Shintaido Report "Rakuten": October, 1995 Issue's Foreword

Hiroyuki Aoki, Chairman of Shintaido Kyokai

Some of Shintaido's techniques are so sophisticated that even people with ten or fifteen years of experience still cannot master them. For practicing such peculiar techniques and Kumite(practicing with one or more people) at a meditation state, we reserved a hotel called 12 D, which is a lot used by divers in Odawara.

Since the hotel was full, we were introduced another hotel nearby. It was a neat hotel called "Shoukeibo". We slept in the hotel and practiced at 12 D. Shoukeibo's landlord is Mr. Sawa who used to be a board member of a large corporation. He was a gymnast, attended the National Athletic Meet when he was young: no wonder he has a strongly built body although he is short.
　 When I saw him, I had a feeling that I saw him somewhere long time ago, however, I could hardly trace my old memory.
In the second evening I could finally recall who he was.
Thirty nine years ago when I entered college, I initially wanted to join gymnastics club, however, the club did not exist at the Chuo University. I joined Karate club instead, thinking that gymnastics and karate might be same sort of things.
In the same way, Mr. Sawa joined Karate club. For about two months or so we always talked about making gymnastics club until he started practicing at a YMCA gym and left the club. He had well-trained body and dauntless face.
The late Mr. Masahiro Yasuoka, a famous scholar of Chinese philosophy, often wrote in his calligraphy some words meaning that we must take good care of people's relations for they would bring new good relations one after another.

Mr. Tetsuharu Kawakami, a legendary baseball player in Japan, once told me the following story. When he gloriously retired as a player, he saw a Zen master Itsugai Kajiura. While they were talking about baseball, Master Kajiura was in a sort of position to praise Mr. Kawakami to what he had achieved. Then the master struck Mr. Kawakami by saying, "Haven't you been thinking that you played baseball alone?" Mr. Kawakami felt like hit by a big stone. He told me that it really struck him. Mr. Kawakami started to visit the temple frequently and thought out his "formation baseball": it is famous that he could achieve winning nine consecutive pennants with Tokyo Giants. This is a story that we can recognize the importance of human fate.

On the other hand, there are some sad fate as well.
Once my friend X formed a group to make a study of an eternal truth entreated by one religious person. She became the first member of the group and recruited one hundred people. She devoted herself to expand the group, offering her house for various meetings. After two years, the group member exceeded twenty thousand people. Shortly she got exhausted in mind and body and retired from the activity being prized highly. A collection of impromptu writings she received from the group members were filled with thanks and praises. After that the leader of the group deified himself and the group turned into a mere religious organization. Some members repelled to the leader and many of them were expelled from the organization, however, my friend X had nothing to do with the matter. Since she was in the key position of the organization, the leader misunderstood with his suspicious mind that she guided rebels in the organization against him. Then the leader told the members that she was taken by Satan, therefore, never associate with her and never say hello on a street. Consequently, even people she devoted herself for their training started to look her as an evil or something. She says that she is still annoyed by the organization members even today. I happen to know a couple of other people with the same kind of situation.
Those people's experiences are all different in different organization. They are all kind, warm hearted, devoting themselves to other people, and taking very good care of people's connection. They put their heart into the activities for five, ten years, and all of their efforts creating heart to heart connections with members were destroyed and never be restored. Thinking their broken heart, I cannot find a word to comfort them.

When I was discussing with a person who was involved in education for thirty years in Europe, he told me that there is nothing like "Ijime" problem (bully problem among youngsters) in Europe. Speaking about my friend X and "Ijime" problem, I wonder where such Japanese narrow mind come from?
There are many countries colonized by UK, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and US. And when colonized countries to talk about those once governed them, the expression toward Japan and above countries is totally different. I have never heard of a place called "Nippon(Japan) Street", "Hirohito Park", "Tojo Square" or something like that. Our country had done something really abnormal to other countries.

There is a short poem expressing the secret of martial arts saying that you should know if other people have it you also have a leaking hole in the roof of your shabby house which you can see the moon.
I myself must have such a Japanese weird characteristics.
Being a closed and cult group, all members' and believers' thinking and ideas would be unified into one and only that of the leader. Often the people in the group are congealed with the single idea. This could happen in a small group to one nation. Once a prejudiced value is settled or a biased information occupies people, it would be difficult to speak up freely.

I wished not to standardize in detail Shintaido's techniques and left some rooms for members to think and discuss them freely.
Since we founded this group it remains very cheerful and free. Even criticism to the founder is free. Everyone in the group often laughed out of me in a gathering.
I wish our group keeps this lively and vital atmosphere like a wild grass garden, different values accepted among group members. We got into this world for self-improvement with a "sword" called SHINTAIDO, a martial art. Cheerfully, lively, and earnestly, let's aim at the completion of our own ways.
I believe friendship and intimate fate cultivated in such environment are really strong and profound.

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