Interview Miyamoto Shihan 宮本鶴蔵, Novosibirsk, Russia 2014

Question: Miyamoto Sensei, what does Aikido mean specially for you? Answer: It is hard to answer. First of all, Aikido is a type of Japanese martial arts. O-Sensei, a founder of Aikido, separated Aikido from Ju-Jutsu. Q: Miyamoto Sensei, what does Aikido mean for you from mental point?

A: From my point of view, the Japanese don’t attribute Aikido to mental or physical training. Budo is a part of Japanese culture. All types of martial arts are connected with each other. When you do sports, make efforts or try to achieve something, you also get mental aspects of it. The Japanese put their feelings and hearts in everything that they do. It doesn’t matter whether  we are talking about martial arts, routine life, Japanese traditional dancing, tea ceremony or even more, when people are cooking they also put their souls in it.

Q: Miyamoto Sensei often comes to Novosibirsk. He meets a lot of people. What could Miyamoto Sensei say about them?

A: They are general people. People, who come to training hall, are interested in Japanese culture. There is one small difference between foreigners and the Japanese. When Russian people are interested in Japanese culture, they try out everything by themselves. Japanese people have general knowledge in martial arts, tea ceremony, kendo, aikido and judo. So, when they come, they have heard of it. What about foreigners, when they come, they have desire to learn something about Japanese culture and Aikido as a part of it. They get involved in Aikido and they also become familiar with Japanese culture.

Q: Could you possibly tell us about Jikishinkai? How did it start in Novosibirsk? What is the main direction of it? How does it develop?

A: It started in Moscow. Ognyan sensei  was one of those, who started it. He was offered to set up a community and name it. That is how Jikishinkai started.

 Q: Could Miyamoto Sensei translate Jikishinkai into Russian?

A: To my mind, Jikishinkai consists of three characters. You can see it on the flag behind me. These characters mean righteousness, honesty, a heart and a reception. People should be right, honest and purposeful not only when they are in dodze or when they are training but also they should do it in their routine life. For instance, when they are eating or working. People should feel that sensation and, of course, realize it.

Q: How does Aikido help in real life?

A: If you need to know how Aikido helps people in real life, you should ask them about it. What about me, Aikido helps me to follow the right way of life. I am not talking about bad habitats, what I means is to be worth living. It also helps me to keep fit  and meet a lot of people. Every training makes my day brighter.

Q: There a lot of mixed groups here. What does Miyamoto Sensei think about relations between people?

A: The French, the Russian or the British all are similar.

Q: What could Miyamoto Sensei say about Novosibirsk?

A: I like the weather of Novosibirsk. It reminds me of Japanese early spring. There are no such high pines in Japan. I am glad to live in forest among these beautiful pines, that are not similar to that ones in Japan. I also like meat dumplings. I tried them for the first time yesterday.

An interpreter: Zrelova Yelena

A translator: Bochkaryova Viktoriya

Attaching the video, reference is an obligatory condition. © Aikido Club «Jikishinkai» Novosibirsk.