turning inside out

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“Look same outside, different inside . . .” Sugano Sensei has been known to say, as he attempts to convey to us that there is a lot more to aikido than meets the eye!

Last weekend, as we once again gathered together for the annual USAF Winter Camp sponsored by Florida Aikikai, we could not have been blessed with three more unique master teachers (shihan) than Yamada Sensei, Sugano Sensei and Shibata Sensei. As the three days of training unfolded and one class blended into two or three or even more each day, I was struck not only by the obvious similarities of technique but particularly by the individuality of each Sensei’s style -- both teaching style and “personality” -- all so different, but all with a larger-than-life quality shining through as they demonstrated aikido’s underlying principles to us in a seemingly endless array of variations. It was a banquet of beautiful aikido created using high-quality ingredients and I wanted to devour all of it.

I chuckled to myself, remembering Sugano Sensei’s favorite phrase. We might be effecting a tolerable imitation of their demonstration but how thoroughly did we really understand the interaction, how often were we able to embody the movement? Even when we managed to look pretty darn good, what was happening on the inside? These are questions I kept asking myself as one class after another reinforced the same themes.

My personal impressions: Yamada Sensei – large sweeping movements, classicism and dynamism; Sugano Sensei – explosive timing, precision and philosophy; and Shibata Sensei - extraordinary improvisation, bending time and setting the tempo at will, as the various ukes became the instruments for his jazz riffs on technique. Each Sensei fully embodies the principles of nature which under lie the art and that seems to allow them tremendous freedom of expression and spontaneity.

Hour after hour we stepped back out on the mats, savoring all that our Senseis were offering us, not wanting to miss an opportunity to receive it directly from them. I resorted alternately to icing my knee and visiting the Jacuzzi, eating extra protein, falling into bed early, waking up each morning ready for more. By Sunday afternoon we had passed beyond fatigue to that place where training continues somehow, after class has ended.

Our three master teachers who manifest aikido so differently are ironically, I reflected, actually “different outside, same inside!”

As usual, a truly amazing array of aikidoists attended the Florida Winter Camp this year and one new friend from California – an eye surgeon who loves to surf – described to me how photographers capture some of those incredible surfing pictures: the hard way, by hanging out, floating in the waves, possibly getting “turned inside out” in the process of getting the shots! The atmospheric photo shown above was discovered as I “surfed” the web for inspiration on “inside out.”

a sport of kings

While visiting my daughter in Montana last month, where I found myself in some breathtakingly beautiful wild landscapes, I was inspired to purchase and devour a book called Falcon Fever by Tim Gallagher. It has only encouraged my love-affair with "my own" New York Red-tailed hawks.

One particularly vivid image from the book is a description of a falconer Gallagher met on a trip to the British Isles -- a former master of the Queen's cavalry, and a magnificent equestrian as one might imagine -- who galloped up at full speed while holding his falcon perfectly still on his gloved arm!

Enjoy this short video on the history of falconry, filmed in Wales, complete with charming accents, humor, heathered-moor scenery and accurate information too!

the wild ones

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary sends me a bi-monthly magazine, since Helene sponsored a horse for me and I was moved to do some sponsoring myself. It is beautifully produced -- filled with inspirational stories and many wonderful photographs.

In it I discovered an article about an exhibit documenting wild horses in Idaho by photographer Elissa Kline. Her website has a link to the Best Friends article (under the News section) along with the full range of her amazing images. The exhibit “Herd But Not Seen” consists of nearly life-sized images of wild horses which float on translucent cotton panels throughout the space. She is hoping to show this awareness-raising exhibit in all 10 states with wild-horse populations, as well as somewhere near Washington, DC “where people who make the laws are.”

My own awareness of wild horses was re-kindled recently by a friend who mentioned that he walked by an exhibit in Soho he thought I would enjoy: The Wild Horses of Sable Island. The Green Horse Society website chronicles these individual horses and the life of the herd on the the tiny sand bar of Sable Island, 160 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Abaco Island in the Bahamas also has a wild horse population.

Informational links from the Best Friends article:

Return to Freedom American Wild Horse Sanctuary

American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

Wild Horse Sanctuary

Let ‘Em Run Foundation, Inc.

hawk's eye view

Yesterday I was lured into another dimension of life’s expression, here in New York. This is where I live – an environment which can alternately overload or numb the senses. Because everything lately is filtered through the lens of horses and riding, an experience of this nature cannot escape that process.

Central Park is an urban oasis for many of us. As a new vista for me, and in my purview for a good part of each waking day, it has altered my perspective. I know all the stories of birdwatchers and nature lovers – I’ve seen lots of ducks and observed a couple of long-legged water birds from the heights of Belvedere Castle. But since moving to this office, the shadow of a larger bird has slowly entered my consciousness. Yesterday it burst in upon me unexpectedly and gave me a glimpse of grandeur.

Ironically, I was speaking on the phone to my daughter who is living out in the real Big Sky country of Montana; in further irony, we were discussing my colleagues’ trip to the remote areas of New Zealand where they are hiking, hoping to see rare flora and fauna. At that moment the large bird I had only recently seen from a distance, glided past the window where I was standing, so close I could almost reach out and touch it, the incredible detailing of the wing feathers in clear relief on a day of brilliant sun against a crisp blue sky. In slow motion, it soared and circled and glided and hovered, almost lingering, then repeated its path. So poignant, I felt – what was this creature doing in this City? How lucky for me to view it in this way – how else would you climb to the heights where he soars?

Somehow I knew – this is a Red-tailed hawk. Then I looked uptown and thought, well at least he has the Park. He or she -- well I’m not sure. Then I remembered the story of the famous hawks nesting at the exclusive Fifth Avenue address. A day later, after enlightening myself (see websites referenced below), I understand that I was most certainly visited by Pale Male or Lola or one of their offspring. And the thrill of my personal experience is undiminished by the fact that Pale Male and his brood are in fact quite famous, with books written, a PBS Nature documentary and many zealous supporters.

The impact is palpable, the fascination lingers – the metaphors, familiar: freedom, the fantasy of flight, soaring above it all, the perfection of form and function, the absolute naturalness of the activity -- powerful yet effortless. I am already dreaming of another visitation and surely I am not alone in this: “Many of us . . . feel that observing this large and powerful bird is akin to a spiritual or religious experience.” -- from The City Naturalist, by Leslie Day

A few other amazing facts about Red-tails, excerpts from the article:

DESCRIPTION: The largest North American Buteo is 19-25 inches long (female larger than male); wingspan up to 58 inches. Talons are large and sharp.

EYESIGHT: Amazing eyesight allows them to see small mice while soaring 100 feet above the ground. Although one third the size of an adult human male, their eyes are as large as a man's - sometimes larger. The greatest density of nerve receptors seen in any eye has been recorded for a hawk. Their eyes are specially adapted for rapid change of focus (while hunting they go into aerial dives of 120 mph!) and unlike most birds, hawks have binocular vision.

FEEDING HABITS: May hunt while soaring. They can snatch birds right out of the air. . . Most often watches for prey from perch in tree from which it takes off with powerful wingbeats, then glides toward ground and snatches prey from the ground with its powerful and sharp talons. When they extend their legs fully in a dive, tendons spread the claws. When it strikes its prey, the legs double up under the force of impact which automatically clenches the toes and talons. The talons then pierce the vital organs of the victim, causing instant death.

AGE: A captive female at Millbrook, N.Y., lived to 29 years old.

In Love With A Hawk

Birds of Central Park - Pale Male is the gorgeous cover image

The photo above, courtesy of Lincoln Karim, was taken last Valentine’s Day and shows Pale Male soaring in what is quite likely the area around my office building. His website contains so many amazing photographs, with narrative, posted almost daily since 2002. A beautiful recent entry.

Footnote: I could not resist stopping the building manager in the lobby this morning and asking him if he knew of the large hawk in the area. In his heavy New York accent he confirmed matter-of-factly that this is indeed the son of Pale Male and the nest is across the street. Every year they have chicks and he likes to hang out on the 43rd floor of our building. One time he encountered the bird up on the roof. Apparently not very impressed, he told me they are thick out on Long Island where he lives – you can see them on every telephone pole.