Hei Shin Aikido dojo has been closed due to Covid 19 pandemic. In view of the safety measures imposed and government regulation, for the safety of all our students, we have decided to stop all classes and closed the dojo till further notice.
We would like to thank you all for your support to Hei Shin Aikido dojo for the past few years and we will defintely miss you. We will treasure all the wonderful memories and happy moments when we were on the mats.
Hei Shin Aikido would like to thank all of our friends and family for their invaluable support during the setting up of our dojo.
Hei Shin Class Schedule :
Thursday Children / Adults Class – 8:00pm – 9:30pm
Saturday Children / Adults Class – 10.30 am – 11.30 am
We invite all in Johor Bahru who are interested in Aikido to join us for a free trial class. The trial class will ensure that you come away from it with a new understanding of Aikido. Discover for yourself how Aikido can improve your coordination, balance, fitness and self-defence abilities.
People are often not aware of their own mistakes, and change is often difficult.
Chief Instructor Tey
Every aikidoka makes mistakes, especially if they are novices. Even in life, there is little success to be found unless you fail in the process, mature, recover and try again. The same can be said of training in Aikido.
We have all done it before. Universally common mistakes occur in Aikido training worldwide and are universally exhibited by beginners and yudansha alike. Mistakes like not moving the entire body as a single unit, relying on upper-body strength instead of being confident in the technique, a general lack of relaxation during training, holding one’s breath instead of breathing properly, improper ukemi resulting in vulnerability to injury, etc. Such mistakes are general in the sense that they are not technique specific. Once the novice practitioner examines his techniques in-depth, a plethora of technique specific shortcomings can be observed. For example, over extension leading to a loss of balance during kokyu-nage or raising the hands too high during shiho-nage which allows the opponent to easily counter. These are typical mistakes that every aikidoka would be acutely aware of, yet change does not come easy for the practitioner.
Feedback is of the utmost importance to the aikidoka. When beginners train together, their progression is stymied not because of lack of enthusiasm or commitment, but due to an inability to identify mistakes. Even if the dojo is filled with mirrors, a reflected image of a mistake which is not readily apparent serves no practical purpose for the refinement of the practitioners’ techniques. Therefore the voice of experience should be keenly sought during every practice session. Constructively accepting advice and rebuke, and reflecting upon one’s mistakes, must be an ongoing endeavor.
Having a sempai or an instructor correcting your techniques is not going to be sufficient unless a concious effort to change is being made. If the aikidoka stands corrected and performs a technique better in one training session, there is no guarantee that the same technique will be better performed in the next practice session. We are all culpable when it comes to forgetting the instruction we’ve received and muscle memory obtained from doing a technique wrong for many sessions will keep an aikidoka from improving. Therefore, an important element to furthering oneself in Aikido is sufficient focus on one’s studies, and the diligent concious retention of past instruction.
Progress comes to those who train and train; reliance on secret techniques will get you nowhere.
– principally abridged from the writings of the second Doshu, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, and the present Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba
Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido, was born in the town of Tanabe, Kii Province (known today as Wakayama Prefecture) in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The founder was a sickly-looking teenager at the age of 15 but he was gifted with immense strength and he was engrossed with budo (the martial way) from a very young age. His father, Yoroku, was a member of the local town council and was frequently maltreated and abused by the hooligans employed by his political opponents when they came to negotiate matters at the family home. Witnessing these events transformed the life of the Founder. He vowed then to become strong so that one day, he will be able to exact retribution on his father’s attackers.
When he was 18, the Founder travelled to Tokyo to fulfill his ambition of becoming a trader. By day, he was kept busy working and by night, he was diligently studying Kito Ryu jujutsu. After a bout of heart beriberi, the Founder returned to Tanabe. Upon his recovery, he travelled to Sakai in order to study Yagyu Ryu jujutsu.
During the Russo-Japanese war, the Founder joined the Wakayama regiment and quickly outshone his peers, gaining the attention of the regiment commander due to his exceptional physical abilities. The Founder was typically found marching at the head of the troops, carrying the heavy equipment of two or three persons. His superiors regarded him as a very valuable asset and when he was discharged, he received several visits from company to battalion commanders attempting to re-enlist the Founder.
The Founder chose not to go back to the military and instead became a pillar of his community in Tanabe, managing the activities of the district. At that time, the Founder got a group together at the Young Men’s Club and had Kiyoichi Takagi teach Judo. Although only a third kyu Judoka then, later in life, Takagi would go on to attain 9th dan in Judo. The Founder meticulously studied Judo at that time but due to severe headaches and a strange ailment, he was bedridden for about half a year. He fully recovered and in 1910, applied to be a Hokkaido settler, the frontier of Northern Japan during that period. In 1911, he was elected as a member of the village council of Kamiyubetsu Village in Shirataki. He excelled at his duties and was recommended to head the association for the establishment of the Sekihoku railroad line. By 1912, he had already won the admiration of the residents of Shirataki and earned himself the nickname “King of Shirataki”.
It was the Founder’s fervent wish to study Daito Ryu Jujutsu with Master Sokaku Takeda, who met the Founder in Engaru in the year 1915. He went on to become a student of Takeda in the illustrious art which is claimed to have been started by the sixth prince of Emperor Seiwa during the ninth century. Takeda had a violent streak and was a strict teacher, demanding much from his students. The Founder excelled however, putting all his energy and resources into his studies. Mastering a martial art at that time was an expensive affair, with the Founder paying three to five hundred yen to learn each technique, not to mention the countless chores he had to perform for his teacher. In 1916, he received the priceless certificate which acknowledged his mastery in Daito Ryu Jujutsu.
Master Sokaku Takeda
In 1919, the Founder received word that his father was seriously ill. He gave all his property to Master Takeda and left Hokkaido. On his trip home, he heard about the Rev. Deguchi, leader of the Omotokyo, a budding religion at that time. The Founder decided then to visit Rev. Deguchi at the Omotokyo headquarters in Ayabe, Kyoto, to request prayers for his ailing father. He was devastated when he arrived in Tanabe to find that his father had already passed on. His father was the person that was most dear to the Founder, and in the resulting anguish while beside his father’s grave, he vowed to fulfill his lifelong ambition, to attain the secret of budo.
Young Morihei Ueshiba in Ayabe, 1921
Meeting Rev. Deguchi profoundly changed the Founder’s outlook on life and spirituality. Deguchi believed that human love and goodness could unite mankind, and he did not adhere to the old customs of Japan. To that end, he wished to form a Peaceful Kingdom in Mongolia and requested that the Founder travel with him. In February, 1924 the Founder joined the party and they left for Manchuria and Mongolia.
Rev. Onisaburo Deguchi
The local Chinese forces at that time viewed Deguchi’s party as the enemy, and captured them at one point, putting them into chains and keeping them in a prison. The captors sensed that the demeanour of the captured Founder was different, and that he was an extraordinary man. They cruelly treated him differently, shackling him and walking him in a pillory. The party would have been executed save for the timely intervention of the Japanese consulate. Eventually the Japanese government secured their release and they were repatriated to Japan and arrived at Port Moji on July 25, 1925.
Returning to Ayabe, the Founder returned to his studies of budo, preferring to study and practice in the mountains of Ayabe. As Ayabe was still a small rustic town, the inhabitants of Ayabe were frequently called upon to assist with the upgrading of the town’s facilities. The Founder often shocked the townsfolk with extraordinary feats of strength.
The Founder, in his studies of budo, found that he developed a form of sixth sense which allowed him to anticipate and feel the intended movements of his opponents. While travelling in Mongolia, the Founder was held up at gunpoint. He mentioned that he felt a “spiritual bullet” which went through him before the trigger was pulled. He swiftly stepped to the side a split-second before the weapon was fired, threw the adversary down, and claimed possession of the gun.
While facing off with a navy officer who was also a Kendo teacher in the spring of 1925, the Founder found that he dodged the sword strikes of the officer with great ease, anticipating when the officer would strike each and every time. After the match, an epiphany came over the founder while he was recovering from the bout. He recalls being rooted to the ground, and could neither sit nor walk. He related that at that moment, he was made clearly aware of the mind of God, the Creator of the universe. That true budo was accepting the spirit of the universe, keeping the peace of the world, and was to be found in the developing and cultivating of all beings in nature. That training of budo is taking God’s love, assimilating and utilizing it in the practitioner’s mind and body.
Although a fleeting moment, this experience was so profound that it revolutionized the Founder’s life and Aikido was born.
Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by the founder, Morihei Ueshiba, reverentially referred to by Aikidoka (Aikido practitioners) as O-Sensei. O-Sensei developed Aikido from his extensive knowledge and experience in Aiki-jujitsu and Kenjutsu, and other weapons disciplines like Kyujutsu and Jojutsu. On a rudimentary physical level, Aikido is a system of throws and joint locks which enables practitioners to utilize the movement and attacks of their opponents in order to control or throw their adversaries. As practitioners progress in their training, they will find themselves delving deeper into the philosophical and spiritual aspects of Aikido, while at the same time developing their abilities to correctly utilize the quintessential force that is the substance of all Aikido techniques and training, Kokyu Ryoku (breath power), commonly referred to as Ki.
The following quote from O-Sensei describes his philosophy regarding the martial art that he founded and developed.
“I didn’t create Aikido. Aiki is the way of the universe. It is the source of the principles of life. The history of Aikido begins with the origins of the universe. Do you think that a human being could possibly have created these laws?
There is no enemy in the true martial way (budo). True budo is a work of love. It is not killing or fighting; it is a work of creation and growth which gives life to and nurtures all things. Love is the guardian deity of everything. Nothing can exist without it. Aikido is the realization of love.”
– Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido
Given the deep pacifistic spiritual roots and philosophy of the founder, it is no wonder that the art is also known as “the way of harmony”.
For most who observe Aikido practice for the first time, a sense of bewilderment will often be felt. The traditional notions of a martial art that they have ingrained in their minds of flying kicks and rapid punches are nowhere to be found at an Aikido dojo. Instead they are greeted by graceful body motions that seem more at home at a dancehall than at a place of martial arts instruction.
Aikido training is generally carried out in pairs with a Tori (also referred to as Nage, the executioner of the technique being practiced) and an Uke (the recipient of the technique). The graceful way in which the Uke reciprocates the Nage’s technique is also fundamental to Aikido, where students are taught how to protect themselves when on the receiving end of the myriad throws and locks which when applied practically, can maim or even kill. Therefore, the cultivation of the Aikidoka’s spirit and temperament should be of utmost concern to every Aikidoka as the tenets of Aikido are rooted in harmonizing with your opponent, non-violence and love.
With that having been said, Aikido as performed at an Enbu (martial arts demonstration) illustrates its superior techniques of harmony and control over an opponent, as the video below of Shihan Christian Tissier at the Bercy Festival in France aptly presents.
*Please do no try these techniques without proper instruction.
If you are interested in Aikido, we highly recommend that you visit your local Aikido dojo for more information regarding training schedules and the qualifications of the instructors. If you reside in Johor Bahru, you are cordially invited to join us for training. Our highly qualified and experienced Aikikai certified Instructors are eager to teach you the way of the harmonious spirit.
Hei Shin Aikido Blog - Aikido Johor Bahru 