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Tomiki Aikido of the Americas (TAA)

Tomiki Aikido of the Americas (TAA) is a non-profit organization which seeks to introduce and promote the Japanese martial art of aikido by organizing training camps, exhibitions and tournaments around the world. It promotes Tomiki Aikido, also known as Shodokan Aikido. This is a competitive form of the martial art, created by Kenji Tomiki, a pre-war student of Morihei Ueshiba who left the Aikikai in the 1960's. It is one of several Tomiki Aikido organizations in the United States.

History

Robert Dziubla, President Emeritus and Founder of the TAA

Origins

Robert Dziubla trained in Tomiki Aikido in Chicago, IL, before traveling to Japan to train with Kenji Tomiki at Waseda University. At the end of his first trip to Japan in 1971, Tomiki awarded Dziubla the rank of shodan. He returned to Japan several times, and in 1982, a team of American players he had trained managed to win a tournament at Waseda. At Waseda, one of his fellow aikidoka was Fumiaki Shishida. In 1983, Dziubla was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study law in Kyoto and while there, he devoted considerable time to training at the Shodokan in Osaka, under one of Tomiki's foremost students, Tetsuro Nariyama. American aikidoka participated in Japan Aikido Association events throughout the 1980's.

Japan Aikido Association USA

In 1990, Dziubla and several other senior aikidoka formed the Japan Aikido Association USA (JAA USA). Other founding members included Seiji Tanaka, Nobuyoshi Higashi, and Yoji Kondo. The JAA USA was founded, "to help to coordinate national events, provide support for regional events, encourage the interchange of information on training methods and the coordination of our grading and promotion standards with those used by the Japan Aikido Association, raise public funds to support the Association and its educational goals, and to engage in related activities." Internationally, the JAA USA joined Tomiki Aikido International Network (TAIN), which was formed in 1993, and participated in international events throughout the world.

Name Change and Expanded Focus

After over two decades, the JAA USA's membership had expanded to include dojo outside of the USA. Several practitioners, including Dziubla, had attained high ranks in Tomiki Aikido. The board of the JAA USA decided to change the name of the organization to Tomiki Aikido of the Americas (TAA) in 2012. In part, this decision was made because the international state of Tomiki Aikido had changed as well. Tetsuro Nariyama established the Shodokan Aikido Federation (SAF). In 2017, members of the international community also formed the Worldwide Sport Aikido Federation (WSAF) as an international governing body. The TAA has sent teams to all three of the WSAF tournaments and hosted the second tournament in San Diego, CA, in 2019.

Activities

Member Dojo and Governance

The TAA has member dojo throughout the continental United States. At one time, it also included dojo in Brazil and Trinidad. A member dojo must have a TAA-certified instructor and pay membership dues to the TAA. There are currently dojo in California, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Ohio.

Tournaments and Workshops

Robert King (7th Dan) demonstrates ai gamae ate at the 2022 US Nationals

The TAA organizes national tournaments on an annual basis. Tournaments have been held in California, Maryland, North Carolina, and Ohio. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they organized a virtual tournament with innovative solo and paired events shared via video to remote judges. In 2022, they returned to in-person tournaments with an event in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, the TAA organizes workshops and training events throughout the year.

Curriculum

As a member organization of the larger Shodokan/Tomiki Aikido community, the TAA's curriculum is based on the curriculum left behind by the founder, Kenji Tomiki. This consists of specific teaching methods including the Tandoku Undo ("solo practice") developed by Tomiki, several drills to develop skill for randori (competitive matches), and kata (paired forms).

Tanto Randori (Knife Sparring)

The unique aspect of Tomiki Aikido is randori or sparring. Most forms of aikido do not do this in a competitive (kyogi) setting. Tomiki was a high-level judo player, and so he incorporated randori into his teaching method as a way of testing the viability of technique. He experimented with many forms of randori before settling on tanto randori in which one player attempts to strike (tsuki) with a foam knife (tanto) while the other employs body movement (tai sabaki) and a proscribed set of seventeen techniques to defend himself. There are many drills within the Tomiki system designed to develop skills directly related to this competition.

Kata

• Randori no Kata (17 techniques legal in randori or sparring)
  • Strikes (Atemi Waza)
  • Elbow Techniques (Hiji Waza)
  • Wrist Techniques (Tekubi Waza)
  • Floating Techniques (Uki Waza)
• Ura Waza (10 counters for randori)
• Kuzushi Waza (14 techniques for breaking balance)
• Koryu no Kata (6 kata drawn from older techniques of aikijujutsu)
• Goshin Ho no Kata (an additional set of advanced techniques for 4th Dan and above)

Principles and Concepts

The TAA emphasizes three principles and six concepts, which were articulated in Tetsuro Narayan's book, Aikido Randori.

Two aikidoka participating in tanto randori at the 2022 US Nationals

Three Principles

• The Principle of Softness (Ju no Ri): An attack can be rendered ineffectual or minimally effective by quick, controlled footwork and body movement, yielding to force when it is advantageous. The physical manifestation of this principle is most easily seen in taisabaki, i.e. moving out of the way of an attack.
• The Principle of Natural Posture (Shizentai no Ri): This is the physical embodiment of mushin, mugamae – neutral mind, neutral stance. Shizentai means that head and body are upright, feet side by side about shoulder width apart with weight equally spread.  Knees should be slightly bent with weight on the balls of the feet, with heels lightly touching the mats. Legs are not stiff, but not physically lax, so you retain springiness that allows you potential to move. The back is straight with hips rolled forward and underneath the spine.  Chest and shoulders relaxed, arms hanging naturally by your sides. Mouth is lightly closed, eyes looking forward.
• The Principle of Breaking Balance (Kuzushi no Ri): The main component of this principle is seizing the split second when your opponent is immobile, either at the beginning or end of their movement, to break their balance. By effectively applying kuzushi, the actual application of the aikido technique can become far easier, if not nearly effortless.

Six Concepts

• Safe Distance (Ma'ai): Simply put, this is the minimum distance at which your opponent cannot attack you without movement. If you and your opponent were facing each other, arms extended and finger tips touching, ma’aiwould be the distance between the both of you. Ma’ai has three aspects: your position relative to your opponent, the speed required to cover the relative distance, and the rhythm of movement with your opponent. Ma’ai changes constantly because movement is a dynamic process. A related term is issoku itto no ma’ai–the distance you can cover in one step to reach your opponent.
• Eye Contact (Metsuke): Literally meaning “eye contact,” metsuke allows you to use your peripheral vision (that is a result from constant eye contact with your opponent) to better detect their movement, however slight. It is well known in the scientific community that peripheral vision is much better than direct focus at detecting motion. When interacting with your opponent, a combination of concentration and awareness is required, and your visual and mental perception must be broad even while focused. An example would be a person’s perception while driving a car. The focus is on the road, but the peripheral vision is constantly engaged as well.
• Centerline (Seichusen): If you were to draw an imaginary line vertically down the center of your body, that would be your centerline, and, when keeping your elbows close to your body, is where you are mechanically strongest. The easiest way to find your centerline is to be in shizentai (natural stance) and raise both hands as though in prayer – that is your centerline. When the center of your body is moved away from this imaginary line, stability is greatly reduced. We use our tegatana (hand sword) to defend this centerline and apply techniques.
• Hand Sword (Tegatana): The hand and arm are used most effectively when wielded along your centerline with your power concentrating through it and is paired with quick footwork and a strong, mobile posture. To implement your tegatana, have your fingers together (not splayed apart), the thumb extended, and your energy flowing and focusing from your center to the “blade” of your hand. Since aikido applies sword and weapon principles to empty hand fighting, the tegatana can be used as a shield, similarly to how a fencer would use the blade of a fencing sword. By focusing our energy on our tegatana (the blade of our hand) we are then able to generate a unified power (see next paragraph).
• Unified Power (Toitsu ryoku): The concentration of power through one point,” and in most cases, through the use of tegatana. Tegatana can be applied to multiple spots on the body, while still utilizing toitsu ryoku.
• Locomotive Power (Ido ryoku): Body movement in a coordinated, controlled, and effective way; using the most direct way to connect whatever that is being moved to the power source. In essence, capitalizing on either yours or your opponent’s momentum.

Governance

The technical aspects of the TAA are overseen by three shihan or senior instructors: Robert Dziubla (8th Dan), Robert King (7th Dan), and Maurice Stevens (7th Dan). The organization's operations are overseen by a Board of Directors, selected from the membership. There is also a Technical Director, who facilitates training directly related to developing competitive teams for national and international competition.

External Links

• Tomiki.org
• WSAFaikido.org