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Shintaido of America PodcastUntying Knots, a Shintaido chronicle: Last tango in Tokyo (chapters 21-24)“It was a lovely May day, and we sat in the grass on the practice field near the Tama river in Tokyo,” writes Michael Thompson. “Aoki suggested some meditation and remembering techniques which might enable me to communicate directly with my subconscious. He went on to talk about how everyone is marked by one or more childhood experiences; they might be as seemingly trivial as being left alone at some particularly vulnerable time, but they stay with us all out lives. He said that when he was in college he felt disgust for humanity because he found people so simple...2024-07-1139 minShintaido of America PodcastMichael Thompson’s Untying Knots: a Shintaido chronicle, chapters 17 - 20“In Japan, there were many models to study from. During the short time I practiced with him, I had been impressed with the younger Egami’s style and presence. His was the most artistic approach to teaching I had yet encountered and it struck a chord in me. But the most common and striking feature of the Japanese teaching style was its depth; the instructors somehow managed to bring you through the surface and into the Earth, perhaps because of their intimate connection to their native soil.”
Michael Thompson’s autobiography, Untying Knots, is full of such episodes...2024-05-0940 minShintaido of America PodcastConnie Borden on nursing, Shintaido, and caring for the dyingDavid interviews Connie Borden, Shintaido instructor and advance practice nurse with 28 years’ experience in hospice and palliative care. Connie has led a Bay Area nonprofit hospice as Executive Director and worked on inpatient services as a Palliative Consultant. She has presented Cycle of Life, the use of movement for life review at the first and second Global Conferences for End of Life Care. She and H.F. Ito presented Shintaido for Caregivers for 10 years at San Francisco and Bay Area hospices.
2024-02-2344 minShintaido of America PodcastUntying Knots – Killing Me SoftlyHave you ever been in a safe, but nonetheless terrifying situation, comforting a friend who is even more neurotic and terrified than you are, only to find that by going through this together, you form a lasting bond with each other?
Michael Thompson’s autobiography, Untying Knots, is full of such episodes of existential unfolding, some disturbing, some light-hearted, all rendered with quiet wit and honesty. In this episode, Shintaido instructor David Franklin reads Chapters 13 through 16 (in the original book Section II, chapter 6 and Section III, chapters 1 through 3), entitled “I left My Heart...”, “The Outsiders,” “Killing Me Softly,” and...2024-02-0144 minShintaido of America PodcastAmanda Palmer: former living statue, musician, crowdfunding guruMusician Amanda Palmer joins us for Episode 10 of the 2nd season of the podcast. With Brian Viglione she forms one half of the punk cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls, while in her solo career she is not only a songwriter, ukulele enthusiast, feminist, abortion rights activist, TED Talks superstar, and patron saint to every crowdfunded artist; she’s also been a New York Times best-selling author and a busker, earning her keep performing on streets from Boston to Berlin as a living statue calle “The Eight-Foot Bride.” We talked about singing and vocalizing and what it can do to our br...2023-10-2025 minShintaido of America PodcastUntying Knots – an American samurai and his French disciplesHave you ever lost your temper, gone into a rage, and through that discovered something about yourself that might bring you peace?
Michael Thompson’s autobiography, Untying Knots, is full of such episodes, rendered with quiet dry wit and honesty. In this episode, Shintaido instructor David Franklin reads Chapters 11 and 12.
2023-10-0521 minShintaido of America PodcastDavid Palmer, the ‘father’ of on-site seated massageWe interview David Palmer, known as “the father of seated massage” and founder of the TouchPro organization. After a stint as director of the Amma Institute, the first school in the U.S.A. devoted to this traditional style of Japanese massage, David started developing techniques for massage with clients seated in a chair rather than lying on a table, as well as inventing the specialized chair that supports the client’s arms and head. Today you can see this type of massage being offered in airports, hair salons, and in offices worldwide. He headed up the team that brough...2023-09-2040 minShintaido of America PodcastPeople in motion – to San FranciscoIn Chapter 9 of his autobiography Untying Knots, Michael Thompson describes how he first introduced Shintaido in the US at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, but then returned to Japan to deepen his practice. In Chapter 10, Michael and Haruyoshi Ito formally establish Shintaido in California and together begin to confront the challenges posed by profound cultural differences in the context of transmitting somatic teachings.
2023-06-0530 minShintaido of America PodcastHis diaphragm became a red-hot glowing vaultIn Episode 6 you'll hear chapters 7 and 8 of Michael Thompson’s autobiography, Untying Knots: A Shintaido Chronicle. In Chapter 7 Michael describes the car accident that dramatically ended his study with his first Shintaido teacher Marc Bassis in France — and in Chapter 8, we’ll hear about the unexpected personality conflicts that occurred when a group of Japanese Shintaidoists visited a Christian commune in Massachusetts on their way to California in the 1970s.
2023-05-1017 minShintaido of America PodcastPhilosophers build edifices they can’t inhabitEpisode 5 of Season 2 features Chapters 5 and 6 of Untying Knots: a Shintaido Chronicle, master Shintaido instructor Michael Thompson’s autobiographical essay. In Chapter 5, he describes his first meeting with Hiroyuki Aoki, the founder of this unique movement art, in France – and in Chapter 6, Micheal travels to Japan for the first time.
2023-04-2027 minShintaido of America PodcastInterview with Shintaido instructor and interactive media developer Brad LarsonIn Episode 4, David interviews Shintaido instructor and interactive media developer Brad Larson. Brad has worked at the M.I.T. Media Lab as well as the Boston Children’s Museum, and has worked on exhibitions at the Smithsonian’s Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History, among others. You’ll hear about his first impressions of Shintaido practice when he was a graduate student at Harvard’s School of Education, and we talk about how he sees connections between Shintaido, ecstatic dance, haiku poetry, running through the woods carrying a stick, and interactive media design for museums.
2023-04-0532 minShintaido of America Podcast3. Untying Knots chapter 3 & 4Episode 3 of Season 2 includes Chapters 3 and 4 of Untying Knots: a Shintaido Chronicle, master Shintaido instructor Michael Thompson’s autobiographical essay. In this episode, Michael encounters Shintaido for the first time and starts practicing under the tutelage of former European karate champion Marc Bassis. He faces not only the physical challenges of the intensely demanding practice, but also the challenge of his own psychological barriers.
2023-03-2025 minShintaido of America PodcastUntying Knots and an interview with orchestral conductor Kent NaganoEpisode Two Season Two includes an interview with renowned conductor Kent Nagano, who discusses the leadership skills needed to conduct an orchestra and their application to other aspects of life.
He also describes the time he invited master Shintaido instructor H.F. to lead his orchestra in a Shintaido practice during their rehearsal in the concert hall. We’ll also hear Chapter Two of Untying Knots: a Shintaido Chronicle, master Shintaido instructor Michael Thompson’s autobiographical essay. In this episode, Michael returns to France with the intention of throwing himself into “...a hedonistic bohemian lifestyle, succumbing to decade...2023-03-0532 minShintaido of America PodcastUntying Knots chapter 1 and an interview with artist Mario UribeIn the first episode of Season Two, you'll hear a reading from Untying Knots by master Shintaido instructor Michael Thompson and an interview with artist and Shintaido practitioner Mario Uribe. While Micheal sets the scene for his first encounter with Shintaido in France in the early 1970s, Mario discusses his education as an artist/activist and his interest in tea ceremony - also set in the early 70s.
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🔴 Donate to Shintai...2023-02-0630 minShintaido of America PodcastWE ARE RELEASING SEASON TWO OF THE SHINTAIDO OF AMERICA PODCASTIn Season Two of the podcast, we will read from the book Untying Knots: A Shintaido Chronicle by the co-founder of Shintaido of America, Michael Thompson. By reading from this book, we wish to celebrate Michael´s contribution to the Shintaido community and his 85th birthday.
Each month will have a reading from the book and later in the month will be followed by an interview. David Franklin will talk about Shintaido-related topics with various people who are familiar with our practice. Among our guests are visual artists Mario Uribe, rock musician Amanda Palmer and many others. 2023-02-0201 minShintaido of America Podcast14. “How to make this age better”“Creativity is not the exclusive province of artists and artistic expression. If we stop the automatic acts of daily life, surrendering yesterday’s happenings and separating ourselves from the old self of one day ago, through an act of our will, we will discover a new life of continuing satori, or many small enlightenments…”
With these words, Aoki succinctly brings home the relationship between the physical movement practice of Shintaido and its meaning in the broader context of so-called ‘spiritual’ traditions, and most importantly, describes its immediate application to our daily lives.
🔴 More info about the...2022-08-0507 minShintaido of America Podcast13. To overcome the barriers to mutual understanding”Teaching and learning — sharing knowledge as opposed to mere information — is a profound process that changes the lives of the individuals involved.
The types of social relationships that exist in Japan — Shintaido’s country of origin — are different than those in the USA or Europe. Logically, this has a powerful impact on how we understand the teaching and learning process. In this episode of the podcast, Aoki shares his insights into this question from the perspective of an author of an entire body of knowledge — a body of knowledge that grew from Japanese soil, but has taken root in the...2022-07-0519 minShintaido of America Podcast12. “Playing with light”Imagine that in creating Shintaido, expert martial artists were asked to commit themselves fully to a partner exercise -- in Japanese "kumite" -- that was nothing like "sparring," that was completely outside the norms and standard practices of any traditional martial art.
Aoki describes Hikari to Tawamureru, meaning "playing with light" like this:
"All that is required is that we express ourselves as simply and sincerely as possible, regardless of our physical strength. It is not even necessary to move. It is enough simply to play or just be present. This kumite is a revival...2022-06-2012 minShintaido of America Podcast11. “Scream to the sky: the gyroscope of Shintaido”Imagine that you are being invited to join a series of trainings or
practices that are described like this:
People joining this training have to put their house in order before
each practice, as if they might not return. Our purpose is to discover
our physical limits and the threshold of the unknown world which begins
at the end of our psychological strength.
These were the conditions for the people who invented Shintaido, the
Rakutenkai group, which was formed under Hiroyuki Aoki’s leadership in
1965. In the last episode, we...2022-06-0516 minShintaido of America Podcast10. “Giving voice to the hidden cosmic breath”Episode 10 describes the creation of Tenshingoso, the foundational kata (a sequence of movements) of Shintaido, which Aoki calls “an embodiment of the hidden cosmic breath.”
Aoki intended that the kata should be “…an embodiment and expression of the common Tao of many different disciplines, [which] simulates the cycle of a human life and even the rhythm of the cosmos.” He also intended that the kata should be concise and simple, take only a few minutes to practice, help us focus on the infinite horizon, and function as an antidote to the routine discouragements of daily life. The form that...2022-05-2212 minShintaido of America Podcast9. “Discovering the world of true natural body movement”Episode 9 focuses on Aoki’s research into what constitutes truly natural movement. He identifies qualities of movement common to master craftsmen, babies, and ancient Buddhist statues and describes how he used these observations as criteria for testing the naturalness and effectiveness of many traditional martial arts techniques. This led to the signature gesture of Shintaido, the wide-open hand with palm and fingers stretched and extended. In combination with other hand positions such as a tight fist or a completely relaxed hand, the open hand was integrated into the holistic training system that was to be named “Shintaido.”
...2022-05-0510 minShintaido of America Podcast8. “The locus of one swing of the sword is a sign”Aoki criticizes the many 20th-century martial artists who cooperated with the Japanese government during World War II, and finds clues in his own experience of karate clubs where “…the philosophy is very lofty, but the actual practice borders on sadism.” He questions whether many martial arts suffer from “a divorce between spiritual explanation and actual conditions.”
He describes his response in the development of Shintaido: “I tried to remove all spiritual gloss until we could reach a ‘zero point’ … Finally the day came when the meaning of all techniques became zero for me…”
🔴 More info about the episo...2022-04-2021 minShintaido of America Podcast7. “Putting the art back into the martial arts”If ancient movement arts—if we widen our focus beyond martial arts to include, for example, traditional Japanese Noh theater or tea ceremony—if these ways of movement are not just “museum pieces” but are still relevant for us today as contemporary, living systems of physical training; then we might ask if they should be not just revived or preserved, but somehow re-invented. Aoki explains his goals in the process of inventing Shintaido, as he writes:
“By using body movement, we could regain a measure of the genuine communication which has almost disappeared from our lives, and at the sam...2022-04-0512 minShintaido of America Podcast6. “An ancient sword master expands space-time”“The sword technique of Hariyaga Sekiun: expanding time, space, and energy.” Sekiun’s approach, influenced by Zen, was to strip away occult practices and pre-conceived responses to an attack. Rather than winning, his school emphasized unification with one’s opponent at the instant just before the start of the fight, a moment called ainuke, which Aoki interprets as pathway to sacredness.
This, and Sekiun’s concept of nyuwamubyoshi, or soft, rhythmless movement, transcend the world-view of traditional martial arts. Aoki concludes by imploring contemporary martial artists living in democratic societies to move beyond conventional attitudes, to express their opin...2022-03-2016 minShintaido of America Podcast5. “The martial arts and the evolution of consciousness”“The martial arts and the history of the evolution of consciousness.” It traces developments through the history of ancient Japanese martial arts from the simplest weapons to the peak classical achievements of the 16th century, after which a dramatic change was spurred by the introduction of the rifle on the battlefields of medieval Japan. From then onward, technological developments in warfare branched off in one direction, leading to the atomic bomb and other inventions. The other branch of martial arts was nurtured by periods of peace when the samurai turned to meditation, calligraphy, tea ceremony, and other art forms. The...2022-03-0518 minShintaido of America Podcast4. “How is a karate master like a symphonic conductor?”Imagine that you are watching a group of dancers, or martial artists, moving in synchronization, the group naturally breathing as one, timing synchronized to the microsecond, but not with military rigidity — they are moving with the naturalness and grace a school of fish or a flock of birds. The scene shifts to a classical orchestra, each section and each musician contributing a part, which the conductor weaves together into a spectacular whole.
Part of Aoki’s inspiration in Shintaido was gained through the perspiration as master Egami’s disciple, leading karate training in his school. The choreographer, the or...2022-02-2015 minShintaido of America Podcast3. “Meeting karate master Egami-sensei”Before Shintaido was created decades ago, its founder, Hiroyuki Aoki, was a young student of drama and visual art. It was only by accident — when his acting teacher suggested that he should study karate to improve his acting skills — that he met karate master Shigeru Egami. Aoki’s artistic approach to body movement gave impetus to the discipline that eventually became Shintaido.
“As a lover of music and art, I also wanted Shintaido to have the same value as the works of Bach or Mozart in music, or as the works of Michelangelo, Cezanne or Picasso in the worl...2022-02-0514 minShintaido of America Podcast2. ”What is Shintaido?”“As a mood or feeling, Shintaido is more religious and artistic than scientific. It is more emotional and primitive than rational,” writes Shintaido’s founder, Hiroyuki Aoki. “It involves cooperation more than competition in its movements. But it is cooperation that emphasizes individual expression, rather than passive group enjoyment.… Shintaido cannot be understood by trying to pigeon-hole it into traditional or popular categories such as martial arts, gymnastics, health fads, or religion.”
The difficulty of creating an art that overcomes barriers to mutual understanding is something Aoki understands well. Shintaido grows from the soil of Japan’s ancient tradit...2022-01-2011 minShintaido of America PodcastTrailer to season 1Welcome to Shintaido of America podcast!
Shintaido is a unique combination of martial arts and body movement that cultivates the spirit along with the mind and body. It has been called a moving meditation.
In Japanese, Shintaido means “new body way.” Shintaido’s forms exemplify openness and freedom. The movements of Shintaido provide a new way of experiencing our relationship with ourselves, others, nature, and the spiritual world.
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W...2022-01-0301 minShintaido of America Podcast1. “The atom bomb inspires an avant-garde martial art”Hiroyuki Aoki, the founder of Shintaido, has been called a “pioneer,” and the discipline he created with the Rakutenkai group in the 1960s has been called “an avant-garde martial art.” As children, Aoki and members of the group experienced the bombing of Japan during World War Two, and many lost family members to the atomic bomb. But even as the technology of war continued to increase its destructive power, these young people dove deep into the traditional fighting techniques of Japanese martial arts to transform the essence of these ancient teachings into a movement discipline for modern society.
As one...2022-01-0125 min