at Shorinji Kempo Monterey Branch
In Shorinji Kempo, at the beginning/end of practice, all members clean the dojo (practice place) together.
It is called "Samu." It is translated as "daily chores" in Japanese Buddhism such as cleaning or preparing meals. It is regarded as an important aspect in Buddhism to express our appreciation and gratitude for our daily life such as living healthy and so on.
Therefore, all members including the Masters perform the cleaning regardless of seniority. In Shorinji Kempo, this is a time for all members to return to the mindset of a beginner and carry out the task in a spirit of each cleaning his/her own heart.
Kihon is translated as "basis." All members line up and start warming-up and basic practice. Warming-up is important for all members to practice martial arts. It includes simple exercise and stretching. It prevents from injury during practice.
After the warming-up, we start basic practice of fundamental techniques. It includes basic punching, kicking, blocking, stance, stepping, and so on. It is a Japanese martial way of practice that all members practice together regardless of seniority of belt ranks. Beginners can learn not only from the Masters, but also from senior members. Senior members can learn from teaching to beginners. Practicing together is very effective for martial arts.
Chinkon means meditation. All members line up and perform Chinkon as a part of the training of Shorinji Kempo. We recite the Seiku (Meditation), Seigan (Oath), and Shinjo (Creed) all together. We sit down and meditate. During the meditation, it is important to think nothing and to concentrate your mind. Also, it is essential to stretch out muscles of a back and regularize breathing. During the meditation, the Master corrects members' sitting postures.
After the meditation, the Master gives Houwa (a small lecture) about a variety of issues of Shorinji Kempo. It includes philosophy, history, principles of techniques, martial arts concepts, locations of pressure points, and so on. It is also one of the important practice in Shorinji Kempo for all members to understand Shorinji Kempo.
Houkei are the manifestations of various self-defense techniques. We start the practice of the techniques for each belt ranks along Shorinji Kempo curriculum. The curriculum is a resource of a variety of techniques to learn step-by-step order. In Shorinji Kempo, there are many techniques. Therefore, we value an approach in which a member takes long years for mastering these techniques in "zenzen shugaku (one step at a time)" and "soak up-soak up-acquire-learn" styles.
A beginner starts learning from a very simple technique.
19:00 Child class ends.
In Embu practice, members learn how to respond various changes in opponent's attack by utilizing techniques they have already learned. They work together on creative ways to lead one technique into another by seamlessly connecting one technique to the next one and switching an attacker and defender role. They practice not only various techniques into practical use in the Embu practice, but also "Zanshin (a state of mental and physical alertness and readiness after technique is executed)."
Randori (Application) is the training method for learning how to apply techniques they have already learned. It is not only practice of basic skills and techniques, but also practice of responding to an opponent in order to master "Maai (appropriate distance)" and to transition smoothly from one technique to another. It is also a time to when the degree of mastery one has built up in basic skill and techniques gets tested. We do the Randori practice with body protectors in order to keep safe.
19:45 End of Practice