Shintaido of America Podcast

Interview with Shintaido instructor and interactive media developer Brad Larson

In 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.

3. Untying Knots chapter 3 & 4

Episode 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.

Untying Knots and an interview with orchestral conductor Kent Nagano

Episode 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 decadence if need be.” His plans are thwarted, however, and he ends up quitting both alcohol and cigarettes – without suffering a religious conversion.
🔴 More info about the episode and the podcast here.
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🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast. 
 

Untying Knots chapter 1 and an interview with artist Mario Uribe

In 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.
🔴 Find out more about the podcast and other educational materials on our website.
🔴 Follow Shintaido of America on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 
🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast. 

WE ARE RELEASING SEASON TWO OF THE SHINTAIDO OF AMERICA PODCAST

In 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. Our podcast is and will be advertisement free. Shintaido of America is a non-profit organization running on volunteer donations and we wish to thank all of our followers for their support. If you are new to this, welcome! We will be more than happy if you consider your support in the future. You can support us here. 

14. “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 episode and the podcast here.
🔴 Follow Shintaido of America on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 
🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast. 

13. 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 USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, and elsewhere outside Japan.
🔴 More info about the episode and the podcast here.
🔴 Follow Shintaido of America on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 
🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast. 

12. “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 of the childhood expression that we lost by growing up."🔴 More info about the episode and the podcast here.
🔴 Follow Shintaido of America on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 
🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast. 

11. “Scream to the sky: the gyroscope of Shintaido”

Imagine that you are being invited to join a series of trainings orpractices that are described like this:People joining this training have to put their house in order beforeeach practice, as if they might not return. Our purpose is to discoverour physical limits and the threshold of the unknown world which beginsat the end of our psychological strength.These were the conditions for the people who invented Shintaido, theRakutenkai group, which was formed under Hiroyuki Aoki’s leadership in1965. In the last episode, we heard about Tenshingoso, the five breathsof cosmic reality. This episode presents the other fundamental form ofShintaido: Eiko no ken, the “sword of glory,” known now simply as Eikoor “glory,” which Aoki describes as the “gyroscope” of Shintaido.
🔴 More info about the episode and the podcast here.
🔴 Follow Shintaido of America on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 
🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast. 

10. “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 emerged after a process of research and development was named Tenshingoso, the Five Breaths of Cosmic Reality. Aoki acknowledges his debt to his former teacher Shigeru Egami of Shotokai karate-do, and to master Hoken Inoue (also called Noriako Inoue) and his art of Shinwa Taido (also called Shin’ei Taido. Inoue was the nephew of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido). In many traditional martial arts, such an essential kata would be kept a secret. But Aoki’s aim was different than that of traditional arts, and he wanted to make Tenshingoso available to everyone.
🔴 More info about the episode and the podcast here.
🔴 Follow Shintaido of America on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. 
🔴 Donate to Shintaido of America!
We are a non-profit organization depending on loads of volunteer work yet some tasks require more than that. With your support, we are able to progress in our activities, create more educational materials and work on innovative projects such as this podcast.