| KI AIKIDO-CLUB WINSHAM: Village Hall Mondays 6.30-9.30 pm, Thursdays 7.30-9.30 pm Ki Aikido stems from Japan and means: "The way of harmony with the life-force". Although derived from the fighting arts it is not martial, on the contrary: at the core of Ki Aikido lie the principles of love, harmony and reconciliation. Non-dissension, 'do not disagree' is what you strive for, on and off the matt. You mostly work with a partner, and via exercises you learn - surprise! - that you are actually stronger, more balanced and less likely to get hurt when you relax: that 'going on the defense', wears you out so you are defeated with ease. Tension is the enemy, and the bad habits of our mind, such as to go rigid and compete. 'Put yourself in partner's place' is another aikido rule, and when doing that, physically or metaphorically, you discover that there is no conflict at all, you were just trying to get to the same place in different ways. The only person to compete with is yourself; can I get better tomorrow than I am today? In Winsham our ages range from 12 to 53: age, nor physical state is a handicap for practice. Anyone c  an learn co-ordination of mind and body. perhaps our most important core principle, with great benefits to themselves and their surroundings. The worse you are at it, the more you can leam. For every strong, fit member, there is another one who will tell you they always hated sports!As Ki Aikido doesn't look superficially impressive, and, rather than encourage, tries to get rid of our 'fighting mind', it does not have the appeal of judo and karate. We practise in Winsham because of its beautiful village hall, but of our 8 members only Adam (Dorse) is local, the rest come from as far as Martock and West Coker. We are part of the Ki Federation of Great Britain, whose Head, Sensei Williams, began teaching after a long training in Japan. Being so near Headquarters in Burnham on Sea, teacher sensei Eileen Honeybun and most of our members go there for courses or high-level teaching. Once a year we put on a Saturday course, where people from other clubs come to practise, grade and eat (senseis cooked lunches are famous). The rest of the time we just practice, slowly losing our habits of stiffening, resisting and confronting head-on. It seems an impossible task, but the reason we keep coming is because of the effects we see in our lives, daily. And the fun!
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