baha'iThe rest of May at Nippon Kan: Friday May 11th through Sun May 13th was the Ikam Yoon Seminar with Ikam Yoon Sensei from Seoul, South Korea. It was a great seminar (Fri eve, all day Sat and Sun morn) and Yoon Sensei’s Aikido is as great as his personality and character are good. Homma Sensei was also very impressed by Yoon Sensei’s character and pioneering spirit (it was difficult to start Aikido in Korea) on an earlier visit to Korea which is why he invited him to Denver.
A bit on Ikam Yoon Sensei (Yoon Ikam, in Asia), also spelled Yun Ick-ahm , known as Gwangjang-nim in Korean (http://aikido-in-korea.com/#1), according to that web site: He was previously well known as a 6th Dan Hapkido and 5th Dan Taekwondo instructor. He also spent time in Thailand studying Muay-Thai Boxing and played a major role in introducing it to Korea. In his youth he even became the All Korean National Kickboxing Champion. Later, on a trip to Taiwan he came across Aikido, and converted to this art after meeting Kobayashi Sensei. His main contention with the Korean arts is that they are too aggressive. He established his Aikido network in Korea during the early 1990s, has visited Japan many times (Kobayashi Dojo in Tokorozawa), and to date, has attained the rank of 4th Dan. Yun Ick-am Gwangjang-nim is also training a new generation of future instructors, many of whom have switched from Hapkido, Taekwondo, or Taekyon etc., and thus Aikido is slowly spreading throughout the country. Kobayashi Sensei and/or his son visit regularly, and in between times, we see several other high ranking Japanese or other foreign teachers. Accordingly, the Korean Aikido Federation is associated to Aikikai Hombu Dojo through Kobayashi Dojo.
The presence of Aikido in Korea is therefore totally thanks to him. Not only that but he had a very comfortable life being the head of the Muay Thai Ass. of Korea. And yet he had the strength to give that all up, to face a new life, giving up his source of income, and the strain it put on his marriage (but they got over it), when he became an uchideshi at the Kobayashi Dojo in Japan, and then also on his return to Korea; started from scratch to start the first Aikido Dojo in Korea—including having to (peacefully) resolve anti-Japanese sentiment and the anger of Hapkidoists (Hapkido has the same Korean characters as Aikido). Finally doing so. His Korean branch of the International Aikikai Federation is now growing and gaining popularity.
The Seminar was a lot of hard work and I got very little sleep (but my sempai thought I should have done more and gotten even less sleep), on Sat eve, there was a party that I waited on (during parties uchideshi are like the Sensei’s butler but with more speed). Rick Sensei, who was an uchideshi and now has his own Dojo in another town, was kind to give me adv on how to be a good uchideshi at this kind of event and in general.
Homma Sensei, Mike San, Rose San and Yoon Sensei and his wife then went to Mexico to do 2 more seminars in 2 other cities.
The rest of the month was pretty much like the first week, except I started being given one-on-one uchideshi classes on some days before the regular classes began. On other days I would wait (and solo-practice while waiting) for the teacher to arrive at the back door, only to find after an hour that there must not be any class that day, after all. There was 1 week that was quite different, were John San, an uchideshi graduate who spent the last three months pioneer-teaching Aikido in Nepal, was there too, on his way back to Canada. It was great having him there because he’s very nice and he was a big help. While at Nippon Kan John San agreed to go back to Nepal and postpone a trip to Japan because Sensei couldn’t find anyone else (qualified) who was willing to go to Nepal, after he visits his home for a few weeks. While Sensei had the extra hands we fortified the outdoor areas leading into the restaurant (garden doors and front door) with cement and elevation to prevent it getting flooded again, as happened one night during a heavy hail and rain storm before John San arrived. It was a lot of work! (But I was glad to help Sensei in a useful way). Before leaving John San was promoted to 1st degree black belt. I enjoyed picking up and dropping him off at the airport, but I was sad he couldn’t spend more time in Denver. With the extra classes, I was now getting even more pains, sprains and injuries, eventually culminating in my decision to leave the program on June 2nd (I told Emily Sensei on June 1st –having only just gotten the email from NABI that they did need more volunteers on May 31st) after helping with Nippon Kan’s Spring Volunteer project where we helped Denver Parks and Recreation maintain a section of the Platte River Trail. We were done by 11am, I then moved out at noon after confirming my decision with Emily Sensei. In some ways of course I miss Nippon Kan and Aikido, but the daily strain and pain of full-time Aikido as an uchideshi was more than I ended up wanting to take (OK, I’m a wimp!) plus I didn’t feel like I was doing enough for the Bahá’í Faith while I was there, and all in all, I’m definitely happier serving as a volunteer here at the
