Great Aikidokas Visit Kenya

Thursday, February 18, 2016 to Saturday, February 20, 2016 saw a once in a lifetime aikido seminar and workshop take place in Kenya. It was the first time since aikido was introduced in Kenya (October 16th 2009) that the Hombu dojo in Japan sent over instructors to Kenya.

Kanazawa Takeshi Shihan and Tokuda Masaya Shidoin conducted the Gashuku hosted by the Japan embassy in Kenya and attended by the aikido enthusiasts in Kenya including the hosts Nairobi Aikikai, Sagana's All Saints High School, Githumu boys High School among others.

The final day of the Gashuku was graced by the Japan Ambassador in Kenya H.E Tatsushi Terada who stressed on the importance of sports corporation among the two countries.

....this aikido demonstration and workshop is a part of sports for tomorrow's programme....
-Ambassador Tatsushi Terada-

Speaking through a translator, Kanazawa Takeshi Shihan stressed the importance of the uke in the practice of aikido in the dojo.  'A good uke'  he said  'should be able to blend in the technique so that the two can conduct the technique flawlessly during training....'

"....Aikido isn't something you only understand with your mind, but something you feel with your heart." - Kanazawa Takeshi Shihan.




L-R Toshiyuki Kitayama (Sandan), Kanazawa Takeshi (Shichidan) and Tokuda Masaya (Yondan)




Some members of the hosts Nairobi Aikikai
L-R Sammy Mwakio and Aguta Onsando (3rd kyu) Ben Kiyaga and Dan Areba (1st Kyu)



L-R Mr Nakamura (Japan Embassy) Sammy Mwakio, Aguta Onsando, H.E Tatsushi Terada (Japan Ambassador to Kenya)
Kanazawa Takeshi, Ben Kiyaga, Tokuda Masaya and Dan Areba

'-DO' ....MY WAY OF LIFE

Have you ever wondered why names of Japanese martial arts end with the suffix -do? Aikido, Judo, Karatedo, Kendo etc

Well...let's revisit our history books. During the pre-Meiji period (1868-1912) almost all the martial arts had the suffix 'Jutsu'. Example Kendo was Kenjutsu, Judo was known as Jujutsu, Kyudo (archery) was Kyujutsu, Jukendo (swordsmanship) was Sojutsu....You get the drift?

After the 2nd world war the allied forces banned the practise of martial arts in Japan for obvious reasons...The arts were deemed to be 'militant' in nature. Afterwards they were slowly incorporated into the education system right from elementary to university with associations to back them up. They were therefore made safer and friendlier to the learners.

Jutsu by definition is technique. A technique that was used in in the battlefield either to kill, maim, or immobilize an enemy.It was used by the warriors as a last resort when they ran out of ammunition, broken their arrows or swords.

The suffix -'do' means way. It is attributed to the founder of Judo (Way of gentleness), Kano Jigoro, who after studying Jujutsu realized that some of the techniques were overly dangerous to be practised and taught in a safe manner. He instead incorporated these dangerous techniques in katas. So Judo was founded on the emphasis of the art being educative on moral, physical and intellectual to the practitioner.

Gichin Funakoshi of Karatedo (Way of empty hand) first practised Ryuku Karate-jutsu and actually gave a demo in 1916 in mainland Japan. Later on in 1922 he changed the art's name to Karatedo to underscore its role as a way of self perfection.

Aikido's (Way of harmonious spirit) founder Ueshiba Morihei O'sensei studied many arts including Daito-ryu. More emphasis was put on winning at all costs, of course he had misgivings on this theory. In 1920 he founded a dojo and started the Aiki-bujutsu and later on in 1942 changed it to Aikido.

Sojutsu used a bayonet kind of weapon in battles but later on renamed Jukendo which used more friendly weapons made from bamboo.

Since then -'DO' has become a way of life to hundreds of millions of practitioners around the globe and many more are taking up the arts and the flames can only burn brighter.

-'DO' is my way of life, Make it yours.

You Just Never Know Who U Dealing With

It is known that a majority of martial artists will try and avoid physical confrontation at all costs. They will never start a fight but if pushed against a wall they will surely be there to see that they bring it to a convincing conclusion.

The reason, according to me is, one: Since they know of the damage that they can cause-these guys are trained with a keen eye on putting your pressure points on the crosshairs- They would rather skip a fight than risk wasting time in law courts or even spending time with the filth in prison, they have better things to do like washing their gi, folding the hakama, or learning a new way of tying the obi….. see, not worth a second of your time.

Two:  most of the time you may not be able to recognize a martial artist by just his/her looks… unless you have trained eyes. The average guy you see on the street, not bulky, thick necked, scars all over etc may be the guy you never want to mess with. Trust me; I have seen a petite man bring down a potential Mr. Universe. Unless a practitioner is what the Japanese refer to as Kuchi Buchi or a mouth warrior who yaps to anyone who shows some interest on what a great aikidoka, karateka, judoka or whatever he is, most will go unnoticed.

With this in mind, a martial artist will try avoid a physical confrontation, for he may not know who s/he is dealing with. He might just be messing up with a shihan (master instructor).

With that in mind ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls I came across a great video clip stressing on my second point….You just never know who you messing with!!

Click here for video

All Inclusive Martial Arts

Just came across this clip, just reinforces my believe in a say-no-die human mind. I know it's a clinche but nothing beats a determined mind... not even after amputation.

So ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages enjoy the clip. click here

On Karate Punch

It's been a long discussion on whether martial arts (read Karate) is becoming soft and softer year after year. Case in point, just watch 60's, 70's and 80's clips on championships in you tube etc. Karate had the greats such as Englishmen Terry O'neill and Geoff Thompson, Japanese 'samurais' such as Yahara and Takaeshi Oishi. This generation never heard of hand mitts, shin guards, chest protectors, gum shields as today's generation of rafael Aghayev and Luigi Busa do.

Even without these 'safety measures', the earlier generation still managed to minimise injury (or were they tougher?) on the tatami.

I may not agree totally with Iain Abernathy's views but I totally agree on some use of power and swiftness in punching and kicking. As he puts it in world combat association website...

"A punch is fundamentally designed to damage other human beings so that they can no longer function. A punch should therefore be judged by the success criteria of its ability to incapacitate. We should train our punches with that goal in mind such that our training increases the ability of our punches to incapacitate. A punch should be deemed “good” if it can damage people."

Iain claims that today's punches and techniques in general are taught in such a way to look nice beautiful...

Don't know what you think.

Aikido Gashuku In Rwanda

December 2013 AD marked the exact month that Aikido was introduced in Rwanda.

On the March of the year 2014 will go down as the month that Rwanda held their inauguration seminar. The seminar which ran from 9th to 15th of March 2014 was held at the Nyarutarama Sports Trust Club and graced by Massimo di Villadorata Sensei 7th Dan from Canada.

Aikidokas from Canada, Iran and Rwanda took part in 6 day seminar and Rwanda neighbours, Kenya, were not left behind represented by 3 aikidokas from Nairobi Aikikai. 

KKGA National Individual Championships

The Kenya Karate-do Goju-Kai Association has invited all Goju Ryu dojos, schools and institutions for the forthcoming Individual juniors, cadets, seniors and veterans individual championships.

The tourney is to take place at Nyayo Stadium, Call room on the 8th and 9th March 2014 from 0900 hrs to 1700hrs, participation fee is Ksh. 500 per individual.

According to sources, both kata (form) and kumite (spurring) will be featured as the championship will be used to select the team that will represent Kenya in the forthcoming 1st All Africa Goju-Kai  Karate-do championships which will be held in Mauritius later on in the year. For a full Goju-Kai 2014 calender of events, click here.