JAPANESE YOGA & MARTIAL ARTS FOR KIDS
By
H. E. Davey
By
H. E. Davey
In 1981, I founded the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, and located this new enterprise in a small commercial space on Solano Avenue. We are presently located at 1053 San Pablo Avenue in Albany, California.
The Sennin Foundation Center offers instruction in Japanese systems of yoga, martial arts, healing arts, and fine arts. All classes are semi-private in nature, with private lessons being available as well, and we have a distinctly noncommercial approach to the teaching of classical Asian arts of self-mastery. One of our most successful endeavors has been our special Japanese yoga and martial arts program from children.
Celebrating its 27th anniversary, our program has helped hundreds of kids age five and above to realize greater confidence, calmness, concentration, and willpower. This is accomplished through two unique disciplines, art forms rarely taught outside of Japan. Children at the Sennin Foundation Center study the Shin-shin-toitsu-do method of Japanese yoga and meditation as well as the time-honored martial art of Saigo Ryu aiki-jujutsu.
Shin-shin-toitsu-do was founded in the early 1920s by Nakamura Tempu Sensei, who had returned to Japan after studying yoga in India. He formed an organization known as the Tempu-Kai, and the Sennin Foundation Center is the only group in the United States to have an affiliation with this organization. This distinctive form of Japanese yoga features many forms of seated meditation, moving meditation, breathing exercises, healing arts, and stretching methods. It’s an ideal way for students of any age to unify the mind and body as a way of realizing their full potential in daily life.
Aiki-jujutsu, a traditional martial art, also emphasizes mind and body harmony. It features throwing, pinning, and grappling techniques that focus on dynamic, but ultimately non-injurious, control of an attacker. Many martial arts instead feature offensive techniques that would cause great bodily harm if applied in a schoolyard shoving match. Such martial arts may not be the best choose for a parent concerned about the legal, social, and ethical ramifications of the self-defense system his child is learning.
However, some so-called “nonviolent martial arts” instruction is nonviolent largely because it would be ineffective in real combat. Aiki-jujutsu, as taught at the Sennin Foundation Center, is noncompetitive and defensive in nature. Nonetheless, it also features powerful and efficient self-protection skills—methods that still allow for effectively controlling an opponent without causing serious and permanent injury.
In 1992, a group of young people from our dojo, or “training hall,” performed the first aiki-jujutsu demonstration ever given by Western children at the esteemed Kokusai Budoin Sogo Budo Taikai. This annual all-Japan martial arts demonstration is held in Tokyo and sponsored by the Kokusai Budoin, a worldwide martial arts federation, which is over 50 years old, and which is endorsed by the Japanese Imperial Family.
Authentic Japanese jujutsu—of any form, including aiki-jujutsu—is infrequently found outside of Asia. The Kokusai Budoin HQ in Japan internationally certifies many of the black belt instructors at our dojo.
A number of kids have continued in our program for years, some even becoming adult teachers of Japanese yoga and/or martial arts themselves. We’re rather proud of this, and we also have separate classes in Japanese forms of yoga, healing arts, brush calligraphy, and martial arts for Mom and Dad. Rates for the whole family and individuals are reasonable.
Since forming the Sennin Foundation Center in 1981, I’ve had a number of books released by mainstream publishers about what we teach. Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation, Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty, Unlocking the Secrets of Aiki-jujutsu, and my other books offer readers a glimpse of what we practice. Our dojo is affiliated with the Sennin Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization, which also educates the public about Japanese arts of self-perfection via its website http://www.michionline.org/.
In honor of our 27 years in the Bay Area, we’re offering kids a chance to try Japanese yoga and martial arts for free for one month (with the purchase of a $22 uniform). We hope both parents and young people will join us in practicing at our dojo.
About the Author: H. E. Davey is the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts. A recognized authority, he is the author of six books on Japanese classical art forms, and readers can find out more about him and the Sennin Foundation Center by visiting http://www.senninfoundation.com/. To visit, call 510-526-7518 (evenings) to make an appointment.
