As I make my way through front door of the Shugyo Dojo, I find that a large number of practitioners have made the trip. There are many Aikidoka indeed but the tatami area quite large enough for all to practice comfortably and safely. For my first seminar in Belgium, I must say that I find the atmosphere very relaxed, almost family-like and I feel quickly at ease among the Belgian practitioners. Host François Warlet (6th Dan, member of the AFA) is friendly and he puts me immediately at ease. I recognize familiar faces here and there: Bodo Roedel, teacher at Cologne, Cyril Lagrasta who comes all the way from Dublin, Michael Erb, the technical director of the Franche-Comté region of France and a few others. For his part, Christian Tissier is clearly in friendly territory and he starts its course in the same state of relaxation.
After a short warm-up, Tissier Shihan gets into the core of the matter. All weekend, he will insists on the fact that we should not change the partner in order to execute a movement and he especially emphasizes on appropriate investment in time and space as an alternative to using too much mechanical stress on the joints. He therefore seeks difficulty voluntary and if a movement does not work, he explains that we must carry on the very same technique but correct our position and angles instead of trying a different, easier technique. As usual with Christian Tissier, the work of the hips is everywhere and it is only once they are used correctly that we find that the use of force is no longer necessary. Tissier also puts a lot of attention on what he calls priorities. They are constantly changing depending on the attack and movement and it requires attention at all times but he explains that it is also crucial to forget a point when this one is no longer a priority. For example, at the beginning of the attack, the raised hand is the priority while during the movement; focus should be paid more on controlling through motion the second hand of the opponent.
We said that the course was to be full of events and indeed, just before the end of the morning class, Christian Tissier Shihan presented the title of Shihan to Dany Leclerre (6th Dan Aikikai) on behalf of the Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba. The two men have known each other for many years and Christian Tissier does not hide his joy to be able to communicate this high distinction to his friend. Dany Leclerre appears to be only the 15th Western (depending on the source) to be receiving the distinction of Shihan from the Aikikai. The small ceremony is greeted warmly by the crowd of participants and a thunderous applause breaks out at the height of the event. Indeed it is not every day that one has the opportunity to attend a presentation of the title of Shihan.
The afternoon class starts after a light meal spent in the pleasant company of two Shihan. The course resumes on the same fundamentals of practice that were developed in the morning and together with our Belgian friends, we do our best to reproduce what is showed and when it works, find in ultimately rewarding. This afternoon, Sensei is accelerating. Kotegaeshi is performed, and iriminage shihonage in a very dynamic manner. He reiterates on the importance of the angle changes with an interesting example: what if the technique is blocked? Often the technique stops, not so much because Uke does so voluntarily because his movement is at an end. It is useless to insist, push or hit. It is best to change the angle and work with the other hand, the other body part, anything that can boost technique. Easy to say, but much less to do despite repeated advice and demonstrations from Tissier Shihan.
This is really something that we will have to continue working on in our respective dojos. It was a rich seminar and we are all very tired when time comes to perform the final bow. However, for me, the course is not yet over as I am going to be invited to the dojo's office in order to conduct an interview with Christian Tissier Shihan...
I would like to thank Dany Leclerre, Warlet Francois, Paul Van Lierde and all the AFA staff for their warm welcome and for having facilitated access to training to the conduct of the interview.
