Shintaido of America arranged for two Keiko to celebrate H.F. Ito on the weekend of 17 & 18 May 2025. Nicole Beauvois, who lives in France, was in the SF Bay Area for these events. Saturday’s morning Keiko was on Mount Tamalpais , a peak in Marin County, California.
In the evening, we gathered for a potluck dinner & music at the home of Jennifer Peringer and Martha Rodriguez.
On Sunday, Shin Aoki, General Instructor, led Keiko at Lake Temescal in Oakland, California.
About 15 gathered at 8:30am on Saturday the 17th of May. Robert Gaston, Senior Instructor, led the group with the movements of Taimyo on Mount Tam with an overlook of the Pacific Ocean. HF Ito often came to Mount Tam to meditate and gain inspiration. He also brought groups to study Shintaido on Mount Tam.
This inspirational point on the mountain top lent itself to grounding us, while the vista gave us the ability to expand beyond ourselves.
Several people commented on feeling Ito Sensei very strongly. Some commented they could hear him laughing as we struggled to maintain our balance when the gusts of wind blew strongly off the ocean. Others saw Ito in the overhead clouds that were blowing by.
After Taimyo, the group gathered for a picnic to spend more time together and share memories of HF Ito. Our picnic area was in a grove of trees that proved a peaceful break from the wind. Over our casual picnic people told stories and caught up with each other. After many hugs and more laughter, we said our goodbyes until the next event.
At 6pm on Saturday the 17th of May, we gathered for a potluck dinner and music at Jennifer and Martha’s home. Over Indian curry, pasta, salads, and desserts, we continued our conversations. People brought music, poetry, and other creative expressions to share. David Sirgany read poetry. Elli Nagai-Rothe spoke of her experience of growing up with Shintaido and HF Ito that began at the age of six. Kazu Shibao brought photos of HF Ito from 1982. Jennifer strummed her guitar, while Martha played her clarinet. Everyone joined in for these two songs: “Le Martiniana” and “I’ll Fly Away”. Both songs are often sung after the death of a loved one.
On Sunday, the group gathered for Keiko at Lake Temescal. Shin Aoki led the group, deepening our connections. Shin honored HF Ito by teaching Daikihon, the three core movements of Shintaido: Eiko, Wakame and Tenshingoso. Shin explained we learn the kata (movements) from our teachers and transmit the kata as purely as we can to others. However, each of us add our own heart and soul to this transmission.
After warmups, led by Derk Richardson, Shin started with Eiko Sei. We studied Wakame reaching directly to the core of our partner. Then, we studied what Ito Sensei often called “Welcome, come this way.”
One person reached into their partner’s core with a Tsuki attack, while the second person used their hand with palm facing inward, and pivoted allowing the energy to go past. We built upon this kumite as one partner continued to move past and turned, repeating first with a right Tsuki, then a left Tsuki, ultimately both people moved in an infinity spiral of movements.
This kumite included deflecting the attack with “Ah” , transforming this into Tenso and we let our partner sink into the earth. Shin finished with Tenshingoso Sei and Tenshingoso Dai.
Enjoying the sunny weather, we stayed lakeside for a second picnic breakfast. HF Ito was present throughout our meal as his portrait graced the table. We departed the morning with hugs and plans for keeping our connections with each other.
To close with part of the song: “I’ll Fly away,” lyrics by Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch:
I’ll fly away To a land where joys will never end I’ll fly away.
Peace practitioners from around the globe will gather for a week of virtual shared practice and community dialogue about how the Space of Love can inspire our practice and life.
We hope you will join us across space and time to explore “The Space of Love” Aikukan 愛空間 this summer with peace practitioners in the Global Taimyo Community (GTC). Our theme draws from an interview in Taimyo, the British Shintaido Newsletter 2010 entitled, Unification Beyond Conflict and the Space of Love.
Sunday 20 July – Opening 90 minutes Thoughts from Masashi Minagawa on Aikukan Practice together Small group conversations and large group sharing
Monday through Friday 21 – 25 July Drop-in participation in 30-40 minute Taimyo practice sessions led by instructors around the world
Saturday 21 July – Closing 90 minutes Tomi Nagai-Rothe recounts Ito-sensei’s stories about the growth of the Global Taimyo Community and reflects on the future Practice together Small group conversations and large group sharing
Visit the Readings and Videos page of the GTC website for more in-depth articles and other sharing. GTC is organized by the Planning Team – Sarah Baker, Connie Borden, Rob Gaston, Masashi Minagawa, Jean Marc Otto Bruc, and Tomi Nagai-Rothe – and features a website with many GTC resources including links to video and the Day Street Dojo website.
The announcement for the Shintaido Northeast Kangeiko 2025 went out in January. Kangeiko means cold-weather practice and is a time to come together for keiko. This year’s Kangeiko theme was Cultivating Inner Life: Finding Freedom in the Form. The event was held at the Montague Meeting House, in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
Finding Freedom in the Form
In Shintaido, the phrase “Ten Chi Jin Ware Ware Ittai” (天地人我々一体) embodies the unity of Heaven (Ten), Earth (Chi), and Humanity (Jin)—a philosophy that extends beyond the dojo into a way of life. At its core, it teaches that true mastery comes not from isolated skill or strength but from a seamless integration of mind, body, and spirit. Through disciplined practice, a practitioner transcends mere technique and steps into a deeper form of Freedom—the ability to act without hesitation, move without resistance, and live without internal conflict.
In a stressful situation, the principle of Ten Chi Jin manifests in how a seasoned practitioner moves with balance, awareness, and adaptability. Earth (Chi) represents grounding and stability, the foundation of any practical stance or technique. Heaven (Ten) symbolizes intuition and perception, the ability to read an opponent’s intent before they act. Humanity (Jin) is the bridge where skill and spirit merge to create seamless action. Senior Instructor Bela Breslau demonstrated using the bokuto and free hand Shintaido that when a practitioner unites these three elements, they achieve a state of flow where techniques arise effortlessly, free from fear or doubt.
This integration leads to Freedom in movement—the ability to react instinctively rather than being bound by rigid Form. In Shintaido, it’s not simply learning to fight but responding to life with fluidity, adapting to challenges with the grace of water encountering a stone. This way of practicing is the path to internal and external Freedom—one that cannot be achieved through brute force but only through deep understanding and unity with the world.
Freedom Through Oneness
Instructor Stephen Billias led the second Keiko with a strong emphasis on oneness. A notable exercise was a two-person Shoko sword meditation. One person performed Shoko for an extended period while assisted and supported by a second person. This exercise was a powerful reminder of the spiritual truth expressed in ‘Ten Chi Jin Ware Ware Ittai’-that the separation between self, and the universe is an illusion. In Shoko’s meditation, suffering arises from resistance—from seeing oneself as separate from the flow. When practiced with awareness, Shoko becomes a tool for dissolving this illusion. The two-person Shoko meditation exercise Stephen led was a poignant reminder that we need each other to succeed in humanity (Jin).
Path to True Freedom
Senior Instructor Margaret Guay, a highly respected teacher in Shintaido, led the third Keiko with bokken sword techniques. Margaret showed that Freedom is not an absence of rules but a mastery of them—the ability to transcend limitations not by ignoring them but by understanding them so profoundly that they cease to be restrictive. With a beautiful Dai Jodan cut, she showed not to fear confrontations but to overcome them. ‘Ten Chi Jin Ware Ware Ittai’ is to live aware, grounded, and free. It is to see no separation between action and stillness, force and surrender, self and universe. The Kangeiko emphasized that Freedom in the Form is not just how to cut but how to live with a mind unburdened, a spirit untamed, and a body in perfect harmony with nature.
Thank you to Senior Instructors Margaret Guay, Bela Breslau, Instructor Stephen Billias, and Master Instructor Micheal Thompson for leading and organizing this successful Kangeiko.
Over the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Pacific Shintaido hosted its annual Kangeiko workshop in the Technology Middle School gymnasium in Rhonert Park, California.
General Instructors Shin Aoki and David Franklin led the four keiko, guiding us through a curriculum that addressed PacShin’s 2025 theme, No Separate Self. Shin Sensei acted as Director of Instruction for the event with David Sensei as our Guest Instructor visiting from the Czech Republic.
By inviting David Sensei and Shin Sensei to instruct, the Pacific Shintaido board (Shin Aoki, Cheryl Williams, and Derk Richardson) sought to provide them with the opportunity to share glimmerings from their recent international travels to Dokan ’24 in England, as well as to recognize their accomplishments in the International exams offered there.
Derk Richardson and Cheryl Williams acted as co-organizers of the event, and Derk read the following quotations and comments as part of his opening remarks:
Masashi Minagawa Sensei’s thoughts on Kangeiko:
“Kangeiko means cold Keiko. The reason we practice at a cold time is that when we face great nature, we realize how powerless and small we are. We try to find nature within ourselves. Through this, we can try to awaken our sleeping potential self. It is a challenge to try to get rid of our old self and find a new beginning.
At New Year we refresh our old selves and go back to the original beginner’s mind. Then we celebrate the coming year and ask for health and happiness.
At Kangeiko especially, we try to find the real existence, our own nature inside ourselves.”
Derk continued with thoughts from the PacShin board on the chosen theme:
“We chose our theme this year, “No Separate Self,” not as a foundation for any specific curriculum, but, rather, as something like a riddle or a koan, something to roll around in your brain, tumble in your consciousness, feel in your body. We were inspired by the recognition of how separated we often are from one another, increasingly from nature and the environment, and definitely by seemingly intractable economic, social, and political divisions. And how much suffering we engender in our lives and in the world through our clinging to the notion of our separate self.
“Inspiration also came from the late Buddhist teacher and writer Thich Nhat Hanh, who, when describing “emptiness,” one of the three characteristics of existence, along with suffering and impermanence, defined it as being empty of any separate self. “The Heart Sutra,” he wrote, “teaches us that form may be empty of self but it’s full of everything else.”
“A wave on the ocean has a beginning and an end, a birth and a death,” he wrote. “But Avalokiteshvara tells us that the wave is empty. The wave is full of water, but it is empty of a separate self. A wave is a form that has been made possible, thanks to the existence of wind and water. If a wave only sees its form, with its beginning and end, it will be afraid of birth and death. But if the wave sees that it is water and identifies itself with the water, then it will be emancipated from birth and death. Each wave is born and is going to die, but the water is free from birth and death.”
He finished his introductory comments with this set of quotations:
“In the Vietnamese literary canon, there are two lines of poetry by the twelfth-century Zen master Khánh Hỷ of the Ly dynasty that say:
“If the cosmos exists, then the smallest speck of dust exists.
If the smallest speck of dust doesn’t exist, then the whole cosmos doesn’t exist.”“Were mind and matter me, I would come and go like them. If I were something else, they would say nothing about me. —NĀGĀRJUNA, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way
“Instead of separate, discrete entities, everything is flowing, interacting, and impinging on each other. We and the sun and the trees, all is perpetual flowing.” Joanna Macy, “Positive Disintegration”
For those interested in additional information on these writers, more can be found at the following links:
Over twenty Shintaido practitioners, from the greater San Francisco Bay Area as well as Oregon, Florida, and the Northeast, participated during the weekend. Each keiko was taught entirely by one instructor. On Saturday morning, after Martha Rodriguez led warmups, Shin Sensei led the class through tachi jumping, wakame kumite, and Eiko Dai with bokutoh around the gym. The keiko then focused on tenshingoso applications using bokutoh, including partner practice with the idea of receiving with wakame feeling and then an immediate counterattack–filling the vacuum left by the passing of the attacker’s sword. Shin sensei finished his instruction with Standing Meditation: Poses #1 through #5, visualizing unification inspired by the theme, “No Separate Self”:
#1 unification with earth; #2 unification with people; #3 unification with world and nature; #4 unification with heaven/spiritual world; #5 unification with self.
After a midday potluck brunch hosted by Nicole Masters at her home in Cotati, the gasshuku continued with David Franklin Sensei leading both warm-ups and a free-hand and bokutoh class inspired by renki kumite. The class began with sumo walking focused on a wide stance with feet gliding smoothly across the floor. David Sensei continued with a 3-person wakame exercise, one leader as wave and two partners as wakame, and then with Daijodan Kirikomi. The breakout portion ended with “Sandpipers vs Wave” that had the Shintaido practitioners as a tight group acting as sandpipers while one from the group acted as the ocean wave (opening back with ‘ah’ and cutting forward with ‘eh’), either gentle or strong, slow or rapid. This continued the vacuum idea from Shin Sensei’s previous keiko.
David Sensei continued with chair exercises. The keiko participants were asked to form a circle of chairs and then perform chudan tsuiki on kibadachi either fully resting on the chair or floating slightly above, based on their body condition and comfort level, followed by the same exercise using gyakuzuki, from the seated position to standing up. This was followed by four renki kumite exercises with partner:
(1) hooking with fingers (2) fingertips barely hooking (3) palm to palm, pushing toward the partner’s center (4) tsuki vs cupping hand.
The keiko ended with a meditation exercise (Hoten and Hokushin) and then a timing exercise with three people. In the first variation, person A performed Daijodan Kirikomi; person B Chudan tsuki; while person C acted as the “starter” who signaled to person A when to cut person B. In the second variation, person A performed Daijodan Kirikomi; person B faced away from person A to do Chudan-zuki. Person C was tasked to anticipate A’s cut and give a signal to person B with sufficient time to avoid being cut from behind. A demo of San-Nin-Ichiretsu by Senseis David Franklin, Jennifer Perringer, and Robert Gaston ended the keiko.
About half the participants joined for dinner at a local Greek restaurant in the evening.
On Sunday morning, Sally Gaston led warmups for David Sensei’s second keiko that continued the development of his renki-inspired bokutoh and free-hand curriculum. A central idea of this keiko was Zeno’s Dichotomy Paradox and thus the infinite reach of shoko or a tsuki. The Renki Kumite variations consisted of:
(1) “Shake hands” (2) Connection through the ulnar side of the wrists (3) Connection using both hands (right and left) (4) Two hand connection in a group of three (5) Connection with gyakuzuki vs. palm; tsuki person aimed toward the center of the opponent and chased the center while the opponent received and deflected.
The keiko was followed by a second potluck hosted again by Nicole Masters.
The final keiko combined elements of the first three keiko. David Sensei began with a chudan honzuki practice that focused on a step forward using the front foot. The goal was to give no anticipatory or preparatory movement. This was followed by variations of timing practice:
(1) Tsuki vs receiving w/ palm (2) Receiver stepping back at timing B (pushing and receiving happen at the same timing) (3) Receiver stepping back at timing A (receiving happens slightly before the push) (4) A group of three: Attacker, Receiver, and “starter.”
This was followed by bokutoh or free-hand practice (Daijidan-Kirikomi, Seichu-ken (Kyukajo #4A)) and then Kumitachi (Kyukajo #4A – Daijodan vs Seichu-ken). The kieko ended with a wakame and tenshingoso inspired version of Renki Kumite using both hands (right and left) at the same time, ulnar and radial sides changed freely, in three variations:
(1) with two people (2) in a group of three (3) with everybody together in a circle.
In the closing ceremony, a final note was given to the theme of “No Separate Self” when Nicole Masters read this passage.
“I received this when my husband passed 3 1/2 years ago. It has given me comfort and inspiration that, I will dance again. It has been a hard road but the music of life is finally moving through me again. Having Kangeiko at my home was a wonderful life-embracing experience for me.”
“Someday you will be faced with the reality of loss. And as life goes on, days rolling into nights, it will become clear that you never really stop missing someone special who’s gone, you just learn to live around the gaping hole of their absence. When you lose someone you can’t imagine living without, your heart breaks wide open, and the bad news is you never completely get over the loss. You will never forget them. However, in a backward way, this is also the good news. They will live on in the warmth of your broken heart that doesn’t fully heal back up, and you will continue to grow and experience life, even with your wound. It’s like a badly broken ankle that never heals perfectly, and that still hurts when you dance, but you dance anyway with a slight limp, and this limp just adds depth to your performance and the authenticity of your character. The people you lose remain a part of you. Remember them and always cherish the good moments spent with them.” Author Unknown
As a year ends, it is often time to reflect on what has been accomplished. Here are some highlights from Shintaido of America for 2024.
2024 was a year of transitions, starting with the death of Ito Sensei at the end of December 2023. Shintaido of America held a ZOOM Celebration of Life for Ito Sensei along with our international community from the UK, France, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy
Shintaido of America gained new SOA Board Members – Jim Sterling and David Palmer. Sandra Bengtsson agreed to be Acting Treasurer. At the end of the year, Nancy Billias completed 12 years of service on the SOA board to live full time in the UK. Doshu Michael Thompson stepped down from his role on the SOA Board.
After Dokan ’24, held in August in the UK, we saw the transition to Karate Godan & Shintaido General Instructor for Shin Aoki, Yondan Karate for David Franklin, Yondan Bojutsu for Robert Gaston and Jennifer Peringer, Shintaido Senior Instructors for Byron Russell and Margaret Guay, Shintaido Graduate for Heather Kuhn, and an appointment to Doshu for Connie Borden.
With the leadership of Robert Gaston as NTC Chair, Shintaido of America saw more keiko and workshops. Rob traveled to France to learn the newest boh kata and returned to teach a workshop in the SF Bay Area. Byron and Margaret in their new roles lead a one-day workshop in the SNE Region and are planning monthly keikos. Jennifer Peringer added students to her Monday Boh class and started a Thursday Karate class. Rob added a Tuesday night Shintaido class. Connie is piloting a Wednesday afternoon class on ZOOM to practice Shintaido. Shin Aoki has been invited to teach at the UK Daienshu in April of 2025. Lee Ordemann has had two successful Shintaido programs at a local library.
Plans for 2025 are developing with the SOA Board considering offering the Global Taimyo Community fiscal sponsorship. This will have the benefit of stability for GTC. Look for announcements about the one-week Taimyo program for July 2025. Our Shintaido of America YouTube continues to grow with published videos so check in 2025 for new releases. 2026 is in the planning stages for SOA as 2026 is the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Shintaido of America.
Here are the Board Members and Officers of Shintaido of America
BOARD MEMBERS – voting (as of December 2024)
Connie Borden, President David Franklin, Podcast Robert Gaston, NTC Chairperson David Palmer, member at large Laura Sheehan Barron, member at large Jim Sterling, Editor Body Dialogue
BOARD OFFICERS – non-voting (as of Mar 2024) Sandra Bengtsson, Treasurer Chris Ikeda-Nash, Financial Officer Robert Kedoin, Webmaster
As a year ends, it is often time to reflect on what has been accomplished. Here are some highlights from Shintaido of America for 2024.
2024 was a year of transitions, starting with the death of Ito Sensei at the end of December 2023. Shintaido of America held a ZOOM Celebration of Life for Ito Sensei along with our international community from the UK, France, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy
Shintaido of America gained new SOA Board Members – Jim Sterling and David Palmer. Sandra Bengtsson agreed to be Acting Treasurer. At the end of the year, Nancy Billias completed 12 years of service on the SOA board to live full time in the UK. Doshu Michael Thompson stepped down from his role on the SOA Board.
After Dokan ’24, held in August in the UK, we saw the transition to Karate Godan & Shintaido General Instructor for Shin Aoki, Yondan Karate for David Franklin, Yondan Bojutsu for Robert Gaston and Jennifer Peringer, Shintaido Senior Instructors for Byron Russell and Margaret Guay, Shintaido Graduate for Heather Kuhn, and an appointment to Doshu for Connie Borden.
With the leadership of Robert Gaston as NTC Chair, Shintaido of America saw more keiko and workshops. Rob traveled to France to learn the newest boh kata and returned to teach a workshop in the SF Bay Area. Byron and Margaret in their new roles lead a one-day workshop in the SNE Region and are planning monthly keikos. Jennifer Peringer added students to her Monday Boh class and started a Thursday Karate class. Rob added a Tuesday night Shintaido class. Connie is piloting a Wednesday afternoon class on ZOOM to practice Shintaido. Shin Aoki has been invited to teach at the UK Daienshu in April of 2025. Lee Ordemann has had two successful Shintaido programs at a local library.
Plans for 2025 are developing with the SOA Board considering offering the Global Taimyo Community fiscal sponsorship. This will have the benefit of stability for GTC. Look for announcements about the one-week Taimyo program for July 2025. Our Shintaido of America YouTube continues to grow with published videos so check in 2025 for new releases. 2026 is in the planning stages for SOA as 2026 is the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Shintaido of America.
Here are the Board Members and Officers of Shintaido of America
BOARD MEMBERS – voting (as of December 2024)
Connie Borden, President David Franklin, Podcast Robert Gaston, NTC Chairperson David Palmer, member at large Laura Sheehan Barron, member at large Jim Sterling, Editor Body Dialogue
BOARD OFFICERS – non-voting (as of Mar 2024)
Sandra Bengtsson, Treasurer Chris Ikeda-Nash, Financial Officer Robert Kedoin, Webmaster
