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Old 03-23-2001, 09:38 AM   #13
BC
Location: Chicago, IL
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 432
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Quote:
jxa127 wrote:
Stanley Pranin writes of Saito Sensei's training in his article, "Morihei Ueshiba and Morihiro Saito," (available on his web site):
Quote:
The young Saito was given little encouragement initially and had to endure the intensive, often painful training silently. Saito Sensei recalls the early days when suwariwaza practice on the dojo's hardwood floor would continue endlessly leaving his knees bloodied and festering.
Ihave had this happen at seminars when whole classes were conducted practicing suwari waza. its really not that big of a deal. A little temporary pain. That's all.

Quote:
It was at age 17 that Toyoda Shihan also began misogi training, a tradition at the dojo of Tohei Sensei. In particular, this was the training in breathing and Zen meditation given at the notorious Ichikukai Dojo in Tokyo. Ichikukai was founded by a student of the renowned Meiji-era swordsman, calligrapher and Zen master Yamaoka Tesshu; it still carries a reputation for extremely difficult training of a type rarely undertaken by modern persons. Toyoda Shihan recalls the pancake-size layers of skin that would come off his knees from kneeling so long on tatami during breathing training, and the scars many trainees would develop from senior students striking them repeatedly on the back to help them "get the air out"…even after blood had soaked through their clothes.
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I think a little clarification is in order for this quote. The Ichi-kukai Dojo is NOT an aikido dojo. It is a well-renowned dojo for learning the practice of misogi. Therefore, this has NOTHING to do with aikido, at least on a direct basis. Hope this helps, as I think people were losing their perspective a little here.

Robert Cronin
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