--- title: "The 2026 Ittō Tenshin-Ryū Taikai: A New Student's Perspective" description: Discover how attending the Albuquerque Itto-Tenshin Ryu Taikai transformed Meimei Lu's understanding of emotional bonds, respect, and empathy in martial arts. image: https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/IMG_1345.jpeg --- [Skip to content](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/the-albuquerque-itto-tenshin-ryu-taikai-from-the-perspective-of-a-new-student-and-first-time-attendee#main-content) [![SDMon](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/SDMon.svg "SDMon")](https://sandiegobudokan.com) - [Home](https://sandiegobudokan.com) - [Instructors](https://sandiegobudokan.com/instructors) - [Schedule](https://sandiegobudokan.com/schedule) - [Blog](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog) - [Get Started](https://sandiegobudokan.com/get-started) ![](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/IMG_1345.jpeg) # The 2026 Ittō Tenshin-Ryū Taikai: A New Student's Perspective ![Meimei Lu](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/MsLu-Profile.jpeg) [Meimei Lu November 10, 2026](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/author/meimei-lu) - [Essay](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/tag/essay) - 9 mins **Emotional Bonds** This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Albuquerque Itto-Tenshin Ryu Taikai, which is an annual seminar our tradition holds at one of the affiliated dojo. The seminar consists of two full days of training and lectures from a senior instructor. This weekend it was led by Simms Sensei. The schedule of the Taikai was packed with training from morning until evening, a brief break after training concluded, and then dinner with everybody afterwards. I had never gone to a Taikai before, so this was all new to me, but, I have noticed that emotional bonds are forged during these kinds of events. By ‘these kinds of events’, I mean events that include an entire organization, last multiple days, include no downtime, your phone is nowhere near you and by the time you get to it at the end of the day you have a thousand missed notifications, you go to sleep very late and have to wake up very early the next day, and the schedule is so busy you don’t have time to do anything else. That is exactly what the Taikai was like. The only word I can use to describe an event like this is *exhilarating*. Especially because the activity tying everyone together was training a martial art. But exhilarating is exactly what I wanted it to be. I wanted to void my mind of all other worries and give my undivided attention to what we did at the Taikai. Everyone else there, all the other Kenjutsu practitioners from affiliated dojo, did the same. During the Taikai, Simms Sensei asked us to face some dark parts of ourselves. There were intense sessions of reflection into our own heart; sometimes on the mat with our bokken and other times sitting with our eyes closed and meditating. These are activities most people don’t even do with people that they are close with. We were asked to face ourselves, and rid ourselves of our hesitation and fear. When you experience this with a tight-knit group of people and become part of that group, an emotional bond is formed. I imagine that the next time I see the other members of the Ryu who attended the Taikai, there will be a new shared feeling of familiarity between us, and we will feel closer. People that I had never met previous to the Taikai and will not see regularly afterwards; I now have a shared emotional experience with them in a way that is completely different from all other emotional bonds I have. And people who I already know (and train with); I have a deeper connection to them now as well because we all experienced the same feelings and the same emotions during this event. And when I really think about it, it’s very rare to have something like that. I feel blessed to have met and shared an emotional bond with such inspiring and admirable people at the Taikai. **Deference** All East Asian martial arts have a very serious tradition of absolute respect and deference. When I began training Ittō-Tenshin-ryū and Yamate-ryū with Simms Sensei and Major Stamps at George Washington University, I was happy to see that they strictly enforced bowing in, bowing out, and bowing to your sparring partner during class. It felt right and correct. Adherence to tradition feels right and correct. I began training Taekwondo recently as well, and the Master at my studio also drills these aspects into his classes: bowing when entering/exiting the mat and to fellow students, and replying with ‘Yes, Sir” to every instruction. Through my exposure to these martial arts and the culture of respect that they teach, I have tried my best to assimilate into the customs of bowing and replying appropriately to senior instructors. But the Taikai was the first time that I actually *wanted* to give my deference rather than just perform it. I realized that previous to the Taikai, my bows were sometimes empty. And my ‘Os’ was sometimes just a reply I gave because I was told to do so. Which is probably normal for a junior student. It made me wonder if every junior student has a moment that changes them from the deshi they were before to the deshi they are now, after experiencing their equivalent to the Taikai. The reason why I now actually want to obey is because after observing everyone in the organization together for a whole weekend, I needed some form of outlet to express how much respect I gained for everyone there. Watching everyone carry out the techniques with such intensity and precision made me realize how much of their lives they’ve put into this art. For many people there, they have been training for as long as I have been alive, and some even longer. They have consecrated their time into keeping the tradition alive and passing it down to juniors like myself. I wanted to communicate all of this to them somehow. I thought about it some more, and then it made so much sense. I can put all that respect, admiration, and gratitude into my deference. That’s where it should come from. Over the course of the weekend, my bows and ‘Os’ responses became willing acts of deference. Me bowing looked the exact same as always but it was different in my heart because I *wanted* to bow. That bow now contained my honest gratitude and admiration. During one of the training sessions, one of the senior instructors used his bokken to strike his sparring partner’s bokken with such force that it snapped in half. One junior student immediately rushed to give up his bokken to the senior, while kneeling and bowing his head. That to me looked like willing deference. And that act became very beautiful in my perspective. It is so beautiful to respect someone so much that you bow to them. Once again, I observed that it is very rare to have this experience. Respect is not something someone feels casually. It’s possible that someone can go through all of their schooling and then enter the workforce without finding a single person they respect. In my case, I have found many people in the Ryu who I now deeply respect. People I want to willingly defer to. I am determined to continue cultivating this trait in my training. **Empathy** When I returned to San Diego after the Taikai, one of my friends asked me how it went. The only way I could summarize the Taikai was to tell her 我的心变大了,which in Mandarin means my heart grew bigger. Which is indeed what happened. My soul expanded as a result of the Taikai. During one of the lunch breaks at the Taikai, I sat with a senior named Mrs. Hamilton. Being the only two women at the event, we naturally sought each other out and made conversation. I found out that one of the other seniors was her husband, Mr. Hamilton. It was amazing to witness a husband and wife also be sparring partners. The topic of her relationship with her husband came up while we were eating lunch together. She described many positive aspects of their relationship and while I was listening to her talk, I could tell that she and him are really good friends. That is very familiar to me, since my husband Sam and I are also best friends. But then, she mentioned that she and her husband never fight. Really? Never? Truly? I asked how that was possible. She thought about why that was, and replied that she just **always has a lot of empathy for him.** And vice versa. So they never really get mad at each other. Sometimes you hear someone casually explain their mentality on life and it might not mean much to them but it is a groundbreaking moment of epiphany for you. That is what happened during that lunch break when Mrs. Hamilton and I were eating our turkey sandwiches and sitting in the Gichin’s chair position that drives Dr. Shapiro crazy. I had my moment of revelation right there. I usually don’t believe people when they say they never fight with their spouse or family members. But somehow, Mrs. Hamilton’s explanation of why she and Mr. Hamilton never fight made it click for me. She pointed at *empathy* for him as the reason they are able to avoid conflict. It was one of those instances where you hear and understand a truth so clearly that you have no notes, no questions, no need for clarification or more explanation. That is how I knew this advice was going to stick with me. I was so excited to try this approach on Sam. We don’t fight often and if we do, we resolve things easily. But Mrs. Hamilton said she *never* fought with Mr. Hamilton. That means I can do better. It means that something I thought didn’t need any more improvement actually can be even better. When I returned home to San Diego, my mind and soul seamlessly integrated Mrs. Hamilton’s outlook on relationships into my everyday responses and reactions to Sam. During every interaction, I tried putting my empathy for him above all else and let that determine my response. And it really works! It wasn’t that I was lacking empathy before, but just that now I was seeing out of the lens of empathy at every turn. In the weeks that I have been back from the Taikai, I actually couldn’t even find it in me anymore to be irritated or impatient with not just Sam but also others that I interacted with. And if I still found myself frustrated with someone, I would empathize with them to understand why they did what they did, or said what they said, and after being just a little more empathetic, the anger I felt would die before it became a response I gave. Because I understood that person and their actions a little bit better. That is the power of empathy. Empathy for another person can be so strong that it stops utterance and changes the way you see them. My life was changed by Mrs. Hamilton at this Taikai! Interpersonal conflict is something I am very interested in studying, and I have observed a lot of advice for successful interpersonal relationships through media, books, and personal accounts. But no tip or trick that I have tried has really stuck beyond a day or two. I would always revert to my base personality after a few attempts because the surge of motivation would pass, and eventually I’d forget the goal entirely. Then my life would go on like nothing happened. But I have seriously continued to think about empathy for others everyday after the Taikai. And it has softened my responses, lengthened my patience, and expanded my soul. Just having empathy for others can completely change the outcome of conflict. Empathy is an unusual takeaway from a seminar about striking at the heart. But the true test of any pursuit is the kind of person it turns you into, not how well you assimilate to its principles. One could train hard and become the perfect swordsman and still not learn an ounce of empathy. It’s one thing to learn and evolve on the mat, and an infinitely more important thing to let what you learn on the mat transform you outside the dojo. **Conclusion** In my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), we build temples as places of holy ordinances. They are distinct from chapels where weekly worship services are held. Temples are sacred places. You leave your outside life behind when you enter. While inside, you conduct yourself reverently and respectfully. The specific feeling of peace you feel inside is really only something you can feel there. Then, when you exit, returning to the outside world is like stepping down from the stratosphere. That’s kind of what it was like after the Taikai was over. After 48 hours of training and being together with the rest of the Ryu, I felt a little hollow returning to my life in San Diego. At the Taikai I was in such an elevated space. The things I cared about felt unburdened to exist freely and not be hampered by my everyday obligations. The things that really matter in this life could finally come alive. Simms Sensei’s teachings on gratitude, conflict, and focus were very present in the air that we all breathed together. You can’t go from that kind of bonding experience back to your normal life without feeling a little wistful that it’s over. There was definitively a Meimei before the Taikai and the Meimei after. The one thing I continue to marvel at is how rare of an experience this is for someone to have. The majority of a calendar year is spent fulfilling mundane obligations. Then during one random weekend in October in Albuquerque your life is changed and suddenly you will never go back to who you used to be. Everyone else present at the Taikai had gone to many before in previous years, and we all plan on attending future Taikai conferences, but this one will always be my first. I will never get to experience a Taikai for the first time again. That is why this is so important to me. How rare it is to meet people you want to be changed by. I was in a room full of them at the Taikai. I am committed to training hard until the next Taikai where I hope to keep learning from everyone in the Ryu. ![Meimei Lu](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/MsLu-Profile.jpeg) ### Meimei Lu Meimei Lu is a freelance UX and graphic designer with a BFA in graphic design from George Washington University. She began training Ittō Tenshin-ryū and Yamate-ryū at university in 2024. She formally joined the San Diego Budokan in 2026. ## Latest posts - [ALL POSTS](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/all) [![](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/IMG_1345.jpeg)](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/the-albuquerque-itto-tenshin-ryu-taikai-from-the-perspective-of-a-new-student-and-first-time-attendee) [Essay](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/tag/essay) Nov 9, 2026, 10:37:35 PM ### [The 2026 Ittō Tenshin-Ryū Taikai: A New Student's Perspective](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/the-albuquerque-itto-tenshin-ryu-taikai-from-the-perspective-of-a-new-student-and-first-time-attendee) [![](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Taiko%20Drum%20In%20Low%20Key%20Navy%20Blue.png)](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/when-the-drum-beats) [Essay](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/tag/essay) Oct 31, 2026, 10:36:22 PM ### [When the Drum Beats](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/when-the-drum-beats) --- [![SDMon-White-1](https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/SDMon-White-1.svg "SDMon-White-1")](https://sandiegobudokan.com) Copyright 2025 San Diego Budokan - [Home](https://sandiegobudokan.com) - [Sword, Brush, & Stone - Blog](https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog) - [Contact](https://sandiegobudokan.com/get-started) - [Schedule](https://sandiegobudokan.com/schedule) - [Instructors](https://sandiegobudokan.com/instructors) - [Heiho.org](https://heiho.org) --- ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Meimei Lu", "url" : "https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/author/meimei-lu" }, "dateModified" : "2026-11-10T16:55:58.034Z", "datePublished" : "2026-11-10T03:37:35.000Z", "headline" : "The 2026 Ittō Tenshin-Ryū Taikai: A New Student's Perspective", "image" : [ "https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/IMG_1345.jpeg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://sandiegobudokan.com/blog/the-albuquerque-itto-tenshin-ryu-taikai-from-the-perspective-of-a-new-student-and-first-time-attendee", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://sandiegobudokan.com/hubfs/SDMon-3.svg" }, "name" : "San Diego Budokan" } } ```