD) is valuable as historic material, and also the contents of the book and DVD relate directly to our daily training. “Without a clear purpose” or by “following your own self-satisfaction”, you can not master this training. I would like you to develop your own eye by studying this book and DVD.

Before beginning her long journey as a chef, the teen-aged girl made clear at the beginning that ______________. It has been several years since the TV program. I wonder how she is now?

It is very interesting.

[Subject]

・ What phrase could be inserted in the underlined blank above? There are countless answers.

Relaxing

畠山渉 — 2010-06-19T05:45:09+09:00

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to apply the Ki principle (mind moves the body) which is the fundamental of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.

It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.

Relaxing

“Relaxing” is important not only for performing the techniques of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido but also for performing the other styles of Budo and various sports. This is because by “relaxing”, we will be in the state of mind and body unification, our posture will become stable, and we will be able to move our body in the ways that we require.

However, some people misunderstand the training of “relaxing”. Most of these are from the younger generation in Japan. In the beginning, before we train “relaxing”, we tend to engage in our practice with seriousness, in earnest, and even desperately. Consequently, our body may get tense at the beginning. However, as our training progresses, we realize that we do not need to use any extra physical power and we begin to understand the true meaning of relaxation.

In this age of abundance, people do not need to struggle to get food. Therefore there are many young people who live with only a minimum of effort. As a result, there is an illness among the young that we could call “being unable to be in earnest”. If we teach these young people to relax, they may misunderstand “relaxing” to mean “slacking off”. If they get used to “slacking off” (cutting corners) and are lazy even though they are young, they will surely have a lot of trouble in the future.

The instructors of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido should be aware of the above tendency when teaching the younger generation. I teach students to “train in earnest” even though they may get physically tense at the beginning. Subsequently I teach them how to “relax”. For those who are already training in earnest, such as top athletes, I teach “relaxing” from the beginning and they get the point. The way of teaching differs depending on the students.

The other misunderstanding is the idea that “physical power itself” is bad. We use some physical power when just sitting. We cannot even sit without any physical power. The greater power we have, the heavier the objects we can move. What is bad is not the “physical power”, but the “tension”. If we have tension in our body, we will lose the state of mind and body unification, posture will become unstable, and as a result we will not be able to move our body in the ways that we want.

For engaging in sports, it is necessary to train the muscles required to perform each kind of sport and to have greater physical power. However, adding extra power in each motion beyond what is necessary to complete the movement is not needed. In such a case, “relaxing” should be learned.

“Relaxing” is also different from a state of collapse. We can do nothing when in a state of collapse. This misunderstanding is quite common.

“Relaxing” is, in other words, to __________ . It has a very deep meaning.

The following is the subject for this month.

[Subject]

・ What phrase could be inserted in the underlined blank above? There are countless answers.

Continue to Learn

畠山渉 — 2010-05-27T20:58:03+09:00

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to apply the Ki principle (mind moves the body) which is the fundamental of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.

It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.

Continue to Learn

I teach in seminars and give lectures many times throughout a year. All weekends and national holidays are used to teach, and only a few weekdays are left for me as non-teaching days.

Consequently, it is absolutely necessary to set aside time for my own training and learning in addition to the time I spend for teaching. The time for teaching is like the small, visible segment of an iceberg, and it is necessary for all of us to have a greater amount of time for learning, which is like the invisible segment of an iceberg.

For example, let’s talk about “the way of communicating”.

“If you want to become able to communicate well, go to the Yose (a vaudeville theater, where comic storytellers perform)”. This is what I was told by Koichi Tohei Sensei when I was an Uchideshi. Fortunately, there was a Yose called Shinjuku Suehirotei near the

Tokyo

main office where I trained at that time, and by saving my money carefully I was able to attend many performances.

In the Yose, inexperienced performers show up during the first part of the show. The audience often realizes that the inexperienced performers do not have much confidence, so the audience becomes quiet and shows no reactions. As time goes on, the experts show up. The moment that the particularly great performer shows up (more correctly, even before he shows up), something changes. The atmosphere in the audience is also different. We can only feel such an atmosphere in the theater, not by watching TV or listening to CDs.

At the beginning, I could only think “This is fun!”. As time went on, I began to wonder “Why is this best performer so much more fun?” and “What exactly is the different from the other performers?” And I considered “the difference from myself” and recorded what I found in my notebook.

Finally, I found that the very best performer takes great care in such details as his eyes, facial expression, motions, pauses between words, loudness of voice, and so on. And, to this day, I apply what I learned there in my teaching. Of-course I am neither a professional comic storyteller nor a professional entertainer, so making my audience laugh is not my purpose. So even though the practices of a good comic storyteller may seem unrelated to us, there is a similarity with our work of “communicating to others”.

I repeated my usual practice of “watching carefully”, “thinking it over”, “practicing” and “verifying”, and out of this I came to my current way of teaching. Before, it was hard for me to teach many people at the same time. However, now I can teach thousands of people. I understand well the real meaning of Koichi Tohei Sensei sending me to Yose.

Several years later, there is still one problem waiting for me.

Now I teach my uchideshies “how to communicate” and what I have learned from Yose in the past. However, there are still those who do not improve well. These are the ones who do not go to Yose, while offering some excuse or other. It is probably because their learning attitude is “being taught”, rather than “seeking”. While we have the attitude of just being taught, nothing will be mastered. Something can be mastered only by repeatedly “watching carefully”, “thinking it over”, “practicing” and “veryfying”.

Anyway, in order to teach people as well as master the techniques of Shin-Shin-Toitsu-Aikido, it is essential to continue to learn. If I do not continue to learn, I should not be in a position to teach. “Only those who continue to learn can teach”, this is the general principle for the instructors of Ki Society.

Those who continue to learn can be called ____________.

Let us continue to learn together.

The following is the subject for this month.

[Subject]

・ What phrase could be inserted in the underlined blank above? There are countless answers.

Seisei-Ruten (The universe is constantly growing and moving)

畠山渉 — 2010-04-09T17:40:22+09:00

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to apply the Ki principle (mind moves the body) which is the fundamental of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.

It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.

Seisei-Ruten (The universe is constantly growing and moving)

The world is constantly changing. At the same time, the status of our mind and body is also constantly changing.

There are people who feel they are very much aware of the changes in the outer world, but may not be aware of the changes of their inner world.

Let us assume that one day we felt a particular meal was not so good when we ate in a restaurant we usually frequent. That may have been because the quality of the restaurant became lower, or because the condition of our health was not so good. We should not forget the fact that we ourselves are constantly changing.

It is the same as the feeling of gratitude.

Let us assume somebody took care of us very well one day. We would be full of gratitude in our mind just after the receipt of this great assistance. However, that feeling of gratitude can change over time. It can fade, or sometimes even be completely forgotten. This is not a moral matter, but is natural to human beings. In order to maintain a feeling of gratitude, it is necessary for us to make some effort and have technique.

One method is to write a note about the feeling we have when we received this great help from someone, and to re-read that note regularly. Another way is to remember the feeling whenever we write a Happy New Year card or seasons greetings to the person who generously helped us in the past.

Only when we make such efforts and take the necessary actions, can we maintain a feeling of gratitude. It is important not to allow our feelings to fade as time goes on.

Let us assume that we generously cared for a friend. This care may have been simply from a genuine giving spirit, with no desire for reward. However, our attitude towards this person may change as time goes on. When we forget the gratitude that was felt by the one who we took care of, we may then require a reward in return for what we gave.

Only when we make some effort and take the necessary actions, can we maintain a sense of genuine kindness towards those who received help from us in the past. In this way, it is the same whether receiving great care from some one, or giving generously to someone.

It is a similar case when dealing with our motivation.

Beginning in April, there are many language courses offered on NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai - the Japanese news organization). At this time, many people purchase a text book and have a great motivation to learn. However, they often loose that wonderful motivation within one month! Our motivation is always big at the beginning, but it can fade as time goes by, unless we do something to maintain it. In order to keep our motivation, it is necessary to make an effort and have some techniques.

Most people have the capacity to grow and improve, however, there is often no effort or technique made, and if that is the case, they will drop the subject they have been engaged in half way through.

The specific efforts and techniques to maintain strong motivation are _______________ .

It is absolutely important to understand the fact that the status of our mind and body is constantly changing.

The following is the subject for this month.

[Subject]

・ What sentence could be inserted in the underlined blank above? There are countless answers.

SHINICHI TOHEI Sensei Profile (2010）

ki-aikido — 2010-04-01T00:00:00+09:00

Information from Ki Society H.Q.

Shinichi Tohei Sensei was born in 1973. He graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology, school of Bioscience and Biotechnology.

Shinichi Tohei Sensei has been learning Ki Principles through Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido (Ki-Aikido) from Master Koichi Tohei, Aikido 10th dan and Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido Founder, since childhood.

Now, as successor to Master Koichi Tohei, he teaches Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido in Japan and throughout the world. By using Ki principles in the development of human resources and communication skills, he also teaches business personnel, executives, and educators at seminars and workshops.

Recently he accepted an offer from a Major League Baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to teach Ki Principles to their players. He has been teaching Ki Principles in special training camps to further the players’ development since January 2010.

He is the master teacher of Keio University Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido club. Also, he teaches Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido in general education at Keio University as a part-time instructor.

Shinichi Tohei Sensei’s responsibilities include:

Chief Instructor and President of Ki Society H.Q.
Part-time Instructor at Keio University

More than 50,000 people study Shin-shin Toitsu Aikido in the world. We all walk the same road in overcoming the differences of languages, cultures and religions.

Life Power

畠山渉 — 2010-03-15T05:32:55+09:00

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to apply Ki principle (The mind moves the body) which is the fundamentals of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.

It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given in each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.

Life Power

All human beings have the power of sustaining life that is called “Life Power”.

Due to the development of medicines, many lives can be saved these days. Medicines can be absolutely necessary for our daily life, however, many people are too dependant upon medicine.

When I taught a director of a major pharmaceutical company in the past, he told me that regardless of the type of medicine, whether it be newly developed medicine, Chinese traditional herbal medicines, supplements, or otherwise, all of these have side effects. When we take something (not only medicine) inside our body, we will always have not only the desired effects but also unwanted effects. Thus, even if we are talking about food, it is necessary to take a well-balanced meal.

“The point of medicines is sales, not cures”.

I heard that many people working in the pharmaceutical industry have such an idea, which is very frightening.

No matter how powerful the medicine, there will be no actual effect unless people have their life power. What cures the illness and the injury is our life power. It is not the medicine itself that cures the illness or the injury.

Life Power is not visible and therefore not easily acknowledged. So we may become dependant on medicines.

A few days ago, one student caught a cold and took medicine immediately. When I asked him why he took the medicine, he told me that he was going out so he wanted to cure the cold immediately by taking medicine. Here, the concept of “Life Power” is totally missing. He is young, so if he had a good rest for both mind and body so that his life power became lively and active, he would have become well in a day or two. However, he has actually had a cold over two weeks long.

One of the factors contributing to making our life power vigorous is “the circulation of blood”.

Generally speaking, when we are out of condition, some parts of our body become stiff or painful. In many cases, the stiffness and pain are related to each other. When we have severely stiff shoulders, our shoulders and neck can become as hard as steel. Because of this stiffness, the blood vessels that carry blood through this area to our head are limited, and as a result we will feel ill or have a headache.

One of the hygiene methods that came out of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido is Kiatsu-ho. When our stomach is out of condition, we naturally put our hand on the stomach. In Japanese, this has been called Teate (“touching by hand” is the literal translation, and “treatment” is the free translation) from long ago. Kiatsu-ho is the same thing.

By placing the tip of the finger that is extending Ki to the body part that is in bad condition, the stiffness becomes soft and the pain gets eased. Since the stiffness becomes soft the circulation of the blood becomes active, and as a result the Life Power becomes vigorous. Kiatsu-ho is effective in many cases, such as the easing of stiff shoulders, lower back pain, and the recovery from bone fracture and bruise.

Everybody has Ki and can apply it. Ki is not given only to exceptional persons and is not an exceptional ability.

Let me repeat the issue here that medicine is a helpful tool for our daily life, however, the problem is that people tend to become dependant on medicine and forget the importance of Life Power itself. Kiatsu-ho makes our life power vigorous.

Other than Kiatsu-ho, there are many important things that help to make our Life Power vigorous. For example ______________ .

Let us activate our Life Power and go ahead to the new season!

The following is the subject for this month.

[Subject]

・ What sentence will be inserted in the underlined space ________? There are countless answers.

The Ability to Learn

畠山渉 — 2010-02-06T16:09:24+09:00

A Short Instruction:

The purpose of this article is to apply Ki principle (The mind moves the body) which is the fundamental of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido to our daily life.

It is not enough just to read, but it is important to positively practice the subject given in each month. Learning through practice will be your lifelong asset.

The Ability to Learn

A few days ago, I dined with a university professor who is a close friend. I teach a liberal arts class at the university, therefore we discussed the ability of university students to learn as an important subject common to each of us.

It is said now, and has been said in the past, (in a negative manner),

“It is not acceptable how young people behave these days…”

Indeed, I am sometimes surprised at the ideas held by students. A common understanding between the professor and me is the fact that university students nowadays lack the ability to think for themselves.

To the question “1+1=?,” the answer “2” will be concluded. However, for the real problems we face in our daily life, there is no fixed answer like this. Therefore, what we must do is discover the solution to life’s questions by ourselves.

Sometime ago, one university student consulted with me about his career. He began by asking,

“What kind of career should I pursue?”

I am not a fortune-teller so I did not have a fixed answer for him. According to his story, he entered the university due to his parents’ strong encouragement. However, he could not decide about his career for the future before his graduation, so he entered a post graduate school at the university. I was surprised at his lack of ability to think for himself, as he is a post graduate student and already in his mid-twenties.

Under the current education system in

Japan

, students are encouraged to seek fixed and prepared answers to problems. This kind of problem solving will not help these students to successfully engage in a future that is uncertain.

“Should I marry this man?“

This is the most extreme question I have ever been asked. I can only advise but I can never decide on behalf of any student regarding such a question.

I sometimes hear the same type of questions in a dojo.

“How can I perform this technique?”

This is the type of question that reveals the questioner is not willing to think for himself, and this will not support further learning. This type of student does not try to think for himself, but instead just seeks the answers easily and without effort. If you want to ask the above question to support further growth, what should that question actually be?

When I teach, I only give some hints to improve the students, so that they can learn by their own thinking and practice. Then, the important practice of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido becomes their ability to think for themselves, find a good method, and master that. In other words, their overall ability to learn will improve in this way. The ability to learn is applicable to every situation, including jobs. If we are given the answer (which looks like the answer) by the others and stop thinking for ourselves, we are not able to gain the ability to learn.

Not only the instructors of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, but also people who play a leading role in every field, should once again consider what the teaching is.

Teaching is ______?_________. The answer here is the way the ability of students to learn will be improved.

The following is the subject for this month.

[Subject]

・ What sentence will be inserted in the underlined blank above? There are countless answers.

Teaching for Los Angeles Dodgers

畠山渉 — 2010-01-28T18:13:56+09:00

As I was formally requested by LA Dodgers, I went to teach the players of LA Dodgers in the Dodger Stadium from 11^th January 2010 (Monday) to 20^th January 2010 (Wednesday).

Dodger Stadium is the baseball stadium where the final game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic was held. It is historical and very beautiful stadium.

In the original plan, Mr. Tatsuro Hirooka, a baseball commentator, was supposed to come with me, however, due to certain reasons, his attendance to the camp was cancelled so I went to teach without him.

Fortunately, the teaching this time has finished with a great success and I have received highest appreciation from the players and coaches.

It seems that the mind and body unification, which is the fundamental principle of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, will take root in LA Dodgers from now on.

I sincerely appreciate Mr. Tatsuro Hirooka and those concerned with LA Dodgers, for having given such a great opportunity for me.

Due to the agreement with LA Dodgers, I am afraid to inform you that the list of people who participated in my teaching, and the details of the teaching are strictly forbidden to be disclosed.

Thank you very much for your kind understanding.

Birthday of Koichi Tohei Sensei

畠山渉 — 2010-01-27T18:24:06+09:00

The date of 20^th January was the birthday of Koichi Tohei Sensei. Fortunately, he could have his 90 years old birthday with healthy condition.

We have received many people’s congratulations for his birthday. Thank you very much for your kind messages.

Kagamibiraki at Ki Society H.Q.

畠山渉 — 2010-01-24T15:37:49+09:00

Ki Society H.Q., of which I am a president, held the “Ki Society H.Q. Kagamibiraki” on 3^rd January 2010 (Sunday).

Kagamibiraki is the most important event held at Ki Society H.Q. and many instructors gathered from all over Japan.

In the early morning, with temperatures at two degrees below zero, we have purified both our mind and body in the cold water basing training (Senshin no Gyo). Kagamibiraki (Opening of the new big Sake bottle) was held and the Sake and Zouni (rice cakes boiled in vegetable soup) were served thereafter.

The main event of Kagamibiraki is “Syugyo Tassei Kigan Shiki (The ceremony praying for success in our training)”.

In this ceremony, I offered a prayer wishing the whole members of Ki Society in the world the successful achievement and safety of their training through the year.

Afterwards, the recommended Dan promotion was announced and I awarded these certificates to the respective members. The following is the members who were promoted by the year’s recommendation.

Nanadan (7^th dan)

Mr. Kenji Tomita (Tessinkan dojo / Kanagawa)

Rokudan (6^th dan)

Mr. Kunio Urushibata (Issinkan dojo / Kanagawa)

Mr. Nobuhiro Fukuda (Yushinkan dojo / Miyagi)

Godan (5^th dan)

Mr. Takashi Yamanaka (Senshinkan dojo / Miyagi)

Ms. Susan Grigsby (Southern California Ki Society / USA)

Yondan (4^th dan)

Mr. Nobu Kuroha (Chyushinkan dojo / Tochigi)

Mr. Shinji Handa (Yanase class / Tochigi)

Ms. Hiromi Inaba (Shinshinkan dojo / Saitama)

Ms. Chieko Kimura (Tokushinkan dojo / Tokyo)

Ms. Sachiko Okada (Koshinkan dojo / Osaka)

Ms. Miki Takeuchi (Koshinkan dojo / Osaka)

Mr. Yasuhiro Kanda (Kinshinkan dojo / Hyogo)

Mr. Akira Ota (Kinshinkan dojo / Hyogo)

Mr. Terutaka Nishihara (Kinshinkan dojo / Hyogo)

Mr. Alfio La Spina (North Queensland Ki Society / Australia)

Mr. George Andrew LeBar (Midland Ki Federation / USA)

Mr. Owen Livingston (Midland Ki Federation / USA)

Mr. Stanley Haehl (Midland Ki Federation / USA)

Mr. Igor Ostroumov (Eastern Europe/Russia Ki-Aikido Federation)

Promotion by having been awarded a gold prize in the 28^th All Japan Ki Aikido Taigi Competition is as follows;

Nidan (2^nd dan)

Ms. Kaoru Hattori

(Hiroshima Jogakuin University / Hiroshima)

Shodan (1^st dan)

Ms. Chiho Matsuda

(Hiroshima Jogakuin University / Hiroshima)

I took charge of teaching in the first training just after the above ceremony. The photoes were taken after the training.

The activities of Ki Society H.Q. has begun officially subsequent to the completion of Kagamibiraki.

Thank you very much.