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Old 10-18-2003, 08:08 AM   #51
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
Join Date: Apr 2002
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When stuck for a thought, he says, "don't think."

I blink and blink and wink and wink,

And even think of the kitchen sink,

Who knows this Path where my smile grows?

Like Robert here who speaks and knows.

Truly, Aikido Way is the fountain spring,

I thank him for joyous words he brings.

Some students think that I am too hard-core and strict in my Aikido so I thought to write some silly stuff here to show another part of my personality such as it is. . . . . Haha! I never expected to see so many others write and share their words and thoughts here. I myself am really surprised and enjoying myself immensely in this particular segment. Confucius wrote poetry and said that poetry refines the soul and calms the spirit. O'Sensei also wrote some "doka" to express his feelings about Aikido. I am glad to see that there are so many of us who share this pleasant pasttime here. Many thanks!
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Old 10-18-2003, 08:26 AM   #52
Paula Lydon
Dojo: Aikido Shugenkai
Location: Colorado
Join Date: Jun 2002
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~~I thought you were attacking,

So I turned, a tenkan,

And beheld the sunset

That you'd been heading for

Thank you~~

~~Paula~~
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Old 10-18-2003, 08:29 AM   #53
Col.Clink
Dojo: Waiuku Ki Society
Location: New Zealand
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Quote:
Kensho Furuya wrote:
I am glad to see that there are so many of us who share this pleasant pasttime here. Many thanks!
Thanks again for bringing it up Furuya Sensei! keep up with the diversions from work!!

"Excess leads to the path of Wisdom"
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Old 10-18-2003, 08:36 AM   #54
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
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No attack here,

Just viewing the sunset too,

To wait another day,

And dream another dream,

The Aikido journey is so long and yet so short,

Yet to travel farther down this weary Path,

When yet, here it is, right in my hand!
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Old 10-18-2003, 08:44 AM   #55
Paula Lydon
Dojo: Aikido Shugenkai
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~~To stand, just so, at the Center.

But how can each of us stand

In the Center?

Oh, yes, I hear you laughing!~~

~~Paula~~
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Old 10-18-2003, 09:41 AM   #56
markwalsh
Dojo: Airenjuku Brighton
Location: On the road - UK
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Wow,

Really enjoying this thread. Thought I'd share a couple. The first was written as part of a psychology dissertation on aikido, and the second after witnessing a particularly elegant instructor.

IMHO Japanese poetry is the most refined in the world. I would recommend the book "100 Poems from the Japanese", "Japanese Death Poems" and any haiku by Buson/Issa to anyone interested in beauty.

Interestingly I've heard it said that English is good for poetry because of its huge vocabulary, while Japanese is good for the opposite reason. Not sure if this is true though.



10 Things Aikido Is To Me

Grace.

A healing, a reclamation;

prizing land back from the sea,

wringing the salt out of it and making it fertile again.

Growing food and flowers on the land

just because you can.

A necessary descent into hell.

The artistic roll and flow of nature.

A beautiful woman untying her hair

and it falling down her back.

Two people who really want to kiss each other,

kissing.

A days work. A man's back.

A sincere apology, no explanations.

Absolute zero.

The second most fun you can have with your friends.

The essence of things.

Nothing extra.

Inevitability.

The arms of whatever you believe in

holding you as an infant.

Home:

Not what the word means to you now;

because all that stuff isn't important;

but what it means in the womb and in death.

A way of being all the opposites at once.

Getting away with being yourself,

in spite of what you've been told is possible.

Just being.

Not having to do a proper dissertation.

Dolphin

The dolphin dives into class.

Bows as if

on a desert day

dipping her head in cool water.

Leaps up to practice ukemi;

like a silk ribbon

on a tai-chi master's sword;

rides the air

on of Monet's brush.

Rises seemingly,

from under the mat,

- a inquisitive shoot in Spring.

She takes a partner playful,

blue eyes dance hide and seek.

Honoured you can do little more than stare.

Connects

elusive;

as a tap on the shoulder from a ninja;

but firm,

as an oak's grip on the sky,

or a carpenters handshake.

She summersaults again and again,

turning crescent smile shapes around,

twists umbilical,

explodes as an opening tiger paw,

lays waste to elegance

swimming anvil ballets,

- you don't push against the Pacific.

You feel like a dumb ox

being led home feline.

Water claws break over you,

clean your eyes

and leave you gasping

on a beach at the end of class,

raising your head from the water.

Mark

http://thewalsh.com/aikido.html

x
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Old 10-18-2003, 09:54 AM   #57
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
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You, me, theirs,

How many centers can you count?

Stand in the Great Center,

There is room for all of us to enjoy. . . . .
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Old 10-18-2003, 10:00 AM   #58
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
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So many things you see in Aikido, my Friend,

For in Aikido, you see, there is no end. . . . .

Glittering waves warmed by the morning sun,

In many Ways, please seek the One!
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Old 10-19-2003, 06:07 AM   #59
Fminor
 
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I met Sensei,
He bewitched my eyes,
Showing me the invisible Ki.

I spent a magical day with him,
Saw a beautiful soul,
Such a clear path to life.

I went on with my trip,
Promised to come back,
Knowing I have much to learn yet.

He left us,
Went to a better place,
Now, still missing, I try to walk by his way.

I know it's not the best of poems, but I wrote it as a gesture to a dear man that I knew for too short time.
On this very special day we were together I told him:
"Aikido takes more time to master then other martial arts, but when you finally do - you can defeat everybody".
And he replied "When you master Aikido, you wouldn't want or need to defeat anybody".
I am honored to have met him and will keep carrying him in my heart.

Last edited by Fminor : 10-19-2003 at 06:17 AM.
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Old 10-19-2003, 09:11 AM   #60
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
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Your poem is very timely in light of the recent passing of Arikawa Sensei at Hombu Dojo. Sometimes we don't appreciate people enough until they are gone and know that they can never come back or that we will never see them again. Over the years, I have lost all of my teachers to the passing of time and one feels rather left behind. . . . . I am glad that you can remember your teacher's words because I think they are very important and I thank you for sharing them here for all of us. . . .

Here today and gone tomorrow, they say,

But gone is gone as gone can be.

Where do my teachers go?

To another happier place I pray. . .

To teach again their great knowledge which I will never hear again.

When my times comes too,

Please bury me to face my masters of those wondeful days of past,

So I will have no trouble to find them,

When I awake in another place. . . . . .

(In the Buddhist tradition, you are reborn with your parents for three lives, but you are reborn with your teacher for nine lives. Find a good teacher and treasure him always.) Many thanks,
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Old 10-19-2003, 09:15 AM   #61
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
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Win or lose, there is no need to chose,

Wrong or right, there is no need to fight,

Weak or strong, there is no need to wrong.

In Aikido, there is no enemy,

Only the enemy within, within one's mind and soul,

Train hard each day, to follow those masters of old. . . . .
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Old 10-19-2003, 09:40 AM   #62
Fminor
 
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Actually, It wasn't Arikawa Sensei I was referring to, though I'm sure he left many mourning students.
My own loss is a simple, modest, yet amazing person I met during my travel in South America.
I wish not to mentioned his name, he didn't want people to remember him in sorrow.
I loved him dearly and I feel lucky to have known him.

"Let the system flow" said the Sensei
I let it, but it doesn't budge.
I'm looking at my partner -
he is unmovable.
He looks back as I struggle.
My system is stuck,
Where is my flow?
The search goes on.
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Old 10-19-2003, 09:54 AM   #63
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
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No, No, I didn't think you were referring to Arikawa Sensei, but your poem was timely in light of his recent passing. Although I didn't know him as well as many others, he left a profound influence on my life in my younger days of training for which I am always grateful.

2nd Doshu, Kisaburo Ohsawa Sensei, Seigo Yamaguchi Sensei and Arikawa Sensei are all people whom I miss very sorely. . . . .

My stay at Hombu was cut short due to the death of my grandfather who was the only one in my family who supported me taking off to Hombu for training. My parents were really against it. My grandfather was suffering from cancer at the time and needed an operation quickly, but he and my grandmother kept it a secret from everyone, knowing that I would not leave for Japan if he was sick. . . . . It was only after it was too late for the operation did my family find out and I was only told just before he passed away. . . . . Ohsawa Sensei invited me to return to Hombu as soon as possible to continue my training and that I could stay in Japan if I wanted to, but another Hombu teacher requested that I stay on the West Coast and help out with Aikido here. . . . .and quickly the years passed by. . . . . .

Ohsawa Sensei's poem to me at the time:

"A sudden rain, he returns home too quickly. . . ."
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Old 10-19-2003, 10:06 PM   #64
Qatana
 
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home is connection

hand to hand

heart to hara

here i sit

in the place that i sleep

the place where i work

is this home?

where there is no heart

or where my heart is

that i may not go

or where i go to

learn to see

there is no battle

i must fight

to find my way back home

and know i have taken a homeward step

tho the journey long

and steep and

painful

that i have moved

at long long last

beyond "i can't"

to

"i don't know how"

wherever i will be

will be my

home.

as long as i can

not know.

Q
http://www.aikidopetaluma.com/
www.knot-working.com

"It is not wise to be incautious when confronting a little smiling bald man"'- Rule #1
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Old 10-19-2003, 10:51 PM   #65
Jeanne Shepard
 
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I'm really enjoying this thread, think I'll print it out to reread later, but dont know when it will be complete...

Jeanne
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Old 10-19-2003, 10:53 PM   #66
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
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Who can know Sensei's heart and soul?

When everyday he gives it away to others?

Forty-five years of teaching and I am weary,

This Path without an end. . . . . .

The moon makes its way across the nightly skies,

Not heeding the cries of the lonely fawn,

Who can cure this loneliness?

When they leave at night,

The dojo cold without the sounds of students?

My home is not here with me,

But in the hearts of my students,

Who come another day. . . .

 
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Old 10-20-2003, 08:36 AM   #67
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
Location: Los Angeles
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Efrat: Thank you for the beautiful email message, I really appreciate and enjoyed it. Please look up my student in Israel if you can. Best wishes always,

From around the world so far,

Out of sight and out of mind,

What Grace brings us together?

What mysterious power shines over us

To let us meet through space and time?

Grateful for what we have,

Grateful for what we know,

Grateful for what we will never understand. . . . .
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Old 10-20-2003, 03:35 PM   #68
Fminor
 
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Furuya Sensei, I thank you for your magical words.
As once said in a movie - I think it's the beginning of a wonderful friendship :)
I also thank you, Jun, for making it possible for "long-distance people" to meet and bond.

To keep the silly poems flowing (being the one who spoiled the fun, I'll begin):

We are born close to the ground,
Crawling on our hands an feet,
In constant link with the source.

Then we stand,
Occasionally stumble harmlessly to the floor,
Until an unsteady step separates us from safe.

From that point we grow high, grow away.
Learn to be frightened from the fall.
Fearing the harsh meeting.

Finally, we first step on the mat,
And the Sensei says "roll!".
The ground is so far and we need to re-learn,
To become more relaxed,
To welcome the meeting,
To flex the soul.
We no longer are enemies, we are united once more.
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Old 10-20-2003, 03:42 PM   #69
Ambrose Merrell
Dojo: Cambridge Aikido Club
Location: Cambridge, England
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He sits in the corner

As if forgotten

Certainly ignored.

His clothes are simple

His needs are few

He holds on to the Great Centre

And wears a warm, broad smile.

I feel I know him

And maybe one day I will

For he is the real me

The true me and

Though I may deny him

He waits patiently, kindly, caringly

For me.
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Old 10-20-2003, 04:05 PM   #70
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
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I am really enjoying your poems here.

For Ambrose:

The Holy Lotus of True Law proclaims,

Even a banana leaf can be a Buddha so it says,

Yet Buddhas or great gods as we may think. . .

The banana leaf is just a banana leaf. . . .

For Efrat:

From ground we grow, and soon return.

To stand so proudly is but a tiny second.

Only to bow our heads, can we see Home again. . . . .
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Old 10-20-2003, 10:36 PM   #71
Qatana
 
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in such a hurry

waiting for aikido

to make me patient

Q
http://www.aikidopetaluma.com/
www.knot-working.com

"It is not wise to be incautious when confronting a little smiling bald man"'- Rule #1
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Old 10-21-2003, 01:14 AM   #72
Kensho Furuya
Dojo: Aikido Center of Los Angeles
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No hurry to a place you can never reach,

No waiting for that which will never come,

No patience for those who don't believe,

Just practicing Aikido happily, happily. . . . . .
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Old 10-21-2003, 07:48 AM   #73
Paula Lydon
Dojo: Aikido Shugenkai
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~~Kokyu dosa...

I felt your beating heart

Beneath my hand;

Your breath mingled with mine.

Our dance of entering and yeilding.

To make love, of a sort,

In this room full of people~~

~~Paula~~
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Old 10-21-2003, 08:11 AM   #74
Thalib
 
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Wasn't able to focus well today

Don't know what has went astray

Need to set my mind at ease

Want my heart to be kept in peace

Know that I should not be in sorrow

There will always be a better tomorrow

When I have to die by the sword, I will do so with honor.
--------
http://funkybuddha.multiply.com/
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Old 10-21-2003, 09:06 AM   #75
Qatana
 
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here tomorrow

is today

it looks the same

as yesterday

and yesterday's pain

is today's annoyance
.......................

and so it seems

i slowly learn

to slowly let go

of yesterday
........................
is it the day that has

improved

or just my way

of seeing?
.............................
hearing judgement

good or ill

you are my mirror
.............................
who's eyes do i

gaze into

at the end of day?

Last edited by Qatana : 10-21-2003 at 09:08 AM.

Q
http://www.aikidopetaluma.com/
www.knot-working.com

"It is not wise to be incautious when confronting a little smiling bald man"'- Rule #1
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