New arrival!

New toy…

I am impatiently waiting for my new sword, I do hope it arrives this Thursday…

he held it with exquisite care
with fingers worn from wear
and a soul as old as the ocean’s sigh…
he held it high
and proud, and with all the grace
of a strand of silk, floating in the space
of the memories of the night.

and then the sounds
grew… louder, distant drums as one
as the eagles and lions with men’s limbs
came storming over the shore 
that pain and countless more had dimmed
and which the waves barely found,
to that point at which his sword stood its ground,
even as its master prayed 
for that fate that only ever awaits
those with destiny at their door.

and then the sounds grew still,
quiet as the graves that this day would fill,
and the world had only three sights:
one of crimson and of dread, of red
and the tiny drops of life that bled
out of each and every slice
as the wind whispered goodbye
to the stars, one by one,
as they winked out into the light.

oh how it weaved its magic spell
its heavenly voice singing a song
no one else could hear
whose meaning no one else
could tell
as it whistled its way round that long
autumn breeze on that clear dawning day
as the sword, with no one else to kill
sang its last quiet hymn
while the man that held its beauty and its breath
exhaled one last, final reverent moment
and then, just as quietly… fell.

Taikai

Taikai photos

http://virtueality.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/taikai/

On a related matter, i have been getting a lot of questions lately regarding the meaning of the tattoo on my hand. The official answer, that it is not possible to translate it, does not seem sufficient, so please find detailed explanation here:http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm

Gen Rinpoche, in his commentary on the Meaning of  said: 

“The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, 
because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say 
the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the 
practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, 
and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and 
patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.

So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?”

The six syllables purify the six realms of existence in suffering.

“Behold! The jewel in the lotus!”

Kyoto

2009 Kyoto Taikai Results / ２００９年の京都大会の結果

by Glenn Stockwell - Monday, 4 May 2009, 07:19 PM

Hello all,

I have just returned from Kyoto, which was very successful for us again this year. Our results were as follows:

Individual Division:

Dangai Silver Medal: Naoyuki Arai
Dangai Bronze Medal： Matthew Sims
1st Dan Gold Medal: Jason Sharland
3rd Dan Gold Medal: Nathan Nilsen
7th Dan Bronze Medal: Glenn Stockwell

Everybody performed very well, so well done! Nathan Jr. had been “encouraged” by Fukushima-sensei to have a shinken-induced haircut if he won his division, which he did. I believe that makes him the only person in the world to have had their hair cut by a 10th Dan with a shinken… The photos will be posted shortly!

Kancho

皆様、

昨日の夜、無事に京都全国大会から帰ってまいりました。今年もとてもいい成績を残しました。結果は下記のとおりとなりました。

個人戦:

段外準優勝: 新井直之
段外三位： マスユー・シムズ
初段優勝: ジェーソン・シャーランド
参段優勝: ネーサン・ニルセン
七段三位: グレン・ストックウェル

皆様はとても良い居合道を披露し、大変よくできたと思っています！ニルセン剣士は、範士十段福嶋阿正齋先生に、「優勝したら真剣のよる断髪式だよ」と約束させられました。結局優勝したので、大会後、福嶋先生は、４年間延ばしていたニルセン剣士の髪の毛を真剣で切りました。写真は後日に！

館長

My result: 7th, out of 20, yogatta!!! Plus a promise to kancho to use lighter sword from now on, it will arrive beginning of June, specially made according to my order and will look exactly as my current one. In a couple of years I will have a sharp one too, it is allowed to use it starting from 2nd dan. And the shinken will also look exactly as the current sword. A bit shorter perhaps, in order to keep lower the number of stitches that are needed after I accidentally cut myself…

Photos (http://virtueality.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/taikai/)

Enesesse

Head Jüripäeva!   

Happy St. George’s Day!   

Enesesse, Robert Frost. “Poisi tahe”, 1913  

Üheks sooviks mul, et need tumedad puud, 
mis, vanad ja tugevad, taluvad tuult, 
ei oleks, nagu on, vaid pimeduse maskiks, 
vaid lõpmatuse lõpuni ulatuvaks massiks. 

Ei tagasi hoia, et ükskord ei viivita 
ja luban ka nende hulka siis hiilida, 
kartmata leida veel lagedat maad,
või kiirteed, kus liiv rattast lendamas. 

Ma ei näe, miks peaks pöörduma tagasi, 
või miks ei võiks tulla minuga edasi 
need, kes puudust must tundma on hakanud, 
et teada, kas armastamast neid lakanud. 

Nad ei leiaks, et oleksin kuidagi muutunud – 
vaid kindlam veel selles, mis seni tõeks pidanud.

Yesterday I saw a great “Power. Beauty. Soul.” banner by Aston Martin, with the following slogan: “You only feel the sixth sense when you are at one with yourself”. Surprisingly, even if you may not be one-point-zerozero yet but moving to that direction for sure (from 14, lets imagine) then your mind is already at the target, meaning the mind is already one with itself. Just a thought and instant source of oneness. / Eile nägin Aston Martini “Tugevus. Iludus. Hing.” reklaamil järgmist mõttetera: “Kuuendat meelt tunned alles siis kui oled endaga ühenduse saavutanud”. Isegi kui veel päris üks-punkt-null-null käes ei ole, kuid oled sinnapoole liikumas (ütleme, 14-st alates) siis üllatusega avastad, et kuna su mõte on juba eesmärgile, s.o. number ühele seatud, on su mõte ja mõtlemine juba iseenesest üks. Lihtsalt üks mõte, ühendusest.

One of my wishes is that those dark trees, 
So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze, 
Were not, as ’twere, the merest mask of gloom, 
But stretched away unto the edge of doom. 

I should not be withheld but that some day 
Into their vastness I should steal away, 
Fearless of ever finding open land, 
Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand. 

I do not see why I should e’er turn back, 
Or those should not set forth upon my track 
To overtake me, who should miss me here 
And long to know if still I held them dear. 

They would not find me changed from him they knew– 
Only more sure of all I thought was true.

Into My Own, by: Robert Frost. From “A Boy’s Will”, 1913

2009 Kyoto Taikai

一方実無外
乾坤得一貞
吸毛方納密
動着則光精

Ippou jitsu mugai
Kenkon toku ittei
Suimo hou nomitsu
Douchaku soku kousei

There is nothing other than the One True Way
Heaven and Earth profit from this single Virtue
The fluttering feather knows this secret
To be settled during confusion is to be enlightened and pure

On vaid üks õige tee
millest võidab maa ja taevas
lendlevale sulele ei ole saladus
et segaduses seisma jäädes algab valgus

From Kancho/ kancholt: 

Hello all / Tere kõik,

Preparations have already started for this year’s Kyoto Taikai, so I would like to confirm participants first of all. The participants at this stage look like they will be: / Selle aasta Kyoto kokkusaamise ettevalmistused on juba alanud, nii et kinnitaksin kõigepealt osalejate nimekirja. Hetkeseisuga näeb see välja nii:

7th Dan: Glenn Stockwell (Tokyo)
2nd Dan: Ric Kaspar (Gold Coast)
1st Dan: Jason Sharland (Brisbane)
Dangai: Simon Higgins (Gold Coast)
Dangai: Naoyuki Arai (Tokyo)
Dangai: Tomoharu Ishikawa (Tokyo)
Dangai: Matthew Sims (Tokyo)
Dangai: Michiko Morita (Tokyo)
Dangai: Kadi Kriit (Tokyo)

May (mai) 3-5, Kyoto, Kadi, waza list / tehnikad / 英信流の業:

Maegiri 前切 (まえぎり)

Zengogiri 前後切 (前後切り)

Yaegaki 八重垣  (やえがき)

Kus käin?

Where I go: http://www.seishinkan-iaido.org/tokyo/   居合道

心館では、どのような居合道をするのですか？

清心館道場は、大阪府明心館道場の故・木村泰嘉（きむら　やすよし）先生(範士十段）の無双直伝英信流（むそうじきでんえいしんりゅう）居合道を継承する正統派であります。木村先生の居合道は、本来の技に基づく、とても力強い居合道です。当道場は、1993年1月に明心館の支部道場として創立されました。その後1999年1月、木村先生の死去に伴い、「木村居合道の心を清く継承する」という決意を込めて、「清心館」と名づけられました。清心館では、木村先生の技を忠実に継承することを前提として、木村先生がなされた当時と同じように稽古を行っています。清心館は、大日本居合道連盟に所属しています。