Re-Drawing The Lines: Neurodiversity

The high-light of the YIPA Conference for me, was hearing and meeting Jonathan Mooney.

His speech was titled "Re-Drawing The Lines Neurodiversity: A Compass to a Changing World." Some of the highlights included citing extensive research and tying it to real life stories with ideas parents, students and educators can follow and use to transform learning environments into those that truly celebrate cognitive diversity.

Some wonderful ideas I found in his book, co-written with David Cole, Learning Outside the Lines: Two Ivy League Students with Learning Disabilities and ADHD Give You the Tools for Academic Success and Educational Revolution included:

"Learning outside the lines and living a life less ordinary is about moving beyond blackboards and academic success, to creating experiences that embrace and nurture the parts of our selves that are left unrealized by traditional education (pg. 247).

"Developing the Creative and Passionate Self"

"Too often, creativity and passion, two of the best things about being alive, get pushed out of our definition of self. Creativity is often restricted to art, when in fact it is a way of engaging with the world, a way of thinking and living. In fact, the imagination is the root of all change, because it allows us to imagine a world different from the one we live in. Pursuing creative endeavors, whether sculpting or writing essays, allows us to live fully in the world, drawing on our emotions, our personality, our intelligence, and our souls. Creativity is not concerned with solutions in a logical linear sense, but rather embraces the ironies, complexities, and humanity in our daily lives (pg. 251).

"In a world concerned with normalcy, the passionate self also gets the boot. Passion is threatening, and when we live with gusto, we take huge risks by rocking the boat. But a passion for things, for people, for ideas, is what we are all looking for, what this business of success is all about. Keep on the lookout for activities, classes, or the like that arouse your passion. These are the kinds of activities that when you start them, the restrictions placed on you fall away, and your life becomes like flying. You're gone, without knowing it and without having any control (pg. 251).

If you ever get the chance to see Jonathan, I highly recommend you take it. It will be a wonderful opportunity to realize that your efforts of working with others gives them great benefit, but the real reward is the gift you receive back when they smile.

The Power of People

Today Jim Sensei and I attended the 2009 Youth Intervention Conference, in St. Paul and represented the Shuharikan.

There were a great number of speakers at each of the break-out sessions ranging from Safe and Healthy Schools presented by Edward Marsman and Michael Coyne of the MN Institute of Public Health.

Their presentation's key message was:

The principal objective of school violence reduction strategies should be to create cultures and climates of safety, respect, and emotional support within educational institutions.

Dr. Marc Mannes who presented Sparks: It Starts with a Single Spark, his presentation highlighted that a "Spark" is something that gives your life meaning and purpose. It's an interest, a passion, or a gift. He asked the question: What do you bring to the world that is good, beautiful, and useful?

The keynote speaker was Dr. Verna Cornelia Price who spoke on The Power of People: Four Kinds of People Who Can Change A Youth's Life.

Her presentation asked the questions:

What is your calling or what were you born to do?
What have you learned working with kids or children?

All were excellent presentations and clearly expressed the conference themes of "promoting effective and efficient early intervention services for youth."

Leaves

The leaves are turning with the onset of Fall. Today it has been raining too. The smell of ozone and a little nip in the air - I love Fall!

A drive along Summit Avenue in St. Paul and listen to part of the poem by Lloyd Schwartz is favorite way to spend an afternoon.

"You'll be driving along depressed when suddenly
a cloud will move and the sun will muscle through
and ignite the hills. It may not last. Probably
won't last. But for a moment the whole world
comes to. Wakes up. Proves it lives. It lives—
red, yellow, orange, brown, russet, ocher, vermilion,
gold. Flame and rust. Flame and rust, the permutations
of burning. You're on fire. Your eyes are on fire.
It won't last, you don't want it to last. You
can't stand any more. But you don't want it to stop.
It's what you've come for. It's what you'll
come back for. It won't stay with you, but you'll
remember that it felt like nothing else you've felt
or something you've felt that also didn't last."
-Lloyd Schwartz

What do you like about Fall? Is it a sight, smell, or a sound?

Stop for a moment and picture it in your mind - hold it fast as Fall is going quick!

Personal Safety for Children

Safety - a condition of being or feeling safe; freedom from danger, risk, or injury.

As individuals, we should all have the feeling of safety. Be it safety at home, at school, or playing in the neighborhood; children most of all should have this feeling.

Unfortunately this is not always the case. The Shuharikan strives to provide students skills to deal with physical dangers as well as a number of ways to deal with conflict from others, often verbal in nature.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children created a wonderful resource guide, Personal Safety for Children, for parents to share and discuss concepts with their children.

SAFETY

Dear! of all happy in the hour, most blest
He who has found our hid security,
Assured in the dark tides of the world that rest,
And heard our word, "Who is so safe as we?"
We have found safety with all things undying,
The winds, and morning, tears of men and mirth,
The deep night, and birds singing, and clouds flying,
And sleep, and freedom, and the autumnal earth.

We have built a house that is not for Time's throwing.
We have gained a peace unshaken by pain for ever.
War knows no power. Safe shall be my going,
Secretly armed against all death's endeavour;
Safe though all safety's lost; safe where men fall;
And if these poor limbs die, safest of all.
-Rupert Brooke

How many dojo have you trained at?

Recently a young student at the Shuharikan asked me "How many dojo have you trained at during your time in the martial arts?"

Wow - what a great question! I don't know the actual number, but what I remember most is the variety and specialness in each one.

As I reflected more on the question, two wonderful descriptions come to mind, no matter the art style.

The first is from Richard Strozzi Heckler in his book Holding the Center: Sanctuary in a Time of Confusion.

"...layers of memory that take me through thirty years of training in dojos spread over a dozen countries. They've ranged from the traditional dojos of Japan with meticulously hand-crafted designs and highly polished wood to converted garages that were so small you had to wait against the wall for your turn. Dojos whose surfaces ranged from the classical fiber tatami mats to wooden floors, tire filings under canvas covers, rugs over cement, straw mattresses, and one that was laid out on hard-packed dirt beneath a flowering mango tree.

There were dojos dedicated to preserving the traditions of ancient fighting systems with the air of formality and erudition that one finds in the archives of great universities. Others were word-of-mouth dojos that collected tough guys and those in the profession of arms-special operations soldiers, secret service agents, bodyguards, law enforcement tactical units, street fighters looking to test themselves. In the small changing rooms you could hear the sound of boot knives handguns being unstrapped.

In one particular dojo I was unexpectedly gripped at the entrance by the luminosity that emanated from it. It was a work of art in its physical beauty but it was visceral feeling of the sacred that moved me. That evening a profound mood of reverence was present in the training. I felt like a small child holding a rare and priceless vase, and an emotionally charged sense of responsibility guided me. As I bowed out at the end of class, tears filled my eyes. I felt connected not only to those who had made this place possible, but to something weightless and eternal. In this dojo I understood the words of the poet, John Keats, when he said, 'Beauty is truth and truth is beauty.' And there was everything in between."

The second is from Dave Lowry in his book Persimmon Wind: A Martial Artist's Journey in Japan.

"The community dojo nearest Sensei's house was called the Genyokan. It was about four miles away by foot or car, along a narrow prefectural road, then another three-quarters of a mile after that by a seriously vertical hike. The first time I visited it, before I'd even reached the dojo itself I had already decided that if any martial artist came to Japan looking for the ideal training hall, the dojo of his dreams, there would be no way he could be disappointed in the Genyokan.

More gracefully rendered in Japanese than in an English translation, the kanji characters for 'Genyokan' mean 'the hall of the source of evening's twilight.' It was an entirely appropriate name if ever there was one. I am certain that only the most determined or lucky or badly strayed beams of sunlight could ever have filtered their way through the evergreen canopy that enveloped the dojo. The forest around it was so intense that it was quite invisible from no more than fifty feet away from its front gate. At that distance, there were only the great round pillars of cryptomeria trunks, their piney scent tinting the shadowy, motionless air. The dojo was approached by a path of set stones that ran through the gate, its wood whitened with age. There was no fence, only this gate with its thick oak panels and above it, a Shinto torii arch. When the gates were closed, so was the dojo. Opened, they signalled that training was going on and members passed through them to the dojo structure itself.

The Genyokan was built in the shindenzukuri style of architecture, as are most traditional dojo in Japan. The walls were low, topped with wide-eaved roofs. The roof was hipped and fluted upward at the corners where it met the underhang. Roof-tiles, once shiny blue were now a rich azure that showed through here and there where the moss and fallen rusty cryptomeria needles had not completely covered it. The outer walls were creamy plaster and supported by a framework of dark, age-stained wood. There were no windows, just ventilation openings set high up on the walls and covered with wooden shutters. When the shutters were slid back, there were thin slats that protected the windows and kept birds out. These openings were also far up enough along the walls to frustrate any view in from the outside. In the old days, matters in the dojo were private. It would not do for an outsider, possibly a spy or enemy, to learn the secrets of the arts being taught within. This concern for secrecy is reflected in the architecture of all traditional dojo."

What is the best memory you have of training or the most unique dojo you've trained at?

Tenchi Nage or Heaven and Earth

In tonight's class we worked on Tenchi Nage also known as Heaven and Earth throw. It is a study of where one hand travels upward towards "heaven" while the other hand travels downward towards the "earth." This set of movements provides Shite or the "Doer of the technique" with the study of taking Uke's "receiver of the technique" center of gravity off-line and creating an unbalancing with a minimum amount of effort.

I recently read this "Aikido-like" poem and shared it with the class. I hope you enjoy it!

Heaven On Earth
Author Unknown
I could not define it exactly--the thing I felt about this home. But I could feel it and it warmed my soul. It was the manner in which everyone addressed everyone else. There was no shouting, not even a raising of the voice. Sure, there were disagreements, but I can still remember the reasonable way in which they talked them out. I somehow knew that it would have been very painful to all if someone had spoken sharply because, you see, they loved each other. And how can you harm someone you love?

I remember one day when the father had to take a trip out of town over the weekend. As he left the door that morning, everyone was there to bid him "good-bye", and it was right there I learned the meaning of that expression.
To them, as tears gathered in their eyes, it meant literally "God be with you until we meet again."

I always say that you can tell about a home by observing the apparent "little" every-day events. In this home every event was important. To them each day was the most important day in eternity.

I can still see the scene when we all kneeled down to pray. You know how some people pray; it gets to be more or less a matter of form and has something of the mechanical in it--something you do because it's your duty. But not here. They all joined hands as they prayed, and it seemed to me as if angels were talking to each other. Such sentiments of thankfulness, such please for wisdom, such feelings of Divinity.

I suppose you could say there was a distinctive kind of Spirit in this home. Yes, I'm sure there was. It was the spirit of kindness, patience, loveliness, beauty, and love itself. The thought occurred to me as I left, that to these people
Heaven itself would not be strange when they went there, because they had a corner of it right on earth.
http://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/254/49.html

Future

Today was fun watching the kids in class as Glen Sensei taught.

The many smiles and sense of accomplishment in learning something is extremely rewarding to realize we are continuing a tradition.

As the Shuharikan, in St. Paul, we are teaching what we learned and sharing what came first from Japan and with these students; will continue the lineage of Aikido into the future.

What was past, becomes present and the present becomes the future. The idea brings to mind part of TS Eliot's Four Quartets poem Burnt Norton

"Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past."

Dave Lowry wrote in Permission Wind: A Martial Artist's Journey in Japan

"The way of the bugeisha culminates only at the conclusion of his life. All else is a journey to ever-receding destinations. There can be no final lesson, no ultimate secret to reveal."

It reminds one that the journey as a student and teacher is never done.

Goshin Waza

The idea of self-defense or Goshin Waza should be thought of in a broader sense than just physical techniques. In our Kids Class this idea has been expanded by each instructor high-lighting a different aspect of self-defense. Some have included the use of one's voice and general area awareness.

In my recent class I high-lighted fire safety and the idea of: Stop, Drop and Roll. The North Spokane County Fire Department in Eastern Washington have a wonderful image, see below, describing what to do in case your clothes catch fire.





With the week of October 4 to 10 being Fire Safety Week, the timing was most appropriate.

What are some ways you practice self-defense on a regular basis?

Simplicity

"Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons. It is what we leave behind that is important. I think the matter of simplicity goes further than just food, equipment, and unnecessary gadgets; it goes into the matter of thoughts and objectives as well. When in the wilds, we must not carry our problems with us or the joy is lost."
-Sigurd F. Olson, Naturalist and Author of The Singing Wilderness

“People will do what is comfortable for them. So if you allow them to, they will just make it up for themselves. That is why, you must always return to the basics. This is what is important.”
-Gozo Shioda Total Aikido

The Yoshinkan Aikido Kihon Dosa consists of a set of six basic movements which are considered the foundation of the art. They were created to teach the correct position of the body as they relate to the basic Aikido techniques. They can each be performed solo or with a partner, empty handed or with a sword.

From the core or trunk, each branch sprouts and more and more growth is possible; but we always return to the core.