THIS IS THE WAY OF THE WAVE

🌊 SUNDAY / 31 JANUARY 2021

“It is as true for individuals as it is for the world itself: everything comes in waves.”
Koichi Tohei

Join us for the next Sunday Aikido Online Workshop as we dip our toes into the elusive, but incredibly satisfying, ‘Way of The Wave’. We will explore the idea of a flexible and elastic quality of movement, and the idea of creating connected kinetic chains with the body.

‘A whole wave knocks you over.’ *

‘The Wave’ is not an end goal or something that is added on top of our practice – it is not an extra level or a skill to be attained. Rather it is a process of increasingly letting things be just as they are. It occurs when we begin to allow ourselves to curiously explore Being Relaxed, Being Grounded, and Being Balanced. The wave is a consequence of allowing our being to function as it would do naturally, without hindrance, when we stop blocking ourselves and begin to ‘get out of our own way’.

🌊 9.00am CET – Session 1: Being Relaxed

‘Tension comes unbidden, relaxation must be invited.’ *

The first session will form the foundation for all days work. We will build a firm foundation for the concept of how to pass movements through (and out of) a relaxed structure – allowing the body to be a vehicle for the expression of the wave from a firm footing. Using the bokken suburi as a feedback on our ability to engage our structure in action whilst maintaining a relaxed and open feeling of expansiveness. The main areas for exploration here is in allowing the body to function with as little tension as possible, whilst remaining heavy and engaged.

🌊 10.00am CET – Session 2: Being Grounded

‘The ground is always waiting.’ *

In the second session we will build on the foundation of the previous class and begin to explore compression patterns in our footwork – using sections of the 31 Jo Kata. We will begin to take the movements from static into a fluid state, exploring the changes required to make the ‘shift’ in quality. Going deeper into the footwork patterns, will allow us to ‘find our feet’ and begin to dip our toes into the feeling of creating elastic connections between and through movement phrases.

🌊 11.00am CET – Session 3: Being Balanced

‘When all around is in an uproar,

find the stillness that is always there.’ *

In the final session we will begin to dive deeper into the concept of kinetic chains of movements – seeking the feeling of a whip-like generation of power. Using Ukemi, Atemi, and Taijutsu movement patterns, we will begin to work in the area of full flowing ‘ki-no-nagare’. Being Balanced here is fundamental to our ability to recruit the whole of our body, energy, and intention into a single unified action. The main focus here is in creating a calm stillness in motion, and exploring the elastic quality of allowing a wave to be released through the movement.

* – Peter Ralston, The Principles of Effortless Power

“When you ride the wave, the thrill is so exhilarating that you forget everything else. You live in the moment where nothing else matters, so intent on riding the wave perfectly that you and the wave become one.”
Marshall B. Rosenberg

The training will weave in and out of the Takemusu Aikido Bukiwaza and Taijutsu system, bring a bokken, jo and tanto!

🌊 SCHEDULE:

09:00 – 09:45 1st Class
10:00 – 10:45 2nd Class
11:00 – 11:45 3rd Class
11:45 – 12:00 Q&A + Discussion Period

All times are Central European Time CET (UTC +1)

🌊 REQUIREMENTS:

All the training will be designed especially for solo home training.

Please keep your weapons (Bokken + Jo, Tanto) close by and ideally you would need a minimum of ca. 4m2 for the exercises.

🌊 ONLINE CONTENT:

The training will be recorded LIVE and available for students to review in their own time after the Workshop. This can be accessed through the YouTube Channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE9i09fGZj0WEeToYUqG2UA

🌊 INSTRUCTOR:

All classes will be led by Michael Ormerod, 3rd Dan Aikikai.

Michael Ormerod began his training in Aikido at the age of 15 in the UK. He has trained extensively throughout Europe and under taken an intensive training period in Japan under the guidance of Hiroki Nemoto Sensei (7th Dan) and training in the Founder’s Dojo and Hombu Dojo. In 2016 he began a full time apprenticeship under his teacher Lewis Bernaldo de Quiros (6th Dan), training and teaching in the Takemusu Aikido Motril Dojo and attending international seminars as assistant. Michael has over 10 years of teaching experience, and in January 2018 he established Takemusu Aikido Orgiva, offering classes to children and adults. In 2019 Michael received the rank of Sandan (3rd Dan) from the Aikikai in Japan, Tokyo. Early 2020 saw the creation of the Takemusu Aikido Online Dojo, as a response to the Covid Pandemic – giving people the opportunity to continue their daily practice and the comfort of knowing that Aikido is just a click away under any circumstances.