Scree – Page 321 – Craig Constantine

About Koichi Tohei, Sensei (1/1920 to 5/2011) →

Published August 17, 2012 · All posts on Aug 17

Koichi Tohei (藤平光一, Tōhei Kōichi) (born January 1920, died May 2011) was a 10th Dan aikidoka and founder of the Ki Society and its style of aikido, officially Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (literally “aikido with mind and body unified”), but commonly known as Ki-Aikido.

Our friends over at the Bryn Mawr dojo of Kinokawa Aikido have an article providing a survey of the basic information about Sensei Tohei.

Unfortunately, I never saw Sensei Tohei in person. Today, the closest one can get is any of the myriad of videos which remain. One can find a great deal on YouTube. However, a much better place to go is to Aikido Journal (AJ). If you’re an aikidoka, you should go over to AJ immediately and join. There is an enormous amount of information available in general, and about Sensei Tohei in particular.

In particular from AJ, you can find books, DVDs and ebooks for download that are specifically about, or written by, Sensei Tohei. Log into the members site and search for ‘koichi tohei’. You’ll find interviews of Sensei Tohei conducted by Stanley Pranin, details of Sensei Tohei’s split from the Aikikai (including his resignation letter), and much more.

As for Kinokawa’s relation to Sensei Tohei, remembering his soft and flowing style is something to which we continuously pay attention. Sensei Wirth provides some more details related to Kinokawa’s history:

The grace and power I witnessed in those first few hours at the Dojo drew me into the way of Aikido.
In those early days we spoke little and trained very hard. There were only a few students who endured for long.
Maruyama Sensei was a student of Koichi Tohei Sensei and O’Sensei. By 1971, two years after O’Sensei’s death, divisions of viewpoint regarding who was to lead Aikido and how it was to be conveyed and directed lead to a split between Tohei and Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the Founder’s son. Maruyama Sensei aligned himself with Sensei Tohei, and so it was that our practice in the 1970’s reflected both the early style and training of O’Sensei as preserved and conveyed by Aikikai and the flowing late life Aikido of O’Sensei presented by Tohei.
~ Sensei Wirth, from ‘A History of Kinokawa ryu Aikido’

My writing on Aikido →

Published August 15, 2012 · All posts on Aug 15

Since 1998 I have been continuously and vigorously studying and practicing a martial art called Aikido. Over the years my responsibilities have gradually increased to the point where I am now straight-up teaching Aikido. I was having a terrific time exploring Aikido while trailing in the footsteps of many senior people. I’m now surprised to find that a bunch of people have appeared behind me asking questions.

What is this I don’t even…

I am currently teaching at the Kinokawa Aikido LV dojo, and I study under Sensei Michael Wirth at Main Line Budo.

What’s with the funny twitter handle? →

Published August 8, 2012 · All posts on Aug 8

cc1315 was my InterNIC handle.

What’s an Internic handle?

Back in the mid-90s, there was only one place to register a domain name. (See Network Solutions.) To register a domain, or to make changes, one sent a specially formatted email message to a special email address at Network Solutions. On the receiving side, a program would read the message and follow the instructions. To verify the request was valid, the program checked the message for a valid InterNic handle.

To obtain a handle one would register with the Internic by sending a formatted email message containing your name, address, and other contact information. The InterNic software would then create a globally unique handle in response. Some program back in 1994 saw my initials and added 1315 — cc1315.

I never managed to figure out the source of the 1315. If memory serves, the handles were always two initials and three or four digits. So my best guess has always been that the digits were the local time-of-day when my registration was received.

The Freecycle Network: Don’t throw usable stuff away →

Published April 3, 2012 · All posts on Apr 3

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of thousands of groups with millions of members around the world. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers. Membership is free.

To sign up, find your community freecycle list by searching on the Freecycle web site.

BookMooch: free, used-book swapping →

Published February 17, 2012 · All posts on Feb 17 · Books

http://www.bookmooch.com/

BookMooch.com is a huge (as in: 100,000’s of books), free, book swapping site. Why buy a new book when you can save one from the landfill?

It’s free to join and create your account. You start out by posting up some books which you are willing to give away. If someone would like one of your books, they request to “mooch” it from you. If you accept the mooch, you simply ship it to them paying the postage. In return you get a bookmooch “point”.

If you see a book you want, you can request to mooch it. (If the owner accepts, they ship it to you and they pay the postage.) Each mooch costs you one point. You earn points when someone mooches a book from you; you get 1 point for within-the-U.S. mooches, and 3 points if you’re willing to ship internationally. You also get 1/10 of a point for each book you list in your moochable inventory.

Pardon me? →

Published February 7, 2012 · All posts on Feb 7 · Writing

I lobbied for a new idea: Let’s stop talking to each other from different rooms. Let’s take the time to find the other person, and to wait until they are ready to listen before we begin speaking. I hoped this would eliminate the hearing-related false starts. But to be fair, we agreed this should be a two-way street; We would both work to try this new idea.

Everyone who knows me, knows my hearing is failing. Recently, I realized just how much of the communication at our house was frought with false starts. If my attention wasn’t focused on the speaker, we started most conversations with, “Mumble mumble mumble?” “Pardon me?” “I said, …”

It turns out, that it’s amazing how much this changes. As the listener, you have time to finish your thoughts. Instead of the speaker demanding your instant attention, you shift your attention when you are ready to listen. As the speaker, you place increased value on the other’s time. You have to invest your time to locate them, and then you have to wait for them to be ready to listen.

People are dubious when I explain this idea. It sounds exactly like the sort of hair-brained, overly pedantic, arrangement people expect me to invent. After all, it is hair-brained and pedantic. And it is life-changing. Try it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

One’s legacy →

Published January 21, 2012 · All posts on Jan 21 · Wisdom

Therefore when we build let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such Work as our descendants will thank us for and let us think as we lay Stone on Stone that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them and that men will say as they look upon the labor and the wrought substance of them, ‘See this our fathers did for us.’
~ John Ruskin

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That’s sure has a nice ring to it. We need more people with a rock-solid work ethic, who are self-starters, able to be detail oriented, capable of anticipating problems and acting in advance, and who can think things through. These are things worth striving for.

All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.
~ Blaise Pascal

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The time-sink of video games, the distraction of mindless television, the constant interaction with others (twitter, text messages, etc) without real communication, the seeking of incessant stimulation without actually feeling anything, the inundation with information with no chance for finding knowledge; These things we can do without.

Fools and fanatics versus the wise →

Published January 14, 2012 · All posts on Jan 14 · Wisdom

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
~ Bertrand Russell

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This seemed to be trite commentary until I realized that one could also read it to be actionable instructions: The key to solving big, real world, problems is figuring out when one is being the fool/fanatic versus the wise.

In Memoriam →

Published January 12, 2012 · All posts on Jan 12

Bruce W. Constantine
April 28, 1946 – January 12, 2011

I can say many things about my father…

He was not a big fan of funerals.

He did not like to wear a suit or tie.

He could not fix plumbing.

He did not ask for directions.

He was not a good cook.

…and he definitely did not like to be called at 3am to fix an elevator.

He was always prepared.

He preferred to work smarter, not harder.

He taught many people to swim, and he swam like a fish.
– After nearly 50 years, Morrow, Fischel, Long & Constantine still hold their pool record in the 200m medley relay.

He could be headstrong, but always did the right thing.

He was gentle, knowing that violence is the last resort of the incompetent.

He was loving, even if not outwardly emotional.
– He liked to make a show of shaking his Father’s Day cards looking for money.

He was reliable.
– When his mom called, he showed up promptly. If something needed to be done, he did it. And if it needed to be fixed, he fixed it.

He was adventurous.
– I can tell you without exaggeration that he travelled from Hawaii to Europe, and from Canada to the Caribbean. He literally dove to the depths of the ocean and walked to the tops of mountains. He flew an airplane, built and flew model planes, sailed small boats, won races on his catamaran, deftly handled large yachts, and navigated Southern Comfort into every by-way from Deleware to Florida.
– In his younger days he careened around the Lehigh valley with his motorcycle and Austin Healy, and he rode thousands of miles on his bicycle.
– And yet, he was never boastful.

He was wise and invariably honest.

He always provided for his family.

He was loyal, and he was dedicated.
– He was happily married for over 42 years, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health.

He was a loving son, husband and father.

…and of course, he made us laugh.

His ability to relate stories and anecdotes did not define who he was. In reality, he was all of the things I’ve mentioned and more. But his ability to make others laugh was exceptional, and for that he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.