Howa

[Nina]

Hi, I would like to know which topics do you discuss in Howa?

[Bilal]

May I ask what a Howa is?

[Nina]

Hi Bilal,
it is something like a theory-lecture.

[Luar]

Great question. Outside of the standard philosophy, we will openly discuss the latest social and political issues. Sometimes it does get interesting as we do have very broad opinions.

Our most memorable howa occurred immediately after the September 11th attack and while I was not present, I heard it dominated the entire class as it was obviously a very emotional time for everyone.

[sheb]

a question i'm interested in is whether you do howa regularly?

we do howa not regularly and usually about shorinji kempo related topics.

[Nina]

Great question. So why does nobody answer?:hot:

[sheb]

So why does nobody answer?:hot:perhaps nobody takes you seriously ... :up:

[Nina]

perhaps nobody takes you seriously ... :up:
Probably not.:cutup:

[Luar]

So why does nobody answer?:hot:

Hey I did my share.

[RickMatz]

So why does nobody answer?:hot:

Maybe it's a zen thing.

[Nina]

Hey I did my share.
Yes, thanks...but you were the only one...

[Colin Linz]

We pretty much just stick to the syllabus. The methods of delivery may vary depending on the Branch. In Brisbane they hold special lessons to discuss these, it is done in the form of a lecture with discussion. In Sydney they used to stop halfway through training and the sensei would deliver a short lecture with little or no discussion. Others tend to bring these concepts into the training environment and point out why we do things the way we do or hold informal discussions using current events to illustrate kaiso's lessons.

Kaiso was a very smart man. He designed the training system of Shorinji Kempo to be an experiential learning tool to re-enforce his philosophy lessons. Because of this it is possible to teach these lessons with just some guidance and relevant analogies.

[Gary Dolce]

Others tend to bring these concepts into the training environment and point out why we do things the way we do .....

I tend toward this approach. I have given more formal lectures in the past but eventually realized I was just saying the same thing to the same people over and over. At some point I will go back to doing lectures again (these things go in cycles for me).


Kaiso was a very smart man. He designed the training system of Shorinji Kempo to be an experiential learning tool to re-enforce his philosophy lessons. Because of this it is possible to teach these lessons with just some guidance and relevant analogies.

I am in complete agreement. I will go farther and say that you can talk to people about philosophy all day, but the strongest lesson is in the way we interact with each other in practice.