Inside Nihon Goshin Aikido ~ #50
1 May 2017
Inside this Issue:
- The South Carolina Invitational Tournament It Is!
- Aikido On Lake Murray
- Departures
- What Comes After Sho-Dan?
Greetings Nihon Goshin Aikido Aficionado!
So, April Madness came and went, with Mississippi State doing the unthinkable in ending the incredible run of the U.Conn Huskies Women’s basketball team, and then promptly laying an egg against The GameCocks of South Carolina ~ who became the national champions in women’s basketball. The Gamecock Men’s Basketball team was not as fortunate, as their star player Sindarious Thornwell had the flu during their Final 4 Appearance with Gonzaga. They made it a game, but it was unfortunate that they were not in their best health when the game was played.
1 out of 2 National Championships isn’t bad. So here is the list of National Championships won by SC Universities within the past 12 months(Football ~ Clemson, Baseball ~ Coastal Carolina, Women’s Basketball ~ University of South Carolina, & Bass Fishing ~ University of South Carolina).
So with the plethora of NCAA championships currently residing in SC, I formally submit that all future references to any NCAA Championship be known as "The South Carolina Invitational Tournament."
Go GameCocks!
Onward
So, May is here. The water in Lake Murray is a bit sassy. You can swim, but there are still cold water pockets lurking in the middle of otherwise warm water, which make things interesting from time to time. We went out with another family (2 families & 2 boats), twice this past weekend, and only had to tow one boat (not mine) back to the marina ~ and only once. Lol
If you ever take a look at the definition of a Boat in a dictionary: you will probably read something like: “A hole in the water in which you pour gobs of money.” This is generally the standing definition of all boats.
Still you have these moments where BOAT can take on different meanings based on the most recent time you experienced on your boat. Generally there are two of these optional definitions ~ that run in this fashion:
If the boat breaks (or standard definition): BOAT means “Bust Out Another Thousand.”
If the boat runs: BOAT means “Best Of All Times.”
Aikido in the Lake
Speaking of Lake stuff, the referenced weekend on the lake presented an opportunity for some massive aikido applications.
On the trip Saturday, we were hanging out in a cove while alternating between skiing and tubing. Even though skiing is the superior art form, the kids love to tube. Deciding that “Bumper Tube” would be better than single tubing, we anchored my boat about 40 yards from shore, and tied two tubes up behind my friend’s boat.
Then we proceeded to have a “King of the Tubes” Contest between the riders. So this is the general idea of “King of the Tubes:” each tube rider tries to throw all the other tube riders off their respective tubes, while the boat driver is trying to throw everyone off regardless of whose tube they are on. Great fun. Kind of 1980s fun. A bit too sissified for today’s youth ~ which is why we insisted our kids play the game. “But someone might get hurt” one child was heard saying (and sounding way too much like a parent). He was properly ejected from the tube for his brash naysayerry. As he was being hurled out into the big blue of Lake Murray, you could hear some adult say, “Someone Might Get Hurt! Which is precisely WHY it is so much FUN!” Whatever happened to “Look Mom! No Hands!” ???? Where have our nation’s boys gone?
If you haven’t done it lately, let me remind you: Building Boys Equals Great Times.
Anyway, after the King of the Tubes game ~ which might have lasted 45 minutes (and no one got hurt) we went back to my boat which was anchored in the cove. This is where the aikido training kicked in.
I had just climbed up onto my boat (see picture to the left), and a man comes tumbling out on his dock. He was not happy, and began to let fly a stream of obscenities, that are probably still floating above the water. The first question was repeated over and over again.
“Who the F--K’s Boat is THIS?” Was the question.
My answer was given multiple times, but he must have been deaf, as he continued to repeat the question, “It’s my boat, and watch your language. There are young children here.” ~ I kept saying.
I think he may have been drunk, but I’m not sure. These things I do know:
- He didn’t realize that my boat was anchored, and not drifting in the lake.
- He didn’t realize that his property stops at the water line (we were 30 yards off his property), and therefore not trespassing.
- He was from New York (because he said so).
- The North was Victorious over the South in the Civil War 150 years ago (both because that is historically accurate, and because he said so).
It didn’t make any difference to the man or his argumentative nature when I pulled up the anchor and showed it to him. It did not make any difference that we asked him to watch his language in front of our children multiple times ~ as there were 7 kids spread over 2 boats.
Every rebuttal my friend Matt and I made of behalf of our families was met with a barrage of profanity, and complete absurdity.
As we were preparing to leave, he descended about as low as he possibly could have descended, and dropped his pants, exposing his buttocks to my family and my friend’s family.
If there was a red line, he crossed it here, as there were 7 kids under age 13 in the two boats. He willfully exposed himself to 7 under age children. We had blended as best we could, but enough was enough. We filed a report with the Sheriff’s Department.
Departures
From Dale Roznowski: “It's never to late to find a passion in Aikido, Jim Holbrook exemplified this for us all!!
Jim Holbrook Sensei passed away from us in early February 2017, his passion for the art was contagious, as a late in life practitioner of Nihon Goshin Aikido he had achieved the rank of Shodan while in his 60's and was a committed learner who enjoyed sharing that knowledge. So much so that when the dojo in Brooksville, Fl was at risk of closing in the summer of 2015 Jim Sensei stepped up and purchased the dojo. Can you imagine at the age of 71 he was running his first dojo!! He spent an incredible amount of time and energy to build the dojo through advertising and social media investing every penny made back into the dojo. In the little over a year that he owned the dojo he replaced all the external signage, created a very active facebook following, and gave the students brand new mat's to train on.
Jim gave his students the unique gift of practical experience and real world application for their art as he spent a career spanning 2 states and 3+ decades with multiple Sheriff's departments. Those of us who had the privilege of spending time on the mat with him knew clearly whether what we were doing would "work" or not.
He was extremely generous in every way to his students whether it was his smile or the occasionally needed kick in the pants to get to work Jim Sensei was the man for the job.
Survived by his wife June and 2 adult children, Jim Holbrook will be missed in our local Aikido community.”
What Do You Do After Your Promotion to Sho-Dan? You Do Everything After Sho-Dan.
I can remember at one point in my preparation for Sho-Dan testing, my wife asked me, “What will you do with all the free time you’ll gain after you complete your test?” At first I misunderstood the question but I soon realized that like most on the outside and too many on the inside, she believed that my “aikido journey” would cease once I passed my test for sho-dan. Then I pointed out that it was really just the beginning of a journey (see the illustration to the left), and that there would need to be revisions and improvements over a life time (both in understanding of technique, and in the adjustments to the application of technique to adapt to an ever aging body).
At this point both she and I began to understand the nature of my fascination with aikido. It should be a life long study. So first and foremost, after you are promoted, you keep coming because you’re just sort of just beginning to scratch the surface of your understanding.
Plan to continue your training.....
Alright! That does it for the May Edition of Inside Nihon Goshin Aikido. When you sit down to read the June edition of the newsletter this time next month, 2017 will be half gone. The days are long, but the years flies by. Let there be less talking and more Over the Back Throw Applications. I bid you farewell for now.
Until next time, let's meet together on the mats, and soon.
All the Best,
Jonathan Wilson
NGAexperience.com
PS: Please forward this link to your Nihon Goshin Aikido training buddies and ask them to subscribe to our free monthly newsletter.
A Perfect Example of
“The King of Tubes”
My son and me ~ in shock ~ after the NY Man Mooned Us From his Dock (dock pictured in the background). This photograph was taken from Matt’s boat. I’m taking a picture of the man’s house, in preparation for the call to the police that Matt made.
A Perfect Example of
BOAT: “Bust Out Another Thousand” ~~ This is my Ski Nautique a few years ago. My only solace is that I did all the work myself.
Sensei Jim Holbrook
~RIP~
Just Keep Training
Just Keep Training
Just Keep Training
Just Keep Training
2014 - 2021 ngaexperience.com
Unless otherwise stated, the author’s views, musings, and opinions do not necessarily reflect the attitude of leadership within any of the various Nihon Goshin Aikido associations, or unaffiliated Nihon Goshin Aikido dojos.
The Classic Lines of the Nihon Goshin Aikido training gi are unmistakable.
- White Gi
- “Ai” patch on the right breast
- “Ki” patch on the left breast
- Association patch on the right shoulder.
- Applicable belt (white, yellow, blue, green, purple, brown, black),
- Black hakama (worn only by those who have achieved a black belt in Nihon Goshin Aikido)
Some things simply never change. The student/ instructor uniform should be one of those things. This uniform marks a connection all the way back to the Chitose dojo, and should be preserved.
Nemar has the best ukemi ~~~~
Or the worst ukemi
~~~~
Real Fight Breakdowns
Real Fight Breakdowns
Real Fight Breakdowns
Slalom Skiing:
The Superior Lake Activity
