SOME BASICS

We are often asked how our classes work. Sometimes we have special beginner workshops, but don't wait until then to begin! At general practice, all levels practice together, and everyone should adjust their technique to the level of their partner. (This is actually an important aspect of training for everyone.)

Some general rules of thumb are:

• Take care of your partner and yourself i.e., don't injure others by training above their level; and
  
• Don't risk injury by training above your own level;
  
• Be sure to let everyone know if you have special training needs--training tape, a bandana, armband or other marker can be tied on to help everyone remember.

The best way to check us out is to visit a class (either by watching or by participating), but many people like to know what to expect.

Here is some basic information on etiquette, but just follow along:

When it is time for class to begin, everyone lines up (sitting in seiza, or kneeling) along the line on the mat. The instructor then walks onto the mat, and everyone bows toward the front, then claps twice, then bows again toward the front. (This is a Japanese tradition, but some people prefer not to clap. That's fine.) The instructor then turns toward everyone, and all bow, saying onegaishimasu ("oh-nay-guy-she-mahs" meaning “please”).

The instructor then leads everyone in a series of breathing, stretching and warm-ups exercises.

Then everyone will line up again, and the instructor will call someone up to help demonstrate the first technique. (If you have bad knees, you may sit cross-legged rather than kneeling during this time.) After the demonstration, find a partner to practice with (just turn toward someone and bow, saying onegaishimasu). You will be uke (receive the technique) four times (twice on each side), and then you will be nage (do the technique) four times, etc., until the instructor claps. Then everyone lines up, and the rest of class continues this way. (We usually change partners every technique). If you find there is an odd number of students, the partnerless person should kneel or sit cross-legged at the edge of the mat, facing any practicing pair. The practicing pair should notice the third partner and rotate him/her into their practice.)

At the end of class, everyone lines up and repeats the beginning bowing sequence. This time the when you bow to the instructor, you will say “Arigato gozaimashita” (Thank you for teaching me”).

After the instructor leaves the mat, the next most senior person (sitting on the far right of the mat) will call “dojo rei” at which time everyone bows to the front of the dojo. You are then free to bow to the people you have trained with during the course of the session to thank them.

Then clear the mat as quickly and quietly as possible to make way for the next class.

Finally, remember that everyone was a beginner once! Our club founder, the late Jos Niehaus Sensei, placed strong emphasis on first learning to give good attacks and take good ukemi (rolling, etc.), in order to be able to practice at a higher level more quickly and thus able to improve in technique more quickly.

SO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE CLUB?

Beginners are always welcome. You are also welcome to come and watch or try a session before joining the club. If you want to try a class, please wear loose clothes such as sweat pants and a T-shirt if you don't have a gi. (You can buy a gi through the club if you need one).

Membership is open to anyone at UCT and to the general public (i.e., you do NOT need to be a student to join). To join, just come to any regular practice session and talk to the instructor.

FEES

Registered UCT students & staff: R200/annum (charged to your fee account where appropriate)

Non-UCT members: R100/ month

You are invited to come and train for up to 4 sessions with us before you are required to pay any fees.

If you intend to continue your practice of Aikido you will be required to join the Aikido Federation of South Africa (AFSA). For an annual fee of R250, you will be able to practice at any of the other AFSA dojos and will be eligible to take part in gradings, which are registered with AFSA.

Club Executive

In a vain attempt to add some organisation to our club, we elect (often in absentia) a devoted few to help run our dojo. At the current moment the hard-working hostages are:

Chair Mark Truyens 072 - 530 5785

Vice-Chair Ashvind Beetul 078 - 3019897

Secretary Regina Lindau 073 - 969 2267

Finance Officer Manuel Berndorfler 084 - 351 8447

Instructor (ex officio) Ghalib Galant 083 -797 7095

Club Instructors:

Assistant instructor – Regina Lindau, 2^nd kyu

Sempai Regina Lindau has been training for approximately 6 years. She started training in Berlin under the tutelage of Guenter Heck Sensei (4th Dan). She also spent a year studying on campus in 2004 training primarily at UCT. After returning to Germany in 2005 , she has subsequently relocated to Cape Town where she also practices reiki and shiatsu amongst other things.

Club Instructors:

Senior Club Instructor: Ghalib Galant (3^rd dan)

Ghalib Galant Sensei started his aikido training at the UCT club in 1987 under the tutelage of the late Jos Niehaus Sensei. He graded to shodan under Matthew Holland Sensei (6^th dan, Aikikai) – head of the Scottish Aikido Federation - in 1993.

In 2006 he was promoted to 3^rd dan by Franco Martuffi Sensei. Other important teachers who have left their mark along his journey with Aikido include Ken Cottier Sensei (7^th dan, Hong Kong), Mutsuko Minegishi Sensei (6^th dan, Saipan), the late Giorgio Veneri (6^th dan, Italy) and Daniel Kempling (5^th dan, USA Pacific Coast).

A professional conflict resolution practitioner, he constantly tries to connect our practice on the mat with our practice in our daily lives. This can be a challenge as he constantly exhorts us to “create beauty in the world”!

UCT Aikido Club

The University of Cape Town Aikido Club was founded in 1977, making it one of the oldest in the country. The late Sensei Jos Niehaus (3^rd dan) taught many of the current yudansha (black belts) and today, three decades later the club is still going strong.

Located at the University of Cape Town, the club has a variety of members - from fresh, first-year university students to not-so-fresh graduate students as well as several staff and community members. Overall our dojo maintains a youthful atmosphere due to the large influx of beginning students over Orientation Week in February each year.

We practice the Aikikai style of Aikido but welcome visitors and new members from all backgrounds. If you wish to visit us (to practice or observe) please contact one of our Senseis (instructors) or Club Executives or drop in to one of our classes (check Schedule.)

Gradings held regularly for all students.

In addition to trips to local and national courses, the club organises a number of events each year at which club members and their friends and families can get together and socialise away from the rigours of training.

The Aikido Federation of South Africa

The Aikido Federation of South Africa is the Aikido Authority in South Africa and was established in 1977. Today it has 17 affiliated clubs in South Africa, each consisting of one or more dojos.

The Aikido Federation of South Africa enjoys full recognition from the Aikikai Foundation in Japan (Aikido World Headquarters). AFSA is proud to be an affiliated member of the International Aikido Federation (IAF). It is closely associated with the Aikikai of Italy and other international bodies.

The Technical Director is Franco Martufi Sensei (5th Dan, Aikikai) from the Aikikai d'Italia.

Kenneth Cottier Sensei (7th Dan, Aikikai) from England and Technical Director of Hong Kong Aikikai is the Honorary President of AFSA.

Paul de Beer Sensei (4^th Dan, Aikikai) is the AFSA Jokyushidoin (Chief Instructor).

Thanks to its wide international connections AFSA stands very much in the mainstream of Aikido development, and by virtue of its close ties with the fountain-head of Aikido, the Hombu Dojo, it maintains a wholly orthodox direction in its teaching and development.

The teaching of the Founder of Aikido excludes any form of competition in Aikido and emphasises the principles of non-aggression and harmony. AFSA strongly maintains this attitude. Every effort is made to instill into our members the principle of non-violence and concern for others both on and off the tatami.

The Principles of Aikido

Aikido is a unarmed system designed solely for self-defence. It is essentially non-violent and as conceived by its creator, non-competitive. Force is never opposed with force. By means of largely spherical movements an attacker’s force is diverted and turned back upon itself.

In addition to throws to bring the assailant to the ground, there are also a variety of joint locks or immobilisations for controlling an attacker. Though these can be painful and induce immediate submission, they are applied so as not to cause injury.

Aikido is perhaps the most subtle and graceful of the various Japanese martial arts. Since Aikido techniques do not demand physical strength or an aggressive spirit, it is practised by people of all ages and physical make up; by women just as well as by men.

The Benefits of Aikido Practice

Since Aikido is based on full and natural body movement, it exercises every limb and joint of the body. Flexibility, muscle tone, co-ordination, quick reactions are all developed. It does not demand unnatural body building preparation but is an absorbing way to keep fit along natural lines and within a framework of aesthetic movement.

As we get older, we lose the flexibility in our joints at an alarming rate. Aikido is an excellent way of restoring and preserving a supple healthy body. Moreover, there should be enough expenditure of energy in an Aikido practice for a good cardiovascular workout and to work up a good sweat.

Aikido is essentially a method of self-defence, so that through regular practice one will acquire a sound basis of agile movement, speed of reaction and an awareness of one’s surroundings that should prove useful if the occasion ever demanded it in real life.

In common with other oriental philosophies (and indeed with modern science) Aikido teaches that there is no real separation between that which is body and that which is mind. By subjecting our bodies to the precise discipline of Aikido we might eventually influence our minds for the good: creating an inner calm and balance that may be carried into our daily lives, helping us to become better and more effective people.

What is Aikido?

Aikido is the creation of Morihei Ueshiba (1883 – 1969), affectionately known as O-Sensei (or Great Teacher).

Master Ueshiba (pronounced 'oo-eh-she-ba') was born in 1883 in a Japan which had not fully emerged into the modern world and where many of the martial arts were still taught by masters in the old tradition. In his early manhood, he mastered several martial arts including swordsmanship and various forms of unarmed self-defence. At the same time he developed into a deeply religious person and envisioned a new system of budo (the way of the warrior) which would provide a basis for both physical and spiritual development. This he named Aikido: the way (do) of harmonising (ai) the spirit (ki).

Martial arts are studied for self-defense and self-improvement, but Aikido is different from other martial arts in that the practitioner seeks to achieve self-defence without injury to the attackers. The basic movements of Aikido are circular in nature; most attacks are linear. The Aikidoist (practitioner) harmonizes with, rather than confronts, an aggressive line and converts it into a circular motion that renders attackers helpless.

Various wristlocks, immobilisations, or unbalancing throws are employed to neutralize aggressors without serious injury, and have therefore been adopted into the training regime of many police forces throughout the world.

By ki is meant the creative, life spirit of the universe; one's own life energy. "True budo is the way of great harmony and great love of all beings" wrote Ueshiba. It is clear that he meant Aikido to be more than a method of self-defence when he says,

"I want considerate people to listen to the voice of Aikido. It is not for correcting others; it is for correcting your own mind".