Or, “It’s cold. It must be mid-winter training.”

In the Japanese martial arts tradition, students of each of the various schools typically hold a special training session called “kangeiko” (寒稽古 in Japanese), which means “mid-winter training.”

No one is certain of the exact origin of the kangeiko, but the tradition appears to have started in the middle of the Edo period, sometime in the Hōreki era (1751~1764), as a way to improve the general health of the adherents to each particular martial arts school.

Though particular to Japanese arts, the tradition of kangeiko has spread worldwide with the global popularity in the martial arts, and now kangeiko training can be found everywhere, from Tokyo to Paris to Chicago to Sydney. Because it’s cold almost everywhere in Japan after the turn of the year, stories of people training in pretty cold conditions are commonplace. Kangeiko is more than just a training session: it’s an opportunity for reflection, for starting afresh in the new year and for bonding with others, all in a setting steeped in tradition.

Shodokan aikido honbu in Osaka follows the same pattern, and is presently holding its 2010 kangeiko training session in the Showacho district of Osaka in the headquarters dojo each morning this week (2010-01-18~23), Monday through Saturday, from 6:30~7:30, plus one summation session on Sunday in the afternoon.

On Monday and Tuesday, Tetsuro Nariyama, shihan of Shodokan Aikido, discussed the tekubi waza (wrist techniques) focusing on kote hineri (wrist folding) techniques and applications on Monday morning and kote gaeshi (supinating wrist lock) techniques and applications on Tuesday morning.

To be honest, no matter how many times I try them, I find the kote gaeshi techniques and applications to be difficult to perform, even with minimal competency. But, I guess if I could do it all well, there’d be little need for training! I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s lesson!