We have finally uploaded quite a few pictures on Picasa web galleries and organized a new page to keep track of it.

If you find there a picture that you do not want to share, let us know and we will remove it!

until that time, I hope many will enjoy and download the pictures, and join the next seminars for contribute to more photo uploads

JuShinKan Aikido is organizing 4 more seminars (so far…) before the summer holiday – mark the dates and consider a trip or two to Stavanger!

Note that visiting aikidoka get a rebate and private accomodation (as long as you let us know ahead of time!). There are flights to our airport from most major cities in Europe!

- Börje Lindén, 6th dan (6-8 November, 2009)  see details here  or FB-event here
Börje comes from the Iyasaka dojo in Stockholm and lists his inspiration sources to be:
Endo Sensei and all aikidoka with a positive attitude and are “searchers”,  as well as Ichimura Sensei (1975–1980) , Kobayashi Sensei (1977–), Igarashi Sensei (1978–). Kanetzuka Sensei (1986–1988), Frank Noel (1993–)…

- Alessandro Costa, 4th dan (4-6 Decembre, 2009) see details here  or  FB-event here
Alessandro has his own dojo in Bolzano, Italy, and lists his inspiration sources to be: Seichiro Endo, Masatoshi Yasuno, Christian Tissier and Alain Tendron. More about Costa on his website. Three of Alessandro’s high graded students are accompanying him to Stavanger – plenty of opportunity to train with very competent aikidoka! 
(the Friday session will be a special introductory session with Andrea Raviglione)

- West Coast Aikido Festival (22-24. January 2010)  see details here or FB-event here
This is where the 3 West Coast dojos (Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger) get together. The instructors of the 3 dojos will each be teaching one session each. The aim of the event is to “know each other better, train with others than we are used to, learn from each other, and so that it will be easier to stop by in each other dojos and open our horizon”. Read the article about the previous festival in Haugesund to know more about it.

- Fabrice Somers, 4th dan (14-16 May 2010)  see details here or FB-event here
Fabrice’s own dojo just south of Brussels was recently inaugurated by Endo Sensei, to whom Fabrice is very close and often accompanies as uke in his European tours. Fabrice also spends a few weeks every year at Hombu to practice with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. He has a vibrant and joyful presence and is very generous when sharing his experience, emphasizing the principles that Endo stands for, taking the time to work with everyone present.  See video with Fabrice on the Junten Dojo site.
(note to travelling aikidoka: Do Consider this event as a possible mini aiki-holiday, as the Thursday 13.5 is a holiday (how about a daytrip to the fjords to climb the nearby Pulpit Rock?) and the Monday after (17.5) is the Norwegian National Day (the most Norwegian of Norwegian celebrations, here’s the city’s int’l celebration).

Welcome to Stavanger!  (also in between seminars, of course!)

A fellow Aikidoka from our club, Carlos, is also a professional bass player (not the first one, right John?) and soon his band will release its first album:

Terraex, a progressive/experimental rock band based in Stavanger, will have a release concert for their first album “Somnia” at Rush, under the Blackmoon Festival on October 23rd!!

I have been so lucky to listen already to the complete album, and it is really really good!!! Here it is the only clip available, for now:

They have a group on facebook and especially some of their music on My space, but I strongly recommend to join their concert in Stavanger and buy their album! Money very well spent!!!

So remember:

Terraex @ Rush – October 23rd

Tuesday and Wednesday we received visits here in Stavanger by two high graded Aikido instructors: respectively Stein-Are, 4th dan from from Reimeikan Aikido in Tromsø, and Pedram, 2nd dan from Aikikan Oslo. They were in Stavanger for work and it was very good for us that they joined our practice. It was the first time that Stein-Are visited our club here in Stavanger, while Pedram has been practicing with us a few more times before, “thanks” to his job that takes him to Rogaland! 

When high graded people are around it is always a pleasure to let them instruct a class. Good fresh inspiration for the local people and always a great chance for us to practice with different people!!

And both sessions have been very good!! Hope to see these guys again in Stavanger!!

Stein-Are (on the left) in Tromsø

Pedram at Hombu dojo in Tokyo

During the weekend seminar with Erik Vanem her ein Stavanger we also had a successful graduation for Norwegian Aikido Federation, therefore our best congratulations go to:

• Farid: 6.kyu
• Jacqueline: 4.kyu
• Karwan: 3.kyu

Well done guys!!!

The weekend was also very enjoyable with lots of good Aikido!

It seems necessary to emphasize that at the present time, August 2009, there is only one Aikido dojo in Stavanger: Stavanger Jūshinkan Aikido and yes, you are already reading in the correct place, this blog!!!

Any other sport center saying they have Aikido classes are.. mmhh.. how to put it mildly.. “confusing” Aikido with something else..

Stavanger Jūshinkan Aikido has classes at MMA center at various time during the week! A very complete offer given by graded instructor recognized by Norwegian Aikido Federation and Aikikai.

Interested? Come and join us, leave a comment here with your email (not going to be published) or just come to practice and have a chat with us!!!

 - a short interview in between Tissier sessions in San Francisco

Text and photos: Jacqueline von Arb (Stavanger JuShinKan Aikido) for aikido.no, June 2009. (this article in Norwegian on aikido.no) (this article is also hosted in Aikido Journal online) 

Stanley Pranin…  the name rings a bell, doesn’t it? It should!

That’s the editor-in-chief of THE Aikido Journal. Thanks to Stanley Pranin, many of the videos of O’Sensei and other early masters are available for study on DVD, on aikidojournal.com and on YouTube. Stanley Pranin is also the man behind the DVD “Christian Tissier – An Aikido Odyssey”.

 Stanley Pranin showed up at the San Francisco Aikido Project, a 5-day summer camp with 7 daily hours of aikido inter­spersed with introduction sessions in Brazilian jujitsu, tai-chi, yoga and muay thai, with Christian Tissier (7^th dan from France), Bruce Bookman (6^th dan from Seattle) and the host James Friedman (5^th dan) at Suginami Aikido Dojo in San Francisco this last June of 2009. Stanley, or Stan, as he is known among his aikidoka friends was there to make a video about the Aikido Project and to interview Christian Tissier about it – and catch a few classes too, of course.

Stanley holds a 5^th dan in aikido, but he could equally be considered a master of aikido documentation. During the summer camp, Stan was asked to give a one-hour special talk on the history of Aikido during the lunch break. An impossible task, of course, Stan is so full of stories and knowledge, a whole weekend seminar wouldn’t be enough to go through it all. Nevertheless, there he was, in seiza, seizing the audience with true or false quiz questions about O’Sensei or aikido followed by his insight and stories on the matter – about 20 persons were on the mat, including Friedman, Bookman and Tissier!

Did you know that the name of our martial art, aikido, was not chosen by O’Sensei? The art had several names throughout its history, like Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu and Aiki Budo. Then the Japanese government co-opted a martial arts organization called the Butokukai, which needed a category for an array of various lesser known forms of jujitsu, the committee came up with ‘aikido’ as a cover form, or generic term… and the name stuck.

It was clear that Stan could have gone on for hours. Days. Each word triggers a new story; each story had the potential to evolve into a dozen others. A summer camp of lectures wouldn’t be enough… Luckily, much of it can already be found on AikidoJournal.com in an innumerable array of articles, interviews, pictures and videos – but it’s not the same as hearing it from the man himself…

Would the interviewer mind being interviewed, 5 minutes perhaps, just a small interview? Could an interview-the-interviewer-interview do justice to the master of aikido interviews? But of course, he said, no problem, let’s find a corner.

We were allowed to use one of the private rooms of the Suginami dojo, and appropriately sat in seiza on the tatami-covered floor for the interview:

aikido.no: Jimmy introduced you as one the guy who introduced Aikido to the American West Coast…

Stan: no, no, well, perhaps one of the guys from the second generation of teachers in Northern California. Robert Tann, Robert Nadeau, and Frank Doran were the pioneers.

I started aikido in the Yoshinkan style in Los Angeles in 1962. It  evolved into a passion that compelled me to travel to Japan in 1977 where one thing led to another and I ended up travelling with Saito Sensei as an interpreter before coming back to California after 20 years.

aikido.no: Where are you based now?

Stan: I’ve been in Las Vegas for the past 8 years; I teach a few students out of my garage there.

aikido.no: you’re the man behind the Aikido Journal, it looks like a big operation… or perhaps it is a one man mission?

Stan: well, I’ve had a few good helpers along the way, but the content in Aikido Journal is pretty much my work, yes. 

Stan: At the time there was no book, way too little information available, I was curious and thirsty for information, so I went out to get it myself. Eventually it became important to me to document and record history before it was too late.

 aikido.no: access to the old masters was not always easy? 

 Stan: a genuine interest open many doors, good knowledge and friendships open others, and sadly, sometimes it becomes too late… but it’s true, sometimes it proved to be a difficult task…     

 aikido.no: how so?

 Stan:  Well, imagine the opposite, imagine that some Japanese person, complete stranger to you and your family, speaking so-so English, shows up and wants to know everything about your father or grandfather, perhaps already knows a lot about you and your family, wants take pictures, wants to document your history from his or her own “outsider” cultural point of view and, on top of it all, wants to make it available to everyone worldwide? It is understandable to be met with apprehension at what could be considered an invasion of privacy… 

 aikido.no: would you share a particularly memorable encounter?

 Stan: well yes, finally meeting the nephew of O’Sensei, Noriaki Inoue (then known as Yoichiro Inoue) was very special, as there were many blocks to overcome. After many unfruitful attempts through regular channels, I employed a somewhat dramatic approach uncommon in Japanese society – I lost my temper – but it worked, and this meeting opened many new areas of Aikido history for me[1]. I hope they forgave my crude manners…    

aikido.no: I take it you’ve become privy to some sensitive stories?

Stan:  hm, well yes, inevitably, that would happen sooner or later. There are some stories that are too sensitive to be published at this time. These will probably have to wait for the next generation (or perhaps even two) of aikido historians. Some are still only in here [points to the back of his head] and will probably stay there forever.

aikido.no: there is so much material, articles, interviews, videos… how do you have time for all this?

Stan: I don’t have enough time; really, there’s so much more that needs to be recorded, so much more that has to be documented, so many pictures that need a caption!  

Aikido.no:  how do you see yourself, are you an aikido historian or an aikido archivist?

 Stan: Well, I do have a lot of documents, photographs and videos and I take care of them, which would perhaps make me an archivist, and I have amassed a certain knowledge of the history of aikido, but really, I am “just a collector with a fascination for aikido”, or perhaps I am a just a messenger from the past.

Aikido.no:  was there anything special that triggered this passion of yours?

 Stan: I particularly remember something that happened when I was about 14. My family visited Knotts Berry Farm, near Disneyland; it was one of those Old West villages where there also was a bookshop. There I found one book called “Mathew Brady – Historian with a Camera”, a collection of people photographed by Brady and his students, but what makes it special is that all the pictures were accompanied by fascinating anecdotes. The photograph of Abraham Lincoln on the 5 dollar bill, for instance is his. I still have that book!

 Aikido.no:  and now, you’ve become the Matthew Brady of aikido…

Stan: I didn’t set out to become that at the time, but I suppose that  book has been an inspiration for what I would like to leave behind. 

aikido.no: what is going to happen to your collection/archive when your time is up? Masters have students that carry on their work, do you have a successor?

Stan: this is one of my main concerns as I’m getting older… I have considered giving it to an archive… but I’ve seen too many a collection crumble and disappear once institutionalized… There is presently no successor for my work either, or if there were to be one, it should be someone with considerable means, as this type of work isn’t exactly lucrative… or perhaps I should just put everything on the net? No, I’m afraid I don’t have a solution to this problem yet, but I am definitely thinking about it.

aikido.no: what are you currently working on?

Stan: I have an endless number of DVDs and books to complete.

aikido.no: They will be announced on aikidojournal.com, I’m sure!

Stan: Of course, and on your website too, I hope!

 The 5 minutes Stanley Pranin had promised me had turned into a lively conversation of 45 minutes – another proof of his passionate dedication… In the next room, Christian Tissier had changed for his next session. “Alors?”  Tissier said in French as he went past us to catch the last few minutes of the aikido self-defence class going on below us. “Oui, oui, on arrive!” A hurried “thank you so much” and “no problem” were exchanged as we scrambled to the changing rooms. We cannot afford to miss a class with one of today’s masters, can we? After all, this could be history in the making!

Erik Vanem is coming to Stavanger for the 3rd time – the weekend of 29-30 august, 2009  
(click here for seminar poster) (click here for Facebook Event) 

Erik started Aikido in 1991 and got his 3.dan in 2005 by Kanetsuka sensei. He has practiced almost everywhere in the world with all the major instructors. His main teachers are Doshu, Kanetsuka sensei, Endo sensei and Tissier sensei, with inspiration from several other shihan. He has largely contributed Norwegian Aikido growth both through his practice and by organizing a yearly group tour to Japan for practice and learning about Aikido’s motherland, this year for the 17th time. In 2003, he started Oslo Aikido klubb (OAK).

Erik is also fukushidoin in the Norwegian Aikido Federation’s technical committee, and will be conducting a kyu graduation during the seminar.

As usual, there will be a social event on Saturday night. And as usual, we will try to provide private accomodation to all travelling aikidoka – contact the secretary as soon as possible! Those arriving on Friday… we are holding a special ukemi session with Andrea on Friday (19 – 20.30-ish). All travelling aikidoka are welcome to join us (free!).

PS: This is Stavanger JuShinKan Aikido’s first year jubilee event!

Welcome to Stavanger!

————-NEXT SEMINARS at JuShinKan (mark your calendars!)—————-
- nov 6-8 : Börje Lindén, 6th dan (inspired by Endo sensei)
- dec 4-6 : Alessandro Costa, 4th dan (inspired by Yasuno sensei and Endo sensei)
- jan 22-24 : Vestlandet Aikido Festival (with all the instructors from Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger)

Yeah, it’s true, during the last Ulli’s seminar here in Stavanger, this past weekend, we had a successful club/NAF graduation for a few people from our club (and one visitor from Haugesund Aikido!). I am sure more pics will be coming soon, but for once Andrea was not taking pics, but focusing on practice!

Anyway, Stavanger Jūshinkan Aikido club wants to congratulate to the new graded people:

* Dagmara – 6.kyu NAF, Haugesund Aikido club:

And from our club:

* Geir – 6.kyu NAF
* Flurin – 5.kyu NAF
* Jacqueline – 4.kyu club graduation
* Karwan – 3.kyu club graduation

Congrats too to Svein (Tekisuikan Trondheim NTNUI Aikido) for a very nice shodan trial graduation!

[not such a good picture.. what a pity!!]

 
When you bet in the official games like Lotto, Tipping and Joker (or any other games organized by Norsk Tipping – NOT Extra of Flax), some of that money already goes to volunteer-based organizations.

Now YOU can decide which organization will get that 5% of your betting amount. (Note that your betting amount is in no way diminished, nor is whatever prize you might win any smaller). In other words, it doesn’t cost you ANYTHING extra to support your favourite club – Stavanger JuShinkan Aikido! You don’t even have to practice actively, nor do you have to be in Stavanger to do so!!!

You do need a Norsk Tipping player’s card, though, which you can get at any playing place (Narvesen, food shops with betting booths, etc), or you can order one at www.norsk-tipping.no

Please register your card to JuShinKan, and this will go automatically (there’s 4 ways to do so really easily):
1. At any playing booth – print and take along the barcode and your playing card.
2. By text message (SMS): send GRASROTANDELEN 993938971 to 2020
(easiest and it’s free to do so!)
3. Internett: go to grasrotandelen.no or norsk-tipping.no.
4. Norsk Tipping Mobilspill

To print the barcode and/or to see this text in Norwegian: click here  - then do a search on ‘JuShinKan’ – then click ‘Strekkode’ (for the barcode only) or ‘Vervebrev’ (barcode + this text in Norwegian)- then print the pdf

Thank you for supporting JuShinKan via “Grasrotandelen”