Happy New Year!

Many best wishes and blessings of 2006 to all my friends, members and students. Many thanks for all of your support and encouragement throughout the year, Always,

Rev. Kensho Furuya

Regular practice resumes January 2.

The Special New Year's January edition of the Aiki Dojo Newsletter is posted on our website. Please take a look when you have a little time.

Karma:

This April, we will conduct our Annual Memorial Service for O'Sensei. This will be our 38th consecutive year. This year will be my 2nd year to host Kei Izawa Sensei of the Tanshinjuku Dojo in Boulder, Colorado, and the 1st year we are inviting Yasumasa Itoh Sensei of the Tekko Juku Dojo in Boston, Massachusetts. Sadly, it is also the 2nd year to conduct another Memorial Service for Kanai Sensei.

It is very odd to say but I didn't know of Izawa Sensei until a couple of years ago when my student decided to move to Colorado for his work and new home. I talked with a few seniors at Hombu Dojo and Izawa Sensei came highly recommended so I immediately contacted him to introduce my student and request that he accept my student as a member of his dojo.

I was very surprised to find out that Izawa Sensei practiced at Hombu Dojo but was also an old student and close friend of Kanai Sensei. This made me happy and very confident to no end - I really wanted to become friends and know Izawa Sensei more. Although I was sad to lose a good student moving to Colorado, it was some kind of karma to meet Izawa Sensei, an old student of Kanai Sensei.

We finally met and I was again surprised to find out that Izawa Sensei knew me and even visited me at my home many years ago with Kanai Sensei! I only remember this very vaguely but Kanai Sensei always came to my home to look and chat about swords whenever he came to the West Coast. Although Izawa Sensei and I became friends, actually we have been friends and fellow co-students of Kanai Sensei for at least 30 years!

As we were talking about old time, Izawa Sensei kept mentioning Itoh Sensei who is one of the most senior students of Kanai Sensei and I was trying so hard to remember who this was. When I used to visit Kanai Sensei in New England, I did remember a very young student there who also worked part-time in a restaurant at that time - could this possibly be Itoh Sensei?

Yes - it was. Although Itoh Sensei and I will finally meet when comes to visit my dojo in April of this year. Actually, we have known each other, like Izawa Sensei for over 30 years.

It is all karma, where we are connected by a bond such as Kanai Sensei and are always linked together. To meet friends for the first time and realize that they have always been my friends for so long. . . . . This world is too strange, mysterious and wonderful! Although I live a very quiet life in my dojo, I am always surprised and amazed at all the surprises Life throws my way. . . friends are always friends and always meet some day. . . . It is all Karma. Happy New Year!

Time:

In martial arts, most teaching takes place off the mats! Of course, we practice on the mats during class time and this is extremely important but communication and ideas are usually exchanged off with mats with the teacher. Today, students rushing back and forth, few people really have time to know their teacher. In modern times, we rush in and out of the dojo like it was a fast-food hamburger stand! Take time to be in the Dojo. . . . afterall, it is YOUR dojo!