We are now training at Triangle Aikido, a genuine dojo at 4603 Hillsborough Rd, Durham 27705. Gil Fitts Sensei is teaching Tues and Thurs at 7pm and doing civilian clothes self defense and tactical studies on Saturdays 12:30pm.
We are excited to have this opportunity to continue study in collaboration with this Aikido community. All levels are welcome. We are following COVID Guidelines and look forward to safe maskless training as soon as feasible.
This was part of Doshinkan Aikido presentation at Drew University in 2009. I wish our entire group had been shown but obviously the editor enjoyed the knife work.
Each primary element comes together – earth, air, fire, water, vibration, friction and time to create the tool that reflects the Mind – sharp, flexible, penetrating and lustrous..
One of the students asked a question about the etiquette of class and it reminded me of famous stories of O’Sensei’s great patience in teaching but harsh reprimands for impoliteness or inattention.
There is an old Zen story about weeds growing along the path to the temple. The Elder sees them and reminds himself to fuss out the students who have not properly attended the gardens and path. The Younger is oblivious and walks past the weeds not realizing anything is amiss. The Righteous pulls one weed and congratulates himself on being erudite and correct.
The Master pulls them all; tosses them and any thoughts on the matter away.
The weekend began with a quick demo and class for our audience from the Superior School of Martial Arts. The kids and participants were enthralled with Kancho’s techniques and humor.
Saturday started the actual seminar with movements and techniques flowing from the original Aikijujitsu to Aikido. We trained in the classic aikido weapons of bokken, tanto and jo developing genuine insights concentrating on timing, correct distance,extension of ki and balance.
That evening after dinner we returned to Sensei’s home to watch “13 Assassins”. Besides being an outstanding movie in the tradition of Seven Samurai, the film dealt with the concept of “The Life Giving Sword”. The concept has several meanings but this plot reflects:
“It is missing the point to think that the martial art is solely in cutting a man down. It is not in cutting people down; it is in killing evil. It is the stratagem of killing the evil of one man and giving life to ten thousand” – Yagyu Munenori
My thoughts were how aikido is an amazingly evolved art, not just the idea of sophisticated technique from its samurai past, but in its aim to develop harmony within ourselves, our fellow man, with nature and the Divine.
Dear Friends,
This is the beginning of our new website. It is set up as a blog on wordpress.com and will be updated from time to time.
Please sign up at the bottom of the page for email updates and by the same token feel free to create your own comments or send video and photos to me at tenrokan@gmail.com
Of course I need your help to make this successful. And if you have experience with these type of website templates we are open to suggestions.
Osu!
Gil Fitts, Sensei
Dojo Cho
Tenrokan Aikido Dojo
Tenrokan Aikido Dojo 