This morning's keiko was 2 hours of Taijutsu starting 5.10am. It was very cold, there was frost on Nemoto-Sensei's car so I am guessing it was sub zero. Robin-san came and stayed over last night. His Aikido has really improved a lot since I was his uke in his Shodan test 18 months ago.
We covered Morote-Dori Ikkyo through to Yonkyo, Kotegaishi, Shihonage (two ways, opposite and same hand), Iriminage (two ways, high to low and low to high), and Shihonage based Koshi-nage.
We then did the usual 30x3 press ups, sit ups, squats etc. Much easier today than the previous days. It is amazing how quickly the body can adapt.
This is a rather lovely little translation of the Heart Sutra which is in the preface of a book I am reading:
'Aum'so chanted, in parable, the ancient Indian Seers-
Is the three-fold basic vibration, the musical SOUND
'To Be', being, and ceasing-from-being
Unfolding as a lovely flower, eight-petalled,
An octive of consequential notes :
Seven the grades, the interlocking ratios,
The fellowship linking the Many in the One
With the bond of brotherhood, of a common Father as sons.
'A', they said, as they chanted solemnly,
Is the sound of building up,
'M' they said, is the sound of breaking down,
And 'U' is the bridging sound of serialization
Sustaining, extending, holding in balance
The ebb and the flow of Being's course
- The 'Yang' and the 'Yin' the Chinese poets called it -
The relation between that we know as Time,
as Space, or as Consciousness,
Enabling the 'I' to conceive a 'Thou'.
Gayatri, the Indian Sages called this measure,
The 'bird' Gayatri, swift hawk, flight of the Eagle to the Sun,
Bearer of the Plant of continued life
From generation to generation, spanning Time.
Said they, who hummed this Mantra Sound,
Seeking thus to demonstrate
The Wheel of the law progression :
Within the Cause lies the Effect,
Within the 'I' the seed of 'Thou',
Within that inconceivable, the limitless Eternal,
Lies Time, Space, what is, and what is not,
The germ of generation.
The 'Heart' that 'speaks', the Egyptian Seers called it -
That utters the 'Word' we know as 'Creation'.
'Thoth', they named it, Tongue and Messenger,
Executive of the Power To Be.
Eight-petalled Lotus, City of the Eight,
Octave of potentiality, all things containing,
Maintaining, and at the end resuming :
Lovely Harmonia's musical manifestation,
Source and Sum of Number,
Father and Mother of Doing, Being, and Knowing -
Within thy cup, O Flower, those Seers saw enshrined
The Golden Seed of Being's Cycle :
Verily, they sang, the Heart of the Lotus is One.
The title and the heart of the Lotus Sutra is 'Nam Myoho Renge Kyo'. Said to be 10,000 sutras distilled in a single song (Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism). I like to chant in my head when I can't get to sleep, rather than counting sheep, I find it to be quite effective.
Aikido Iwama Uchideshi
This Blog originally tracked a three month period during which time I undertook training in Iwama under the supervision of Nemoto Sensei. We also trained at the Shibu Dojo, O'Sensei's Dojo in Iwama located in the Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan.
I have returned this time for a shorter three week stint in January 2011.
