In this blog I talk about my “resolution” for the future of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido.
In April 2020, when the state of emergency was declared in Japan, I started online classes.
At first, I offered these classes as an alternative to classes in the dojo. There is nothing better than the training accompanied by physical contact in the dojo.
However, through trial and error, I realized that there were things we could do online, and more importantly, things that could only be done online.
So, I decided to plan an autumn online all Japan seminar event to embody this.
I’m sure there were many challenges, but the more than 500 people who attended seemed to realize the potential of the online class.
I hold great expectations for this type of presentation. What is particularly important about online classes is that you can come from as far away as you are to participate.
My regular instructor workshops are held in the metropolitan and regional metropolises, so even without COVID-19, it has always been difficult for many instructors in distant areas to attend frequently.
Since starting online class, all instructors are now able to attend twice a month, whereas they used to be able to participate in instructor training twice a year.
The bottleneck in spreading Shinshin Toitsu Aikido is the number of instructors. There are currently 350 instructors in Japan, but in order to train them, I have always had to travel to each area to teach, and this takes an enormous amount of time and effort. Of course, that will continue to be the case in the future, but with the use of online class, we will be able to train instructors in any region much more regularly.
Therefore, I have decided to open new dojos in major cities, towns and villages across the country over the next five years, and train instructors so that more people can practice Shinshin Toitsu Aikido wherever they live in Japan.
In order to do so, the number of instructors will have to triple from the current number of instructors to 1,000.
As for outside of Japan, there are currently Shinshin Toitsu Aikido dojos in 24 countries, and I would like to triple this number over the next five years.
In the face of the adversity of the COVID-19, I am extending Ki for the future as a result of my search for new direction.
I have made up my mind, and I will now make it happen.
Shinshin Toitsu Aikido Kai has established guidelines for the use of social media in Japan and will be actively involved in the dissemination of information by using social media. As part of this effort, I have decided to upload some dialogue videos on the official YouTube channel.
The first video interview is with the baseball critic, Mr. Tatsuro Hirooka.
Mr. Hirooka is now 88 years old and was a famous shortstop for the Yomiuri Giants when he was active in baseball. As a manager, he led the Yakult Swallows and Seibu Lions to the League Championship and the Top of Japan, respectively.
He was one of Koichi Tohei Sensei’s greatest supporters who understood his teachings very well in the baseball world and practiced Shinshin Toitsu Aikido to the fullest.
You may associate Mr. Hirooka with being a “strict man”.
In reality, Mr. Hirooka is a man who laughs a lot, is extremely flexible and is always curious and inquisitive. He is a great educator and has trained many baseball players up to now.
Here is a precious video interview with Hirooka-san.
You can watch this video on the official Shinshin Toitsu Aikido channel on YouTube. We will be releasing more videos from now on, so please subscribe to our channel.
[Shinshin Toitsu Aikido・Ki Society official YouTube channel]
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfjPSmOotFGUlrZ-NJQqFA
Translate: Moe Mimori
Edited by: C. Curtis
Hawaii Ki Federation
https://www.hawaiikifederation.org/