Hiroshi Ikeda sensei at So. CA Spring Retreat - San Jacinto Mountains
April 19-22, 2001

Contributed by Jennifer Lane*

Nearly 40 aikidoka attended the first annual Spring Retreat with Hiroshi Ikeda sensei at the Mountain Center Zen Center from April 19 - 22, 2001. Glendale Aikikai, San Bernardino Aikikai, and Temecula Aikikai conjointly organized the event.

The Mountain Center Zen Center is located in a secluded and serene valley in the San Jacinto mountains. At an elevation of 5,500 feet, the participants were greeted to crisp, fresh mountain air, pine trees, and mountain spring water. Many of them also saw deer and other local wildlife. Rooms or cabins accommodating 3 - 5 people each housed the aikidoka during their stay. The hosts from the Zen Center cooked delicious vegetarian meals and introduced the participants to the practice of zazen.

Although its relative seclusion made the Zen Center somewhat difficult to find, many of the participants made their way up the mountain and down a one-mile long unpaved road on Thursday evening. Rooms were assigned, dinner was served, and Ikeda sensei taught the first class. Since the "dojo" was a zendo located on the second floor, a few jokes were made about testing the sturdiness of the floor. Luckily the floor proved sturdy enough to handle a prolonged weekend with 40 aikidoka.

Thursday night brought a jolting surprise to the participants. Nearly all the aikidoka felt a small 3.4 magnitude earthquake at about 2:30 in the morning.

Friday was the first full day of training at the retreat. Ikeda Sensei emphasized getting your partner's balance (kuzushi), being aware of what you are doing, and having the mentality that every time is the last time. He illustrated his point by making a comparison to feudal Japan, where if you made a mistake, it truly would be your last time. He also made the announcement that he was open to questions that the participants had about aikido techniques. As usual, Ikeda Sensei used humor to help clarify his teachings.

Friday night brought another surprise to the participants. Temperatures dropped and the participants awoke to icicles on the eaves of their cabins and 2 - 3 inches of snow.

Saturday's classes were punctuated by a special centering class. Ikeda Sensei introduced various exercises to help the participants find and feel their center. These exercises ranged from different manners of walking, to keeping your balance while a partner steadily pushed against you. This class was open to non-aikidoka as well. Although the snow inhibited most outside guests from coming, a couple non-aikidoka did make it on the mat.

Later in the day, Ikeda sensei expanded upon Friday's lessons. One especially memorable exercise which Ikeda sensei used to help the participants be more mindful of what they were doing was to have them attempt to roll as quietly as possible. He did this on both Friday and Saturday and asked the participants to analyze which parts of their bodies were banging against the mat.

On Saturday evening, plans to leave the Zen Center were canceled because of the snow. Instead, everyone met at the zendo to relax and converse with one another. The night passed without any surprises.

At 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning, Kats Shiomi and Chetan Prakash of San Bernardino Aikikai, introduced the participants to the 10 Fundamental Treasures and to 5 Elements Breathing. This course complemented the aikido training as well as the two previous 7:00 a.m. lessons in which the hosts introduced zazen to the participants.

A two-and-a-half hour class on Sunday concluded the retreat. Ikeda sensei re-emphasized many of the lessons that were taught throughout the seminar, including keeping your hands alive, keeping your center, and the use of spirals in aikido.

Three aikidoka tested for the rank of shoden during the retreat. Although they were able to demonstrate their knowledge and execution of suwari waza, hanmi handachi, and tachi waza techniques as usual, their demonstration of weapons had to be modified a bit. Since the ceiling of the zendo was only the height of a normal room, Ikeda Sensei asked those testing to perform their weapons techniques without weapons. Both nage and uke did quite well with their air jo and air bokken. In the end, Paul Lamori, Irena Konstantinova, and Lars Ullberg joined the yudansha ranks.

Overall, the retreat proved to be quite successful. Although the Mountain Center Zen Center was certainly agreeable, next year the retreat may be held at a different location to accommodate more people. Rumor has it that the organizers are trying to find a site on the beach for next year.