****************************************************************************** AIKI DIGEST: 7 ****************************************************************************** CONTENTS ======== 1. Samurai vegetables 2. Ettiquette when holding weapons 3. How to get grass stains out of a gi 5. Clapping hands during Hakushu ****************************************************************************** 1.Samurai Vegetables ----------------------------------------- From: Doug Barnard Here's one of my favorite post-training meals: 1.Samurai Vegetables 1 bag yuppie vegetables (the pre-washed, pre-cut kind. Or subsitute with broccoli, califlower, green beans, carrots, i.e., your favorite veggies 1 oz. dried sea vegetable (wakame, dulse, hijiki) soak for a few minutes before steaming 6 oz. diced mushrooms (try enoki or shiitake!) 1-2 fresh jalapenos, diced small 1-2 cu. in. fresh ginger, grated 1/2 package firm tofu, diced 1 serving shaved bonito Steam until tender, then toss in a large bowl with sesame seeds. Serve over rice with soy sauce. Damn fine with a cold beer! The sea vegetables and shaved bonito are available in a Japanese market. They're both dried, so they last forever. I picked up a small automatic rice cooker, which helps speed the rest of the process. Believe it or not, I can cook this in about 20-25 min. ****************************************************************************** 2. Ettiquette when holding weapons =================================== The most simple explanation for weapons (buki) handling is hold all buki together and as sitting in seiza place the jo first to your left, then bokken, followed by tanto, in an inwards progression. Standing up repeat the order in reverse. When placing the weapons on a rack follow the same order from top to bottom and again in reverse when removing the set. A more detailed expalanation will follow when i get more rest. ****************************************************************************** 3.GRASS STAINS ================ From: Marc St_Onge ------------------ Tricia Matthews writes: "P.S. Anyone got any suggestions for getting grass stains out of gi's? I've used 'Vanish' thats shifted most of it but the knees are still distinctly green" The one time I got grass stains on my gi, I immediately took it home and washed it in cold water then air-dried it (i.e. no dryer). This got about 98% of the stains out. The rest came out the next washing or two even though I used a dryer. However, it sounds like you are past this point and are trying to find a way to get some severe stains out. I would try soaking in a dilute bleach solution or possibly a stain remover. Good luck! From: Kjartan Clausen -------------- One way is to dye your gi grass green. Another one is to get yourself a hakama. Grass stains doesn't show that easily on black cloth :-) From: "George R. Mead II" ----------------- Those aren't grass stains. That's what you get when you are so cheap you buy your gi secondhand ooff of a Vulcan with poor suwari-waza. :> From: Laura Hague ---------------- Suggestions? Of course! I haven't been a mom for 16 years for nothing! Laura Removing grass stains The things you probably have around the house route: vinegar--(do not use fruit vinegars! They bring their own stains) Rub the vinegar in with a scrub brush. Rinse it out. Repeat until you're happy with the results or convinced it will never work. * vinegar and baking soda--make a paste of baking soda and water, put it over the stain. Work in some vinegar with a scrub brush. The chemical reaction works well at bubbling stains out and gets kids interested in doing laundry. Worthwhile trying for that alone! ** ammonia--use in a well ventilated room or outdoors. Use straight on stubborn stains. Work in with scrub brush. Rinse well. This one also works well on old perspiration stains and collar rings. *** hydrogen peroxide--saturate the stain with the hydrogen peroxide. Put the garment out on the line to sun bleach. This method will lighten stains, but it also creates its own discolaration by removing some of the brighteners that are usually put into cloth during the factory bleaching/dyeing stage. ** chlorine bleach--this can also remove factory brighteners but ususally will reduce most stains. Drawback: a lot of people are chemically sensitive to it. If you are, you won't want to use it--it takes several rinses to get it all out, meanwhile, your hands are touching it. *** non-chlorine bleach--this is usually some form of peroxide with brighteners. For really stubborn stains, make a paste of it and rub into the fabric. *** your favorite laundry soap or detergent--make a paste. Rub it in. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Wash as usual (adding the usual amount to the wash water). This works surprisingly often. **** The things you have to go out and buy route: The best spot remover I've used is one sold for those stubborn lingerie stains. I buy it a Cacique, which is a lingerie chain in the USA. *** You might also check with nurses' uniform shops. I've been told that they use a really phenomenal cleaner to keep their whites free of various body-fluid stains. I don't know how it would work on chlorophyl, but it would be worth having around anyways. RIT whitener--this bleaches stains out but puts those chemical brighteners back in. You'll be essentially dyeing the fabric white again so you have to go through the dye routine: wear gloves and stir with a stick if you are having to use the wash pot method. This is a really good solution, though, and you can toss in those coffee-stained white shirts, mud-stained socks, and beet-stained aprons while your at it. ***** Likeliness of getting an old stain out the first time: * Probably not ** It has happened *** 50/50 **** Expect it ***** This has always worked before ****************************************************************************** 4. YONKYO BRUISING ================== ********************************************************************* 4. Clapping hands during Hakushu =============================== From: "K. Kim" ------------------------------------------ When we line up and do hakushu, we bow then clap twice then bow again. I belong to the Shinryu Aikido club at the UW (We used to be affiliated with the JAA Shodokan). When I go to my iai class and do hakushu we clap 4 times. Whats the difference other than the obvious? From: Michael Hacker ------------------------------------ At Iwama, they do "Ni-rei Ni-haku Ichi-rei," I think it's called. Two bows, Two claps, One bow. The first bow is out of respect to the kami. The second is for the Founder. The claps summon the kami/O-Sensei, and the bow is to them, once they "respond" to your claps. It's a Shinto ritual, unless I'm mistaken. Seagal Sensei said in an interview that the proper way to do it, in Omoto-kyo fashion, is with FOUR claps. I guess it depends on what trips your trigger... Another note on the claps is that in proper Shinto fashion, the right hand slides back until the right fingertips are about flush with the first knuckes of the left hand fingers. The heel of the left hand should be in the middle of the right palm at this point. After the claps, slide the hands back to where the fingers are even and perform the bow. From: Erkki Hakala ------------------------------------ I think that the four claps symbolise the four element that world is made: heaven - earth, water - fire. pam ---- Do you bow out the same way? I noticed at summer school that while at the start of the session the hand claps are roughly together they sound ragged compared to the claps at the end of the session that seem much more synchronous (sp?) and peal out around the dojo like a bell. Strange what Aikido does to people! Still its a good way to end a class (We normally just bow to Shomen, Bow to Sensei and then bow out in rows according to grade) From: Doug Barnard -------------------------------------------- C'mon, Tricia! It's a "white person" thing! I got (clap) rhythm (stomp), I got (clap,stomp) music... Who could ask for anything more?