01/16/2024
Osu!
Once again Genyokan held its annual Ostunen-geiko (overnight training) event; a celebration on New Year’s Eve by ending the year with the last training of 2023, and starting the new year with the first training of 2024. This year Akira Sensei guided six students through an exciting an energetic event.
The class started with basic movement study followed by a study the basic movement portion of Kihon-dosa To Waza-no Nagare (basic movements to flow of techniques). Akira Sensei related the history of the basic movements and how Kushida Sensei developed them in part as a way to study both general body movements movements, fine details, and a way to fit to a partner. Even the Kamae stance that Kushida-sensei developed and refined was shown to us to be a chance to study truly open hands and forward spirit. Students then repeated the movements and noted how focusing on improving only one thing, opening hands and fingers, allowed the movements, and the fit to an imaginary partner, to be that much better and more meaningful.
Akira Sensei then shifted to the study of breakfalls, as a way to end the past year, and set the stage for an excellent 2024. Sensei related that a new year gives us an opportunity to reflect on older training that may have been forgotten. For this coming year Sensei would like a renewed focus on breakfall study, both in quality and quantity. He related that breakfall sets were so much a part of every Yoshokai Aikido class in the past, that the study of breakfalls was in many ways synonymous Yoshokai Aikido itself. The benefits of good technique and the physical hardship that is essential to breakfall study allow each student to develop themself to safely study the dynamic techniques that exist in our study, and to also study remaining positive during hard times.
With that in mind, the class did 100 back breakfalls with Akira Sensei directing us to focus good quality falling. Even if we couldn’t completely stand, or having to resort to back breakfall rockers, we were reminded focus on good quality extension and safe head position during falling. After reaching 50 back breakfalls Sensei there was a pause in training. Sensei guided us to focus on the positive aspects of breakfalls with the ideas that they may be physically challenging and uncomfortable, or a student may feel bad when they can’t fully stand or have to transition to rockers, but those are just negative views. There are many more positive aspects to the study. By focusing on each breakfall and making some aspect better, the benefits of break fall study can be realized and enjoyed. With that encouragement the second set of 50 was completed with more enthusiasm and increased quality by each student.
That breakfall set ended the training for 2023, and, after a pause for each student to quietly reflect on the past year and hopes for the new year, 2024 arrived! Training resumed with a study of Happo-giri (eight direction cuts with bokken). Through multiple rounds students were instructed to focus on one aspect; sometimes a single technical aspect for one round, several rounds imagining that with each cut we are cutting our own ego and the clouds that surround our true nature, and a final round focusing on doing our best strikes as if we are doing them for each other, to be the best partner we can be.
And with that, the first training of 2024 was finished. The celebration continued with toasting and good the good warm feeling of being together at the Dojo. Everyone left the event with excitement for the new training opportunities and renewed focus on traditional Yoshokai break fall study that 2024 will bring. And just like last year, before we know it, 2024 Otsunen-geiko will be upon us. Hopefully this year we will have even more students joining the celebration!
Osu!
Steve Edlund
