Aikikai India

Report: Aikido gains popularity in India (2)

NDTV.com, Sports Section
Thursday, March 16, 2006 (New Delhi)

A martial art similar to Kung Fu called Aikido is gaining popularity in India.

In spite of there being just a single instructor in the whole country, Aikido has definitely made a small beginning in the Capital.

A narrow corridor leads you to the Aikido centre in New Delhi. A small but dedicated lot of aikido students meditate just before starting the day’s practice.

This Aikido centre was started about a year back by Sensei Paritos Kar and is the only one of its kind in India.

“Aikido is a self defence martial art but the difference between Aikido and other martial arts is the way to harmony.

“Aikido is not only physical but it’s also a physio, psycho and spiritual martial art. So in the physical aspect, it helps very much,” said Paritos Kar, Aikido instructor.

Hands-on approach

Aikido promotes a hands-on approach to healing. It energises the joints, improves circulation and even coordinates breathing.

Paritos Kar, a fourth dan black belt has been practicing Aikido for 15 years in Japan.

What’s striking about this art is that there are no competitions. It simply encourages a person to follow his own path of Aikido.

“A proper exercise is something that exercises you completely and not just physically. It’s also an exercise where you’re emotionally and spiritually involved because what you are doing is not just normal moves,” said Manisha Mathur, an Aikido student.

In a bid to popularise the art form in India, the Aikido foundation hopes to bring in some more instructors and even introduce it in schools.

Aikido may be in its nascent stage but with the growing awareness of alternative sport and sophisticated fight sequences in Bollywood, it may soon become extremely popular with the common man.

December 27, 2007
Report: Aikido gains popularity in India

NDTV.com, Sports Section
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 (New Delhi)

The Aikido centre in New Delhi, which was started about a year ago by Sensei Paritos Kar, is the only one of its kind in India.

The art involves no punches, no kicks but simply involves the dynamics of movement.

“Aikido is a self-defensive martial art. But the difference between Aikido and other martial arts is [that it is] the way to harmony. It is not only physical but it’s also a physiological, psychological and spiritual martial art. In the physical aspect, it helps very much,” said Paritos Kar, the Aikido instructor.

Kar, a 4th dan black belt, has been practicing Aikido for the past 15 years in Japan.

The sport promotes a hands-on approach to healing. It energizes the joints, improves circulation and even coordinates breathing.

“A proper exercise is something that exercises you completely not just physically. It is also an exercise where you are emotionally and spiritually involved because what you are doing is not just normal moves,” said Manisha Mathur, an Aikido student.

Follow the path

Perhaps one of the most striking things about this martial art is that there are no competitions. It simply encourages a person to follow his own path of Aikido.

“I’m also a physician and I can tell you that Aikido has tremendous health aspects and its warm up exercises, the stretching, the flexibility and learning to blend with other people’s energies, works well both at home and the workplace and the real world,” said Dr Ken Dekleva, an Aikido student.

Aikido includes sword and staff techniques and also open hand skills. In a bid to popularize this martial art form in India, the Aikido Foundation of India hopes to bring in some more instructors and even introduce it in schools.

Although the idea of a martial art as striving for peace and harmony may seem like an oxymoron, it definitely is the basic essence of this art form.

Aikido may be in its nascent stages but with the growing awareness of alternative sport and sophisticated fight sequences in Bollywood, it may soon become extremely popular with the common masses.

December 27, 2007
A Martial Manifestation

Martial arts enthusiasts are in for a treat this weekend in Delhi with the visit of an American grandmaster.

Shihan Gaku Homma Sensei, a student of Morihei Ueshiba the founder of Aikido will hold a seminar and public demonstration of this spiritual martial art based on harmony (ai), spirit (ki) and finding ones way in life (do).

Adapted from the more violent fighting art jujutsu, this gentle martial art combines circular movements, breathing and meditation which increase a person’s energy, fitness and peace of mind.

It can also prove very effective for self defence. Rather than meet an attacker head on, aikido practitioners use circular movements to avoid an attack and use their opponents own force against them.

“You don’t have to be strong and you certainly don’t have to be aggressive to do Aikido,” said Delhi’s only Aikido master Paritos Kar, who trained in Japan for more than 15 years.

The lessons students learn about neutralising aggression can help to bring harmony to everyday life, he added, explaining that the spiritual aspects of the art have to be practiced to be properly understood.

“We are very fortunate to have a teacher of this calibre visiting us in Delhi.”

Shihan Gaku Homma Sensei who hails from the Rocky Mountains is known for his spiritual approach to martial arts. He also has a unique teaching method which combines kenjutsu (sword) and jojutsu (staff) and taijitsu (open hand).

December 27, 2007
Seminar with Gaku Homma Sensei

International Aikido Seminar conducted by Gaku Homma Sensei on 4-5 February 2006 in New Delhi: PRESS RELEASE

If Steven Seagal’s quick movements (or his seeming lack of movement) have fascinated you or if you’ve been left open-mouthed with his martial art technique that seems to be so smooth, so swift and yet so very effective even without the usual kicks and punches, then the International Seminar held by the Aikido Foundation of India at the Sanskriti School gymnasium was where you ought to be. Seagal is an Aikido black belt.

The seminar, (4th – 5th February), will see 15 Aikido black belts and 20 students (more are expected to join on-the-spot) practicing this art for ten hours. Demonstration will open for the public in the afternoon of the first day. The event is co-sponsored by the Sun Group.

The delegation from USA is headed by the Shihan Gaku Homma Sensei, a direct student of the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. He is accompanied by seven high-ranking Aikido practitioners. Homma Sensei is the founder and chief instructor of the Nippon Kan School, which is the biggest school in the Rocky Mountain area in the US. His unique teaching methods combine sword and staff techniques with the open-hand techniques.

The Aikido Foundation of India was founded in Delhi by Sensei Paritos Kar in 2004. Paritos Sensei is fourth Dan (degree black belt), who did his entire 15 years of training in Japan. The Aikido dojo (training centre) in Andrews Gunj has 19 students, only 6 of whom are children.

Those interested can contact the dojo at 9811155388.

What is Aikido?

Aikido was founded by Morihei Ueshiba, also known as O Sensei. Aikido was founded when O Sensei, dissatisfied despite his mastery in jujitsu, began looking for a deeper meaning to life. He finally incorporated his martial arts training to his religious and political ideologies to create aikido or “The Way of Harmony of the Spirit”.

Aikido is a defensive non-aggressive art. It seeks to unify mind and body so that the student trains at remaining calm and centered in the face of an attack. Practitioners, rather than tiring themselves out with kicks and punches, use the opponent’s own strength to gain control over them and throw them off, with emphasis on motion and the dynamics of movement. Thus Aikido is unique in that it can be learned and practiced by anyone from six to 80 years.

Because aikido combines martial arts, religious and political ideology, there is no unified philosophy of aikido. There is, instead, a collection of religious, ethical, and metaphysical beliefs. Some examples: “Aikido is not a way to fight with or defeat enemies; it is a way to reconcile the world and make all human beings one family.” “The essence of aikido is the cultivation of ki [a vital force, internal power, mental/spiritual energy].” “The secret of aikido is to become one with the universe.” “Aikido is primarily a way to achieve physical and psychological self-mastery.” “The body is the concrete unification of the physical and spiritual created by the universe.” And so forth.

At the core of almost all philosophical interpretations of aikido, however, we may identify at least two fundamental threads: (1) A commitment to peaceful resolution of conflict whenever possible. (2) A commitment to self-improvement through aikido training.

December 27, 2007
Dance your way to de-stress

Looking for a way to keep fit, de-stress and also learn self defence into the bargain? Aikido, a non-aggressive martial art from Japan, offers just that.

Watching people practicing aikido you could easily get the impression that you have accidentally stumbled across some kind of modern dance class.

Small groups of women, men and even children move back and forth with graceful, coordinated movements which often appear to have little to do with self-defense. Adapted from the more violent fighting art jujutsu, this gentle martial art combines circular movements, breathing and meditation to increase a person’s internal energy or ki. But it is still very effective in fending off unwelcome approaches.

Rather than meet an attacker head on, aikido practitioners learn to move out of the way of their opponent and use their energy against them. Participants take turns performing dance-like movements, simulating attacks and defenses which provide an energetic workout. But for many, aikido – known as one of the more spiritual martial arts – is as much about the mind and spirit as the body.

“I was inspired by the philosophy of aikido which says that we must blend and harmonise with the universe and other people,” says 24-year-old Sajan Nair. “Since I took it up last April I feel more at peace with myself. I am able to keep my cool.”

Alan Nykamp, an American student who started practicing three months ago, claims to have the best of both worlds since he replaced body building and football with the Japanese martial art: “On a physical level I have lost about 10 kgs and have much more energy than before. I feel charged with a great deal of positive energy.” Involving a lot of twisting from the waist, bending, rolling on gym mats and stretching, aikido is an excellent way to trim abs, increase flexibility and build up strength without bulking out muscles. This often makes it popular with women as brute force is not part of the training.

“You will gain inner peace, stay fit and get stronger through regular practice,” explains Paritos Kar, the Bengali aikido master who studied in Tokyo for 15 years before returning to India to open a dojo (martial arts centre) in South Delhi. “It’s not just about the body but also the mind and oneness with the spirit. Only by combining all of these can we really be healthy.”

(Published in HT City on 29th August 2005. Photos: Rajesh Kashyap.)

December 27, 2007

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