Biran, formerly Sansho, is the Aikido journal of Birankai International. Each issue features a keynote essay by T.K. Chiba, Shihan, plus interviews with Birankai shihan and shidoin, essays from members, poetry, photography and news items. Articles address topics in Aikido practice, weapons, Iaido and Zen practice. Biran gets its name from a Buddhist term meaning a cosmic storm that occurs in the moment before cosmic order shifts.

Deadline for submissions, Summer 2006 Issue: June 1, 2006.

From Current Issue (Spring 2006):

"In my conversations with Willie, he warned me that the relationship of the student with the sensei is quite different in China from that in the USA and Japan. He very nicely told me that the students were going to challenge me and that I would have to "prove" myself to get their respect."

From "Chronicle of a Trip to Beijing" by Pablo Vazquez, San Mateo Aikikai

"Even after a technique is over, still there should be something powerfully alive in your body and as an uke, you should respect this and respond to it, because it still has to do with you. Over is not over, until it is over. "

From "Stillness in Motion" by A. I. Lieber, Sei Chu Kan Dojo, Bozeman MT.

Also: Zen stories cut to the heart of practice, Aikido and Pilates meet in a new DVD, and Brooklyn Aikikai celebrates its grand opening.