Before Zen crossed the shores into Japan, the students of the Tendai school would study meditation, as part of their daily practice. Four of them, close friends all, promised one another to observe seven days of silence.
On the first day, no words were spoken, and the students took pleasure in their auspicious beginning. When night came however, the oil lamps grew dim, and the room slowly darkened.
One student, named Hoshin, called out to a servant: "Servant! Attend to the lamps, so that I might better observe our accomplishment!"
The second student was surprised to hear Hoshin speak. "We are supposed to keep quiet," he chided.
"But you also spoke!" declared the third. "You are an idiot!"
"I am the only one who has not talked," concluded the fourth, as he settled into seiza.
From Dee and Jerry…
A big thanks to everyone who helped make our Christmas party a success. Good friends and good food–what more could you ask?
We’re keeping the dojo decorated through the holiday season, so if you’re quick, you can still find some cookies stashed near the Christmas tree. I also understand Santa’s elves took some pictures, which we’ll publish in our December newsletter.
Merry Christmas!
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Conversation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
No cookies for me.. I’m officially on a wedding diet… so is Ryan!
I am on the all lard diet.
Yeah..I am going to start my diet when I go to get married too…that should grant me a good 3-5 years of continuing to eat the good stuff..
10 minutes on the mat per cookie should do it. Wait a minute, how long is the dojo open?
Obviously, we need to buy more fuel cookies.
To follow up on a conversation at open mat, if anyone would like to submit an article to the blog, email me.
(It doesn’t have to be War and Peace, either. Shorter posts are fine, and all submissions are appreciated!)
off topic but wanna ask…
anyone hear of Bu Jin Design? website for aikido supplies…looking at a gi with a zipper and belt design, plus its only 8oz.
Good quality, a bit expensive. I’ve bought several items from Bu Jin over the years.
Will you be in class tomorrow?
yes, and i need your email jerry, i have a blog topic ready
Jerry, I think your next article should be on the class you taught Monday at 7:00, the origins of the grabs.
My take on the origin of grabs. It’s not gospel. Glad you liked the class, though!
Hey, DK, send me a picture so I can post your article!
Speaking of grabs. I wish we could mess around with grabs and attacks we don’t do a lot. I saw some attacks at winter camp that I rarely,or never have seen till them. Like Shomanate.
shomanate? sounds like exotic food from some unheard archipelago hidden within the great ocean…
Shomanate is part of your Shomanuchi strike every time you strike with a boken, Jerry. (The Japanese keeps us from understanding each other more times than not :P) It is an upward and forward strike to the face with the blade or handle of the sword to dislodge the helmet so that you can strike the bear head shomanuchi. It is techniqueally a separate strike to the face plate, but it is really a sudden attack… I wouldn’t call it committed, personally, but if you are really deep into sword training it would seem really obvious, I suppose.
Shibata Sensei did a technique from the initial opening open handed. I guess it is so your helmet doesn’t get knocked off even if you can avoid the Shomanuchi (killing strike) before they make the strike. He did a really flowing Ikkyo from it with a huge cutting motion like Dee does from shomanuchi ikkyo.
I sent you a picture Jerry. I will resend…
I teach that strike, specifically. Coincidently, I taught that exact strike last night, with explanation, when Julian and I worked with bokken.
Arakawa Sensei first explained it to me in Tampa, after a class.
I appreciate the terminology, however.
(You do remember me teachIng this movement, right?)
Yes I remember, like I said, it is in almost all of your shomanuchi strikes with a boken. We do it all the time, just usually don’t use the term shomanate. We also do that strike empty handed whenever we do a direct iremi entrance into shomanuchi or yokomanuchi strikes as an attemi to the face, but the term is specific to an opening that the uke does.
MM had seen it done as an opening in one of Shibata Sensei’s classes and I thought she was talking about Jodantsi for the longest, but apparently it is a separate and unique opening for empty handed as well as armed.
This also ties into my discussion on Tonya’s blog about empty handed attacks being a direct analogue to weapons attacks. Rather than “street” attacks, like a “slug” or haymaker.
And it supports my conclusions as well.
I’m glad MM heard this from a shihan.
*feeling vindicated*
Here is a link to a site authored by Mr Stefan Stenudd, the Vice Chairman of the International Aikido Federation (IAF):
http://www.stenudd.com/aikido/aikido-attacks-aihanmi.htm#shomenate
He puts it better than me, probably because he knows what be is talking about 
To my embarrassment, it felt as though I was the only person training at winter camp that didn’t know what this attack was. lol
When I took Shibata Sensei’s class the Shomanate did not resemble his raise for shomanichi. He made a distinction.
Shomanate was not simply a raise into the helm, it was a gradual raise, that was more horizontal in trajectory than a vertical, with a slight upward slope. It was a slash to the eye opening on a helm. It was either intended to knock the helm off to be followed with a shomanuchi, or it was meant to slash the eyes and into the skull for a subtle kill blow.
As described by my partner during this class, the Shomanate can be the hilt of the sword knocking the helm off(or breaking the nose)in close range. It was also the same motion done subtly in a longer range with the very tip of the blade towards the eye opening of the helm.
It was not a big movement in Shibata Sensei’s class, it was a very committed as far as body motion, yet subtle in the arms and hands.
Dichotomy: Last paragraph is key, as well as the last paragraph on shomenuchi.
Thereby conclusively proving what I always knew to be correct.
You people shouldn’t doubt me. Seriously.
But for now, my sweet, sweet victory dance.
Merry Christmas! 
MM: I’ve given this explanation before. But, I can (obviously) see the greater meaning you would attach to your lesson at Winter Camp, given the context.
Yeah, it was sweeeeet!
It had almost a lunge-like quality when a Shihan did it…meaning that is most likely the right way to do it dynamically lol
Every year my dad used to have me watch an entire 24 hr of that movie… it was always on in the background!
