The 3rd Saku International Aikidô Kenshûkai was held at Saku-shi Budokan and Aikidô Saku Dôjô from May 1 to 5, 1997. This year the practice schedule differed from last year, with three hours of practice each day from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. On May 4, we also had the Saku Aikidô Embukai (demonstration) followed by a get-together over a barbecue and drinks.

More than 170 people including 32 visitors from overseas participated over the five days. When the 18 foreign Aikidô students living in Japan are included, nearly 30% of all the participants were from overseas. Ms. Minegishi from Saipan Aikikai kindly interpreted all of Endô Sensei's speeches in English during the practice for these non Japanese students. Thanks a lot, Minegishi san!

The new practice schedule seems to be convenient for the majority of participants, because it gave plenty of free time after the practice to go sightseeing or just rest before dinner. New ideas and services like this should help make our Kenshûkai more and more fulfilling and enjoyable.

The 1997 Aikidô Saku Dôjô Summer Practice and the Yûdansha Seminar were held at Saku Dôjô under the instruction of Endô Shihan.

The Third Summer Practice was held for four days, from Thurs, 14 Aug to Sun, 17 Aug 1997. All the participants practiced hard in the very hot summer weather, not tiring even after two hours of practice in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. When the first and second seminars were 8 hours of practice all together, with participants staying two nights. This time, one more day was added and we practiced for a total of 12 hours. This was because Endô sensei told us that he had heard that "participants from overseas would like to come not only to Spring camp but also to the Summer seminar, if it were a little longer". The total number of participants was 110, 30 more than last year, with 6 participants from Europe. In 1998, we plan to hold the fourth Summer Practice over four nights with 16 hours of practice all together. Since this falls on the summer "Bon Yasumi" holiday season in Japan, it may clash with those of us travelling with our families or returning home. However, those who would like to take part for only one or two days are welcome to do so. We hope that this means more people can join the Summer Practice.

In the Third Yûdansha Seminar, on the afternoon of Sat, 8 Nov and the morning of Sun, 9 Nov, we practiced for four hours all together as usual. The number of participants was 63, 20 more than last year. The theme this time was "Tantô-dori" (knife techinques). For the first day, we learnt the basic kata (style). Drops of sweat stood out on the participants foreheads, as they carefully practiced managing (sabaku), suppressing (osaeru), and taking the knife, when attacked from the side, the front, or with a thrust. On the second day, we studied free movement with various kinds of attack. Some members were at a loss as to how to react and move to the various attacks of their partner, but everyone appeared to enjoy themselves. It was one of those practices that that is a rare and enjoyable experience. After dinner on the first day, we had a two-hour meeting without the usual drinking. We picked up on subjects from "Gorinsho, The Book of Five Rings" written by Miyamoto Musashi. One was "Heihô no Hyôshi no koto; The Rhythm of Heihô" from "Chi-no-maki; The Earth Book" and another was "Heihô no Metsuke to iu koto; The Point of Concentration in Heihô" from "Mizu-no-maki; The Book of Water." We divided the participants into 6 groups and discussed these themes for about one hour. Afterwards, a representative from each group summarised the discussion, which was followed by further free discussion. Expressions such as "chigau hyôshi; upsetting the partner's breathing or timing", "somuku hyôshi; going against the partner's timing and pulling down, " and "with timing that the enemy never expects . . . and winning; taking somebody by surprise" were mentioned. Some said that these were the techniques of cheating or trickery and for a while, the discussion became quite heated over that issue.

The three seminars in Spring, Summer, and Autumn have become firmly established. The total number of participants in these seminars over the last three years since 1995 was about 890, with over 100 participants from overseas, who mainly joined the spring camp. We would like to see even more people join the seminars, and would like to ask you for your support in providing even more fulfilling seminars in the future.