July 2009, San Fransisco Workshop

Hello from San Francisco! I returned to the Bay Area on July 20, and will be doing workshops and giving private lessons here until early September. This includes a six-week program in Taimyo meditation that I will be leading every Monday night at the Day Street Dojo in San Francisco. Please join us if you can! For reference, I recommend the following book: Instinct for Freedom, by Alan Clements, New World Library (You might be interested to know that the title of this book in Japanese is “Dharma Life”.) Hope to practice with you this coming Monday night – July 27! -Fugaku Ito P.S. Please forward this note to anyone Continue reading

Reading Instinct for Freedom

Dear Taimyo Practitioners and Friends: We are coming to the end of our 6-week Taimyo Meditation series at the Day Street Dojo in San Francisco – doing weekly practices together and daily practices on our own, as well as reading Instinct for Freedom by Alan Clements. I am grateful that so many of you were able to participate in this workshop series, either in person or from a distance. Did you notice some changes in yourself or the people around you? Below is an e-mail I received from Shin-ichi Matsuyama in Osaka, Japan. I would like to share it with all of you as an example of how I’d hoped Continue reading

2009-New Year Greeting!

Dear Taimyo Practitioners: Happy New Year to you! At the end of the last year, I had a chance to read “The Vision” written by Tom Brown, Jr…… I would like to share a part of this book with you and ask you to think about it when you practice Taimyo next time!! Looking forward to our next encounter!!! -Fugaku Ito ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• from: Chapter III Trail p-65~66 The Vision, by Tom Brown, Jr. ISBN: 0-425-10703-5 Not many days after the deer hunt I was sitting quietly in the bushes watching some men in a pickup truck dumping garbage along one of the larger sand trails. Tears filled my eyes, and Continue reading

Ito’ recent thought-2008.4

Here are some ideas I have been thinking about recently: Tai Chi contains wisdom passed down through 5000 years of Chinese culture. Tai Chi itself has a history going back at least 400 years. Shintaido is the fruit of 400 years of Japanese fighting techniques and martial arts. I was VERY fortunate to be able to play a central role in the very early development of Shintaido. Two years ago, Juliette Farkouh (a Shintaido member from the Bay Area) began interviewing me about my life and Shintaido. This summer she plans to put together her materials in a book, “Ito’s Life and Shintaido.” According to her interpretation, I have been Continue reading

International conference-Remembering Nanjing – 2007

Note from NanjingOn the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Tragedy November 22 – 25, 2007 This conference is for people from China, Japan, and other parts of the world, who have had different war experience and education in war. Its purpose is to open their hearts and listen deeply to one another. Report of the conference (in Japanese) 2007-Minagawa Click here Report from Mr. Tanahashi 2007 Click here Tsumura (in Japanese) 2007 Click here Message from Peter Click here Message from Master Joan Click here – From Mr. 陳敬 (in Japanese) – From Mr. Metzger – From Mr. and Mrs. Iwanaga (in Japanese)  

2007年-Cry from Belinda French

I have woken early in this morning crying for those people from near Mosul in Iraq who have just experienced a massive bombing, 500 people dead at the last count and 400+ injured. I think the people left in that community will need a massive prayer to help them bear this massive loss impossible to imagine. I know we may all be tired of hearing about bombing in Iraq, because Iraqi civilians are killed by explosives an average of 73 per day, (750,000 recorded, and there is no official recording system, since the invasion by the west 4 years ago) not to mention poverty due to loss of jobs and Continue reading

Taimyo for our Ocean

Dear Taimyo Practitioners: The time has come for August meditation! I would like to propose that we focus our attention on the “Ocean” !! The following is a site I would like you to visit, then reflect upon how we need to change our behavior. Click here (If you are not able to open this page, google- Our oceans are turning into plastic. It should be the first article that pops up.) This coming weekend, I will be in Whidbey Island (near Seattle), WA to lead a Taimyo meditation workshop with Paula Kerby, Lee Seaman, and Nicole Beauvois. Please join me in person or via email correspondence by practicing wherever Continue reading

2007 Greetings

Greetings from Japan! Akemashite Omedeto~! Happy New Year!! Bonne Année!!! The following is a poem I came across recently. It is really encouraging because it very much describes what I have been studying through Taimyo Kata: “People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they Continue reading