SHUMEIKAI ITALIA
Aikido
Association
©

SHUMEIKAI ITALIA
The Association

Shumeikai Italia is a cultural and amateur sports association. It was founded in 2005 and its primary aim is to promote and coordinate the study, search and practice of Aikido and secondarily of Budo and japanese culture. It has been regularly and legally registered and recognized by the Tribunal of Rome.

Shumeikai Italia's mission is to bring italian aikidoka together, expecially those who mainly refer to Tamura Nobuyoshi Sensei's teachings.


The 3 kanji (ideograms) forming the name of the association, inspired to that of Shumeikan, the dojo of Tamura in Bras - Provance, are:

SHU = study, govern
MEI = light
KAI = group, whereas KAN = home

Shumeikai's meaning might be read "society for governing the light".


Reference Teachers

Shumeikai Italia therefore adheres to Tamura Sensei's method and relies on the technical support of a group of higly qualified, internationally renown Aikido teachers: Renè Van Droogenbroeck, VII dan, Malcolm Tiki Shewan, VI dan e Stephane Benedetti, VI dan. They are students of Tamura Sensei who have reached an high level of understanding of Aikido and whose teaching tecniques are of great help to better comprehend Tamura Sensei's approach.

Teachers' Biographies



The structure of the association

Shumeikai Italia gathers together - as of today - 13 dojo located in different regions of Italy (in Lombardia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Lazio and Sardegna), as well as a dojo in Slovenjia.

The association's statute requires one Directive Council, for the administration, and one Technical Commitee, for the technical and didactic aspects.

In the Technical Teachers' Roll, 15 teachers are now registered.

SMK Italia ranking certificates

SMK Italia recently adopted an innovative approach concerning dan certificates, in order to contribute to an improved rigour and transparency in Aikido rank awarding procedures. SMK Italia awards three different rank cerificates, classified as follows:

  1. Awarded technical rank
    This is the "normal" case, in which a dan rank is awarded by SMK Italia following a practical examination conducted under the association technical rules;

  2. Acknowledged technical rank
    This is the case of a rank awarded by a separate body, duly authenticated and acknowledged by SMK Italia following appropriate scrutiny by its Technical Committee;

  3. Honorary rank
    This is a case of recognition of special non-technical merits in service of the Art and/or the association.

Furthermore, each technical-type certificate (types 1 and 2) is completed by a detailed ranking resume printed on the certificate verso. This represent the holder's personal ranking history, as acknowledged by SMK Italia Techical Committee. It includes any rank previously awarded, technical as well as honorary, appropriateley authenticated and fully described by date, issuing organization and certificate number.

This initiative was inspired by the ideas exposed in an article by S.A. Pranin (available online on Aikido Journal). It represents a contribution to improving the general italian Aikido state of affairs: Italy, in fact, is characterized not only by extreme fragmentation and widespread lack of accountability, but also by frequent ethically questionable behaviour concerning ranking. These include abnormal progression rates, homemade/fake track records and qualifications, self-awarding, and low transparency concerning one's own personal history as well as ranking procedures enforced by each organization.

With this action, SMK Italia sends a small signal, hoping to leave a mark in the italian Aikido environment where, as seen in many other countries, the topic of ranking often suffers of lack of integrity, transparency and consistency.