HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here we are, another new year, another chance at improvement, another chance at peace. Time is the present we gave ourselves to do what we came here to do. As Gandalf said to Frodo, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” So here’s to us, and here’s to enlightened decision. Happy new year!

WHAT HAPPENED LAST NOVEMBER: FIRST INTERNATIONAL YAMANNI-RYU TOURNAMENT, ISHIOKA, JAPAN: see my article in this issue.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN MARCH: OUR ANNUAL FUND-RAISER FOR ST JUDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: Our annual fund-raiser for St Jude Children’s Hospital will take place the week of March 5-9. Keep an eye out for our pledge sheets and be generous in your donations!

OSHIRO SENSEI’S YAMANNI-RYU SEMINAR, MAR 23-25: Oshiro sensei will be back this way the week-end of March 23-25. Friday, March 23 he will conduct a karate class at our dojo at 7:30 p.m.. Saturday will be the Kobudo class’s private session with him at 10:00 a.m. and Sunday, March 25, he will teach an open Yamanni-ryu seminar at Bloomfield Middle School’s gymnasium from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Don’t miss training with Oshiro sensei! Cancel all weddings and other family affairs.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN APRIL: KURASHITA HANSHI’S 2^ND ANNUAL GASSHUKU AT THE AAC, APR 9 - 15:

Get ready for Kurashita sensei! He’s coming back for our annual Gasshuku since he liked it so much last time. The training schedule will be the same: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 10:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 7:30 to 9:15 p.m. Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. (Wednesday will be time off for Sensei to sightsee in New York.) Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Gasshuku fee is $200.

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THE TOKYO ADVENTURE:

Yamanni-ryu in Japan

by Tran sensei

Flying in an airplane is the most amazing act of faith I know. Most passengers might do it unconsciously, deluding themselves that the hard floor they’re sitting on or walking on is not the inside of a tin can hurtling through thin air, weighing thousands of tons but for me, it is an absolute conscious act of faith because I realize the precariousness of the situation and the grace that’s allowing it to happen. It is indeed the most magical thing; time stops because the next moment doesn’t exist. So I opt to savor the entire 13 hours it takes to travel to Tokyo, Japan, by not distracting myself watching a video on board: I focus instead on each single moment of now. As they say in Zen: when sitting, simply sit; when breathing, only breathe.

I am going to Tokyo for the two most momentous events in my career: first, to take part in a Yamanni-ryu exhibition with Oshiro sensei at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (Taikukan) on the occasion of the Shotokan Karate International Federation’s 2006 World Karate Championship, and second, to attend the very first Yamanni-ryu International Tournament in Ishioka, Ibaraki prefecture, in the suburbs of Tokyo. The honor bestowed is indeed mind-boggling.

My plane lands on Friday, November 3 at 3:10 p.m. local time (I left Newark airport the previous day at 11:10 a.m.). After I clear immigration and customs, I emerge into a sea of Japanese locals waiting to pick up the sea of their kinfolk disembarking. Even though I can’t see him yet, I know Oshiro sensei won’t have any trouble spotting me with my bo sticking out above the crowd. Sure enough, he waves to me and I drag my suitcase over to him where he introduces me to Aki, a former student of his who now resides in Tokyo with his expecting Taiwanese wife (introduced to me only as “oku-san”). It’s quite warm as we emerge into the open air, heading for the parking deck.

Aki drives us into downtown Tokyo where Oshiro sensei has reserved a room for me at the Nishi Tetsu Inn in the Shinjuku ward. The highway leading to the city reminds me of NJ’s Garden State Parkway except that the roads are all one-way. Oshiro sensei corrects me: “In New Jersey, the trees are bigger!” Throughout the ride, they talk about the latest cars (where a navigation system is standard) and a name for the baby. In the distance, to the south, I make out the lonely keep of Sleeping Beauty’s castle of Tokyo Disney.

After a series of short tunnels, we run smack into downtown Tokyo’s Friday evening rush hour.

SAT, NOV 4: A typical Japanese breakfast (as served in the hotel’s basement restaurant at 7:00 a.m.) consists of a salad, salmon, sticky rice, pickled vegetables, and miso soup. I ask for a cup of coffee (that’s extra). Later, at 8:30, Oshiro sensei calls me up and asks me to go to breakfast with him; I tell him I’d already eaten but I’ll go with him anyway. When I see him in the lobby, he’s accompanied by Daiki Takakawa, a 17 year-old student of his from San Francisco. Daiki was born in Japan but moved to the U.S. at an early age and has been training with Sensei since he was 5.

We go around the corner from the hotel and wander into a restaurant in an alley. Here, this is how you order: you pick a dish you want (the menu is posted by the door on a vending machine) and buy a ticket from the machine; you present the ticket to the counter person and she places the order for you. I sit down and watch Sensei and Daiki gobble up their hearty breakfast.

Afterwards, we bring our luggage down to the lobby to wait for Aki to come pick us up. We have to check out because after the demo this afternoon we will have to travel to Mito, a half-way town where we’ll stay the night before proceeding to Ishioka tomorrow for our Yamanni-ryu tournament. We’re all ready in our hakama.

At 9:30 sharp, Aki is here and we load up in his car. The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium is every bit as impressive as I saw it online: a massive steel and concrete arena located in the Shibuya ward in the outer gardens of the Meiji Shrine, it was rebuilt in 1990 (from a former gymnasium dating from 1954); it boasts 3 stories and 2 basements, has a floor surface area of about 400,000 sq ft and can seat 10,000 people. Today it’s housing the Shotokan Karate International Federation’s 9^th World Championship under the aegis of Kanazawa Kancho, the grandmaster of Shotokan karate.

We wait outside for Minakami Akio sensei (a prominent Shito-ryu instructor from Seattle who has been a powerful adherent of Yamanni-ryu) and Sam Wykoff who’s coming from Kobe (where he’s been living with his wife Chizuru and their new baby Yuki for the past couple of years). Soon Sam emerges from the nearby Sandagaya train station with his luggage in tow but still no sign of Minakami sensei.

By 11:30 Oshiro sensei decides to go in. The gymnasium is packed with Tokyo government officials, ambassadors from various countries, Shotokan luminaries, and spectators from all over the world; the floor area is already filled with Shotokan students; the ushers take us to the sub arena where we can warm up and practice before our demo. On the way downstairs we run into Minakami sensei, who’s been inside all this time.

The atmosphere of the place is nearly Olympic in scope: delegations from just about every country in the world mill about, practicing, rehearsing, waving their flags and placards. They notice us and figure we must be pretty important folks so gradually, they come over and ask to have their picture taken with us: first the Israeli-Palestinian group called Budo for Peace, then the Mexicans, then the Australians, the Belgians...

It’s nearly 2:00 p.m. when we go into the main floor ready to perform. As we sit and listen to Kanazawa Kancho give a presentation.

The four of us walk up to the middle of the floor and bow in after we’re announced; Minakami sensei stays for his nunchaku performance as we walk back. He insisted on going first because he was so nervous he wanted to get it over with before anyone else.

Then, as he walks back, I go on to demonstrate Shikina-no-tunfa kata. My hands, too, are sweaty and stick to the tunfa. My swings are not as clean as I’d wish but it is all right. I finish and walk back and it is Daiki’s turn with Kishaba-no-sai kata.

Oshiro sensei completes our show with his flawless bo kata. He starts out doing Shirataru-no-kon/dai but midway he changes it to Shirataru/sho. Was it on purpose? I’ll never know.

We all walk back out to bow to thunderous applause and leave. Outside, we meet some more of Oshiro sensei’s former students of Japanese descent who are now living in Tokyo. Since Aki’s car is not big enough for all of us, we take the train back to Shinjuku for dinner. At this posh restaurant, I have my first taste of Minke whale and horse meat. Whale meat has the consistency and taste of caviar; horse meat tastes like an old shoe.

Around 6:00 p.m., one of the students, Jeff, takes us to the train station and we begin our ride towards Mito. After a slight (but hilarious) misadventure of missing our station transfer and being stranded in the middle of nowhere, we finally arrive at 10:00 p.m. and lug our baggage to the hotel...where Nakata sensei (the person who organized the tournament) tells us Sam and I have to check in at a different hotel in town because there was no room for us.

SUNDAY, NOV 5: The view from the Hotel Season’s ninth floor restaurant is splendid, looking out on a bucolic town highlighted by a lazy canal populated with swans. It’s a gorgeous, sunny day; if I didn’t know better, I’d thought I was in Holland.

We check out of the hotel and walk (with our luggage) to the train station. Everywhere I go, dressed in my hakama and carrying my bo in their cover, people think I’m an archer going to a Kyudo meet. From across train stations, they look at me and make the gesture of shooting arrows, mistaking my bo for a bow.

We missed the early train (8:30 a.m.) to Ishioka and have to wait a half-hour for the next one; then there is a transfer onto an old-fashioned diesel winding its way through the countryside. It’s another hour and a half through rural Japan before we get to our destination. Now it’s 10:00 and we’re late. But the ride was worth it.

As we walk into the imposing Ishioka Movement Park Gymnasium, the competitors are already lined up and Oshiro sensei, in his suit, is making his welcoming speech. He notices us at the door and nudges Minakami sensei.

He calls us over and asks us to help officiate. Originally, back in the U.S., Oshiro sensei had plans for me to compete as well, to represent America; I had been practicing Shirataru kata incessantly for that purpose. But now, however, it turns out I outrank all the Japanese and wind up being the chief official. The competitors are divided into age groups and gender: young men, young women, adults, experienced, over 50. Due to poor organization, the tournament was not announced early enough to students in Europe and, as a result, few could attend. The total number of participants comes out to about twenty-five.

Yamanni-ryu, as it turns out, is still in its infancy in Japan. The competitors have little idea of embusen (performance line), seichusen (center line), metsuki (eye contact), and tame (rewind). It will take some time yet, and many trips by Oshiro sensei, before they catch up with us. Indeed, the only participants who truly shine are Sensei’s students from California, Daiki and Sonia (whose Japanese parents came over all the way from Ohio to watch her compete). The German students don’t fare too badly either, only a little overzealous in their performance.

Everybody has a chance to do his/her kata a second time; some choose to do a different kata. Some score higher, others just fizz out completely.

Throughout the competition, Minakami sensei, Daiki, Oshiro sensei, and I reprise our demonstration from the day before, interspersing our individual performances between the various divisions’ events.

The tournament ends at noon; we’re all provided graciously with a free meal (two choices: a Japanese pack or a spaghetti pack) and the Japanese helpers solicitously usher me into a dining room with Oshiro sensei and the other officials.

At 1:00 p.m., Oshiro sensei teaches a much needed seminar; he goes over all the basics and explains the fundamental principles (all in Japanese, of course) including how to transfer energy and how to move quickly in a straight line. The Japanese seem nonplussed. Apparently, they’ve never seen this magic before. Then he takes them through the katas Do-nyu-no-kon/sho, Suuji-no-kon and Choun-no-kon/sho. We end at 2:00; Sensei presents the attendees with their certificates of participation, awards, and mementos. We bow out and take a group picture. Nakata sensei thanks Sam and me profusely for officiating all day.

Sam and I leave right away for Tokyo; I want to get back before nighttime so I can spend the day tomorrow doing some sightseeing. Sam has to go back home to Kobe. I return to the Nishi Tetsu Inn in Shinjuku.

Being in Japan the past two days has been the highlight of my career. But wait: did Oshiro sensei mention next year’s tournament will be in the Czech Republic?

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WORDS TO LIVE BY:

“You are here because you chose it before time began. You will use time wisely to heal your split mind, then see the world as healed. Then it will be so, for you have the power of God within you.

“You are not here to bring worldly peace, but the Peace of God.

“Turning toward the Buddha nature within is the same as turning toward your Christ Consciousness. When you cross the bridge and reach the other side, then you will see that we are the same, that we share the same heart.”

–THE ART OF SPIRITUAL PEACEMAKING, The Secret Teachings of Jeshua ben Joseph