I just got back from a seminar with Koichi Kashiwaya sensei (8th dan, Ki Society USA) and I thought I'd share my experiences from it.

This was the second year I'd attended the seminar with Kashiwaya sensei with last year's seminar being my first. Kashiwaya sensei actually used to teach in Boulder back in the 70's and had established the Rocky Mountain Ki Society dojo there. Since he left to Seattle, a stalwart group of Shin Shin Toitsu students persevered to keep the flame burning. The area now has a handful of dojo including those in Boulder, Westminster (near Denver), the University of Colorado, and Fort Collins.

I was very cordially invited by Abel Villacorta sensei of the Rocky Mountain Ki Society in Boulder to attend the Thursday evening class with Kashiwaya sensei and I accepted.

The Boulder dojo is a shared space with a local karate group, but the mat space is plenty with a full mirrored wall in front of us. The group seemed fairly young with many people seemingly from the local University of Colorado aikido club. Kashiwaya sensei said that he was just recovering from a pretty severe cold, but he was in good spirits throughout the weekend.

The second and third days of the seminar were held at the Westminster dojo headed currently by Russ Smith sensei, Susan Chandler sensei, and Kevin Eva sensei. The dojo is tucked away a little bit in Westminster but is minutes away from Highway 36 as well as the mall nearby.

The last day of the seminar occured up in Fort Collins at the Cal State University there. The dojo there is actually located up in the balcony of one of the basketball courts, snuggled up against some very large windows overlooking the pretty busy street nearby.

Throughout the weekend, Kashiwaya sensei went through some of the hitori waza (solo exercises) that are used in Ki Society dojo frequently as a part of their warm up routines. As I was not very acquainted with these exercises, this weekend was a good introduction on their approach in using these tools in their everyday training. Kashiwaya sensei discussed the manner in which one should conduct these exercises with emphasis on the timing of the movement as related to the way one counts during the exercises -- the hand movement for ikkyo undo, for example, should be done immediately after the count is vocalized. Another important aspect which Kashiwaya sensei emphasized is the placement of the weight and the way in which one's toes should not move when setting into any sort of posture.

The training itself was different enough for me to make me remember that I was a beginner in Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido. The manner in which, for instance, kokyunage (or, iriminage in Aikikai terminology) is done is a bit different and I really had to think for a while to get it resembling what the others were doing. If anything, this weekend was a good workout for me to observe what Kashiwaya sensei was doing and to remember to do what he was doing and not what I was already conditioned to do.

If anyone thinks that Ki Society is just a bunch of soft, fluffy throws, I would recommend they go to a seminar with Kashiwaya sensei and ask him to throw you. No doubt about it -- he showed one variation of ikkyo that he said can be used in some police situations to take down people who were resisting the technique; he showed this technique on a few students including one person who was about 6'3" and very solidly built. I myself was thrown intoa nice forward breakfall for one throw that he demonstrated on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, that was the day on which testing was held. Five people underwent the Shin Shin Toitsu ki tests that people may be familiar with. To my untrained eye, the test consisted of various positions from static (in the beginner level) to more dynamic situations (at the advanced level) in which the student was tested on their mind-body unification. I've gone through some of these tests in the past and have mainly been pushed over in each and every one of them so I really can't comment too much on these; my mind-body unification is still at the neophyte level at best...

Also on Sunday were four nidan exams. Abel, Jill, Derrick, and Jon went through about 45 minutes each in their respective exams. Kashiwaya sensei had each of them demonstrate hitori waza at the beginning which reflected back to his teachings earlier in the seminar. He also had them do their jo and bokken weapons forms, giving them a demonstration of what he really meant by "using up a lot of space" for their second bokken form. Each of the people testing also did two taigi; the taigi is a set (29, if I remember correctly) of about six to fifteen techniques each which consist of an uke attacking nage in a sequenced manner and range from katatedori grabs to tsuki to weapons attacks (jo, bokken, tanto), even to the occasional kick.

Kashiwaya sensei also had some of the people testing undergo some pretty interesting trials during their test as well. For Jill's exam, he had a person go up and hold her in various ways with a jo (eg bearhug from behind with the jo trapping her arms). For Abel's exam, he had him put a bokken into his belt as though it were sheathed and told him to defend against an uke who was trying to take the bokken away from him. Jon had to demonstrate techniques from a bunch of collar chokes.

Another interesting section was the "King and the Knight" section. It was basically a two nage against three uke situation with some additional "rules." Each uke had a different weapon -- bokken, jo, and tanto. One of the nage were assigned the role of the "knight" whose job was to keep all of the uke away from the "king." Although the "king" could defend him or herself if necessary, it was really the "knight's" job to do so. These usually turned into the king and the knight being able to take away the attacker's weapons and using them against them which was very amusing.

As the finale for each of the tests, all of the testees underwent a five person randori. I actually was called up to be an uke for Jon's test which was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. Unfortunately, my reflexes were definitely on the slow and clunky side and I managed to get hit pretty squarely in the left eye from what I'm guessing was Jon's fist. Supposedly, the sound of the contact on the video tape is "alarming"; I would love to hear the sound myself. I hear that Jon has volunteered to be one of my uke for the randori portion of my next test...

Everyone testing passed, of course. All of them gave beautiful tests which were all a pleasure to watch.

All in all, I had a great time at the seminar. Everyone I met were cordial and very welcoming to this lumbering Aikikai student. I want to thank Kashiwaya sensei for an intriguing seminar, to Russ sensei and Abel sensei for making me feel welcome at their dojo, and to all of the students for putting up with my slow and confused mind (and body!) over the weekend.