Shoheijuku Newsletter March 2022

It is March already this year. I hear that the plum blossoms in Dazaifu are in full bloom now.

In such a very cold weather, we had the annual kan-geiko (winter practice period) until March 3^rd. Though the length of the kan-geiko was 10 days in the past, we shortened it to 7 days since last year. It was held at the 10 directly-managed dojos, and the total of 70 people successfully completed it. The number of people who completed it at each dojo is as follows:

Fukuoka Dojo – 15
Takasago Dojo – 12
Fujisaki Dojo – 11
Omuta Dojo – 9
Ijiri Dojo – 5
Chikushino Dojo – 5
Tenjin Dojo – 5
Harima Shoheijuku – 4
Onojo Shoheijuku – 2
Shoheijuku Hombu – 2

For the commemorating towel for the kan-geiko completion this year, I wrote 「徳は孤ならず 必ず隣あり」(Confucius said “A man of virtue does not remain lonely. He always has some companions”).  

A man of virtue will never be isolated. Because of his attractiveness as a person, people who are inspired will gather around him. I guess that is the meaning of this saying. 

The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba Sensei also said very often while he was alive:

The goals of Aikido are ki-iku (cultivation of energy), chi-iku (cultivation of wisdom), toku-iku (cultivation of virtue), tai-iku (cultivation of physical strength), and Joshiki-no-kanyo (cultivation of common sense).