Thread: alain peyrache
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Old 09-28-2005, 05:58 AM   #4
jss
Location: Rotterdam
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 459
Netherlands
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Re: alain peyrache

First of all, this complete post is my personal interpretation and speculation based somewhat on my personal experience, but mostly what these two French pages from the ista and the epa:
http://62.193.226.55/epa_be/site/fr/pages/peyrache.htm
http://www.epa-aikido.org/epa1.html
So there is probably a lot more to it, but perhaps this can be part of an answer. (Hence all corrections and additions are welcome.)

Peyrache was an important member of the Fédération Française Libre d'Aikido et de Budo (currently the Fédération Française d'Aikido et de Budo) of Nobuyoshi Tamura. He has refused the presidency of the national commision of gradings against the wishes of Tamura. The reason being that he wanted to stay loyal to the spirit of the traditional dojo, in which the teacher teaches and grades as he sees fit. With the succes of the FFLAB the usual games of power, opportunism, etc. begin and thus he leaves the federation. As to what happened at that point between Tamura and Peyrache, it might have been nothing more than that Tamura was unable or unwilling to change the workings of the FFLAB. If they parted ways as friends or not, I really don't know.
After four years of independance, Peyrache and some like-minded aikido teachers found the EPA, an European aikido school for people who want to practice traditional aikido far away from the politics of an aikido federation. For Peyrache, aikido is not a sport and it cannot function as one (i.e. in a federation).
What sets the EPA/ISTA apart from other federations is that it is kept as small as possible and that it serves manely administrative purposes such as insurance. In accordance with the above mentioned spirit of the traditional dojo, Aikido teachers within the EPA/ISTA have a lot of freedom (one teacher - one dojo) in their pursuit of aikido.
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