Keerthi Wikramarathne

Keerthi Wikramarathne started his martial education in 1977 in Matara, a city in the southern part of Sri Lanka under theat All Ceylon Karate Association (ACKA). He obtained his black belt in Shotokan Karate under Master G.A.T. Livera in 1981.

In 1982 Keerthi Wikramarathne became the chief instructor under the ACKA in Embilipitiya which was a under developed area in Sri Lanka at that time. He remained as the chief instructor from 1982 to 1988 and produced many students in Karate and black belt holders and some of them became national level Karate champions. This was a time of political unrest in the country and youth tending to violence and one of the greatest achievements of Keerthi Wikramarathne was to guide the youth students away from violence and make them better citizens.

In 1988 Keerthi Wikramarathne with his close colleague Praja Promodaya Nanayakara left to Japan to study martial arts broadly and in depth. Praja Promodaya Nanayakara was equally qualified in Karate as Keerthi Wikramarathne and both of them were practicing Ki-Aikido by themselves before their departure to Japan. During 1988 and 1989 both of them practiced general Ki-Aikido at Ki-No-Kenkyukai under the many Japanese instructors and the famous American Ki-aikido instructor William Reed sensei.

In 1990 Keerthi Wikramarathne invited his present wife Lalani Wickramarathne who was an all island champion in athletics and a teacher in physical education to Japan to study martial arts. After resigning from her career in Sri Lanka she joined him to explore martial arts in Japan and started on Ki-Aikido.

In 1990 all three of them got qualified to enter to the Ki-Aikido instructor school in Tokyo which was under the founder of Ki-Aikido late Koichi Tohei (10 Dan black belt). There they were trained by Koretoshi Maruyama sensei (9 Dan black belt) , Othsuka sensei (9 Dan black belt) and Kathooka sensei (9 Dan black belt) all who were chief instructors at Ki-Aikido head quarters. Until 1996 Keerthi Wikramarathne and Lalani Wikramarathne studied at Ki-No-Kenkyukai and graduated as instructors and obtained the highest possible ranks in that period of study, 2 and 3 Dan tests which were conducted by the late Tohei sensei himself at the Ki-No-Kenkyukai campus in Tochigi-ken.

Keerthi Wikramarathne also wanted to sharpen and update his knowledge in Shotokan Karate so he practiced Karate at the Japan karate Association (JKA) every evening from 1992 to 1996.

With the intention of exploring in depth in Budo, in 1992 he entered to the Tokyo Kyumeikan Dojo where the chief instructor was Akira Kubo sensei who was qualified with Kendo 7 Dan and Iaido 7 Dan Kyoshi. Both Keerthi Wikramarathne and Lalani Wikramarathne studied Kendo and Iaido under Akira Kubo sensei and also started on Jodo under Ichikawa sensei. After a dedicated training till 1996 both of them were able to obtain 3 Dan in Kendo ,Iaido and Jodo. In 1992 and 1993 they got very rare opportunity to participate in the kendo world camps in which they practiced Kendo and Iaido with world reputed practitioners and also passed tests.

In 1992 both Keerthi Wikramamrathne and Lalani Wikramamrathne started to learn Kyudo, Japanese archery which is one of the most prestigious activities in Japan under Tadashi Ono sensei (6 Dan Kyudo Kyoshi) at Yuaii Kyudojo in Chichibu Saitama. It demanded a great dedication to travel several miles from Tokyo to Chichibu every Sunday to learn Kyudo. As a result of this dedicated practice until 1996 Keerthi Wickramarathne earned 4 Dan in Kyudo and Lalani Wickramarathne obtained 3 Dan in Kyudo. Keerthi Wikramamrathne has been traveling to Japan several times to practice for the 5 Dan in Kyudo.

In 1996 both Keerthi Wikramamrathne and Lalani Wikramamrathne came back to Sri Lanka and joined Praja Promodaya Nanakakara and started the Budo Culture Training and Research Institute in 1997. This was the first full time martial arts school in Sri Lanka. They started teaching and sharing their valuable knowledge in Ki-Aikido, Kendo, Iaido, Kyudo, Jodo and Shodo. Many students have studied these martial arts since then and many have gained black belt in Ki-Aikido. In 1998 Tadashi Ono sensei visited Sri Lanka for the first time and conducted the first Kyudo seminar in Sri Lanka. Since then he has been visiting Sri Lanka every year and conducted seminars.

After many years of devoted training in martial arts Keerthi Wikramarathne's vision is to enhance Budo culture and spirits among Sri Lankan youth by invigorating courage, discipline, loyalty and courtesy in them for the betterment of society.

陰徳 - Intoku

Intoku meaning helping others in secret or secret charity is simply a beautiful concept with a very deep spiritual and philosophical meaning. Intoku was introduced by Toichi Tohei, the founder of Ki-Aikido and it has connections to many religious and it can be considered as a difficult practice that can only be carried out by someone with high principles and intelligence.

Lot of us wants to do good things in our lives but most of us expect some form reward in return for our actions. If we make a generous donation we want our names to read out or others to be aware of it and appreciate it. More often lot of people get discouraged once they do not get the attention or the recognition they expect in return for whatever the contributions they have made to others or to the society. Even more, people restrict the amount of good they do on the amount of return benefits they get. Sometimes people help others to the extent they prefer the person and not help a person they don’t like. But Intoku is where one is not expecting anything in return or any recognition or any awareness from anyone. It is a concept that is hard to practice by an ordinary person but which can ultimately bring the self perfection and spiritualism to a person. It will create a person who love everyone in the world and benefits everyone.

A natural question would be how one can practice Intoku. The simplest way would be to be a good person. As in any religion would suggest anyone can practice certain common moral standards. Honesty, truthfulness, moral conduct, nonviolence and abiding law can be recognized as a universally recognized set of qualities of a good individual. One may wonder how a person can help other in secret by having such qualities. One thing is that the negative impact or harm that would occur from such a person to the society will be minimum. He becomes a person whom others can trust and rely upon. Naturally his life style and actions will contribute only to the benefit of others and whoever associates with his will only get positive results.

Another way a person can practice Intoku is by protecting the nature. Day by day we see that the global ecology system is changing and many bad effects such as global warming are affecting human. With our knowing or not we are polluting the environment by our daily activities and life styles. By practicing simple things such as refraining from using Polythin and plastics one can avoid great pollution caused by their not decomposing nature. Use of reusable and recyclable material again can significantly contribute to the protection of nature. Lot of diseases are caused by polluted water and a person who would take measures to clean up at least his enclosure might save himself and at the same time minimize any harm that would come to others. Today’s major global weather conditions are caused by lack of forestry and emission of carbon gases to air. Lot of people does not grow trees even if they have enough space to do so but it can be one of the most helpful ways to protect the environment. To minimize the emission of carbon gases to the air as an individual one can take simple methods such as use of fuel efficient vehicles and public transport. Though this may seem quite impractical, such simple practices as an individual can contribute to the preservation of the environment for current and future generations and such a person would be helping the world in secret. A large collection of such individuals who would practice Intoku can make a great difference to the betterment of the whole world.

Identifying ones professional responsibilities and obligations and delivering them on time and properly is another way of helping others in secret. It is a practice among many to offer extra work in their respective occupations if they are offered any extra payments or benefits. Some people would only work for the specified time period only. There are also people who would perform there duties only to the minimum sufficient level though they have enough capacity to do better which can bring a greater results. But what if a person can always perform his work to the perfection irrespective of any rewards or recognition and what if a person can work a little extra than his specified amount of work. Such actions can improve the quantity and quality of output from a person which will fast forward the development of a society and enrich the life condition of its members.

Kindness and politeness can also be simple ways of helping others in secret. Lot of people gets distressed and uncomfortable in environments where people are arrogant and prejudice. It brings down the productivity of people and creates stress and disharmony. But just being polite to others, greeting to a person with a smile and appreciating a help from someone by thanking, forgiving and forgetting a mistake of a person are simple ways to create friendly environments where people become relaxed and happy. It will lead to the high quality of life standards in a society overall happiness within its members.

Another common way of practicing Intoku would be by showing others their mistakes and faults and helping to correct them. It is common that parents and teachers do this to their children often. Sometimes it is rare that such practices among the adults to themselves. It is most often the case that many of us try to concentrate on our own affairs and ignore what others do even if they know consequences. A person caring enough to advise or make others aware of their faults to avoid them getting into trouble would be helping other in secret.

In this article we try to analyze the concept of Intoku to some extent. It is a practice that can be done by anyone irrespective of the age, gender or the belief system they follow. Intoku can be considered as the ultimate selflessness in a person who would have the most generosity and compassion towards his community and the society.

Test day

A Ki-Aikido test was held on April at the dojo at Pannipitiya (EasyFit fitness center) under the supervision of Keerthi Wickramamrathne sensei. This test was very sepcial since all the other senseis were present with their own students. Among them were Upali Candrasiri sensei and Dammika Ranasinghe sensei from Rathnapura and Kalawanya dojo's with their students for the black belt test. Rashmi Aslem sensei and Abdul Hafeel sensei were also present for the examination.

All students getting ready for the test.

Ki-no-taiso and Aiki-taiso tests

Students from black-belt test

Dhammika sensei and Upali sensei judging student performancesHafeel sensei and Rashmi sensei closely monitoring the test
Keerthi sensei leading and guiding the students during the whole test
The evening session was for ni-kyu and go-kyu tests of Pubudhu, Gajaba, Anjula and Kishan.

Group photograph of all the students who participate for the tests.

Passing away of Koichi Tohei

Koichi Tohei Sensei, the founder of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (Ki-Aikido) passed away on 19th May 2011 in Tokyo. He has been a great innovator, leader, philosopher and a teacher who inspired many martial artists throughout the world for several decades.

As members of the Ki-Aikido Society of Sri Lanka we extend our condolences to the family members of great teacher and we all join the many followers around the world who would be mourning this great loss.

藤平光一 Koichi Tohei (20/01/1920 - 19/05/2011)

Special Training Session for the Black Belt Exam

During March special training sessions for the black belt test were conducted by Keerthi Wickramarathne sensei. Students underwent a rigorous training to improve their techniques and learn earn about the concepts of Ki and Aikido.

Keerthi Sensei demonstrating Kotegaishi Wasa to a student.

Students practicing Kotegeishi Wasa

Keerthi sensei demonstrating the Kata-Tori Wasa with Hafeel sensei.

Keerthi sensei demonstrating the Yoko-Mennuchi Wasa with Hafeel sensei.

Jo Kata been demonstrated by Keerthi sensei to students