MY JOURNEY WITH MASTERS OF AIKI - 12

 

Original Creative Principles of the Universe

Reiki-no-hô Kashima-Shinryū

Inaba Minoru Sensei, the 2nd Kancho of Shiseikan
Commissioned as Meiyo Kancho of Shiseikan

There are no words, expressions, or technical processes that can fully explain Sensei Minoru Inaba. What I experienced with him was the most difficult thing to explain: an evolving and transformational process in the code of Bushido, a merging of ReiKi and AiKi.

The most direct link between these two arts is Sensei Inaba. The connection between Reiki-no-hô (and Kashima-Shinryū as a whole) and Aikido is primarily established through twentieth-century lineage cross-pollination. This historic connection highlights how specific internal mechanics became woven into Aikido practice.

Sensei Minoru Inaba, as the long-time director of the prestigious Shiseikan Dojo at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, openly synthesized his Aikido with Kashima-Shinryū principles. He taught Kashima's sword system (Kashima-no-tachi) alongside Aikido, introducing generations of Aiki to Reiki-no-hô.

While the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, drew his core physical curriculum from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, the introduction of Reiki-no-hô through cross-training provided a highly compatible framework for internal energy management.

Before writing this part, I researched and tried my best to pick the right approach to express it. Frankly, it is just a childish attempt, and obviously, it cannot be limited to words.

Reiki-no-hô functions as Kashima-Shinryū's native version of this engine. It teaches a practitioner to drop their center of gravity, relax the shoulders, and project ki through a stable skeletal structure.In Kashima-Shinryū, the physical application of Reiki-no-hô manifests as Reikinage (spirit-energy throw). In Reikinage, when an attacker grabs the defender's arm, the defender changes the density of their body frame and drops their center. This collapses the attacker's balance without a visible struggle.

Before any movement or contact happens, the practitioner (tori) must establish an unshakeable skeletal frame.At the exact point of contact, do not brace against uke. Allow uke's force to travel through your arms, down your spine, and directly into the floor. Treat your arms like iron pipes wrapped in cottonstructurally rigid but surface-relaxed.

Changing Body Density and Breath, This step acts as the catalyst for the technique, shifting the interaction from a muscular struggle to a structural collapse.

"Become heavy water," Mentally and physically, drop all residual buoyancy out of your chest. This sudden grounding causes an immediate change in the "feel" of your arms to uke. To uke, it feels as if tori's arms have suddenly tripled in weight, drawing uke's center of balance forward and down.

The final projection happens because tori's entire torso moves forward as a single, unified unit (sotai). Uke is thrown not because they were pushed, but because their base was completely erased by tori's structural alignment.

Kashima-Shinryû teaches that the ultimate goal of martial art practice is to realize the "original creative principles of the universe," the martial techniques that one practices also must be performed as a part of the same beginningless and ceaseless cycle of emergence, reintegration, and re-emergence (hakken, kangen, suishin) exhibited by all natural phenomena.