A bit of background

I first met Quentin Ball in the winter of 1998. I had finished my first degree and was embarking on some rigorous training in various martial arts when I found myself in an aikido dojo. I got talking with some of the regulars and one of them was talking about Daito ryu, this being the main influence of the founder of aikido Ueshiba Morihei, as I was aware of this system from books only I showed a great interest in the conversation and soon found myself joining in. The one aikidoka produced from the side of his bag a tatty looking A4 sheet of paper and dropped it in front of me, on it was an advertisement for a seminar in Hakuho kai daito ryu being run by Okabayashi Sensei. Well in keeping with my attitude and interest in this system I got my ticket and went to the seminar and loved every minute of it. It was here that I first met Quentin Ball, the head of the Hakkuho ryu in the UK.

That seminar made me re-examine the whole of my practice and consequently was the seed of change in my budo.

After this I made every effort to attend every seminar Quentin Ball ran, which included more time training under Okabayashi Sensei some more and also under Rod Uhler. In fact, the more exposure I get to the practice of the Hakuho ryu the more I want. Personally speaking, I came at it from a historical perspective, but now all I see is the beauty of its movement and practice.

For some time now I have been training under Quentin as often as I can, provided I can afford the train fare and time, and the more I train with him the more appreciation I have for the quality in his movement and practice.

Seminar Synopsis

On Saturday 21st June Quentin Ball came to visit us in Cardiff to teach a day long introductory seminar in Daito Ryu as taught in the Hakuho ryu headed by Okabayashi Sensei.

The day commenced with a talk about the history of Daito ryu to illustrate the direct connection to the art and to put the movement for the day into context. As there was a very mixed group of enthusiastic budoka of varying degrees of experience this helped all to find the context for the days training. We began by examining the way that bushi would have moved and how this fitted into the context of the practice, so after practicing some basic taisabaki, ukemi and shikko we looked at some basic movements.

The training was focused and everyone there was enthusiastic to train and try their best. With partnered practice we worked in the formation of an inner circle and outer circle, once the movement had been completed twice each the outer circle rotated to give everyone a new training partner. This method of training did confuse a few people at first, but once they got the hang of it people were able to see its benefits. - This training with everyone feel is really good for a seminar because it stops people from going with their mate all day and promotes networking and open communication with others.

We then discussed the role of uke, which in a system such as Daito ryu is probably more important than that of tori. However the point regarding people only training for 50% of the time because of the way they attack seemed to make everyone wake up a little because after this a new life seemed to develop in the way people were practicing. This then lead to the importance of a correct attack by uke being illustrated in a couple of relatively simple movements. It was at this point that people discovered how difficult it is to practice in this way. It is not enough for an attack to be on target, but rather it needs to maintain life. This way even uke is still training.

We investigated a multitude of movements and finally at the end of the day we were given a short demonstration of two small sections, the tachia ifrom the nikkajo and sankajo, which left everybody more than aware of the commitment these gentlemen put into their training.

We finished the day with some breathing exercises which required the making of three sounds from one breath and concentrating on the areas that vibrate which were the belly, the throat and the head. I personally found that this rejuvenated my body and helped me calm from the day of training.

All in all we had a good turn out of some really genuine people who all gave their 100% to a long and challenging day training. Thanks to everyone who came and made the day into an event.

Lawrence Fisher.