by David Palmer, Shintaido of America Board member
We are inviting interested members of SOA and the general public to listen to David Palmer speaking on the Value of Touch on Wednesday the 1st of October at 12noon via Zoom. David Palmer, with a massage career spanning 45 years, is speaking on the Value of Touch to the San Francisco End of Life Network (SFEOL). David has been recognized as the “Father of Seated Chair Massage” and in 2007, he was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame.
From 1982 to 1989 he was Director of the Amma Institute, the first school in the United States exclusively devoted to traditional Japanese massage. It was during this time he met and studied with H.F. Ito, Shintaido Doshu. David’s study of Shintaido, especially his appreciation for the kata of kenko-taiso (the specific sequence of gentle warmups), continues to the present. David Palmer has been a SOA Board member from March 2024 to the present.
As a colleague of Irene Smith (1946-2021), David has been entrusted with her archive of teaching materials. Smith founded Everflowing in 2001, an organization dedicated to educational outreach and teaching skillful touching as an integral component to palliative care. She also ran Service Through Touch from 1982 until 1999, through which she created massage programs for people living with HIV-AIDS worldwide.
For this presentation David will speak with Connie Borden, SOA President, and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner about the value of touch for the seriously ill and those at end of life. Join us and bring your questions to this interview that promises to be rich with insights into the ways that human touch can transform our human existence.
We are sharing good news about the Global Taimyo Community (GTC) coming to Shintaido of America (SoA) this month. GTC brings the practice of Taimyo kata as a gateway to reflections on peace and our impact on the world around us. SoA brings 49 years as a non-profit transmitting the form and practice of Shintaido in the U.S., including supporting fledgling local and international groups. We hope this partnership helps deepen Shintaido practice around the world.
What is theGlobal Taimyo Community (GTC)? The GTC originally grew from H.F. Ito’s desire for peace, by practicing Taimyokata around the world both synchronously and asynchronously to create a field of peaceful intentions. Taimyo kata is a specific movement/meditation form from the Shintaido body of practice. Haruyoshi F. Ito and Masashi Minagawa, Shintaido instructors began teaching the Taimyo to the general public as a way of exploring and healing our inner world as well as creating healthier relationships with our outer world — people and nature — beyond time and space. As the network of students grew and became international an informal GTC was born.
How Will it Work? Since 2021 GTC has gathered people from the U.S., Canada, France, the U.K. and Japan a few times per year for practice and conversations via Zoom on themes such as healing, release and transformation, and our soul’s longing.
GTC is organized by the Planning Team – Sarah Baker, Connie Borden, Rob Gaston, Masashi Minagawa, and Tomi Nagai-Rothe – and features a website with many GTC resources including links to video and the Day Street Dojo website.
What Comes Next? As of February 1, 2025 SoA is GTC’s fiscal sponsor and will handle payment-registration for this year’s weeklong virtual gathering July 20 – 26. The GTC website and DayStreetDojo sites will continue.
We hope more folx will take the opportunity to come together across space and time to explore “The Space of Love” 愛空間 this summer. Details on the July workshop and registration to be shared soon.
Taimyo practitioners from around the globe gathered via ZOOM from 20 to 26 of July 2025. The week began on Sunday 20 July with Masashi Minagawa, Doshu giving a talk on Aikukan. Here is one part of the message from Minagawa Sensei:
“Our theme this time is aikūkan. It means “a space of love.” This concept dates back to when I first began practicing Shintaido. Back then it wasn’t even called “Shintaido” yet, but “aikūkan” was something Master Aoki often spoke about.
He often said that we live wrapped in the great life force at the root of the universe — embraced within a space of love. Through practice, when we cast off everything unnecessary within ourselves, our true human nature is revealed. A space of love opens up within us, and we become one with the fundamental energy of the universe. This was the spiritual world he sought to explore — and it was from that vision that he founded Shintaido, a path that unites the sacred and the martial, religion and budō.”
Minagawa Sensei concluded with
“By practicing Taimyo again and again, we unite with the message of the universe that lives within us — within our own small universes. Returning to our true selves, we can walk a life that is peaceful, free of conflict, bright, healthy, and filled with happiness. That was Master Aoki’s wish. Inspired by that vision, I hope to continue sharing this message — a message that has run through the web of life since ancient times, a message from the universe — together with all of you.”
Itō-sensei often told us it’s enough just to practice the Taimyo form. “Even if you can’t do the whole sequence, it’s okay to just enjoy it — like enjoying a painting or a piece of music. If you stand within the vibration of its sound, its light, your body will naturally show you the way. You only need to move as you are, let yourself move with that natural flow.”
This activity can become a small light to illuminate the darkness within and around us. Let’s share our light and joy. And finally, let’s return to our own beginnings — to shoshin, beginner’s mind.”
During the week, 8 sessions were offered to deepen the study of Taimyo. Soichiro Iida, Laurent Lacroix, Nicole Beauvois, Rob Gaston, Jean Marc Otto Bruc, Connie Borden, and Nagako Cooper led the sessions. Here are a few comments:
Rob Gaston: “I noticed this morning that the Taimyo sequence has 5 movements in part I, 7 movements in part II, and 5 movements in part III. This made me think of a haiku.
The Moon is still up Let’s do Taimyo together A Circle of Light
Tomi Nagai-Rothe and Nicole Beauvois had this exchange about not getting things perfect: “Navajo (Diné) artists always include a flaw in their pieces because they believe that only the Creator is perfect.”
“I read that this can be seen as ‘honoring oneself with less stress in daily life by striving for excellence, but not perfection.’ “
Antigone Trimis: “I was blessed to be facing a bright sun today. One with nature.”
Sarah Baker and Jean Marc Otto Bruc had this exchange: “I struck by the number of people from around the globe having joined these community practices this week. . . . We share across our different languages some words. . .. each of the separate people sharing the ZOOM space become physically connected.”
“It really felt like we were in the same dojo.”
On the last day, Saturday 26 of July, the gathering included a talk by Tomi, practice with Masashi Minagawa, small group conversation, practice of Taimyo part II with Tomi and a large group conversation. Tomi Nagai-Rothe recounted Ito-sensei’s journey leading the growth of the Global Taimyo Community. Her presentation was titled: Making Peace: H.F. Ito’s Peacemaking Legacy. Tomi included slides, photographs and graphic record to visually review Ito’s legacy. Hiroshima and 9/11 (USA) were two key events that influenced Ito sensei. His legacy includes teaching shintaido to hospice caregivers, deepening the Yokitai curriculum while teaching at the Day Street Dojo, peacemaking events in Washington D. C., and his 2007 Deep Bow Journey to Nanjing. Tomi asked the group to reflect on two questions:
Which part of Ito’s peacemaking legacy will you carry on?
How will you share it – individually and collectively?
Masashi Minagawa led the group with the practice of Diamond 8 Sei, Diamond 8 Dai and Diamond 8 Heart Sutra. Minagawa sensei suggested we read “The Diamond Eight Cut & Life Reflections” by H.F. Ito. Tomi led the group with practice of Taimyo part II- Yokitai version. The focus was soft, round and included pauses after each movement.
Tomi suggested her article in Body DialogueH.F. Ito: A Personal Remembrance. The weeklong practice ended with everyone’s desire for continued connection and eagerness for 2026. Hope to see you then!
