AIKIDO ZEN PATH

AI – Harmony, KI – Energy, DO – Way

	The Art of Peace The divine beauty Of heaven and earth! All creation, Members of One family O-Sensei
Master Morihei Ueshiba (O-Sensei) 1883 – 1969

THE AIKIDO ZEN PATH offers a way to practice the ‘Art of Peace’ for total spiritual development. The founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, developed the art as an expression of his spiritual experience. His goal was to awaken humanity to Oneness. Aikido Zen teaches a way of embodying and living Universal Energy, another name for Buddha Nature or Enlightenment.

Our program follows the Zen Garland General Path, which provides a common foundation uniting us. This includes Zen meditation, embodiment practices, ethical studies and service, Inner Relationship Focusing, text studies, and private guidance with our lineage-holding Teachers.
Practitioners in the Aikido Zen Path work personally with one of the Directors, 5th Dan Aikido Senseis Eran Kyoka Vardi or Greg Tensho Noble. Students also enhance their practice through personal study with Roshi Paul Genki Kahn. 
We offer residential accommodations for students who wish to come for periods of intense training.

Kenshusei Procedure
Students who formally enter the Aikido Zen Path are called Kenshusei. They have weekly Guidance Meetings with their Aikido Zen Sensei, periodic Guidance Meetings and koan study with Roshi Paul Genki Kahn (by Skype or in person) and group meetings. They practice Aikido, Zen meditation, and the other aspects of Zen Garland training. In addition, they help maintain the Dojo and, in all ways, support the Teacher and practice there.

To become a Kenshusei, a student contacts Sensei Greg Tensho Noble or Sensei Eran Kyoka Vardi and sends in a Kenshusei Application Form. An interview is arranged. If the student is accepted, an initial 3-Month Training Program is created by the student, the Aikido Zen Teacher and the Roshi. This is written on the Kenshusei Pledge Form. An Entry Ceremony is held to acknowledge the commitment and welcome the student into Kenshusei status.

All practitioners in Zen Garland are welcome to practice Aikido for training in Embodiment, the development of mind-body integration, awareness and skill in functioning.

Eran Kyoka Vardi, Sensei	Rev. Greg Tensho Noble, Sensei

“In your training, do not hurry, for it takes a minimum of ten years to master the basics and advance to the first rung. Never think of yourself as an all-knowing, perfected master; you must continue to train daily with your friends and students and progress together in the Art of Peace.”
O-Sensei

Practitioners committed to the AIKIDO ZEN PATH are supervised by Vardi Sensei and Noble Sensei, and have intensive private and group studies on Aikido, as well as regular Aikido training. These practitioners follow the Zen Garland holistic approach to spiritual development, which includes 5 Core Practices: Zen meditation, study with a Zen Teacher, ethical integrity, embodiment and character development. Aikido Zen as a Spiritual Path integrates these aspects around the physical practice of Aikido under the guidance of a teacher accomplished in both Aikido and Zen.

AIKIDO ZEN PATH training locations:

Aikido of Ramapo Valley
Wyckoff, New Jersey:
Directed by “>Eran Kyoka Vardi Sensei, 5th Dan in the United States Aikido Federation and the International Aikido Federation.

Zenshinkai
Charlston, West Virginia:
Zenshinkai is directed by Rev. Greg Tensho Noble, Sensei, 5th Dan. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Zenshinkai Aikido Association, a network of 11 Aikido Dojos in the USA.

“If you have not linked yourself to true emptiness, you will never understand the art of peace”
O-Sensei

The establishment of Practice Paths in Zen Garland and the empowerments and ordinations of teachers, priests and ministers leading Practice Paths flow from Roshi Paul Genki Kahn’s empowerment as a Zen Buddhist priest, master teacher, lineage and precept holder. Zen realization and actualization are the heart of our spirituality and beyond form and formlessness. Being so, Zen can express itself in infinite forms. The Zen Garland Practice Paths transmit the heart of Zen, share a General Path that provides common ground, and offer such unique expressions for spiritual practice as Christian Zen, Native American Zen, Aikido Zen.