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As July 2008 was coming to an end, we at AHAN México Aikido had to schedule a charity event to fulfill our annual commitment of giving donations to La Casa de la Amistad para Niños con Cáncer, a non profitable foundation that gives assistance to Mexican children with cancer.

Last year we continued to fulfill this promise by organizing the Primer Encuentro Nacional de Amigos de Aikido en México (First National Encounter of Aikido Friends in Mexico), and raised $20,000 Mexican pesos. For further information, click on the following link: http://www.mexicoaikido.com.mx/TEC/reporte1encuentro.htm

Also in 2006 at the Asociación México Japonesa, we realized the Demostración de Aikido en Ayuda Humanitaria with 200 spectators. $15,000 Mexican pesos were donated for the children with cancer and $5,000 Mexican pesos were given to the Asociación México Japonesa as payment for the usage of their facilities. To see pictures of this event, click on the following link: http://www.area3.com.mx/aikido/galera/demostracinenayudaaniosconc/

This year we couldn’t allow ourselves to abandon the families of the children that suffer from this terrible disease. With only a month and a half away from September, the month in which we usually organize these charity events every year, we still had no idea of what we were going to do. We had to make decisions, preparations, organize things so we wouldn’t let down the Casa de la Amistad. This private assistance institution gives all kinds of support to the children of Mexican families that have this difficult illness, no matter what stage of the disease they find themselves in. Many times this foundation has accomplished the complete recovery of their patients.

At a meeting with our students and counselors, we decided that 2008 should host a different kind of event, an event to share, to impulse the diffusion and the growth of Aikido in Mexico. But also at the same time we wanted our different instructors at México Aikido, to be known along with those who wanted to share with us this experience.

It was like this that the 1ª Jornada AHAN México Aikido 2008 (First Working Cycle AHAN México Aikido 2008) was born, a working cycle for both Aikido and for funds raising for humanitarian help. Its objectives were:

• To impulse all the instructors from the different participating Aikido groups.
• To share the practice of Aikido and the knowledge of the participating teachers.
• To encourage valuable time spending and to improve relationships among the different participating groups by strengthening the bonds of friendship and unity.
• And the most important, to support the Casa de la Amistad para Niños con Cáncer as part of our humanitarian help agenda.

Everyone together in the AHAN México Aikido Working Cycle 2008

I presented to our special guests

This event was once again held in the facilities of the Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de México. It started on Friday, September 5, mainly by mounting and adjusting to place for our needs. More than 60 people showed up to prepare all the different areas, such as the Tatami for the class, backpacks keeping, first aid corner, check in reception, information tables, altar, honor guests presidium, meeting room, miscellaneous announcements, event’s posters, sound and filming, spectators’ reception and all the different areas that would add quality to this event.

The next day, Saturday, September 6, the event continued with a series of nonstop Aikido classes with a special focus on sharing. This was a different concept in which México Aikido’s instructors shared their knowledge with the participant students of the different Aikido groups; we’ve called it Rensoku keiko no kaiten.

The instructor would start the practice (keiko) with one technique and would show up to 3 techniques, and in a continuous manner (rensoku), another instructor would take the lead (kaiten) and show another 2 or 3 techniques and so on until the time of that particular session ran out.

We've been doing this event in the
Tecnológico de Monterrey since 2003

The challenge in these 5 hours of continuous classes was the following: to imprint to the practice of Aikido a high level of adaptation, for the students and instructors as well, since each instructor had the obligation that the technique he/she would show, would be somehow related to the technique shown by the previous instructor. The students would then have to catch these relations among the techniques shown by the different instructors.

In this way we accomplished a bond of teachings as well as coherence in the classes and teachings, even though that different teachers comprised them. But most of all a lot of feedback was born from the knowledge and the form of the different techniques. The students were benefited the most as they could appreciate different techniques and learned from the teachings from more than 8 different instructors.

Al final de ese día sábado por la tarde realizamos una gran demostración de aikido a la que acudieron más de 400 personas invitadas por los mismos alumnos.

At the end of that day in the afternoon, we realized a demonstration for an audience of more than 400 people that were invited by the students themselves. When the demonstration ended, four children from the Casa de la Amistad para Niños con Cáncer and their families came to witness the donation. This time we were able to raise a contribution of $10,000 pesos and gave it to Dr. Tanaka and Ms. Rosita de Tanaka, the founders of the Casa de la Amistad.

Dr. Tanaka publicly thanked for the donation and pointed out that 6 years had passed since AHAN México Aikido had begun to assist them. According to him, this determination and continuous commitment as well as inviting them to our charity events (so that they could experience them closer) was what made us stand apart from other institutions that also support their institution. The valuable thing was that we didn’t simply gave money away, but that we allowed ourselves to share time with them, as a part of their family. He concluded his speech by thanking Lic. Antonio Torres, who assisted on behalf of the Campus’ authorities

On Sunday, September 7, after having some more sharing practices, many diffusion activities we carried out, in which the instructors and students from the different groups had the chance to talk and spend some time with guests. An open invitation was made for anyone from the Saturday’s audience interested in participating in a special practice. More than 40 persons that had never practiced Aikido shared some time with us. Among the instructors, students and guests, we had almost 100 people taking class.

I personally had the opportunity to give this class for Aikido students and our guests, adults and children alike. In this practice we used giant balls that are used in the gym for Pilates, an activity that receives its name from its creator. We creatively used more than 60 balls, big ones for the grown ups and medium ones for the kids. We intended that they would help as a tool for the participants to understand better the use of the circle that we have in Aikido.

I had successfully previously used this idea in the different practices I had given to the Aikido groups from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, so I wasn’t surprised at all when I saw everyone enjoying the practice, having fun and learning how to make ukemis very fast, and to learn many techniques always based on circular movement.

We accomplished that children from 5 to 12 years old could roll, even elder people. There were times of fun as well as times of serious teachings. Everyone applauded spontaneously in many occasions when small children that were new to Aikido, could apply techniques in a correct manner. Even an enthusiastic old woman of almost 80 years old managed to roll normally and backwards, and to apply irimi nage and kote gaeshi in a very respectful way. All of us got excited and applauded her attitude, because she became a role mode, an example of way of thinking, courage and application of the aiki energy that every human being should preserve.

I wish to thank our students for giving us their support and taking care of many things at the same time yet in a very tight schedule. All the sempai deserve both my acknowledgment as well as sensei Rocío’s. Congratulations for this big well done work, and of course for helping to put away everything when the event ended.

Thanks to Pepe Navarro, for scoring the Aikido demonstration with his vivacious and beautiful prehispanic music. There are no words to describe the sound of his drums, the way by which this sound made us Mexicans to connect ourselves to our ancestors and the way these sounds relate to that of the taikos, the courage in war and the harmony that stays in our hearts.

A thousand thanks to all the students of AHAN México Aikido that came to share their time with us, that allowed themselves to participate in such a different and special event and helped their instructors in this Working Cycle. Thanks to all the instructors that participated and a special thank you to sensei Aaron Del Valle and all his students that came, for their collaboration and unconditional support since the beginning of this event and to him for his friendship with us since we first met.

Thanks again to my life partner, sensei Rocío Agüero for all her effort and for promoting this event once again with one of her beautiful posters.

I want to make of the most of this year by thanking each family that has come with their children to receive the donations we’ve been making these 6 years of help. We are the truly helped ones here, for letting us help them, for letting AHAN México Aikido become part of their family.

The founder of the art of Aikido once said, Aikido isn’t for a country or someone specific, it is my heritage for humanity!

I feel that thanks to the vision of Homma Kancho from AHAN International, many Aikido groups in the world have understood that O Sensei’s teachings must be exercised, we should not let them locked away only in words or techniques.

Aikido should not only benefit those who practice it but all the people that we can reach through different events. Thank you Homma Kancho for trusting us.

According to Morihei Ueshiba, Aiki is love and so, many institutions around the world are practicing Aikido without making a single technique, that’s why I want to thank the last from my heart to La Casa de la Amistad para Niños con Cáncer for letting us share Aikido with you and for your enormous labor.

Rocio Sensei shows Sankyo		Irene Cancino with Jo
Alfonso Escajadillo in Kumi Jo	Several times during AHAN Mexico Aikido Working Cycle 2008 Kolyu Nage, Sensei Aaron Del Valle	Sensei Jose Luis entering Irimi

	Learning Aikido large balls