私は通年の学生なので、CIPとして秋学期と同様合気道をしています。先学期たいてい毎週月曜日か木曜日の夕方に稽古に行っていました。でも、今学期午後の時間がフリーにしたかったから、朝練に行くことにしています。稽古は月曜日と水曜日の午前７時から８時までですから学校のスケジュールと合ってはちょうどいいです。でも、道場はホストファミリーの 家からちょっと遠いので５時半までに起きなくてはいけません。
時間が全然違うのは別として、朝練と夕方の練習はだいたい同じです。先生と他の弟子とか練習技は 同じです。でも、朝練は夕方より気持ち良いから、５時半に起きなくてはいけなくても楽しく行っています。
僕はCIPのために合気道を選びました。合気道をしたことがありませんでしたけれども、とても面白そうで、合気道についての本を持っているから、してみたかったです。僕は一週間に一、二回合気道の道場に行きます。このレッスンは基本技クラスといって、火曜日と木曜日に行われます。そして、二人の先生がいらっしゃいます。火曜日のクラスはモルガン先生が担当しますが、木曜日のクラスは岡本が担当します。今、僕はまだ基本的な動きを習っています。時々、とても難しいと思いますが、とても楽しいと思います。アマースト大学で空手を一年間しましたが、合気道ではよく正座をします。でも、合気道のほうが好きです。
２月２日から平安神宮の近くの武道センターで弓道をしています。アメリカでアーチェリーはしたことがありますが、子供の時からどうしても特別で伝統的な日本の弓道をしてみたかったのに、これまではしたことがありませんでした。なぜどうしてもしてみたかったかというと、たぶん「モノノケ姫」の弓を使うアシタカという登場人物のかっこよさや、禅の影響があることに興味があるせいだと思います。
毎週月曜日と木曜日に他のKCJSの友達と２０３番のバスに乗って、熊野神社前で降りて、武道センターまで歩きます。センターでは靴を脱いだ後で、教えて下さる先生にまず挨拶して、そして離れ方の形を練習します。生徒が多いですから、川口先生はお忙しいで、よく先生の代わりに先輩の生徒さんが私たちの形を直してくれます。その時以外は他の生徒とあまり話しませんが、話さない時でさえ日本文化について学んでいるのではないかと思います。そういうことを学ぶために、私は武道センターに通って、頑張り続けます。
私はCIPとして、弓道のレッスンを受けています。月曜日と木曜日に熊野神社の近くの武道センターで一時間のレッスンを受けます。他の二人の学生と一緒に行きますから、本当に楽しいです。
普通だったら、弓道を始めた後で三ヶ月は弓矢を使いません。だから、私たちもはじめは弓を使わないで動作だけを練習しました。でも、私たちはあまり時間がありませんから、川口先生は例外的な措置をしてくださって、二週間後に弓を使わせてくださいました。そしてその一週間後には矢も使いはじめました。
私はアメリカで何年もアーチェリーをしていましたから、弓道に興味を持ちました。アーチェリーと弓道は本当に違います。弓や体勢ややり方はとても違うのに、両方とも集中がとても大切です。難しいスポーツですが、集中すれば、頭が冷静になりますから、弓道が大好きです。
私のCIPは弓道です。二人のKCJSの学生と一緒に月曜日と木曜日に京都の武道センターに行って弓道の仕方を習います。私はアーチェリーをしたことがないから、弓道は全く新しいことです。でも、新しい経験が好きで、子供の時から弓道に興味があったので、CIPとして弓道をすることに決めました。
最初の日には弓道の形だけを練習しました。3週間ぐらい後で弓と矢を使い初めましたが、まだ矢を放つことはできません。先生は川口先生という先生で、とても厳しいけど、性格はやさしいです。私達が練習する時に道場にいる他の人もはいつも優しくて、喜んで私達を手伝ってくれます。
私は腕の力がないから弓道はちょっと難しいですが、本当に楽しいから、毎週、
月曜日と木曜日を楽しみにしています。
I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting when I climbed the four flights of stairs to K-Classic Ballet Studio that first Friday night in September. Still, having taken ballet classes since the age of four at varying degrees of frequency, I seem to recall feeling pretty excited–but not at all nervous–about the prospect of taking ballet class in a foreign language for the first time.
Boy, was I in for a surprise. Once I’d explained myself to the petite, gently smiling woman whom I encountered just outside the door, I followed her inside–where my jaw promptly dropped. Plaques, award certificates, and trophies from Japan’s most prestigious ballet competitions lined the walls and covered several shelves of a bookcase, while about fifteen elementary-school-age girls diligently practiced their changements and glissades in the center of the room.
But it wasn’t until class actually started that the real surprises began. I would soon learn that the seemingly mild-mannered woman whom I had encountered at the door was in fact O-sensei, the owner/operator and head teacher at K-Classic Ballet Studio. Not only that, but she utterly transformed into a strict taskmaster the very moment she commenced the class with a simple and elegant upward twist of her right wrist.
Now, I studied ballet on the pre-professional track in the United States from about age eight to age fourteen–I thought I knew what a serious class atmosphere looks like. But the laser-like concentration of my fellow dancers here in Japan puts many of their American counterparts to shame. Throughout the class, no one speaks except for O-sensei. There are absolutely no private conversations held, except perhaps for a whispered confirmation or two that one is standing with the correct group in preparation to go across the floor. Despite this apparent lack of student-to-student communication, the hour and a half of practice always runs smoothly, with none of the interruptions (such as clearly incorrect execution of the given steps or trips to the bathroom between combinations) that can sometimes plague American ballet classes.
The students may not speak, but O-sensei certainly does–and there is no ambiguity about what she means. Words of praise are seldom heard, and corrections are given in the Japanese language’s direct style of speaking, rather than in the more polite distal style. For example, if a dancer is behind one count in a fast-paced jump combination, O-sensei is far more likely (based on my observations thus far) to simply shout “Osoi” instead of “Osoi desu yo.”
I fear that, up to this point, I may have portrayed K-Classic Ballet Studio as a somewhat stressful and uninviting environment. That could not be further from the truth! While the goal during each class is clearly to improve one’s ballet technique by whatever means necessary, outside of class my fellow dancers welcome me every week with “Ohayou gozaimasu” and broad smiles. Furthermore, O-sensei and T-sensei have both been remarkably patient and understanding in helping me work out the scheduling and payment aspects of my participation.
As the semester comes to a close, I feel incredibly grateful to everyone at K-Classic Ballet Studio for allowing this rather-out-of-shape ryuugakusei (study-abroad student) to invade their ballet classes on a regular basis. Thanks to their warm welcome, I’ve been privileged to see a whole new side of my favorite hobby, and have become more inspired than ever to work as hard as I can to do justice to ballet, the art form that always manages to transcend linguistic and cultural obstacles in surprising and beautiful ways.
For my CIP I decided to find an aikido dojo. I’ve practiced aikido at home in Hawaii since I was nine, so it felt only right to continue my practice in Japan where aikido was founded. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was for it to feel so different.
Of course there was a difference in style, which took some getting used to, but I was surprised that even the beginners were already really used to that style. Back at home, the beginners generally take a while to get used to the movements and move pretty awkwardly for a while, but here, it’s obvious that the first thing that beginners learn how to do is to move according to the style’s logic. I think that’s a really good way to teach and I’ll probably start incorporate it when I go back to teaching the children’s class at home. I think, though, that this difference comes from the fact that in Japan people tend to appreciate instructions a lot more than in America and tend to deviate less from what they’re told despite the initial uncomfortableness of the movement.
Another thing I noticed that was different, which maybe has more to do with this specific situation than with differences between aikido in Japan and America, is that at my Kyoto dojo, the main sensei is female, which has seemed to attract proportionately more women than normal aikido classes. Truly, there are far more women in my classes here than any other classes I’ve been to with male head instructors. Despite that, however, the class dynamic is no different. There are still people who I prefer practicing with, people who are too gentle, and people who are too rough. Although I previously ascribed rough practice to males, I have found here that in a female-dominated situation, the women have filled that role.
My experience with Aikido Kyoto has been nothing but positive, and I will definitely be keeping with it next semester as well.
私のCIPは合気道だ。９歳の時から合気道をしているから、京都でもしたかったのだ。それで道場を見つけて、入った。私が行っている「合気道京都」という道場は西陣にあり、一週間に二、三回行く。月曜日のクラスは中学生と高校生のクラスで、木曜日の二つのクラスは初心者のと三級以上のクラスだから、いろいろの相手と稽古出来る。
ハワイでの稽古とは違って、日本のはもっと厳しい。畳の上では絶対話しては行けなくて、細かい事も正される。だから、四月までに上手になると思う。
面白い事の一つは、たいてい武道の先生は男性なのに、先生は女性だということだ。
私のCIPはバレエです。四歳の時からバレエをしていたので、日本にいる間も毎週バレエを練習したかったです。それで、チラシで中京区のケイ・クラシックバレエスタジオというスタジオを見つけました。
毎週一回十人ぐらいの他のダンサーと一緒に一時間バレエのクラスに参加します。他の参加者は中学生から若い大人までの年齢だから、クラスの中でレベルに幅があります。面白いことはダンサーは若ければ若いほど、バレエが上手だということです。例えば、中学生の一人の男の子は多分、クラスの中で一番上手だと思います。
それから、アメリカと日本のバレエの文化の違いがとても面白いと思います。例えば、日本では授業中の空気はアメリカのよりちょっと厳しいと思います。先生以外誰も話さなかったり、生徒が色々な尊敬を表すジェスチャーを使ったりすることが今まで観察できました。他の日本のバレエ文化の観察することを本当に楽しみにしています。
There are several reasons that I am sad to see this Spring semester come to an end, and leaving my CIP behind is among the top few. My experience at the 道場, practicing 弓道 hasn’t been the most social or life-changing, but I am extremely grateful for having been given the opportunity to be taught by a proper instructor and train amongst other Japanese 生徒.
Although there have been countless awkward moments for me, whether due to my own lack of communication skills or due to making a mistake and dropping an arrow, my overall experience has been quite pleasant and I normally leave practice feeling somewhat accomplished. My teachers and fellow students have been very kind to me, and as the months flew by, I felt more and more welcome amongst them.
During my first few weeks at the 道場 back in September, a few foreign travelers came and went, practicing only a few days or weeks before leaving again. I remember 先生 talking about how even 4 months was not enough time to truly learn about 弓道, and I can say that after nearly 8, I still feel I have a long way to go until I can be called even “decent”.
Looking back, I believe there has been a very large difference between how teachers and other students treated those who stayed only a short time, and how I have come to be treated after being around for a much longer time. That is not to say that they treated anyone badly at any point in time, but that after 6 or so months there, I definitely began to feel a change. Despite having few conversations with others, I could sense that they had grown used to seeing me around, grown used to expecting me there. The times I did have conversations with people, they were always very nice and asked me about myself, and about how long I would be staying.
If I compare myself with some of the other students who had attended while I was there, I believe that my being there for a much longer time than the others, spoke of how serious I was about learning and practicing 弓道, as opposed to being there just for an experience in Japan. I got the impression that those who were only there a handful of weeks were really only doing it as a “one time” thing. せっかく日本に居るから. I and Jasmine who practiced with me last semester hope to continue 弓道 after returning to the states, and if possible coming back to Japan to practice again with a teacher. I am not too hopeful about finding a place to practice in the States as of now, but I will definitely keep my eyes peeled. I knew before I began here that I preferred 弓道 to Western archery, especially competitive archery. I had tried it for a year and a half and realized that the more spiritual and wholesome experience of 弓道 fit me better. I have found myself to be quite right in that respect. I am not the kind of person that enjoys sport and competition, but to me at least, 弓道 is something more.
I believe that it was my genuine desire to learn 弓道 as what it is and not as a sport, not as I learned Western archery in the past, that eventually helped change the way others looked at me. Even 先生 changed her attitude towards me bit by bit. Now I feel much more like part of the group of people there every Monday and Thursday. Unfortunately that only makes it harder to leave and I’m sure these last weeks will fly much too quickly for my liking.