Tamura Sensei,

Attachment

I recently read a description of attachment as a person eating in a concentration camp, one hand brings food and needed nourishment , while the other protects it from their neighbor, waiting to take it from them the moment they lower their guard.
I worked in juvenile corrections, and I have seen many eat with one hand while the other arm is wrapped around the plate.

The thing we wanted does not cause happiness once attained but the opposite, only a brief flash of pleasure, followed by the anxiety of the fear of losing it.

Happiness is not the brief excitement of attachment, followed by the crash on the other side of attachment. what makes you happy or unhappy is not the people or the world around you, but the thinking in your head. Happiness is not easily defined kinda like describing light to some one who has always lived in the dark. You can't describe it but you can begin to understand it. Once you understand the nature of your unhappiness then it will begin to disappear..
Like realizing you are dreaming in a nightmare , the nightmare fades understand your attachments and they will vanish. The consequence is freedom. Happiness and freedom cant' be easily defined but their opposites can be observed and cause these things to vanish leaving the result. This is my Limited understanding and I am continuing to grow and develop while I work on facing my own attachments and killing them.

Place Of Peace

RAD Class Starting in OCTOBER

I will be teaching a Basic RAD Class at Parks and Recreation Department | City of Lawrence, KS

1141 Massachusetts, Lawrence, KS 66044

office (785) 832-7909 | fax (785) 832-7938 Call for pricing and availability.



Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.)

Participants will be provided realistic self-defense options design just for women, regardless of their level of physical conditioning. Learn techniques and information that can be effectively used from the first day of class. Learn how to develop a defensive mindset, understanding offensive and defensive postures, recognizing vulnerable locations. Each participant will receive a manual for reference and practice.

More Arts with Charles

Cut Once

I use the Sword daily to help others. I cut once... If I have a problem I cut once... If I have something I wish to change I cut once... One problem one cut, then move on. Decide then take action

Yokomenuchi 5 arts

Jou dori with bob

Practice only has meaning if you do it.

Tohei Sensei HAS GIVEN US ALL THE TOOLS TO SUCCEED. The four basic principles the Ki Sayings, Misogi, ki breathing and ki meditation combined with oneness rhythm exercise and regular Aikido practice are sufficient to make one a better person. The catch is you have to do it and you have to sit every day. Working on the internal arts is the key to good Aikido and being a good person off the mat. The discipline comes from the Martial arts aspects of our training. The other practice is done at home on the zafu or seiza bench. Once you calm your mind and begin to realize your own nature then you can begin to connect to others.
Ki training is awareness and mindfulness training; this requires discipline and consistent practice in order to see positive results.

Daily Training

I have been reflecting on the benefits of daily practice, I recently
completed an intensive three day self defense training, 30 hours of
training  in three days with practical demonstration and written exam.
The Discipline from my daily practice served me well and enabled me to
remain focused and helped me to achieve a positive result. I am now a
certified Rape Aggression and Defense trainer, and I am Going to
present this training as a community service.  I had many challenges
and opportunities to examine, my skills as  this training was
designed to take me to the breaking point, pushing me to limits  both
physically and mentally.
The Training I have and the daily practice from OPB and Ki Aikido
allowed me to not only pass but I leaned much about myself, under fire
so to speak my calmness manifested itself more than I imagined it
would, and I now truly see a direct benefit of  daily practice.
The real work is with in your own mind.
Training to connect with the living quality of each moment. Coming
back to right here right now with gentleness and precision. Connecting
deeply to others and realizing that separation is the illusion.
Training in not causing harm and maintaining an open and flexible
mind. These are very practical and lasting effects of serious training
and are not for the feeble minded or weak at heart. True training
requires discipline and honest self reflection, not only of what to
train but why to train.
I thought  might share this as encouragement, what we do has helped me to be in a better position to
help others.

Ki Intervention L.L.C.

My Name Is William Perkins, I am a husband and father of three. I have practiced Ki-Aikido
with mind-body coordination since 1995. I hold the rank of Nidan in Ki-Aikido and Shoden in Ki
development. I am a trained mediator specializing in Victim offender mediation and issues of
restorative justice and balance. I am a former Corrections Officer and I trained Correctional Officers in
crisis intervention and restraints, (both physical and mechanical) I am a Peaceful Intervention Trainer,
and an assistant instructor for the Kansas Ki Society. I Co-Founded Ki Intervention to teach practical
self defense and rape prevention training for women and girls as I have a wife and two daughters, this
is too important to leave to chance. I am also a formal student in the Order of Pragmatic Buddhists, as
a Martial artist and when a corrections officer I was often asked to teach practical self defense and
escape for co-workers and students. I found that most could do the movements in class but soon forgot
them or didn't practice the newly acquired skills. When I teach I like to find what someone is good at
and make them great, rather than average at everything. The R.A.D. program is designed to
use women's strengths based on what works for them. This is the best Basic Self Defense program designed specifically for women I have seen. I am excited to Begin teaching RAD In Lawrence I Just completed an Intensive Instructors Certification Program. R.A.D. is the only Program sanctioned by the International Campus Law Enforcement Administrator's Association. ICLEA.
R.A.D. is the strongest self-defense network in the country. The course meets or
exceeds all guidelines for choosing a self-defense program prepared by the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault
(NCASA). Programs are taught at over 450 university police departments, municipal police and sheriff departments,
local transit companies, military bases, and independents across the U.S. and Canada. At this time there are nearly
5000 instructors certified internationally.

Changing habits

When we train to break habitual patterns of our physical arts we can break the blockages in our minds. As we work with habits and prejudices and stop struggling against ourselves we can begin to work with uke's in a new way. Moving from a place of compassion and wisdom. As we begin to think in these terms and our motivations shift to our bigger self and or intent is to free others from suffering and the root causes of suffering. We can not help but to transform our small self as well. I have stated before that Tohei Sensei has given us all the tools necessary, Essentially this thing Called Ki-Aikido has the ability to allow one to realize their potential and develop deeply connected relationships with themselves and others. The movement from gross physical movements to the refined internal aspect of connection, then maintaining this connection over time and distance, is a way of training on a deep deep personal level, one only has to let go of the assumptions, that this is a Martial Art and I have to Throw you with this or that technique. The Irony is the arts themselves work better when we give up these assumptions too. What is necessary to throw you or to move my self to the next level of consciousness is the same. The answer is always there nothing to acquire, ki is always extending and getting out of your own way is the essential training.

Taigi

I have been thinking about Taigi. What is Taigi, how is it different. Basically it is a series of arts combined together within a time frame combined with the proper rhythm and timing.
To me preforming Taigi requires that you know the arts but this is not enough; you must make a deep connection with uke and extend this connection through out the Taigi. From bow to bow as is often said. So how does one do this? I think in the beginning you learn to move uke's center to effect their balance, then as you progress you move from your center or one point to affect uke and begin to lead uke. Then at a more advanced level you begin to move from our center(nage/\uke), realizing the connection with no separation between nage and uke. From the observers vantage point it is difficult to tell who is throwing who. Nage and uke move together in fluid motion . Shaner Sensei uses the image of Nage and uke are a single animal with 4 legs. Move from the center of this new animal you have created with uke.

FOUR BASIC PRINCIPLES

(Shinshin Toitsu no Yondai Gensoku)

To realize the (original) unity of mind and body (bodymind).

1. Keep One Point - Principle of the mind

Seika no iten ni kokoro o shizumei toitsu suru.

Calmly realize (your) mind at the one point in (your) lower abdomen.

2. Relax Completely - Principle of the body

Zenshin no chikara o kanzen ni nuku.

Completely release (i.e. throw away) all tension from the entire body/mind and emotion.

3. Keep Weight Underside - Principle of the body

Karada no subete no bubun no omome o sono saikabu ni oku.

Let the weight of every part of the body settle at its lowest point.

4. Extend Ki - Principle of the mind

Ki o dasu.

Ki Extends

Change your attitude but remain natural

As long as we think you are attacking and now I am going to throw you then we are stuck. This is the same as saying I am going to help you because you need help. This is dualistic and implies one has it and one dose not. This is not compassion or connection to uke other than on a temporary basis, fundamentally nothing has changed. The concept ofIntoku is doing good in secret with out the notion of praise or reward. This applies to Aikido arts as well. Wanting to throw somebody is working against rather than with someone. THIS IS REALLY ABOUT WORKING WITH YOUR OWN UNDESIRABLE SELF this is how one can truely grow and develop thru Ki-Aikido. we can give up the clinging desire of what it is really going to be like when I throw someone, this is a trap....
if I change this, if I breathe more, if I could only have a bigger mind, etc...
these are all attachments that keep us in a cycle of looking out there for the answers. Keeping us from realizing there is enough ,right here ,right now.

Don't Talk about injured Limbs

I have thought about this a lot lately and I think I finally know what this means .
This means don't talk about other peoples weakness or problems. There is a kind of security we get from discussing others defects. The issue here is taking responsibility for your actions. Know that we are responsible for every action and relationship we encounter. The under lying issue is not attacking our selves realizing that we are smart enough, whole enough thin enough etc... if we can make a deep connection to our selves then we can connect with others. Otherwise instead of working with, we are continuing to struggle against ourselves and others. Realize there is nothing to aspire to. We begin to realize that separation is an illusion ,and that conflict is not between us and them, but always us against us. Think about how much pain we create by clinging to the illusion of separation, and the perpetuation of a culture of Violence. Now imagine how you can change this, how you can affect the collective consciousness and the realization of humanity?

Equanimity

Equanimity is bigger than our usual small ego driven perspective. Our chase and hope of what we want and our clinging fear of losing what we have, is the basis of our habitual pattern of existence. There are eight variations of this in Buddhist teaching, Hope and fear, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, gain and loss, fame and disgrace. As long as we cling to one of these extremes the potential of the others is there continuing to be caught in this cycle of attraction and aversion. This is the same as dividing the world into for and against. Us vs Them etc... we can't retreat and just work on our self, we need to function in the world and work towards making it better for all beings, our training needs to develop as a benefit. Practicing compassion and abiding in Equanimity evolving past the little me who seeks only to help themselves and move towards unconditional commitment to ourselves and others. I think this is what Tohei sensei was talking about in Setsudo teaching the way of the universe is the ultimate purpose of my study.

New Beginings Revisited

On Sat we are meeting to continue what started back in December. A meeting to consider among other things a vision and mission statement. In order to do this a survey was sent out, I was surprised at my answer to the first question. You may be too.

If I were designing my ideal class at the dojo (for me to attend, not teach) I would prioritize these class components from 1 to 8 as follows… (1 is most important)
component example
___8_ Social interaction (making friends, attending functions)
____3 Aikido technique (learning and polishing techniques, rolling, etc.)
____1 Ki development (Ki meditation and breathing, oneness, ki healing, etc.)
____5 Practical self defense (Making sure you could use techniques on the street.)
____7 Exercise and fitness (Active, rigorous classes, flexibility, etc.)
____6Japanese culture (Maintaining a traditional dojo atmosphere, etc.)
2
____ Weapons (Jo 1, Bokken 45)
____4 Philosophical inquiry (Ki sayings, The Art of Peace, discussion of principles)

I would categorize some differtenly as I see my answer for #1 and #4 are closely related and #6 is required to accomplish these, #1,#3 and #5 are also interdependent. I found #7 to be some what misleading as I am for rigorus classes and flexibility, I don't think this is exercise for exercise sake. Also what is Ideal in an individual class does not translated to the Dojo as a whole, as needs with in classes change based upon the participants needs and abilities.

Thinking Bigger

A simple practice that has profound effects. This is something we hear all the time, move bigger, expand your ki... etc

How to change our usual perspective and to get away from our habit of thinking of for and against. When ever we feel pain stop breathe in, breathe it in and realize that others also feel pain in this way. When we connect to the universe in this way we can let go with out judging or allowing it to rise to the level of aggression. When we feel pleasure enjoy it. No need to be guilty, simply enjoy it and wish that others could also enjoy this same simple pleasure. Like the first sip of tea in the morning , you know, the cream is frothed ( I have become particularly found of green tea lattes) just right, you can feel it beginning to warm you as it goes down, the sun is coming up and the birds are singing, aaaaahhhh wouldn't it be great if every one could slow down and enjoy this moment. This right now , this is a way of practicing being connected, and gratitude. Which of course leads to compassion and a deeper connection.

Kakizome

This morning we had our kakizome session at the dojo. I enjoyed this very much, and I had a sample of how technical and how much thought goes into each stroke. Sensei reminded me that when i started Aikido i couldn't throw somebody with just one movement....brush work is the same. one has to follow particular patterns and rhythm, breathing and Ki extension are all things to consider when making a stroke on the paper.

I was humbled and inspired at the same time. I hope to pursue more Shodo in the future.