May 2015 - Abundant Peace Aikido and Tai Chi School

Newsletter of Abundant Peace Aikido and T’ai Chi
VOL. #15, ISSUE #5
MAY 2015
Are we there yet? Is it Spring or is Winter trying to
wedge its way back in? Don’t give up, it’s here with
just a few hick-ups!
With the nicer weather people tend to have more
excuses to miss a class or two… yard work, BBQ,
friends coming over, forgot the time… next thing you
know it’s been a week or sometimes a month. As you
progress in your training – higher Kyu’s or
Intermediate Tai Chi – it takes a little bit more time to
get back to where you were, kind of “re-learn” your
“basics”. Keep a list of why you practice and train;
review that list when your mind wanders off track. I’ll
share my list:
- Great exercise
- Muscle limberness
- Friends (and fun)
- Practical lessons (self-defense)
- Stress reduction
I can probably list 4 times more but these are MY top
ones. What are yours?
No matter your reasons for being away (injuries,
home/mental/work pressures) don’t give up. Attend
when you can, try to keep some regularity so you
don’t lose your momentum. Your friends will help
you get back on track!
It’s finally Sandal Season (well, almost)!!!
For All Users of the Dojo:
Please keep your feet clean. The Aikido students roll
and end up being pinned on the mats. Not too pleasant.
Use the sink/soap/towels or bring
disposable disinfectant wipes and
wipe your feet before stepping on
the mats.
Aikido Students:
If you have any cuts or warts, cover
them, don’t share. Socks are
hazardous, they slide and you can
lose your grip. Hockey tape is
great! It has a longer endurance to
sweat than typical medical tape.
Also, Ladies, watch out for toe nail
polish smearing on the mats! Don’t leave any behind.
Another good reason to keep your toes “live”.
France
We congratulate the members of our Aikido
Community who were advanced in rank during the
month of April:
KIDS:
14th Kyu – Andrea F., Marlow R.T.
13th Kyu – Sylar G., Emma L., Hannah R., Ava R.,
Cherelle T., Orest D., Roman D., Ophelia R.
12th Kyu – Isla M.
Remember to take advantage of our Corporal Francisco
Gomez Memorial Library, established for all to enjoy.
Kid’s 11th Kyu – Yellow Belt Blue Stripe
Tachiwaza Mae Yoko Ukemi Undo –
Frontroll, Side Breakfall
2. Ushiro Shikko
3. Tachiwaza Gyaku Hanmi Morote Dori Kokyu Nage
#1 Kneeling (from previous kyu)
#2 Standing
4. Tachiwaza Ai Hanmi Morote Dori Kokyu Nage
#1 Kneeling
#2 Standing
5. Tai No Henko - Jodan
6. Tachiwaza Gyaku Hanmi Katate Dori Ikkyo
(Omote/Ura)
7. Tachiwaza Ai Hanmi Katate Dori Ikkyo
(Omote/Ura)
8. Suwariwaza Ryote Dori Kokyuho
(“Heaven and Earth”)
9. Suwariwaza Yokomen Uchi Kokyu
Nage #1 (Irimi)
10. Suwariwaza Yokomen Uchi Kokyu
Nage #2 (Tenkan)
1.
Some basic definitions to help you remember:
(some of the above moves were defined in the last newsletter,
I will not repeat them)
Yoko = sideward
Morote = two hands holding
Tai No Henko = body change direction
Ryote = two hands holding two
Kokyuho = breathing exercise, throwing technique
Yokomen = diagonal, side of the head
Uchi = inside, strike
"O'Sensei once said that a student could learn all
the basics of aikido if he practiced just three
techniques: tai-no-henko, morotedori-kokyuho,
and suwariwaza-kokyuho".
Tameshigiri is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji
literally mean "test cut" (kun'yomi: tameshi giri). This practice was
popularized in the Edo period (17th century) for testing the quality
of Japanese swords. It continues to the present day, but has evolved
into a martial art which focuses on demonstrating the practitioner's
skill with a sword.
Today
In modern times, the practice of tameshigiri has come to focus on
testing the swordsman's abilities, rather than the sword's. Indeed,
the swords used are typically inexpensive ones.
Practitioners of tameshigiri sometimes use the terms Shito (sword
testing) and Shizan (test cutting, an alternate pronunciation of the
characters for tameshigiri) to distinguish between the historical
practice of testing swords and the contemporary practice of testing
one's cutting ability. The target most often used is the tatami
"omote" rush mat. To be able to cut consecutive times on one target,
or to cut multiple targets while moving, requires that one be a very
skilled swordsman.
Targets today are typically made from wara or goza, either bundled
or rolled into a tubular shape. They may be soaked in water to add
density to the material. This density is to approximate that of flesh.
Green bamboo is used to approximate bone.
Once the goza target is in this tubular shape, it has a vertical grain
pattern when stood vertically on a target stand, or horizontally when
placed on a horizontal target stand (dotton or dodan). This direction
of the grain affects the difficulty of the cut.
The difficulty of cuts is a combination of the target material
hardness, the direction of the grain of the target (if any), the quality
of the sword, the angle of the blade (hasuji) on impact, and the
angle of the swing of the sword (tachisuji).
When cutting a straw target that is standing vertically, the easiest
cut is the downward diagonal. This is due to a combination of the
angle of impact of the cut against the grain (approximately 30-50
degrees from the surface), the downward diagonal angle of the
swing, and the ability to use many of the major muscle groups and
rotation of the body to aid in the cut.
Next in difficulty is the upward diagonal cut which has the same
angle, but works against gravity and uses slightly different muscles
and rotation. The third in difficulty is the straight downward cut, not
in terms of the grain but in terms of the group of muscles involved.
The most difficult cut of these four basic cuts is the horizontal
direction (against a vertical target) which is directly perpendicular
to the grain of the target.
Historical European Martial Arts reconstructors, under
the term "test cutting", engage in similar exercises with
various European swords. While tatami omote, green
bamboo (though rarely), and especially meat are the
preferred cutting targets, other substances are commonly
used due to being cheaper, and much easier to obtain:
pool noodles, various gourds (pumpkins, squash, etc.),
water-filled plastic bottles, soaked newspaper rolls,
synthetic targets or wet clay.
Shoulders (Rotator Cuff)
by Reg N.
By Cheryl W.
I took the 8 Brocade chi gong workshop in March
offered by Sensei Brad and decided to do a 30 day chi
gong challenge. The challenge:
each day for 30 days do one set of the 8
Brocade movements
– a commitment of about 15-20 minutes each day.
On the Abundant Peace website, Sensei Brad describes
that
“through Chi Gong practice a dialogue is
opened up between you and your body. This
internal art nourishes a conscious partnership
with your body and Nature, the source from
which it springs”
along with several benefits of practice. The movements
are simple and I will admit that during the workshop, a
part of my brain said,
“Really? This is it?”
I needed to try it for myself. So 30 days have come and
gone – challenge met - even though I once found myself
doing Chi Gong in the Edmonton airport before an early
morning flight. What changed? I did notice more
energy, especially on mornings when I had to drag
myself out of bed to practice; I felt substantially more
energy after practice. I am starting to notice tension in
my body more quickly – like when I catch myself
standing with locked knees. I am feeling calmer, not
getting caught up in mine or other people’s emotions.
Not bad for 7.5 hours of practice time.
Often we feel as if we have the weight of the world on our
shoulders. Not to say that is too heavy a load for us, but we sure
feel the stiffness and tightness!
Our shoulder joint is a ball and socket joint. The upper arm
makes the ball and the collar bone/clavicle and shoulder blade
make the socket. This construction makes the joint very mobile
and not very stable. This is where our muscles and connective
tissue come in. Most often the muscles of the joint (our rotator
cuff) try to clamp down and hold this joint in place.
Of course we have specific movement patterns in our days that
we repeat more than others. Driving – Computer time – TV time
– Eating and Drinking. Then slowly over time our rotator cuff
tightens. If we spend hours and hours each day doing the same
movements and never stretch in the other directions, things tense
up. Again we see the principle of Use it or Lose it…
Frozen shoulder most often starts from a small pain in our
shoulder. We avoid this pain, move our arm less and over time
our range of motion becomes so small that our shoulder
“Freezes”.
Rotator Cuff tears come from 1 or 2 of the 4 muscles that make
up the rotator cuff become too tight. The 4 muscles are meant to
balance out each other, each stabilizing in a different direction.
For example, the chest muscle (Pec Minor) is often tight due to
our hunched forward position. This puts a constant strain its
paired muscle (Supraspinatus), which eventually frays and tears.
Doing daily range of motion movements for the shoulders, and
some preventative stretches to balance out the rotator cuff is
necessary to prevent injury. Remember, if you do 8 hours a day
(Driving – Computer time – TV time – Eating and Drinking) then
5 min a day of preventative movements is a good trade off.
Imagine if we had to do equal amounts of time stretching! 8 hours
a day of Yoga sounds great, but we all might end up unemployed,
hungry, and with dirty houses.
Some early warning signs of coming shoulder issues can be:
numbness or tingling in the fingers or hands, lack of comfortable
movement during your daily life activities, inability to lay on
your back with your arms overhead comfortably for 5 minutes or
more, and the inability to scratch that spot that always seem to
itch in-between your shoulder blades.
If you have any of the above issues, or any issue with your
shoulders, come check out my Rotator Cuff workshop at Yoga
for Today (www.yogafortoday.ca) Saturday July 11 Noon to 3:00
PM. We will go over the major types of shoulder issues, and most
importantly how to correct/prevent shoulder injuries and pain.
In the meantime you can subscribe to my YouTube channel
(Reg.Nugent) and I have begun posting 3-minute video clips with
stretching tips. There is already one posted on the most common
culprit of shoulder issue, the pec minor.
Editor’s Note:
Reg is not just our friend, the 2nd Kyu, he
is an Acupuncturist, American College
of Sports Medicine Exercise Specialist,
MA in Exercise physiology, and a
Yoga teacher!
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Tai Chi Beginners have reached 2nd X-Hands! We
celebrated this major sign-post along their Tai Chi path
by dining together with “Noodle Nite” on May 2nd.
Special Training - Friday, May 22nd 6:30 - 9:30pm
Theme: Drills such as Sticky-Hands and Immediate
Response Training to use Aikido principles and
techniques in martial, self-defense situations. Bring
Tanto.
Josh Drachman Sensei seminar is Jun 12 to 14th. See
poster on bulletin board for more details.
Volunteers are needed for various tasks before and
during this event. A sign-up sheet is also posted on the
bulletin board. See France and Cheryl for details.
By Amit Ray
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Other Seminars:
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Sep 25-27th.
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Jim Alvarez Sensei seminar at Abundant Peace,
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Nov 13 – 15th
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Reminder for Hakama to re-read the Beginner Skills
program so that we are giving the clearest and most
concise instruction to our beginners. Often we tend to
give too much information at once and this can be over
whelming and confusing for the beginner. Reviewing the
Beginner Skills Program will ensure we are giving the
beginners a positive experience and that we are working
as a team, providing coherent instruction.
New Facebook page for Abundant Peace features
interesting posts and videos on Tai Chi, Aikido, and
Internal Arts.
Here is the link to the new page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Abundant-PeaceAikido-Tai-ChiSchool/395726393943543?notif_t=page_new_likes
Workshops:
5-Element Chi Gong
Sun, May 31, 2:00 – 5:00pm
Chi Gong (Qigong) means working with your ‘lifeenergy’. The 5-Element Chi Gong is an ancient Chinese
routine that includes holding postures with gentle
movement.
More information about these workshops can be viewed
at www.abundantpeace.com under events.
Sensei Brad has a new ebook on Amazon Kindle!
Find inspiration, motivation, and insight with this
Daily Martial Arts Quotes Ebook:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/BOOWNMXDES
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