September 21, 2018
September 05, 2018
Grading sucess!
Congratulations to Julie and Max on passing their examinations for 6th Kyu (Julie) and 1st Kyu (Max) on July 9, 2018!
Gassho
June 07, 2018
Toronto Branch Charity Kickathon Raises a Record Amount!
2018 total = $15,500
On the hot and humid evening of Wednesday May 30, nine members of Shorinji Kempo Toronto Branch gathered at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Russell Street site for our 23rd Annual Shorinji Kempo Charity Kickathon for CAMH.
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| Meditation first |
Every year in the month of May, Shorinji Kempo members worldwide perform some form of community service as a tribute to the memory of our founder, Doshin So (1911-1980). At Toronto Branch our chosen activity is to hold a charity event in support of CAMH's work in the field of drug addiction.
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| A bit of stretching... |
After a period of warm-up and stretching, we began the Kickathon proper. Those of us who just came back from the Cornell Shorinji Kempo Camp were participating with sore backs and stiff muscles (sponsors - please note that you were getting your money's worth!).
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| The Kickathon begins... |
After 500 continuous kicks with kiai (yell) our Kickathon came to a close.
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| Huffing and puffing |
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| Feel the burn! |
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| Almost there... |
We wish to express our deep gratitude to our loyal crew of wonderful sponsors for making this year's Kickathon such a great success.
Also, we wish to commend CAMH for their important work to stem the suffering resulting from drug addiction and Lidia at the CAMH Foundation for her expert help with the event logistics.
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| We're all done - next stop the chiropractor! |
Gassho
May 28, 2018
40th Annual Shorinji Kempo Cornell Camp
During the US Memorial Day long weekend, three members of Toronto Branch set off for Camp Barton in Trumansburg, NY for the 40th Anniversary Shorinji Kempo Cornell Camp.
It is almost unheard of for any annual Shorinji Kempo training event outside Japan to be held consistently for such a long time. Indeed, the Cornell Camp may be the longest standing annual Shorinji Kempo event in all of WSKO.
Once again we were delighted to receive instruction from Sakuyama-sensei of Takahagi Doin (Ibaraki, Japan). Sakuyama-sensei has an illustrious pedigree having been a direct student of Kaiso So Doshin, Nakano-sensei and even a co-star of Jet Li!
The focus of much of the Camp was on the essence of Shorinji Kempo as a zen art. Although we were practicing self-defense techniques, Sakuyama-sensei always brought our attention to intent, feeling and awareness. Basic elements such as these are common to other zen arts as well as the practice of zazen itself.
The Camp attracted many of our friends from all across Canada, the USA and beyond and we had a great time with them.
We wish to thank Gary Dolce-sensei (Ann Arbor) and Neal Ziring-sensei (World Bank) for their incredible efforts in making 40 years of Cornell Camp a reality.
We also wish to thank Sakuyama-sensei for traveling all the way from Japan to give us such rare and valuable teachings.
Gassho
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| The world's most beautiful dojo |
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| Getting ready to train |
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| Ohashi-sensei (Cornell Camp founder) with Sakuyama-sensei |
Sakuyama-sensei speaks English very well and can explain his teachings in a very detailed and accurate way. Also, Sakuyama-sensei's technical skill and understanding of body movement, mechanics, attention and energy is second to none.
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| Kevin, Sakuyama-sensei, John and Tal |
The Camp attracted many of our friends from all across Canada, the USA and beyond and we had a great time with them.
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| Gary Dolce-sensei |
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| Neal Ziring-sensei |
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| What is the one thing that has made Cornell Camp a 40 year success? |
January 01, 2018
September 25, 2017
May 29, 2017
39th Annual Cornell Shorinji Kempo Camp (May 2017)
On Friday May 26th, I travelled down to
Camp Barton near Trumansburg NY to participate in the 39th Annual Shorinji
Kempo Cornell Camp.
As the log cabin doors creaked open, we stepped out into an
early morning fog rolling in off beautiful Lake Cayuga located in the heart of
New York’s Finger Lakes. Friends old and
new gathered for a short warm-up followed by a quick jog to breath in the fresh
air and get our bodies moving. After a
delicious breakfast, we began our study of the philosophy and techniques of
Shorinji Kempo taught by Sakuyama-sensei (Ibaragi Takahagi Doin, Japan), former
staff member at Hombu and direct student of our Founder – Kaiso So
Doshin-sensei.
This year the emphasis was on raising our awareness of how
our body moves, specifically through the hip joint (Greater Trochanter or GT
for short). Since many of the techniques
involve rotational motion through the hip joint, it’s important to understand
how it is used to generate power as well as improve speed and balance. We stepped out of our comfort zone by
exploring the edge cases where it feels like we would fall over because we were
leaning far forward or to the side. We
wouldn’t actually fall because our brain tricks us into thinking that we are
going to lose our balance well before the point where it happens.
As many of us will be attending the 70th Anniversary of the
Foundation of Shorinji Kempo World Taikai event in California this summer,
Sakuyama-sensei shared some of his thoughts on Embu preparation and
competition. Embu is an important aspect
of studying Shorinji Kempo because students perform several techniques in
longer combinations with a partner. By
alternating the roles of attacker and defender, students improve their
techniques by better understanding distance and timing. We learned that there is no difference
between practicing Embu and competing in it, other than the fact that in
competition you only get to perform it once.
This is why it’s important to practice diligently and concentrate
completely in order to perform at the highest level possible. In Embu, as in life, it’s okay to make
mistakes. One should recognize that a
mistake has happened by acknowledging it but not getting too caught up in
it. Embu is more than just demonstrating
techniques, it helps cultivate life energy (ki) and demonstrates the flow of
energy between partners. During our
training we continuously combined techniques together to build Embus and
demonstrate them to each other. At key
times during these demonstrations Sakuyama-sensei would ask us to pause so that
we may become aware of the energy flow between us.
We also learned how fortunate we all are that we have a
powerful tool for introspection, self-awareness and connection to our
environment and beyond - our breath!
Humans can survive weeks without food, days without water but only
minutes without air. We learned how to
monitor and regulate our breathing while sitting, stretching and performing
techniques. During stretching, we were
asked to focus on allowing our breath to flow into the area of our body that we
were trying to stretch and not to think about it as purely a muscle exercise. This allowed us to be more proficient at
stretching as well as helping us become more aware of our bodies.
We wish the thank Sakuyama-sensei for coming all the way
from Japan to teach us and the Camp organizers for their selfless efforts in
facilitating another fantastic training opportunity.
We hope to see everyone again next year!
Gassho,
Kevin Legault (2nd dan)
Toronto Branch
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