Reports

Haigerloch July 2004

Seminar with Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei

Seminar

From July 2nd to 4th, 2004, the Association for Ki, Aikido and Health e.V. invited people to a seminar with the well-known Japanese Aikido master Koretoshi Maruyama. This was made possible by the connections of Ajito from Sessa (CH) to the master himself and the collaboration with Ki Aikido Haigerloch e.V., which has taken over the Aikido training in the Haigerloch Witthauhalle since 1995. Bernhard Boll and Erika Vontin-Boll introduced Aikido to the Haigerloch area in 1984.

Maruyama Sensei is known to many Aikidoka through his excellent book "Aikido with Ki", which presents the program from beginner to 1st Dan in detail and very clearly.

Seminar

The seminar in Haigerloch was the only one held by Maruyama Sensei in Germany on his 2004 world tour. A total of 61 aikidoka took part in the various training sessions. They came from Sweden, Kiel and Hamburg, Bubenreuth, Nuremberg, Cologne, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Switzerland (Lucerne and Balerna) and Italy. There were also a number of interested aikidoka from other aikido styles.

On Friday, Maruyama Sensei taught Yuki to a small group in Bernhard's dojo. On Saturday and Sunday, the large hall in Haigerloch was available. The VfKAG and the KAH had put their mats together so that there was enough space to practice.
For those who have been practicing aikido for a long time, Maruyama Sensei is known from his seminars in the 1980s, for example in Florence.
He has since developed his own style, which at first glance seems more traditional. He also presented special techniques with Bokken such as the lizard leg. Nage hides his footwork under the Hakama so that Uke can be surprised by the counter technique.

Accommodation and excursions

During the entire week of his stay, Maruyama Sensei and his wife Yasuko lived in the guest room in Bernhard and Erika's house. Another 6 aikidoka from Australia, who are accompanying him on his world tour, stayed in the house's dojo. The second guest room was available for International Chief Instructor Michael Williams.
Early in the morning, Maruyama Sensei did his morning exercises in the garden behind the house. In doing so, he inadvertently disturbed an aikido practitioner who was sleeping off his hangover from the previous evening in the garden house. During the day there were opportunities for excursions, for example to the nearby Hohenzollern Castle or to the flower island of Mainau in Lake Constance.
In the photo of the island of Mainau from left to right: Yasuko Maruyama, Koretoshi Maruyama, Erika Vontin-Boll and Michael P. Williams.
On the Saturday evening of the seminar there was a lovely celebration with many participants and in pleasant summer weather in the barbecue hut in the forest above Owingen. Yasuko Maruyama was particularly impressed by the beautiful nature and the wonderful atmosphere.

Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei

was born on October 5, 1936. He was Uchideshi of Morihei Ueshiba and also a student of Koichi Tohei. In 1956 he started Aikido at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo and also trained at the Aikido Club of Keio University. After graduating from Keio University he continued his Aikido training while working in the family business. In 1967 he delegated his duties in the family business so that he could become a full-time professional Aikido teacher and became Uchi Deshi of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba, who awarded him the rank of 6th Dan in Aikido.
In 1972 Maruyama left the Aikikai to become chief instructor of the Ki no Kenkyukai, which had been founded the previous year. At this occasion, Koichi Tohei awarded him the 8th Dan. During his time at Ki no Kenkyukai, he had various teaching assignments around the world. He studied the healing arts of Seitei with Haruchika Noguchi, Soutai with Keizo Hashimoto and Reiki. He also studied Zen with the Zen priest Shogen Munou. In 1990, he was appointed president of Ki no Kenkyukai.
As Tohei Sensei's ideas about Aikido and its organization no longer matched his own, he resigned from his post on July 29, 1991. He moved to a temple in Saitama Prefecture, where he stayed for ten years, finally leaving in 2001.
On May 9, 1996, while still at the temple, Maruyama Sensei founded Aikido Yuishinkai (合氣道唯心会) after receiving the recommendation and permission from the abbot of the temple. In 2001, he began teaching Aikido both in Japan and internationally.

Singing bowls

Since the completion of their own dojo in their house three years ago, Bernhard and Erika have used the room not only for Aikido but also for lectures on health and spiritual topics and for concerts.
Erika has also completed a formation in singing bowl therapy. The guests from Japan and Australia were able to enjoy several sessions of this therapy. The sounds harmonize body, mind and psyche in a very pleasant and effective way.

Michael Paul Williams

organized the 2004 world tour together with Elisabeth Andel and with the support of Sid Monthule from his dojo. He learned about Ki Aikido in New Zealand in 1974 and then practiced it in his homeland of South Africa under Jean Claude Delgueldre. He moved to Australia in 1981 and became Chief Instructor of Tohei Sensei's Ki no Kenkyukai in Australia in 1985.
In 2002 he switched to Maruyama Sensei's Yuishinkai and in 2003 he became International Chief Instructor with the rank of 9th Dan.
The video is from 2001 and shows the dynamic and rhythmic Aikido as it was developed by Tohei Sensei and also demonstrated by Maruyama Sensei.
In Haigerloch, Williams Sensei maintained an open and very cordial relationship with all Aikidoka.

Worldtour 2004

Maruyama Sensei has been on the road since June 23, 2004. He flew from Narita via Frankfurt to Florence and gave his first seminar on the tour at Franco and Beatrice Bertossa's in Pianoro near Bologna (I). There were an average of 150 participants on the mat, half of them women. There was also a trip to Venice with guided tours of lesser-known areas of the city.
After the seminar in Haigerloch, Maruyama Sensei traveled to Utrecht in Holland. Then he will go on to the United Kingdom, Canada, California, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. He will land back in Tokyo Narita on September 16, 2004.