First of all, why Serbia? Many people asked me: why are you going to a seminary in Serbia and not Germany, France or another country?

In 2004, I had opportunity to be in Japan and travelling to Hakone, Shimizu Sensei played Serbian music and began to speak in a very emotive way about this country. I am sure that only the things and the special people wake the affections up. So I decided to travel to the country that gave me headaches at my geography class.

After a complicated but nice trip around different places, finally I arrived to Kragujevac…what a tropical country!!! Too much heat and because of a bad advice I was traveling with a suitcase full of sweaters and clothes that I never used. Serbian people used to tell me “Here is too cold for you, isn’t it?? Ne ne ne!!!! Summer in Mexico City never is too hot. Then the companions began to do a lot of questions to me as statistical examination:

How many people are in Mexico?
How many people live in Mexico City?
How big is the Mexican land?

Of course I answered everything bad but (as good Mexican) I answered.

Here the real data if you still care about it:
Mexico has 103’263,388 habitants, and 8’605,239 live in Mexico City but if we considerer Mexico City and suburbs the habitants are 18’396,677.
The continental area of Mexico is 1’972,550 km2.

... this was my first seminar with Shimizu Sensei. Unfortunately to me, when he visited Mexico I couldn’t take part.
 
My first impression when I arrived to the seminary place was that in Serbia there are a good organized and caring team due to a lot of people was participating cleaning and fixing the tatami. When I returned for the first training everything was perfect and everyone, even with the problems of communication because of language, treated all time to be in contact with me or express me something, and this way of be makes me feel welcome.

Starting the training my surprise was bigger due to the quantity of people, there were more than one hundred people (in order to give you an idea: in the Mexico seminar there were less than fifty people), also I had not idea about the Aikido’s level in Serbia, I met a great quality in the majority of the companions, good ukemi and a clean and soft technique, but especially a simple, nice attitude and always looking to help the others. (I am sure I was the rough guy).

... sometimes I noticed that the group was not so homogenous, for example there are things that we don’t use to put attention because we don’t see the real importance as be always on time, or receive Shimizu Sensei in seiza, or be careful for not to sit giving back to the kamiza, maybe it seems not important things but they are important and they form part of the Aikido’s Budo. 

On the other hand, in an occasion a participant interrupted my practice with a companion to do Shijo Nage with me, his technique was very different and there was a moment in which he hurt me, later I was very troublesome with myself because I didn't tell nothing to him, so (as later Miki would told me) who hurts you today can hurt to another tomorrow, then he interrupted again the practice to go with a different companion, this is not correct. Every practice, every person that we have opposite is an opportunity to grow and to learn, I was feeling this increasingly and at the end this personage also was positive to me.

In spite of the short time, the seminar in Serbia gave me a lot, probably because I can’t understand Serbian or Japanese and at last I could only watch, feel and correct slowly my mistakes. There are things that you can assimilate better when you do not think them.

... and the quantity of people forces us to make more conscious technique if you want to avoid “cocolazos” (Mexican: shock between to heads), this lack of space led me think again about MA AI's concept, before I believed that MA AI was something like distance between uke and nage and already … into some moment during the seminar was changing my idea on this concept and I was associating it more with the music, more than the distance between bodies, I related it suddenly with the rhythm, the intervals, the silence … (As in the music) absolutely tied to the breathing and to the intuition, as when the jazz players improvise and know perfectly in that moment to stand out or not, is to find the just moment  but completely tied to other one.

Sometimes when we can’t move the other, we use to say that “he doesn’t move or he is hard or he is slow” but the truth is that we are not fitting us with his time or his rhythm.

MA AI is like the just interval of time between sounds to produce the musical phrases, is like the spaces vaguely painted in paints… is the thing that keeps the universe running without collisions.

When really a movement is achieved by this feeling, it is wonderful, days after the seminar, while I continued analyzing in my interior; I have been trying it, now little by little I try to feeling it and to apply it while I train.

... in Kragujevac and days after in Novi Sad is that many times we grow in the Aikido form but not in essence, many people in the seminaries expect to see spectacular actions (Shimizu Sensei flying as Jackie Chan or moving 30 dangerous killers as Steven Segal) and when they see Shimizu Sensei doing Shijo Nage they think “I already do this, what else will I learn?”… Aikido goes beyond the form and to do the correct technique with the perfect feeling we need a lot of interior work in or out the dojo, we must apply it in the daily life in order to reflect it step by step, it is a hard work and when we see the value of this, then Shimizu Sensei or the people who have a lot of years practicing aikido with passion and patience become more spectacular and admirable to us.

Something I didn’t expect was the complete generosity of Serbian people, since I arrived until the last day people treated us (Eckhart, Gael, Birgit and me) with the same attention given to Shimizu Sensei. To organize a seminary is too complex and expensive, but they had the generosity of treating us in the same way. The seminary had only to special guests Shimizu Sensei and Kenta and all the others that participated in the seminary are there to cooperate and help the organizers, but everything they make for us confirmed my correct decision of traveling to Serbia and not to another country. I have never been in other seminaries; I have never practiced in Germany, France, Belgium, Singapore etc… I don’t know if in all the countries people should have same attentions or not with me, but I lived the generosity of the people that use to give everything with heart and this is a pleasure that few people knows how to enjoy.

... the people not only share the aikido practice with me but also they opened their homes, THE KITCHEN (Thanks Miroslav and Tanja), they borrow me even the “licuadora” (food mixer) and left me feel and smell (lavender) a beautiful city. At the end we drank together a beer and I felt myself in home. In Serbia and Mexico we are too similar.

Serbia not only has delicious ice cream… has the dedication of Milan, the intelligence and clarity of Miki, the complete heart of people like Dragan and Mitar (thanks to whom they can count with and excellent tatami and the fabulous wine and rakia homemade from Montenegro) the most important thing is that Serbia have teachers who love the Aikido and have brought the students what they consider the most suitable: the direct teaching of Shimizu Sensei. Thanks to all these they have made a strong group directed in the correct way.

Thank you for receiving and teaching me.

 Lorena Fortolís

Mexico City, July 28, 2006