It was in the presence of an inspiring natural landscape that the last aikido seminar of the 2008/2009 season took place. The dojo in Vila Real - Mega Ginásio Miracorgo - surrounded by a beautiful and vertiginous nature was the set that, last Saturday, June 14th, embraced the 1st day of the seminar hosted by Luc Deweys Sensei.
The practiced techniques explored the need to control the energies involved in a confrontation, not only for the tori's benefit, that hence doesn't suffer such a hard physical wearing, but also to avoid inflicting unnecessary damages to the uke.
Bearing this in mind, dodging tecnhiques (tai sabaki) were included in such a way that they can be effective without physical effort, but through proper movement management. Therefore, it becomes necessary to avoid what sensei Deweys usually calls "parasitic movements" i.e. exaggerated and unnecessary movements occuring due to lack of coordination, fear of the attack and little domain over the basic techniques, resulting in energy (ki) wasting. In such cases, one should work on self-control and the inner forces, without resorting to muscular strength.
The following day, Sunday, Luc Deweys sensei managed, in a single session, to gather a huge amount of practitioners on the tatami as you can confirm in this memorable photo of our "aiki family" taken at ESMAE (Oporto), where this third session took place.
Going back a little to the principles approached the day before, because few could be present in both cities (Vila Real and Oporto), the Belgian sensei continued insisting in the importance of the basic techniques that became even more important due to the presence of a significant number of beginners. Graduated and recent aikido practitioners were blended in a productive session for both parties, since the higher graduates also took the chance to remember the complexity of techniques that, resulting from long practice, already come out intuitively.
This seminar excelled by the usual and very healthy socialization, amount and quality of practitioners on the tatami, as well as by the presence of individualities fundamental to aikido in the northern area, coming from the dojos of Bragança, Braga, Famalicão, Oporto, Lamego, Guimarães and Vila Real. APARN wishes to thank, in particular, to those who dressed their Hakamas and put them to use after long having been folded.
Favoring mind openness, and always in the sense of improving the communication and interaction between different schools, which only benefits the aikido practitioners throughout the country, we could not finish this post without thanking the presence of all those who visited us.
To ALL: Thank Very Much!
Aiki Greetings,
