Yoshio Kuroiwa (黒岩洋志雄) at the Edogawa Aikido Renmei in 2005

Yoshio Kuroiwa was born in Tokyo Japan in Showa year 7 (1932).  In Showa year 21 (1946) he joined the Nippon Kento Club (日本拳闘倶楽部) founded by the father of boxing in Japan, Yujiro Watanabe (渡辺勇次郎), with the intention of becoming a professional boxer. Forced to give up his dreams of a boxing career due to eye injuries, he entered Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Showa year 28 (1953), where he established a research group that would become known as the “Kuroiwa Gakko” (“Kuroiwa School”). Kuroiwa Sensei passed away on January 19th 2010.

Yasuo Kobayashi, Yoshio Kuroiwa, Kanshu Sunadomari,
Morihiro Saito, Shoji Nishio, Mitsugi Saotome
First Aikido Journal Friendship Demonstration, Tokyo – 1985

Kuroiwa Sensei published two articles in the Aikido Journal magazine: Training and Cognition and A Common Sense Look At Aikido. If you are interested in more about Kuroiwa Sensei you may also with to read Ellis Amdur’s tribute to his passing from AikiWeb – In Memory of Kuroiwa Yoshio.

This section of the interview introduces a little bit about the “Kuroiwa Theory” of Aikido. Here’s a little bit more on this theory, from a separate conversation with Kuroiwa Sensei:

People think of Ikkyo or Shiho-nage as single techniques and train them that way – later on that really screws them up!

The meaning of Ikkyo is to de-stabilize the opponent “vertically” from one’s own perspective. That moves from Ikkyo to Nikyo, Sankyo and Yonkyo – put another way, Ikkyo is an upper de-stabilization, Nikyo is a middle de-stabilization, Sankyo is a lower de-stabilization and Yonkyo is right on the ground.

Then Shiho-nage is to de-stabilize the opponent “horizontally” from one’s own perspective. Here things get deeper when one’s own movement gets added on and one moves in a spiral.

The meaning of Ikkyo is to de-stabilize the center of gravity of one’s opponent vertically, and Shiho-nage means to de-stabilize the posture of the opponent horizontally. Here one has the vertical and the horizontal and Yin-Yang (In-Yo) appears. From the beginning this In-Yo isn’t two separate things, it is just one thing that changes according to the way that one looks at it. For example, I place a stick horizontally and say “this is horizontal”, but when I look at it while lying down it appears to be vertical. So from the beginning they are one thing! It just appears to be vertical or horizontal, there is actually only one thing. To that point, if one just continues to practice without understanding the meaning of Ikkyo or the meaning of Shiho-nage then in the end it becomes simply external training.

In the case of Aiki, words such as Ikkyo or Shiho-nage are usually used to describe the basic techniques, but one must understand that what is important is the vertical movement from Ikkyo to Yonkyo, and the horizontal movement from Shiho-nage.

However, at its heart it’s impossible for one to think of de-stabilizing an opponent vertically or horizontally from the very beginning. After all, in this world one thinks of things realistically, since one doesn’t exist in this world by themselves – for example, that things are seen through their contact with others. So, if one conceives of vertical movement as this or horizontal movement as that – as the result of attempting to match oneself to the opponent’s movement in relation to oneself, then one won’t be able to escape being captured by kata.

This is the second part of a two part interview with Yoshio Kuroiwa that originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan. You may wish to read Part 1 of this interview before reading this section.

This interview was also published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 (“Profiles of the Founder”) in 2009. There was a short introduction to this work in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“. A number of English translations of interviews from that collection appeared have appeared previously – Nobuyoshi Tamura Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Hiroshi Isoyama Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Shigenobu Okumura Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Nobuyuki Watanabe Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Masatake Fujita Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2) , Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Kanshu Sunadomari Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2) and Hiroshi Kato Sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).

At the celebration for Koichi Tohei’s promotion to 10th Dan, October 16th 1970
Yoshio Kuroiwa second from right between Mitsugi Saotome and Akira Tohei

Interview with Aikido Shihan Yoshio Kuroiwa – Part 2

O-Sensei’s eye sparkled with light

Q: Did you see the Founder in class?

A: About once a month. He was mostly in Iwama, but every now and then he’d come and suddenly be seen in class. Then he’d whip off two techniques or so in a flash and vanish into the back. There was no oral instruction given. He wouldn’t show a technique more than once, saying “If I do a technique twice it will be stolen”. One of his favorite phrases was “technique isn’t something that’s taught, it’s something that’s stolen”. It seems paradoxical, though. So I think that one time would be about ten minutes long.

Q: What did if feel like to take ukemi for him?

A: He was very soft, fluffy. O-Sensei was extremely gentle and kind, but there was someplace in him that was frightening. I remember that his eyes would often sparkle with light.

Q: I’ve heard that his lectures were very long…

A: I hated those things. (laughing) He’d speak about things like the Kojiki, but I didn’t understand what he was talking about and my legs would fall asleep, it made me cry! Thinking about it now I feel nostalgic.

“O-Sensei said ‘If the palm hits the jaw then the fingers will enter the eyes'”

The Kuroiwa Theory – created three days after beginning Aikido

Q: I’ve heard that you realized “Aikido training is truth and untruth” three days after you started…

A: That’s right. Grabbing the opponent’s wrist is the untruth of agreed-upon practice (“yakusoku geiko” / 約束稽古). The truth is in what you yourself apply, so it is a training (稽古 / “keiko”) of truth and untruth.

Q: How did you come to this realization?

A: It’s because I was a boxer. Because boxing is the world of truth. I realized that the way that one uses their body is the same as the upper-cut, the hook and the straight punch in boxing.

Q: You mean that it’s not the type of punch, but the way that one holds their body when they strike?

A: Yes. The upper-cut is a vertical movement, Ikkyo, the hook is a horizontal movement, that’s Shiho-nage, isn’t it? So when I learned Ikkyo I realized “Ah!”, it’s not just a name for a technique for grabbing the elbow, it’s the essence of (vertical) de-stabilization. That’s why I opposed it when Hombu later tried to use Ikkyo as “a method for controlling the elbow” – it just cheapens the technique. It’s a foundational principle, so you can’t limit it’s usefulness like that. If you make it a technique for “controlling the elbow”, won’t development stop at that point? That’s not what it is at all.

Q: You really realized that after three days?

A: Realizing something takes between three days and a week. If one has questions and doesn’t resolve them immediately then they just continue on with the questions unresolved. After a year goes by one forgets that they even had a question.

Q: However, not everybody is receptive to that way of thinking, isn’t that true?

A: That’s right. One becomes disliked. (laughing) I think that the basics of today’s Aikido today are from Yamaguchi Sensei’s magnificent Aikido. Maybe about 95 percent.

Q: This is difficult to ask, but apart from your formulation of an original theory of what might be called “Kuroiwa-ryu” shortly after starting Aikido, why didn’t you choose to follow your own original path?

A: Well, in the end that was due to my attraction to O-Sensei. I felt “Nihon Budo” in O-Sensei’s bearing. Also, I had good friends like Tamura-san and Noro-san.

Q: What was the Founder like when he was with you?

A: It’s not as if I spent that much time with him, but when I went out with him he was nervous. When we rode in a taxi he would would shout “Look out!” to the passengers in back the whole time, and the driver would become angry at him. In the end, I guess that a Budoka must be so cautious that it is almost cowardice.

Seeing off Hiroshi Tada on his departure for Italy
From right: Yoshimitsu Yamada, Yoshio Kuroiwa, Toshiyuki Arai

My Aikido is “Kuroiwa-ha”

Q: At that time demonstrations were becoming popular, what was that like?

A: O-Sensei didn’t like for anybody other than himself to give a demonstration. For that reason, we had to somehow delay O-Sensei’s entrance while we students secretly hurried to gave demonstrations before him. So there was someone whose task was to keep O-Sensei in the dressing room – “Sensei, have some tea…”. (laughing) Of course, I think that he figured it out part way through.

Q: Speaking of demonstrations, there was a famous one at the Hibiya Kokaido (日比谷公会堂). It’s said that you held Tohei Sensei in a full nelson from behind…

A: That was when Tohei Sensei was demonstrating with multiple attackers. It’s past the statute of limitations, so I guess that it’s alright. That wasn’t the way it was. It wasn’t a full nelson, I swept his leg with my hand.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei demonstrating at the Hibiya Kokaido
Nobuyoshi Tamura and Yasuo Kobayashi taking ukemi

Q: You swept his leg? (laughing)

A: Yes. And I’m certain that he fell over. If I had really wanted to be nasty I would have tied him up right there, (laughing) but as soon as he fell over backwards Tohei Sensei popped right back up – that was really impressive. So Tohei Sensei said “I didn’t fall, I crouched down”, but that’s okay. Everybody knows when someone has taken ukemi.

Q: There are a lot of different stories, but that’s what it really was? (laughing)

A: There were many demonstrations – from the small ones with company workers as partners to the big ones. During the time that we were giving demonstrations in smaller places Kenichi Sawai Sensei (澤井健一, the Founder of Taiki Shisei Kenpo / 太氣至誠拳法) and Masatatsu Oyama Sensei (大山倍達, the Founder of Kyokushin Karate / 極真空手) would often be there.

In 1950, after Masatatsu Oyama’s return from the United States
Tatsukuma Ushijima (teacher of Masahiko Kimura) seated front row right
Kenichi Sawai seated front row left next to Masatatsu Oyama

Q: There was that kind of interchange?

A: I often spoke to those two. I also went to visit their dojos in Meiji Jingu and Ikebukuro. I saw Oyama Sensei give a demonstration at a public hall in Asakusa where he rolled up a 10 yen coin.

Q: You saw that with your own eyes?

A: Yes, he didn’t do it in one try, he’d grunt and gradually roll it up a bit at a time. That was really something. At the time I was told “If you weighed 10 kilograms more you’d be able to fell a bull with one blow”. The two of them sometimes also came to the Aikikai dojo. Especially to visit O-Sensei.

Q: Did you even join the conversations between the Founder, Sawai Sensei and Oyama Sensei?

A: No, I never did that. However, I heard that Oyama Sensei said “Aikido will disappear when O-Sensei dies”. I think that’s so.

Q: You wrote “Aikido was created by Morihei Ueshiba Sensei and will vanish with Morihei Ueshiba’s passing”.

A: That’s right. Nobody could do all of O-Sensei’s Aikido. In the demonstrations that I spoke about earlier O-Sensei said “I am Aikido. When I move it becomes technique.”. In other words, perhaps he thought that it was still too soon for the students to call what they were doing “Aikido”. It’s the same as the blind men touching an elephant, each judging the elephant by the part that they are grasping. It may be odd to state it this way, but it might be best to say that I am “Aikido Kuroiwa-ha” – the same as the practice of naming the sub-groups of the large political parties. I think that everybody’s the same way. Because everybody took something different from the Founder. Since everybody’s abilities and experience was different.

Q: That’s just the path that you’ve walked, isn’t it? That’s way you’ve been able to continue Aikido.

A: That’s right…. For some reason or another I love O-Sensei. There’s no helping it. In the end, whichever way you turn a master teacher is a master teacher. I can’t explain it well in words, though. So I have done my Aikido in my own way.

Gekkan Hiden January 2006

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Aikido Shihan Yoshio Kuroiwa – Part 2 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

“Kami no Keshin” (“Embodiment of God” / 神の化身)
Kanzou Miura (三浦関造) – Ryuo Library (竜王文庫), 1960

Kanzou Miura was born in Fukuoka, Japan on July 15th 1883, just five months before Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei was born in Wakayama Prefecture.

After graduation from Aoyama Gakuin’s Theological School he spent one year working as a Methodist minister in the southwest of Aomori Prefecture, in Hirosaki City. He became active in the Rikugo Zasshi (六合雑誌), a Christian magazine started in 1880 by the Tokyo YMCA, and went on to publish a large number of books and translations, including translations of works by Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. He also become interested in researching India’s first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore in Tokyo, 1916
seated, middle of the first row

After the Second World War he organized the Ryuo-kai (Dragon King Society) and introduced theosophical teachings (including Alice Bailey and Agni Yoga) to Japan with his Synthesis Yoga practice (綜合ヨガ団体竜王会). He also translated “The Voice of the Silence” by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and a number of other works.

Mokuroku (目録) issued by Moritaka Ueshiba in 1934
Stamped “Aiki-jujutsu”
From “Aikido Kaiso Ueshiba Morihei-den” (合気道開祖植芝盛平伝)

What follows is a section of a book published in 1932 by the publishing company Nito Shoin (日東書院) called “The Spirit Leaps Forward – Emergence of the Superhuman” (心霊の飛躍 – 現出の超人”/ “Shinrei no Hiyaku – Genshutsu no Chojin”). In this excerpt from that work  Mr. Miura interviews Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, who was then using the name Moritaka (守高).

“A Leap of the Spirit” (“Shinrei no Hiyaku”) – Showa Year 7 (1932)

Mr. Moritaka (Morihei) Ueshiba’s Budo and the Way of the Kami

植芝守高（盛平）氏の武道と神ながら

Miyamoto Musashi is long deceased, and so it may be that the secrets of that extraordinary Budo have not been received by the ordinary people of today. Accordlingly, I would like to speak just a little about a modern figure who is thought by some to have surpassed Musashi, Mr. Moritaka (Morihei) Ueshiba.

Under the Dai-Nippon Senyokai (大日本武道宣揚会) banner
Morihei Ueshiba (left) with Sumiko and Onisaburo Deguchi in 1932
Aritoshi Murashige standing back right

Mr. Ueshiba currently has a dojo in the Ushigome area of Tokyo. This gentlemen was hidden from the public eye until two or three years ago, and that this astonishing True Budo (真の武道) existed in the world was unknown. It is rare for an authentic personage to appear in the world – in this world there are useless people who take over the country and teach their evil ways. Regardless if it is the past or the present, inside or outside the country, a righteous rule has never been realized from the beginning of things, military rule always dominates nations.

The gates of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy (陸軍士官学校)

Few people know that in the early spring of Showa year 5 (1930) Mr. Ueshiba participated in contests at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy (陸軍士官学校). No matter how many powerfully built 5th and 6th Dan Judo-ka stepped up they were broken and played with like kittens. Even when the contest began with three strong men grasping his neck and arms they would be blown away like pieces of paper. No matter their rank in Kendo, whoever came was unable to touch him with their swords and they’d be struck and fall with a thud.

The young representatives of the Kodokan were like children before Tengu, handled without issue. Jigoro Kano, when questioned as to just what it was that the Kodokan was teaching, is said to stated “Kodokan is not Budo. It is simply physical education.”. That is how astounded he was by Mr. Ueshiba.

Letter from Jigoro Kano to Morihei Ueshiba
introducing Minoru Mochizuki and Jiro Takeda,
sent by the Kodokan to train at the Kobukan – October 28 1390
From “Aikido Kaiso Ueshiba Morihei-den” (合気道開祖植芝盛平伝)
According to Kisshomaru Ueshiba,
after meeting Morihei Ueshiba Jigoro Kano said:
これこそ私が理想していた武道、すなわち正真正銘の柔道である。
“This is my ideal budo, that is, genuine Judo.” 

A top-ranked American boxer named “Congamu” was travelling through Europe on a “Musha Shugyo” (“Warrior Pilgrimage” / 武者修行), winning wherever he went. He appeared before Mr. Ueshiba, who was only 157cm tall, with his massively powerful 193cm frame and lunged right in with a jab – he went flying through the air upside down as if playing with a child and landed with a thud, handled without issue. He withdrew while expressing his extraordinary amazement again and again.

It was due to events like these that the world at last became aware of the person Mr. Ueshiba, and that respect for him as a superhuman Budoka and Kendoka came to be expressed. In the beginning Mr. Ueshiba was taught by Sokaku Takeda, a Budoka hidden from the world, and at the time that he parted from his teacher he had not yet reached the sacred grounds of Budo. However, it is said that Mr. Ueshiba was later taught those secrets in a dream. Moreover, the secrets of Kendo, Judo, Sumo, Boxing and more came with them, all becoming one in a demonstration of the true Way of the Kami.

Morihei Ueshiba next to Admiral Isamu Takeshita, around 1926
Center rear: son of Gonnohyoe Yamamoto*
Lt. Colonel Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Kenji Tomiki, standing back right, next to Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Right: nephew of Gonnohyoe Yamamoto*
Vice Admiral Eisuke Yamamoto
*Admiral Gonnohyoe Yamamoto was
the 16th and 22nd Prime Minister of Japan

One day, I asked Mr. Ueshiba three questions.

“I have been researching Miyamoto Musashi starting from the problem of mysticism. As far as Japan goes, there are those great philosophers, artists and men who understand things in a purely mystical way, such as Musashi and other great Kenjutsuka. In that vein, there are three things that I would like to ask you. First, to the eyes of an observer your Kendo appears to be completely electric, like the lightning movements of the Tengu. Is there a method to it? Or do you attack the opponent instinctively through some hidden power?”

This was Mr. Ueshiba’s answer:

“There is a definite method.”

“Can that method be learned by everybody?”

“It can.”

“Even so, where does that quickness come from? Your lightning movements, the sword that strikes like a flash of light, avoiding the powerfully strong hands striking at you and tossing the opponent upside down – these lightning movements?

Here Mr. Ueshiba did not answer my question, and instead made this wild statement:

“Bullets from a gun will not touch me.”

“Why is that? Does it have something to do with the power of the occult (隠秘力)?”

“No. The marksman takes aim, then at the moment that they release the safety, before the actual bullet an ethereal bullet strikes me somewhere on my body. At that moment, if I move my body slightly then the actual bullets fly in the next instant and all pass by.”

“I understand. Really, is that right? Bullets also have an ethereal form. This the first time that I’ve ever heard such a thing. I see. So, it’s as I was thinking, you are divinely inspired. I would like to ask something else, whatever method one has, however fast they shift their body, in order to play with a large and powerful man like a kitten one must have a great deal of physical power. How much power can you muster?”

“Normally, the same as a normal person, but when I put some effort into it I can carry around two bags of rice while wearing geta without a problem.”

“Really!”

As I said that he summoned one of his students. He turned to the student, who weighed between 83kg and 86kg:

“How many people was it yesterday? That got on here?”

By “here” he meant on top of his extended right arm, with the index finger supported by a chopstick stuck into the hibachi.

“It was three people.” answered the student.

“What? I don’t even need the chopstick then!” said Mr. Ueshiba. In any case, three men climbed on top of his extended right arm, which he held out with no noticeable strain. It would be as if we were doing the same with a bag of rice – times a factor of ten!

Seeing my surprise, this is what Mr. Ueshiba said:

“However strong the opponent is, when I stand to face them the power to overcome them, power that I don’t myself understand, comes forth. Moreover, I don’t know anything about what kind of an art Shinto-ryu (神道流) is, but when I contest with Shinto-ryu’s Mr. Otsuka, my hands become completely Shinto-ryu hands. When I meet with a Judo-ka my hands become the hands of Judo”

“What do you mean?”

“I become completely transparent, the opponent is transformed into their ethereal body and I am possessed by my guardian spirit. The other person disappears and I am just attacked by their hands and form. The more that the other person’s Shugyo has progressed the greater their ethereal body and the guardian spirit, so I must also become greater. In any case, the state of my heart when facing an opponent is as transparent as a mirror, so in this state the other person’s spirit is perfectly refelected.”

“I see, that is the the secret of the Void in Miyamoto Musashi’s Nito-ichi Ryu. Here also you are in agreement with Miyamoto Musashi.”

“Wherever he went and whatever contests he participated in Musashi would be victorious in the challenge, so I am told.”

The Yoshida family copy of Miyamoto Musashi’s “Book of the Void” (空の巻)

The secret of the Void in Miyamoto Musashi’s Nito-ichi Ryu is the secret if every great religion, and also the secret of the Way of the Kami, the secret of Christ who became divine at the age of thirty. This is how Musashi explains it:

(*Translator’s Note: the text given here is from Musashi’s “Go Rin no Sho” (“Book of Five Rings”), I have included the classic translation by Victor Harris)

“The Ni To Ichi Way of strategy is recorded in this the Book of the Void.

What is called the spirit of the void is where there is nothing. It is not included in man’s knowledge. Of course the void is nothingness. By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment.

In the Way of strategy, also, those who study as warriors think that whatever they cannot understand in their craft is the void. This is not the true void.

To attain the Way of strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the warrior. With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.

Until you realise the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Know well this spirit, and with forthrightness as the foundation and the true spirit as the Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.

Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void.

In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.”

These words did not in any way come from Zen Buddhism, they are an astounding state of mind coming from Musashi’s personal experiences. Since these words from the four dimensional world are far above and beyond the domain of logical philosophy, if one reads them with normal common sense they will not be able to grasp the secret. One will be able to grasp their intent even less when considering them philosophically or scientifically. The words are simple, but they reach the meaning. It is the world that appears from polishing, deepening, lifting up the Way, Strategy, Art, and actual life to its limits.

Fudo Myo (“Immovable Wisdom” / 不動明王)
carved by Miyamoto Musashi

“Void as the Way, the Way as Void” is the Way that appears from the transcendent world, and the transcendent world appears from the perfection of the Way. That which does not exist in this world appears through the perfection of the Way, that is to say the manifestation of the Kami.

Until now Mr. Ueshiba has devoted himself not only to Kendo, but also to the Way. His strenuous efforts to the present day have actually been the Shugyo of the Way.

He spent many hard years in training the Way through certain ersatz religions, but in the end it was through Ancient Shinto that he reached the Way of the Kami and realized the secrets of Kendo. When his training in Kendo reached the stage of the Way of the Kami, entering form and escaping form, he attained the realization that all schools of Kendo become one. It is because Mr. Ueshiba’s Budo has actually reached this realm of the Kami that the forms are not set. Actually, even now, in the Way of the Kami, secret methods are being created one after the other. Progress is made day after day. This is the Way of the Kami. One can know the Way of the Kami through form, but one cannot enter there without surpassing form. For that reason, in Miyamoto Musashi’s Strategy and the secrets of Kendo the mind is the ruler, the rest are methods for learning the way directly to the mind. Materialism crumbles before this amazing truth.

In Mr. Ueshiba’s contests the opponent becomes an ethereal body, and a guardian spirit possesses Mr. Ueshiba’s empty heart. This type of language is something that someone who does not practice spiritual philosophy or spiritualism will not understand, but that this would be clear to someone researching Japanese ancient Shinto cannot be doubted.

When the 157cm tall Mr. Ueshiba faced large and powerful opponents of 193cm and more, the other people were also quite strong. However, in the midst of the engagement he was able to see a white body that had fallen on the ground and the opponent would fall into that white body without being pushed or controlled (the opponents ethereal body had separated from their physical body and could be seen on the ground by Mr. Ueshiba’s spiritual eye). In a manner of speaking, his soul had already broken out and been defeated.

So, the matter of the physical body is clothing for the ethereal body, the ethereal body is clothing for the spiritual body. If the physical body dies then we live as the ethereal body, but at some point as it progresses along the way the ethereal body dies and melts into the spiritual body. Humans living in the physical body can also open themselves to consciousness of the soul as the ethereal body as they progress mentally, and as they further refine themselves they can open themselves to consciousness of the spirit. Further, consciousness of the soul or spirit surpasses the normal consciousness of human beings, and brings with it great power and wisdom.

When the literary giant Goethe said “I met myself” it was that he saw his own ethereal body that had broken free from his physical body, there are many actual examples even in Japan today. The consciousness of the spirit in the spiritual body more easily senses artistic beauty, and is an even further refinement over the consciousness of the ethereal body in the soul. As in Plato’s conception of music as stirring the soul, the correct perspective is to think of the world of ideas setting our spirits on fire. Through this one can truly understand that all true philosophers and great artists are mysterious.

When one reaches the level of Moritaka (Morihei) Ueshiba in Kendo, one’s goal is not to conquer or kill others. Further, it is not simply a matter of protecting one’s own body. Mr. Ueshiba’s Kendo is not a process of competition of the physcial body, it is something transcendental of the ethereal body. The Way of the Kami leading to a shining inner light. While training in the sword he often had the experience of becoming surrounded with a purple light, his breath becoming one with all things. That is to say, reaching the extremities of Kendo, said to be the realm in which one enters the consciousness of the spirit surpassing the physical body.

Morihei Ueshiba and uchi-deshi at the Kobukan
Ushigome, Wakamatsu-cho 1931

Currently Mr. Ueshiba instructs military personnel in Kendo and members of the Imperial household in Budo. At the dojo in Ushigome, in addition to nameless youths and young Kodokan 5th and 6th dans, major generals, lieutenant generals and admirals are enrolling as students. If the technique is from the Way of the Kami, whether one calls it Kendo, Judo or Sumo it is all instruction in the mysteries. In the past few days I have seen a famous Sumo wrestler more than 2m 13cm in height puzzled and confused as he was reversed and thrown by a small man who had just begun to train as a student of Mr. Ueshiba. One can see how extraordinary this is. Nowadays, even the daughter of Mr. Chigaku Tanaka has come to be seen regularly at training.

Chigaku Tanaka (田中智學) around 1928
Nichiren Buddhist Scholar and right-wing nationalist propagandist

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post A Leap of the Spirit – Moritaka (Morihei) Ueshiba in 1932 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Morihei Ueshiba’s Technical Manual “Budo” – published in 1938 

1938 saw the continuation of the Japanese war in China, increased economic sanctions against Japan by the United States, and and the formation of the precursor to the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” (大東亞共榮圏), the “New Order in East Asia” (東亜新秩序). It saw the passing of the National Mobilization Law (国家総動員法) in the Japanese Diet, putting the national economy of the Empire of  Japan on a war-time footing.

1938 was also the heart of the golden years of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo, known as “Hell Dojo” for the severity of its training.

Mr. Kimura began training with Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei in 1938, in an art called “Ueshiba-ryu Aiki-jutsu”, at the Kobukan Dojo that had been opened in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo in 1931. What follows is the first part of a two part English translation of his memories of that time from June 24th 1987 which originally appeared in the tenth anniversary edition of “Aikido Kodaira” (「合気こだいら」十周年記念誌), published on October 30th 1988. 

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba around 1938

Aikido Memories (合気道の思い出)

1) My Current State

This year (Showa year 62 / 1987) I have reached “Koki”. Counting years I have already become an old man of 70. Now I’d like to look back 50 years to my younger days and talk about my memories of Aikido.

(Translator’s Note: “Koki” is an older way of saying “seventy years old”, from the classic poem by the Chinese poet Tufu (Toho, 杜甫, in Japanese) – “Jinsei nanaju korai mare nari” (人生七十古来稀なり), meaning that to reach 70 is a rare occurrence.)

2) Initiation

I began Aikido in March of Showa year 13 (1938), at the age of nineteen. At the time there was no such name as “Aikido”, it was called “Ueshiba-ryu Aiki-jutsu” (植芝流・合気術) and the dojo was called the “Kobukan Dojo” (皇武館道場).

As to the reason why I began Aikido, at the time I was training in Judo at my school’s Judo club, but the Judo contests weren’t divided into weight classes as they are now – everybody competed in the same division. That put smaller people like me at a disadvantage when competing.

Matsuhei Mori demonstrating Kyokushin Karate
with Kenji Kurosaki (黒崎健時), Tadashi Nakamura (中村忠)
and Hirofumi Okada (岡田博文)
Title reads: “The toughest man in the Diet”

So it was at the point where I was wondering if there were some method in which a smaller build was not a disadvantage. He has already passed away, but I had an acquaintance named Matsuhei Mori (毛利松平) who had a 5th Dan in Judo from the Keio University Judo club. He later became the Minister of the Japanese Environmental Agency. This person told me “There is an incredible master of Bujutsu in Tokyo, a man called Mr. Ueshiba. If five of us actively training 5th dans grab a person at the same time then we can almost always defeat them. But even when we grab onto that Ueshiba Sensei at the same time, Sensei just sends everybody flying with one shake of his hips. And when using the sword, he is number one in Japan.”.

(Translator’s Note: Matsuhei Mori, July 16 1913 – May 24 1985. Matsuhei Mori was a member of the Japanese Diet and served as the Minister of the Japanese Environmental Agency. He was student of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba,  Judo, and Kyokushin Karate, and was a mentor to Kyokushin Karate’s founder Masatatsu Oyama (it was at his suggestion that Choi Yong-I took the Japanese name of “Masatatsu Oyama”). He also served as the Director of the Nihon Budokan.)

At the time I was an exchange student at a school in Tokyo from Dairen (Translator’s Note: 大連 / Dalian – leased by the Japanese as a port city from the puppet state of Manchukuo, Japanese occupied Manchuria) in China. Since I had the good fortune to be studying in Japan I thought that I certainly wanted to train under one of the world’s masters and applied to become a student.

At that time in Aikido nobody could become a student without an introduction. So I asked Mr. Matsuhei Mori to write me a letter of introduction, then I went to the Kobukan Dojo to visit Ueshiba Sensei for the first time and ask for permission to become a student. At the time, somewhere in the back of my mind I had a sense of unease. Actually, in my mind I had imagined Sensei as a frightening figure who could crush ogres, but the Sensei that I met was an affable white haired grandfather around 50 years old who was even slightly smaller than me. In any case, I politely asked for permission to become a student, and Sensei told me that it would be alright. Even now I remember that warm and peaceful spring day with the spring sunlight filling the dojo with light.

After that I made a written oath. I was told not to speak to others about the content (“otome-ryu”) of the oath (Translator’s Note: 御留流 / “otomeryu”, an Edo era practice of restricting members of a Ryu from matches outside of their Ryu, also used to refer to Ryu that were sworn to a particular domain or a Ryu that did not permit interaction with the general public.). After doing this I was permitted to become a student.

At the time I was living in Toyama-so, in the Totsuka san-chome area of Takadanobaba, but it was quite far from the dojo in Wakamatsu-cho, so I moved into a place called the Chouseikan (長生館) boarding house in Okubo ni-chome where the artists lived, just 300 meters from the dojo. Everyday after I got out of school I would practice Judo with the Judo club, then go back to the boarding house and then on to the dojo. After Aikido training I would go back to the boarding house in the evening to have dinner and then return to the dojo for more Aikido, and that was my daily life.

At that time my brother, who was also an exchange student in Japan, often scolded me “You put a lot of expense into coming all the way to Japan to study, but you never study – what the hell are you doing?”, but in this case I just retorted “If I can learn Aiki-jutsu then it’s OK!”. I’m a little embarrassed to discuss a personal matter, but I was job hunting after graduating from school in Showa year 15 (1940), and if one was captain of their Judo club almost all of the companies would pass you on their tests. Thanks to that, I received offers of employment from the top ranked companies Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and the Southern Manchurian Railway on the same day – I gave a cry of joy!

Eimeiroku from the Ueshiba Dojo, dated 1926
Sankichi Takahashi and Eisuke Yamamoto’s names appear
along with the name of Admiral Isamu Takeshita
From “Aikido Kaiso Ueshiba Morihei-den” (合気道開祖植芝盛平伝)

3) The Face of the Deshi

A – The Monjin-roku (門人録 / “Record of Students”)

I was told that after becoming a student one was recorded in the Monjin-roku. When I opened that Monjin-roku I was astonished.

Sasaburo Takano (left)
with Morihei Ueshiba’s close friend, Nakayama Hakudo

The first name was Sasaburo Takano (Translator’s Note: 高野佐三郎 – Itto-ryu’s Sasaburo Takano is considered to be one of the fathers of modern Japanese Kendo).

He was the Ken-jutsu shihan of the Metropolitan Police Department. There was something written in an old serial novel published by the Asahi Shimbun – one day this Takano Shihan was put upon by a large number of gamblers on a bridge above the Sumida River. It was said that, facing them with his bare hands, he threw them off the edge of the bridge into the river.

Right wing theorist and general Sadao Araki

The second name was Sadao Araki (Translator’s Note: 荒木貞夫 – a general in the pre-WWII Imperial Japanese Army, and one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the Empire of Japan. He served as the Minister of War and then the Minister of Education, and was a member of the pre-war Supreme War Council (軍事参議官会議)).

He was an army general and later became the Minister of Education – as I recall, for a period of time he was a member of the Cabinet.

Admiral Sankichi Takahashi in 1935
as Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet

The third name was Sankichi Takahashi (Translator’s Note: 高橋三吉 – commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was instrumental in crushing the Treaty Faction of the Japanese Naval command that accepted limitations imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty agreed to by Japan after WWI. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Aikido and invited Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba to become an instructor at the Naval Staff College where he trained Imperial Japanese Naval officers for some ten years.).

He was a naval admiral who had served as the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy (連合艦隊指令長官).

Admiral Eisuke Yamamoto

The fourth name was Eisuke Yamamoto (Translator’s Note: 山本英輔 – an admiral and commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the February 26th Incident (二・二六事件), an attempted coup d’état organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army officers attempting to install a military-centered cabinet, he was part of a failed compromise solution to form a new cabinet under his supervision.).

He was a also naval admiral who had served as the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

That is to say, it was all top class people, compared to them I was nothing, a student – but as I said before I added my name while filled with embarrassment. I don’t think that there are other dojo anywhere that restrict membership like that. I think that is part of the tale of Ueshiba Sensei’s fastidiousness.

B – My Brother Students

– Ishii-san (石井さん)

About fifty years old and an executive at Kewpie Mayonnaise, every day we would hear the sound of his wooden geta as he walked to the dojo from Nakano in his kimono. He didn’t look very strong, and sometimes we’d try arm wrestling, but at those times I’d be defeated easily. Then he’d always scold me, hitting my shoulders and saying “Kimura-san, you’re putting power into your shoulders again, please relax.”, but in the end I just couldn’t relax.

– Ito-san (伊藤さん)

In his thirties and working for the Japan Railways at Shinagawa Station. This person said that Sensei told him that he would split the dojo with him and always trained as hard as he could. (Translator’s Note: this may be Hitoshi Ito / 伊藤等)

Gozo Shioda taking ukemi for Morihei Ueshiba – “Budo”, 1938

– Shioda-san (塩田さん)

A student at Takushoku University (拓殖大学), throughout the year he’d spend all of his time in the dojo, and even eat his meals with Sensei’s family in a room in the back. He was Sensei’s favorite pupil, and went with him wherever he went as Sensei’s O-tomo (“attendant”). He was the only one who could remain comfortable, no matter how far Sensei threw him. His grip was incredibly strong, it was called the “Takudai Punch” (Translator’s Note: “Takudai” is short for “Takushoku University”). You couldn’t move when Shioda-san grabbed you.

Now he has opened a dojo in Koganei City and is protecting Ueshiba Sensei’s teaching, spreading and promoting Aikido.

Kisshomaru Ueshiba with his father, Morihei Ueshiba

– Kisshomaru-san (吉祥丸さん)

Ueshiba Sensei’s son, at that time he was in the third year of junior high school. I remember working on Kokyu Undo with him.

I trained with the four people above from March of Showa year 13 (1938) to February of Showa year 15 (1940).

The Sumo Wrestler Saburo Wakuta – Tenryu

Outside of that there was Saburo Wakuta-san (Translator’s Note: 和久田三郎 – the real name of the Sumo wrestler Saburo Tenryu / 天竜三郎, who became a student of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba after encountering him in Manchuria.). This person was the Director of Physical Education for Manchukuo (Translator’s Note: the name of the Japanese puppet nation established in pre-WWII Manchuria) and had come to visit Ueshiba Dojo in order to master Aikido – he was the Sumo wrestler Tenryu Ozeki-san. He was very large, and during the breaks Shioda-san would lie down next to him and rest his head on his abdomen.

Continued in Part 2, “Sensei’s Teachings”……

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Mr. Kimura’s Aikido Memories, Part 1 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba at the Noma Dojo, around 1936

 In 1938 the Prime Minister of Japan was Prince Fumimaro Konoe (近衛 文麿) – he was a patron of Morihei Ueshiba and served on the board of directors for Morihei Ueshiba’s pre-war Kobukai Foundation.

In 1938, when he began training with Morihei Ueshiba at the Kobukan Dojo in Tokyo, Mr. Kimura was a 19 year old Japanese exchange student from Dairen (大連 / Dalian), the Japanese occupied seaport in Northeast China. At the time the art was called “Ueshiba-ryu Aiki-jutsu”, and the students were a laundry list of influential political and military figures.

What follows is the second part of a two part English translation of his memories of that time dated June 24th 1987 which originally appeared in the tenth anniversary edition of “Aikido Kodaira” (「合気こだいら」十周年記念誌), published on October 30th 1988. You may wish to read Part 1 before reading this section.

“Kamae” from the technical manual “Budo”, Morihei Ueshiba 1938

Aikido Memories (合気道の思い出)

4) Sensei’s Teachings

A – Kamae

Do not face the enemy straight on. Always, take a Hanmi-Irimi stance and make the area facing the enemy as small as possible.

(Translator’s Note: see “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 for a discussion of Kamae in the 1938 technical manual “Budo”)

B – Walking

In walking step with six directions (“roppo” / 六方) – lift your thighs when you move, just like the Kabuki actors walk.

(Translator’s Note: see the above articles “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” for more on six directions. Here is a short explanation from William Gleason Shihan, 7th Dan Aikikai and founder of Shobu Aikido:

“Stretching the spine upward and down to become rooted in both Heaven and earth, you establish yourself at the center of the six directions. This is Irimi, the spirit of Aikido; sending your ki out in all directions to infinity; our own intention meeting and merging with the universal will. O-sensei called it the “Divine Cross.” This is the kototama of Tou or Tao, in Japanese pronounced Dou. It is the fulfillment of Michi, the highest level of Aikido. It is also the elimination of duality, or separation. It is called Gokui, “exteme will” or “radical faith.””)

C – Opening the Body

When avoiding the enemy’s sword one does not just open their body, one must always rotate far enough to match the enemies back. If one doesn’t do that then even though they think that they are avoiding the sword it will not be enough and they will be cut.

D – The Principle of Aiki and Kokyu-ryoku

In Aiki one stretches thin spider webs between oneself and the enemy, these must not be cut. In other words, if the enemy comes to cut your head then cut their head, if they come to cut your body then cut their body. Regarding this, I was told not to do things like cutting their body when they come to cut my head. Then, when I aked “Doesn’t that become Ai-uchi (“mutual-striking/kill”)?”, Sensei said “No it doesn’t. The person with the strongest Kokyu-ryoku will cut down and win.”. In other words, the strength or weakness of one’s Kokyu-ryoku decides the contest.

E – The Distance for Live Swords

In the case where an enemy comes at you with a live sword first grab some dirt off the ground (actually, it’s OK even if there’s nothing) and throw it in the enemy’s eyes at the same time leaping forward. One must turn their eyes towards them with the feeling of actually cutting the enemy. If you don’t have the feeling of cutting the enemy then their line of sight will not move.

Even when you face each other with live swords from a distance of 15-20 feet one feels as if the enemy is directly if front of their eyes, so take a sufficient distance. If one fights from a distance of three feet than the contest has already begun, one or the the other has been run through and died. For that reason, one must not do that kind of training.

F – Move before Sen-no-sen

(Translator’s Note: “Go-no-sen” – moving after the attack reaches you, “Sen-no-sen” – moving at the same time as the attack but before it reaches you, “Sen-sen-no-sen” – moving before the attack even begins).

In a contest, move before the opponent’s Ki. Moving your body after the opponent has cut is too late. It is because one makes the opponent think to cut that they move their body!

G – Training Kokyu-ryoku (“Breath Power”)

One of the Sensei’s favorite phrases when working with students was “we develop our breathing with each other”. The meaning of these words is that both Sensei and the students worked together to help each other to develop Kokyu-ryoku. This is not the muscular power that everybody knows of, it means the Ki-power (気力), the power of the Mind (心力), that is unique to Aikido.

警視庁の三郎三傑
The “Three Swordsman of the Metropolitan Police”, 1939
From left: Kyotaro Takahashi (高橋赳太郎), Takano Sasaburo (高野佐三郎)
Kawasaki Zenzaburo (川崎善三郎)

5) Sensei’s Extraordinary Skills

A – A contest with Sasaburo Takano and live swords

This is a story that I heard from Ishii-sempai.

When Sasaburo Takano-san, who I mentioned previously, became a student he asked Sensei “Please teach me a move – what should I hold?”. Sensei said “Hold this!”, and gave him a Japanese sword. When Takano-san asked “Sensei, what will you be holding?” Sensei replied “I’m OK with bare hands”. When Takano-san heard that he said “I am the world-famous Sasaburo Takano. Do you think that I’m an idiot, to give me a live sword and tell me that you’re OK with bare hands? I’ll cut you down and kill you!” while brandishing the sword. At that moment, Sensei advanced and  halted Takano-sans dominant arm with his bare hands, hitting it so hard that Takano-san dropped the sword without realizing it.

It was just like something out of a story book.

Field Marshal Shunroku Hata

(Translator’s Note: 畑俊六 – Shunroku Hata was commanding general of the Central China Expeditionary Army and served as a Senior Aide-de-Camp to Emperor Showa as well as Minister of War.)

B – Demonstrations

Sensei would sometimes give demonstrations. Whenever there were demonstrations we’d get wooden bento lunch boxes from Isetan and a lot of Sake, so it was really something to look forward to for a student like me living in a boarding house. One time his excellency Field Marshal Shunroku Hata (元帥陸軍大将畑俊六) came for a demonstration. What’s more, at the time this person was the commanding general of the Central China Expeditionary Army (中支那派遣軍), a person of unbelievably high position, so the other rank and file army officers were all on pins and needles.

The content of the demonstration was so varied that it would be impossible for me, with my limited writing skills, to express, but I would like to explain just one part of it, as best I can.

The Sumo wrestler Tenryu, around 1929

It was the part of the demonstration with Wakuta-san (Translator’s Note: the Sumo wrestler Tenryu), whom I spoke of previously, as the opponent. First, Sensei stood in front of Wakuta-san and said to the seated spectators “Now I will throw Wakuta-san without touching him”. At that point a commotion arose in the hall. That is to say, how in the world would one be able to throw the large and robust Wakuta-san with a weight of 33 kan (approximately 274 lbs) and a height of 6 shaku (approximately 6 feet) without touching him? Everyone swallowed without thinking about it.

The one who seemed the most surprised was Wakuta-san himself. Later Wakuta-san said “I didn’t plan anything with Sensei, so I was bewildered as to how I would be thrown without being touched. That being said, I didn’t want to embarrass Sensei.”.

To get to the point – Sensei, with his tiny body, stood in front of the large Wakuta-san and turned towards him. “Wakuta-san, grab this” he said, offering his left lapel. Wakuta-san did as he was told – since he was taller he stretched out his right hand from above and tried to grab the left lapel. At just the same speed, Sensei turned his body to the back left, and as Wakuta-san’s right fist came down Sensei was suddenly sitting in seiza on the tatami. At that moment the position of Wakuta-san’s right fist froze in mid-air, and with the right fist as the center Wakuta-san’s body described a large circle and he was thrown forward with a thump. He looked just like a large whale thrown up on the beach.

Let us say that this is a glimpse of correct Aikido technique. In brief, it is to manipulate the opponent like a puppet. This is really not something that can be done by ordinary people.

C – Sword Training

One day Sensei said to me “Kimura-san, let’s train with the sword today. Go get that shinai.”, so I hurried over to the rubber bag in the corner of the dojo and brought back two shinai. I gave one to Sensei, then held the other and took my Kamae.

At first Sensei cut my shinai lightly from the left, so the tip of my sword swayed widely to the right. Then Sensei said “No good. Hold the sword firmly.”, so this time I gripped the hilt of the shinai strongly. When I did that he cut my shinai from the left again. How would it be this time? Before I realized it, I fell from my hips with a thud.

Sensei said again “No good. Stand with your hips firm.”. Determined not to fail and be scolded again I took a solid stance with both my hands and hips. This time Sensei took his sword, wound up my shinai in a spiral and threw it some fifteen feet behind him. I was dumbfounded.

In a word, I understood that Aikido lightly attacks the unpreparedness of the opponent. Then Sensei said “Training is over for today.”, and I didn’t get a chance to have anything to hold onto.

Prince Kaya Tsunenori (Kaya-no-miya-tsunenori-o) in the 1930’s
for whom Morihei Ueshiba’s technical manual Budo was compiled 

D – Kaya-no-miya-sama (賀陽宮様)

This is a story of a time when Sensei took Shioda-san and Okubo-san  (of the nobility, son of Tadayori Okubo and a student at Gakushin University) to the residence of Kaya-no-miya-sama for training.

Sensei would first use Shioda-san as his partner and explain the Aikido technique, and after observing that the Prince would partner with Okubo-san for training.

Then, and this a story from Shioda-san, Sensei got excited at being in the home of the nobility, the blood rushed to his head and his face became bright red. Wanting to show his skills, he grabbed Shioda-san’s left shoulder with his right hand and threw him the length of 8 tatami (about 48 feet).

Then, as one would expect from Shioda-san, when he returned to the dojo he grabbed me in revenge and threw me the length of 3 tatami mats (about 18 feet). As I was gliding through the air at the time I felt as if my breath were going to stop. I was young, and a san-dan in Judo. I was accustomed to being thrown so I got through it without a problem, but if it happened now I’m sure that my bones would shatter.

I don’t know whether or not someone like Sensei, who can grab a person with one hand and throw them 48 feet is a master or not, but I can certainly say that they are someone to be respected.

E – Suburi

Sensei was always swinging his oak bokuto. Of course, at those times there would be a hum in the air from the sound of the cutting, but what was surprising was that with each cut the last 6 inches of the bokuto would bend down about 6 inches. Seeing that, we’d whisper to each other “If I could do that it would be out of this world!”. When we stood up to face Sensei both of his eyes would shine – it was very frightening.

F – Sharp Intuition

When Sensei went into the back room Shioda-san would have me try out Judo techniques on him and research into counter techniques. Each time Sensei would stick his head out from the back and scold us “Judo is something that came from China, so it’s filthy!” (「柔道は支那から来たものだからケガラワシイ。」Translator’s Note: the term used here for “China” by Morihei Ueshiba is often considered to be derogatory.). It was always mysterious to us how he could know what we were doing from the back room.

G – Techniques are Unnecessary

Sensei would sometimes say  that techniques are unnecessary. He would rest his palm flat on top of one of the student’s shoulders and their face would suddenly become bright red, their hips would break and they would fall down to the tatami. I think that this was an effect of Kokyu-ryoku.

6) What I Liked About Learning Aikido

I worked at a construction company for many years, and when I was young I walked around inspecting job sites for eighteen years. In the metropolitan areas the workers were quiet, but in the mountains and the remote areas they would display their ferocity. There were many fights and I was attacked a few times with knives, but thanks to learning Aikido I used Hanmi-Irimi to open my body and was always able to control them without injury.

7) Aikido in the Old Days

A – The monthly tuition was 5 yen.

We would be scolded if we just handed over a 5 yen note in the open.  We’d always place it in a an envelope (“noshibukuro” / 熨斗袋) and one of the uchi-deshi would place it on top of the Sanpo (三宝, a small stand). Then the uchi-deshi would raise it above their eyes and place it reverently before the altar.

B – We had to wear a hakama over our keiko-gi from the beginning.

We were scolded and told that the close fitting trousers of the Judo style were impolite.

C – There was no training from Shikko (膝行).

Aikido in the old days was to throw them down and kill them, everything was throwing techniques, I was told to throw them at an angle that would drive their head into the ground. When it was time to be thrown by Sensei during training we’d scramble away. We didn’t train until the throwing was over. so we didn’t get taught.

D – There were no ranks.

There was only the Menkyo Kaiden (免許皆伝). When I asked Sensei what kind of a person could become a Menkyo Kaiden he said that ordinarily two people with exceptional skills would face each other in front of him holding real knives (tanto) and cross swords. If Sensei acknowledged their skill then he would grant them Menkyo Kaiden. In other words, this was a discussion about something that I would never able to become, so I gave up on such overambitious things.

Also, I have never heard of anyone becoming a Menkyo Kaiden. However, I have heard that there was one of Matsuhei Mori-san’s juniors who started in Showa year 18 (1943) that became an Aikido tenth dan.

I think that it was around Showa year 30 (1955) that I saw an article in the newspaper about Aikido ni-dans and so forth, so I went to Aikido Hombu in Wakamatsu-cho and spoke to Kisshomaru-san – “Recently there was something written in the newspaper about there being dan ranks in Aikido, please correct them.”.  When I did that Kisshomaru-san said “Actually, Kimura-san, we made dan ranks in Aikido after the war in order to stimulate growth.”, and that was the first time that I ever learned of the establishment of  a dan ranking system (段位制度).

Until recently, in my pride as part of the pre-war group, I had continued to wear a white belt, but when a white belt throws a black belt they usually get a really hateful look, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s hard to swim against the tide, so I got a black belt from Hombu.

E – Names

In the old days it was called Aiki-jutsu, and like Bi-jutsu (art), Ken-jutsu or Nin-jutsu, it seemed as if the training was centered around technique. Nowadays it has become Aikido, and what was practiced until now has the added seasoning of training the mental aspect, I offer my congratulations on the development of such a broad based training. I pray that the population of world Aikido will increase in the future.

In conclusion, I wish for the continued prosperity of the Kodaira Aikido Renmei (小平市合気道連盟) from the bottom of my heart.

With many thanks,

木村　果

Written on June 24, Showa year 12 (1987)

Editor’s Note: As the writer has noted in the text above, they called directly on Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba at Hombu, and received a sho-dan directly from Doshu. As proof, I have in my possession a business card from Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba on which he wrote that they practiced together before the war, and and that a sho-dan had been issued to Mr. Kimura.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Mr. Kimura’s Aikido Memories, Part 2 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Director Akira Kurosawa observes Yoshio Sugino and Toshiro Mifune
on the set of “Yojimbo”, around 1961

Sometimes called “the Last Swordsman”, Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男 / 1904–1998) began his martial arts training in Kodokan Judo around 1918.

Becoming dissatisfied with Judo he began to train in traditional Yoshin Koryu jujutsu. Around the same time, in 1927, he also began to train in Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu with the four Katori Shinto-ryu shihan dispatched to the Kodokan at the request of Judo Founder Jigoro Kano.

Around 1932 or 1933 he began training with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, and received a teaching license directly from the Founder in 1935. After the war his Aikido dojo in Kawasaki was the second official branch dojo of the Aikikai (Kuwamori Dojo was the first).  Below he talks about his time with O-Sensei and with O-Sensei’s instructor Sokaku Takeda:

I didn’t consider aikido to be just an ordinary art…..Those practicing aikido today say that Ueshiba Sensei was really amazing but also wonder if what he did was actually true or not. They say such a thing because they have never seen his technique directly….I am lucky because I saw Ueshiba Sensei directly.
……………
Although Sokaku Takeda Sensei seemed to have the type of body which could be easily knocked over, his demonstration was extraordinary. He was capable of easily throwing 4th and 5th dan holders of the Kodokan.
 – From “Interview with Yoshio Sugino” by Stanley Pranin

Sugino Sensei would later become well known for his work as a choreographer of fight scenes for many famous movies and plays, including Akira Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai” and “Yojimbo”.

What follows is an interview with Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男) and his son Shigeo Sugino (杉野茂男) that originally appeared in Japanese in “Kengo Retsuden-shu” (Biographies of Kendo Masters) number 67 Futabasha Publishers Ltd. (剣豪列伝集 67号 双葉社 1961年), 1961. This is the same year that the movie “Yojimbo” was released.

Yoshio Sugino (杉野嘉男)

Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961

A visit to the “Gyaku Nuki no Tachi” (“Reverse sword draw”)

Morikawa: You showed us a variety of Ken-jutsu. That list of techniques, starting with Gyaku Nuki no Tachi (逆抜きの太刀), Torii no Kamae (鳥居の構え), Ko-gasumi (小霞), O-gasumi (大霞), Shin no Kamae (心の構え) and others, are completely distinct from other schools, aren’t they? They eliminate the two steps of deflecting a sword coming to strike and then counter-attacking – you feint a reception and then the opponent is stabbed or cut directly in that same movement.

“In one startling early scene in Yojimbo, for example, Mifune’s samurai character provokes three local rogues into drawing their weapons, whereupon he explodes into action and cuts all three down, using movements so swift that the eye can barely follow. The technique Mifune used in this scene (called gyakunuki no tachi) is a particularly difficult one in which the blade is drawn with the right hand using a reverse grip, brought over the head, reversed and brought down again in another cutting motion. But Mifune carried it off with such explosive precision that even Sugino could not help but be impressed.”
– The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, by Tsukasa Matsuzaki

Gyaku Nuki no Tachi /  逆抜きの太刀

Yoshio Sugino: That’s right. That is a specialty of Katori Shinto-ryu, one of the inner teachings. One feints a reception and the sword of the receiver cuts the attacking sword directly with that same movement. In actual combat the attacker is controlled that much faster, with that little waste.

Morikawa: Ken, yari, kodachi, bo, shuriken – you use many different things, are they all from Katori Shinto-ryu?

Shigeo Sugino: That’s right. In all Shinto-ryu there is only one foundation, that just changes depending upon the weapon being used.

Morikawa: Previously I met Shimizu Shihan (Translator’s Note: Takaji Shimizu, the 25th Soke of Shinto Muso-ryu) of the Tokyo Police Department. Shimizu Shihan did many different things, such as jo, kusari-gama (鎖鎌), and hojo-jutsu (捕縄術 – police techniques for tying with rope), but they all came from different schools.

Yoshio Sugino: That’s right, in the case of Mr. Shimizu. He has already been an acquaintance of mine for more than thirty years, and he has mastered each school. In my case the difference is just in Judo, Aikido and kusari-gama. Judo was with the Kodokan, and of course Aikido was with Ueshiba Shihan – when I was studying it was still called Daito-ryu Aiki-jutsu.

Morikawa: I was astonished that you could learn so many really different things at one time. If we studied for a lifetime it’s likely that we wouldn’t be able to do it. Does your family have a heritage of generations of Katori Shinto-ryu swordsmen?

Yoshio Sugino: No, sword is something that I just built in my generation. I have heard that there was a master of the sword some generations ago, but my family were farmers from Naruto-machi Sanbu-gun (武郡成東町) in Chiba Prefecture. We had a large estate and were given the right to a take a surname and bear a sword (苗字帯刀), so we took the name Sugino.

Torii no Kamae / 鳥居の構え

Iizasa Choisai Ienao (飯篠長威斎), Founder of Japanese Kendo

Morikawa: What kind of Shihan did they have in Katori Shinto-ryu?

Yoshio Sugino: They were all top class famous swordsmen. I was trained by four Shihan named Ichizo Shiina (椎名市蔵), Narimichi Tamai (玉井済道), Tanekichi Ito (伊藤種吉) and Sozaemon Kobuki (久保木惚左衛門) (Translator’s Note: these were the four Shihan dispatched to the Kodokan at the request of Jigoro Kano). I went to the dojo in Chiba myself or had them come to my home, I also learned Shinto-ryu bo-jutsu at the Kodokan. After I opened a Judo dojo in Kawasaki I had them come there and trained seriously. For generations the Soke took the name Iizasa Shuri-no-Suke, but at that time Shuri-no-Suke Kinjiro had passed away in his youth and there was no other Shihan. Now the son of Mr. Kinjiro has succeeded him, but he is still a youth in his twenties. However, in the end breeding will tell, so I believe that he will become a top class swordsman worthy of being called a master.

Morikawa: Speaking of Iizasa Choisai, he is someone who left behind achievements great enough to call him the founder of Japanese Kendo, you must think that he was a great swordsman.

Yoshio Sugino: Of course, that’s so. Any historian would call him the founder of Japanese Kendo. Correctly he was Iizasa Iga-no-Kami Ienao (飯篠伊賀守家直), Choisai is the name that took after he secluded himself in the mountains and became a Buddhist monk. He was born in Shimo Katori-gun Iizasa Mura (下総香取郡飯篠 – currently Tako-machi in Chiba Prefecture). In the beginning he served the Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimasa, but his opinions were ignored so he resigned and went to Kanto. There he served the Chiba family, but after they declined he rejected the world, retreated to the mountains and set his sights on Buddhist training. While he was serving the Chiba family he built a small castle in Katori and became its lord. There were only around a hundred retainers, it was a very tiny lordship. At that time he divided all of his lands, assets and monies among the retainers and, penniless, left on his religious training. He was already past 60 years old. He prayed in Katori for one thousand days and one thousand nights, around three years, and then mastered the Way of the Sword.

Katori Jingu / 香取神宮

During this time he experienced a miracle in a dream, a divine message from the Kami “You must become a house for swordsmen, the Interim Reviver (中興の祖 / “Chuku-no-so”) of Japanese Kendo.”. His eyes opened to the secrets of the sword, he developed many students until he passed away in Chokyo year 2 (長享二年 / 1488) at the age of 102 years.

Among those students appeared many master swordsmen, such as Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami (松本備前守), Tsukahara Tosa-no-kami (塚原土佐守 – father of Tsukahara Bokuden), Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami (上泉伊勢守), Morooka Ippa (諸岡一羽斎), Iba Zesuiken (伊庭是水軒), and Itori Kyoun (井鳥巨雲). These each became top class pioneers, and that is why he became, literally, the Interim Reviver of Japanese Kendo.

He moved his residence to Baibokuzan Fudansho (梅木山不断所), on the grounds of Katori Jingu (香取神宮) and prayed earnestly for the divine protection of the great diety. Practicing sword day and night with the plum trees as opponents and shouting vigorously, he devoted himself single-mindedly to his training.

The correct name is Tenshin Shoden Shinto-ryu (天真正伝神道流). Because it began in Katori it is called Katori Shinto-ryu (香取神道流).

Morikawa: It is said that Choisai’s teacher was Kabuto Gyobu-no-sho (鹿伏兎刑部少輔), also there is a legend that his teacher was a Kappa (goblin) who lived in the ocean and was known as Tenshinsho (天真正). This is a kind of legend, but it goes to show just how strong Choisai was.

Shigeo Sugino: In any case, the schools that came from Shinto-ryu dominate most of the Kanto area, it was called the “one bird of Kanto” (関東一羽). In Kansai there was Chujo-ryu (中条流) and others that had formed separate schools.

Morikawa: Is that so? When looking at the line-up of students, Tsukahara Tosa-no-kami was succeeded by his child Bokuden, and from Bokuden-ryu Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami founded Shinkage-ryu (神影流). Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami Naokatsu founded Jikishinkage-ryu (直心影流), Morooka Ippa learned Shinto-ryu, and famous swordsmen like Iwama Oguma (岩間小熊), Tsuchiko Doronosuke (土子泥之助) and Negishi Tokaku (根岸兎角) came from among his students.

In any case, among the schools started after the middle of the Ashikaga period it can be said that there were none that escaped the influence of the three founders Chujo, Iizasa and Matsumoto.

Katori Shinto-ryu’s Lineage

Sugino Ko-tengu

Morikawa: Watching your son’s skills with the sword previously, I see that his sharpness is in no way inferior to yours. You must have trained him hard from the time of his childhood. How old is he now?

Shigeo Sugino: I was born in Showa year 6 (1931). I picked up the sword from the time I was around four or five years old. I trained with my father.

It was certainly difficult and strict, ferocious training. I would be awakened every morning while it was still dark, and doused with water in the winter. Sword, bo, naginata, kodachi, jujutsu, iai, shuriken, kusari-gama, I received training in it all. For that reason, before I entered elementary school I swung my sword in front of Prince Nashimoto-no-miya, and after that gave a demonstration of Katori Shinto-ryu to the Governor of Nara Prefecture. When the Hitler Youth group came a Nazi film crew recorded my presentation of Shinto-ryu kata in detail and took it home with them. That was when I wasn’t even yet ten years old. The pictures in this Katori Shinto-ryu manual come from that time.

Morikawa: Is that so? It’s truly a beautiful, wonderful kata. The kata of Budo are truly beautiful, aren’t they?

Part of a Kata in Katori-Shinto-ryu

Yoshio Sugino: Yes, they are. In ancient jujutsu they would say “Three years of randori, three months of kata”. It may be that a beginner who knows nothing will become strong after three months of randori. However, in the end that is no more than being the strongest of the beginners. Rather than that, they were saying that someone who does kata diligently for three months will be much stronger.

One can understand this if they consider the case of Go or Shogi, no matter how much a complete beginner can win at Go without studying tactics at all, a person who has researched a little bit of tactics will quickly become much stronger.

That’s how strong the tactics, or kata, of our predecessors are in absolute terms.

Etiquette (礼儀作法), flowers, tea, these were all the fruits of the study of the geniuses of the past, born from kata that seek the perfection of skill.

Life is all like that. If one doesn’t study this kata than nothing will develop. Even in baseball, tennis or golf I think that it is the same. In the end, the secret is to concentrate on one basic kata.

For that reason, those who disdain the kata of Budo, saying that they are old, that they have no meaning, are not qualified to discuss Budo. In that vein, art, sports, poetry, literature – all of these things require some qualifications to discuss them, don’t they?

Study the kata completely, and the move freely without being hindered by the kata. However, all of that is kata. This is perfection.

Morikawa: Perhaps this can be understood as Confucius’ “I follow all the desires of my heart without breaking any rule.”.

It may be that Confucius also arrived at that state of mind through intense life studies. In the end fencers must begin from Kata and pass through hard training in order to reach the perfection, beauty and flow of sword that is free of impediment.

Shigeo Sugino: That’s right. In sword as in life, if one is not serious then there will be no way that they can master the Gokui (“secret teachings”) that surpass life and death.

Katori Shinto-ryu Training

Yoshio Sugino: If we put it another way, tactics and Kata are the shortest route to reaching the Gokui. In order to learn and master this “mystic law” or “occult method” I had to go through very hard training in the past.

It is because Kendo is something psychological that those of the past who were called “Kensei” (“sword saints”), whether it was Tsukahara Bokuden, Isobata Banzo or Ito Ittosai, they all spent time alone in the mountains. Those swordsmen seeking to learn this all went to the mountains, first hauling water and gathering firewood. Serving their teacher earnestly they purified themselves and united their body and minds before becoming enlightened to the Okugi (“secrets”), inheriting them and passing them on to later generations as Kata.

Because there are profound depths inside each of these Kata they must not be neglected. They are absolutely something that should be cherished and passed on to future generations.

Next in importance is how one masters those Kata inside of oneself, in other words, how to digest them and make them your own.

Morikawa: In the end there is an individual personality within oneself, so one could say that the foundation is digested into one’s personality, or that one manifests their personality standing upon that foundation, couldn’t you?

Katori Shinto-ryu Kodachi (short sword)

Modern Budo is Sports

Morikawa: Speaking of the kind of Budo training upon which one stakes life and death, the spirit, mindset, and composition of the Budo of the past and the Budo of the present are completely different, aren’t they?

Yoshio Sugino: That is what I am trying to say! As far as I am concerned, Judo and Kendo are not Budo. They are sports. They have gone far away from the most important spirit of Budo.

Dan ranks, competitions, championship – the very existence of terms like these is ridiculous. They are clear proof that these are sports.

When one began to train in the past competitions were strictly prohibited, a violation meant that one would be expelled immediately. Further, the absolute secrecy of the methods extended even to brothers, fellow students. There was a Sempai/Kohai order among fellow students, the Sempai treating the Kohai with kindness, connected by humanity and justice (仁義), and by etiquette.

I wonder how it is today? One often sees XXX 7th Dan or 8th Dan written even on people’s business cards. Then, when they receive a higher Dan rank by recommendation – from that day they puff up their chests and put on a teacher’s face towards others. Things like that are not Budo.

Thinking of it from the fundamentals, in competition rules are defined in order to eliminate threats to one’s life. In Kendo one wears protective gear. Face, hands, torso, however much one strikes outside of the specified areas – in other words, in the areas with no protective gear, one can never score a point. For that reason one can fight freely, with complete freedom, safely and without feeling fear for one’s life. In Judo one wears a Judo-gi and engages in matches limited to a single form. One cannot hold a weapon. What is limited by rules is already a sport. In the end, because there is no danger to one’s life, any cowards can relax and throw each other at ease.

But the true nature of Budo is different. Keeping in mind crossing live sword against live sword, this is the foundation from which it was born, originally one’s life was in danger. For that reason, one was always confronting life and death. In that instant one leaps to grasp a mental state in which the mind is completely focused on one point. In religious terms one reaches a mental state of release from the bonds of birth and death (生死解脱), and one can swing the sword free of impediment. For that reason, competitions were not encouraged, or possible. If one did then there were no alternatives other than taking the other person’s life or dying oneself. At best, one would be crippled. Fights with live swords from this period, with the exception of cases with an extreme difference in skill, usually ended in a single breath. It was certainly nothing like what is seen in movies or on the stage. There is no doubt that it was simple, with very little movement.

Shigeo Sugino: That must be true. For example – even if one wears protective gear on their face and hands like Kendo, when they face off with a bokuto they will suddenly become unable to move. That is because they feel the danger to their life. Further, the final deciding fact in Shinto-ryu is kesagake (“diagonal cut from the shoulder”). Under the rules of Kendo one cannot score a point with kesagake. There are these kinds of absurdities. Everyone aims for the head, and in order to aim for the hachigane (“forehead protector”) they lift their heels. Doing this they will be unable to seat their hips at all, it is unusable in a real fight. In other words, when one imposes the limitations of rules they become captive to them. One becomes obsessed with scoring points, and the root of Budo technique is destroyed. Actually, rather than aiming at the hachigane, aiming for the face guard is far and away more effective.

Yoshio Sugino: As I said before, in Shinto-ryu one does not receive the other’s sword, the moment of receiving is left out and one just cuts directly. If one thinks of facing off in a real fight with live swords then perhaps they may understand. If one actually draws a live sword and thrusts it in front of the eyes the tip of the blade is very frightening. There one discovers how to get through this. In an actual fight there is no time to receive. One does not know how the opponent will change and come at you next. Therefore, we cut the opponent directly from a receiving posture. I taught it just like that in “Yojimbo”. If you observe the flash of the sword when Toshiro Mifune (三船敏郎) cuts Jerry Fujio (ジェリー藤尾) you will understand. I think that it is because he cut without receiving that it has the impact and flavor of an actual confrontation.

Training in Katori Shinto-ryu

Great Actors (名優) and Sword Saints (剣聖)

Morikawa: It came back to me with Yojimbo, but I heard that you have taught sword techniques for many movies and plays.

Yoshio Sugino: Yes, the first time was at the Zenshinza (Translator’s Note: 前進座 a Kabuki theater in Tokyo, built in 1935), when they were performing “”Bansuiin Chobee”” (幡随院長兵衛). Kanemon (翫右衛門) was playing Jurou Zaemon (十郎左衛門) in the scene when Chobee was stabbed and killed in the bath, and I taught them their stances. Next was in “Takadanobaba no Adauchi” (高田の馬場の仇討) at the Zenshinza, with Kanaemon playing Nakayama Yasubee (中山安兵衛). By the way, their sword techniques were exactly the same as those performed by Shodai Danjuro (初代団十郎) and Kikugoro (菊五郎), not even a little bit close to real sword. The Shodai Danjuro of that time felt that preserving the sense of the past was what he wanted, preserving the spirit of the first Danjuro. But if the spirit is not there, then no matter how much you watch all that is left is the old form. That was no good, so I taught them an actual Kata. Then their own style of fighting must have emerged. Not just sword Kata, their own individual spirit was infused wonderfully. As one would expect, I admired them as great actors. At that time I also taught the Naginata of Nagatsugawa Yuhan (中津川祐範) to Bando Choemon (坂東調右衛門). More recently, I taught the sword techniques for the cutting of Sakamoto Ryoma (坂本龍馬) at the Zenshinza.

Morikawa: Did you have a difficult time with the movies?

Yoshio Sugino: During the time of “The Seven Samurai” (七人の侍). At the time there were no fight scene choreographers, so the Director Kurosawa did it all by himself. I thought that was really difficult. Especially, Seiji Miyaguchi (宮口精二) was doing a period drama (時代劇) for the first time, and didn’t even know how to hold a bamboo sword, so he came to my dojo by himself. I taught him specially, and Miyaguchi-san’s sword technique ended up receiving the best reviews. In “The Last Princess” (隠し砦の三悪人), Susumu Fujita also came to visit me, and here you can see his enthusiasm.

Morikawa: Many of them were from the Kurosawa group, weren’t they?

Yoshio Sugino: Yes. Inagaki Sensei’s “Ganryujima” (巌流島), “Duel at Ichijoji Temple” (一乗寺決闘) and “Yagyu Secret Scrolls” (柳生武芸帳) were as well.

Morikawa: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto-ryu, 1961 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Daito-ryu Aiki Budo 118 Techniques (大東流合気武道百十八ヶ条)
by Yoshihisa Ishibashi (石橋義久)

Yoshihisa Ishibashi (石橋義久) was born in Tokyo in 1938 and started training in Daito Ryu at the Daitokan dojo in 1964, learning Aiki Budo and Ono Ha Itto Ryu Kenjutsu directly from Sokaku Takeda’s son Tokimune Takeda. In 1969, together with Yoshimi Tomabechi (苫米地芳見) and Katsuyuki Kondo (近藤勝之), he opened the Katsushika Branch Dojo in Tokyo and was its first head instructor. He received an Ono Ha Itto Ryu license from Junzo Sasamori (笹森順造) and has a breadth of experience from zen to judo, kendo, Shorinji Kempo, and Chen Tai Chi.

The “118 techniques” in Daito-ryu cover the techniques contained in the Hiden Mokuroku (秘伝目録) certificate , from Ikajo to Gokajo, and were taught as the core curriculum of Tokimune Takeda’s Daito-ryu Aiki Budo. The book “Daito-ryu Aiki Budo 118 Techniques” (大東流合気武道百十八ヶ条) was written by Yoshihisa Ishibashi and published in Japanese in 2015 by BAB Japan publishing company (BABジャパン出版局), which also publishes the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”).

This is the English translation of a section from Ishibashi Sensei’s book that deals with solo training exercises for the development of breath power (“Kokyu-ryoku”) and Ki development.

You may also be interested in “Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Masaru Takahashi and Breath Training in Daito-ryu” for a look at breath training in the tradition of Yukiyoshi Sagawa.

Tokimune Takeda’s Daitokan (大東館) Dojo in Hokkaido, Japan

「陰陽合気法」は呼吸法によって臍下丹田に気を充実させ、気力集中をはかって精神統一をするというもので、五指を握り、静かに入息するを「陰」、五指を強く開き、出息するを「陽」と呼ぶ、とあり、この呼吸法を続けることによって、頭脳明晰となり、眼力は鋭く、「心」「気」「力」一致し、大勇猛心を養い、特に両手十指それぞれの活用により、神通力を高める。

“In-yo Aiki-ho” fills the Seika Tanden with Ki through Kokyu-ho and strives to concentrate Ki-ryoku through mental concentration. Closing the five-fingers, inhaling quietly is called “In” (“Yin”), opening the five fingers strongly and exhaling is called “Yo” (“Yang”). Through the continuation of this breathing method the mind becomes clear, the vision becomes sharp, the “spirit”, “ki” and “power” are unified, a courageous spirit is developed, and especially – the various practical applications of the ten fingers of both hands gives rise to superhuman powers.

– Tokimune Takeda – son of Sokaku Takeda, and Soke of Daito-ryu Aiki Budo

Solo Training for Kokyu-ryoku and Ki in Daito-ryu Aiki Budo

Kokyu-ryoku (呼吸力)

Training in Kokyu-ryoku (“breath power” / 呼吸力) is a method of practice that is required for the mastery of superhuman power and martial technique.

As I have mentioned previously, Aiki-age is an important training method for Kokyu and Ki. It is through training while focusing one’s awareness on the tanden (丹田) and Kokyu that one becomes capable of developing a power that is not muscular force.

Now I will introduce methods of training Kokyu and Ki other than Aiki-age.

Breathing Methods and Tanden (呼吸法と丹田)

(1) Abdominal Breathing and Reverse Abdominal Breathing
(腹式呼吸と逆腹式呼吸)

Abdominal breathing (normal abdominal breathing) is a breathing method in which one expands the abdomen when breathing in and contracts the abdomen when breathing out.

Reverse abdominal breathing is a breathing method in which one expands the abdomen when breathing out and and contracts the abdomen when breathing in.

The first priority for one training is to build a body that constantly employs abdominal breathing unconsciously and naturally. The mastery of abdominal breathing is an absolute requirement for entering the martial world and the world of Ki.

Without mastery of normal abdominal breathing, even if one learns various technical methods one cannot expect them to be very effective.

Awareness of the Lower Tanden (下丹田の意識)

Through reversing the order of the abdominal breathing method one awakens the lower tanden and becomes capable of breathing deeply.

The tanden is the source of energy. “Ta” (田) is the place where one raises food, but it is not something that exists naturally. It becomes a fertile field through human cultivation. Tanden is the same as that character, it is something that is built through self-cultivation.

Therefore, from times past it has been said that abdominal breathing is “the origin of health” (健康の素). I recommend that you master it quickly.

(2) It can be done anytime

Breathing methods (“kokyu-ho” / 呼吸法) can be practiced anytime that one realizes that they are in the appropriate environment, without choosing a particular time or place. For example, when one is riding the train by themselves, or in your bed, before you fall asleep. When one’s lower abdomen always moves up and down when one breathes naturally and unconsciously then one can be said to have mastered this breathing.

A – Abdominal Breathing (Normal)

1. Inhaling slowly, expand the lower abdomen (the area from the navel down). At the same time, draw your anus upwards.
2. Keeping your anus loose, draw in the area from your stomach to your lower abdomen while breathing out slowly.

Repeat the above without straining.

B – Abdominal Breathing (Reverse)

1. This method of breathing is the complete opposite of normal abdominal breathing. Draw in the area from your stomach to your lower abdomen while keeping your anus loose and inhaling slowly.
2. Expand the lower abdomen (the area from the navel down) while breathing out slowly. At the same time, draw your anus upwards.

Through the activity of Ki, and the power of Kokyu and vocalization, superhuman techniques become possible – these steps are required in order to realize this.

Tokimune Sensei’s Breathing Method

I will introduce the reverse abdominal breathing method of training contained in Tokimune Sensei’s personal notes.

Tokimune Takeda’s Reverse Abdominal Breathing Kokyu-ho Method 1

Kokyu-ho 1 (from Tokimune Sensei’s personal notes)

1. Stand in shizentai (“natural stance” / 自然体), close both hands around their thumbs and place them on your hips.
2. Drop your hips while performing reverse abdominal breathing (draw in your abdomen while inhaling, draw your anus upwards) . At the same time squeeze your fists strongly and grip the surface of the ground with your five toes.
3. Expand your abdomen while exhaling, return your hips to their former position. At the same time, loosen your fists and loosen your five toes. Repeat the above 300 times.

Tokimune Takeda’s Reverse Abdominal Breathing Kokyu-ho Method 2

Kokyu-ho 2 (from Tokimune Sensei’s personal notes)

1. Stand in shizentai and drop your hips slightly. Close both hands around their thumbs. Squeeze both fists and drop both underarms naturally.
2. While exhaling raise your right fist (palm inwards towards you) up and to the right. (perform this as if assuming that a straight punch is coming from an opponent directly in front of you)
3. Continuing, raise your left fist (palm inwards towards you) up and to the left while exhaling. At the same time drop your right fist down and to the right.
4. Continuing, raise and lower your left and right fists in alternation. During that time breath strongly “Ha!” “Ha!” (reverse abdominal breathing) while lightly raising and lowering your hips. Repeat the above 300 times.

Ki Training (気の鍛錬)

(1) Concentration and Relaxation

Ki begins to take root throughout one’s body, begins to move, through relaxation of the mind and the softening of the entire body.

Ki is concentrated in parts of the conscious body. In our Ryu, we concentrate Ki in the necessary places of our bodies at the necessary time and apply techniques, or defend, parry, deflect or otherwise remove the power of the opponent.

When this can be done, Ki becomes a sharpened sensor in battle, and the opponent’s body can be felled through the use of one’s entire body as a weapon.

Aiki-age and Kokyu-ho, which I have discussed previously, are also effective as training methods for Ki, but here I will introduce a separate method for solo training in Ki.

(2) Use of the Fingers in Ki Training

Increased awareness of the fingers (the little finger and the thumb) is important in jujutsu and sword techniques. Either of these exercises can be done easily anywhere at any time. By all means, please try them.

Tokimune Takeda’s Ki Training Method 1

A – Thumb and Little Finger Ki Training 1

1. Stand in shizentai and loosen your elbows. Hold both hands out in front of your chest with the palms up.
2. Close both fists inward tightly, from the index fingers to the pinkies. Place your thumb horizontally above the index and middle fingers and grip particularly strongly with the thumb and little finger.
3. Remove the tension from your shoulders and elbows and pull your arms lightly while inhaling. While concentrating your awareness on the tips of your fingers grasp both fists tightly and then loosen them.
4. Repeat this exercise rhythmically about 300 times.

Tokimune Takeda’s Ki Training Method  2

B – Thumb and Little Finger Ki Training 2

1. As in steps 1 and 2 above hold both of your hands out in front of your chest, but with the palms down.
2. Remove the tension from your shoulders and elbows and grasp both fists tightly. While exhaling strongly thrust your thumb out to the front.
3. Repeat this exercise rhythmically about 300 times.

(3) Ki Training with the Teppo (“wooden pole”)

Teppo Training, the wooden pole in Sumo

Here I will introduce a Ki training method employing the teppo movements used in sumo training. The following two methods differ in their breathing and the forces used when thrusting the hands forward.

When one turns their awareness to the focus of their Ki and stretching and loosening they can learn of the relationship between the movement and the breath.

Teppo Ki Training Method

A – Teppo 1

1. Posture: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and turn your toenails towards the front. Slightly loosen your knees, pull in your chin and stand up straight. Open the five fingers of both hands and pull both elbows into your ribs. Make an asagao (“morning glory” / 朝顔) with your hands and fix your gaze to the front center. While inhaling slowly expand your lower abdomen and drop your awareness to the lower tanden (continue to observe closely).
2. While exhaling “Ha—” as slowly as possible, step forward with your right foot and move your upper body at the same time, slowly thrusting your right hand up and towards the center line (concentrate your awareness in the tips of your fingers).
3. Return your right hand and right foot to their former positions while inhaling slowly, expanding your lower abdomen and dropping your awareness to the lower tanden (continue to observe closely).

Repeat the above on both right and left sides for about 15 minutes.

B – Teppo 2

1. Posture: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and turn your toenails towards the front. Slightly loosen your knees, pull in your chin and stand up straight. Open the five fingers of both hands and pull both elbows into your ribs. Make an asagao (“morning glory” / 朝顔) with your hands. Inhale slowly while maintaining an awareness of your tanden.
2. While exhaling strongly in one burst “Ha!” – thrust your right hand strongly forward and up towards the center line while stepping forward with your right foot. Pull your right foot back while inhaling.
3. While exhaling strongly in one burst “Ha!” – thrust your left hand strongly forward and up towards the center line while stepping forward with your left foot. Pull your left foot back while inhaling.

Repeat the above on both right and left sides for about 15 minutes.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Solo Training for Kokyu-ryoku and Ki in Daito-ryu Aiki Budo appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

“Daito-ryu Aiki-Budo Shugyo-kun (“training rules”)”
Posted in the Daitokan dojo of Tokimune Takeda

The training rules at Tokimune Takeda’s Daitokan dojo:

1. The Dojo is a place of the spirit, we begin with courtesy and end with courtesy.
2. The Way becomes profound, single-mindedly condition and train yourself – never give up.
3. Pride is the beginning of inattention, and the origin of destruction.
4. Always be serious, sincerity is first.
5. The ultimate level of the Way is Harmony, that is the goal of this Ryu.

愛と和
“The essential principles of Daito-ryu are Love and Harmony”
“The goal of spreading Daito-ryu is ‘Harmony and Love’, keeping this spirit is what preserves and realizes social justice. This was Sokaku Sensei’s dying wish”
Tokimune Takeda, Soke of Daito-ryu Aiki-Budo
son of Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda

Tokimune Takeda was born in Shimo-yubetsu, Hokkaido in 1916. The oldest son of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba’s teacher Sokaku Takeda and Sue Takeda, he was groomed to succeed his father starting around 1925. In 1954 he established the Daitokan dojo in Abashiri, Hokkaido, changing the name of his father’s art to “Daito-Ryu Aikibudo” and assuming the title of “Soke”. He taught Daito-ryu there until his death on December 2nd 1993.

The young Tokimune Takeda with his mother Sue Takeda

Yoshihisa Ishibashi (石橋義久) was born in Tokyo in 1938 and started training in Daito Ryu at the Daitokan dojo in 1964. He learned Daito-ryu Aikibudo and Ono Ha Itto Ryu Kenjutsu directly from Tokimune Takeda. In 1969, together with Yoshimi Tomabechi (苫米地芳見) and Katsuyuki Kondo (近藤勝之), he opened the Katsushika Branch Dojo in Tokyo and was its first head instructor. He received an Ono Ha Itto Ryu license from Junzo Sasamori (笹森順造) and has a breadth of experience from zen to judo, kendo, Shorinji Kempo, and Chen Tai Chi.

The “118 techniques” in Daito-ryu cover the techniques contained in the Hiden Mokuroku (秘伝目録) certificate , from Ikajo to Gokajo, and were taught as the core curriculum of Tokimune Takeda’s Daito-ryu Aiki Budo. The book “Daito-ryu Aiki Budo 118 Techniques” (大東流合気武道百十八ヶ条) was written by Yoshihisa Ishibashi and published in Japanese in 2015 by BAB Japan publishing company (BABジャパン出版局), which also publishes the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”).

This is the English translation of a section from Ishibashi Sensei’s book in which he reveals some of the Kuden (“oral teachings”) that he received from Tokimune Sensei, and also includes some excerpts from Tokimune Sensei’s personal notes. Another section of this book appeared in the article “Solo Training for Kokyu-ryoku and Ki in Daito-ryu Aiki Budo“.

Yoshihisa Ishibashi and Tokimune Takeda

Tokimune Takeda – Aiki Kuden and Hiden

In this section I will introduce oral statements from Tokimune Sensei concerning Aiki, as well as statements from his personal notes. The following will discuss the whole of Aiki. Please read it carefully and repeatedly in order to understand it fully.

What is Aiki?

1) Aiki contains the Okugi (“Inner Secrets”).

“Aiki” is to throw the opponent using their own strength.

The core of Daito-ryu Aikibudo is Aiki-jujutsu, but it also contains the Okugi of the sword, the spear, the staff and other arts.

2) “Aiki” is neutral (*Translator’s note – oral teaching of Tokimune Takeda: “Aiki is an absolute neutral, therefore the neutral possesses In and Yo”)

The universe, phenomena, environment, conditions – all have counter actions, and have no normal form. In/yo, front/back, long/short. Water flows from the mountains, but in the same way it always changes in order to respond to conditions.

The Entire Body is a Weapon

Aiki is is something that is applied at the necessary time to a specific part of the opponent’s body using the necessary areas of our bodies.

One uses every part of their body – Ki and power are focused in the necessary part.

Aiki and Moving First (先)

Aiki is moving first, Sen-sen-no-sen.

“Aiki-age” contains sen-sen-no-sen and go-go-no-sen.

Defense is the greatest attack, this is Daito-ryu, this is “Aiki”.

There is no stance in Aiki, no first attack.

Aiki, Kokyu and Ki

Aiki is enacted by concentrating Ki through the unification of the mind and the breath.

The power of Aiki is relaxation and Kokyu.

Aiki-waza: Human life exists through Ki, it is the cultivation of Ki. Fill the Seika-tandan with Ki through Kokyu-ho, unify your mind to concentrate the power of Ki. Cultivate the Immovable Mind (“Fudo-shin” / 不動心) that is without doubt, without fear (不迷不怖), reach the divine realm that is free from worldly thoughts (“Munen-muso” / 無念無想). Match to the Ki of all things in the universe, and becoming enlightened to good and bad fortune (“Kikyo-kafuku” / 吉凶禍福), reach the secret methods of seeing the future, the relative weighting of the body and insight into the human mind. Master this by tempering your Ki through Zazen (“seated meditation” / 座禅) and Ritsuzen (“standing meditation” / 立禅).

Aiki Kokyu-ho: Grip your five fingers and inhale – In (“yin”). Open your five fingers and exhale – Yo (“yang”).

Aiki Inyo-ho: Two people practice Aiki Inyo-ho together. When the partner grasps both wrists, one fills their Tanden, underarm and fingertips with Ki and, opening both hands, pushes up towards the partner’s underarms to destabilize the partner and throw them in all directions. The conditioning in Kokyu-ho uses no forced strength, you are both practicing. It is the same with one hand. There will be exquisite advances in Shin-ki-ryoku (心気力). Oral teaching – “Asagao” (朝顔).

(*Translator’s note:”Shin-ki-ryoku-icchi” / 心気力一致 is a popular phrase in Japanese kendo and is usually translated as “unification of mind, spirit and technique”, although “ryoku” actually means “strength” or “power”. Some people see this as a rephrasing of the “three internal harmonies” from Chinese internal martial arts. “Asagao” means “morning glory” and refers to the way that the hand is opened and held in Daito-ryu, which is similar to the way that the morning glory flower opens..)

Aiki-nage

No stance (natural stance / “shizentai”).

One matches their Ki with the Ki of the attacking opponent as water flows without stagnation. Using the opponent’s power softly we destabilize the opponent’s body and throw them in all directions through changes in our body.

Aiki-nage is an applied technique of Aiki-jujutsu. Without using striking or choking techniques,without opposing their Ki, we steal the opponent’s Ki by making swift changes within our bodies.

Kokyu and timing are extremely important. When one uses strength it becomes impossible. One always matches the opponent’s movements, breathing and Ki while throwing.

Aiki-jujutsu

One name for this is Goten-jutsu (御殿術), an Otome-waza (御止技 / “secret technique”) of the Aizu Domain used when one was not carrying the two swords.

Yoshihisa Ishibashi shows examples of destabilization
Right: focus (“kime”) on the outer pulse of the wrist
Middle: attacking a vital point (“kyusho”) on the elbow
Left: atemi (striking)

Shinken Shobu no Kata (真剣勝負の形 / “Combat Forms”): Matching to the flow of the opponent’s Ki, one combines striking, choking and throwing techniques, therefore the forms of defense and control are accompanied by danger. In this training one must be especially careful to make no mistakes (the instructor must have the courage to use discretion). From Ikajo to Gokajo, 108 techniques, Shoden Mokuroku. Here is the complete transmission of all the mysteries.

“Aiki”

Constantly admonishing and being aware of oneself, strive to reach the mysteries of Aiki.

There is no first attack in Aiki-jujutsu. Endure as much as you should endure. Even when it becomes necessary, neutralize the opponent without causing injury through Aiki.

There is no stance in Aiki-jujutsu. One matches with the enemy at all times, in all places, front and back, left and right, four directions, eight directions, thirty-six directions and changes freely, so to stop one’s mind in a stance is to lose the mysterious effect of the changes. By always keeping one’s mind calm and open one will become able to change freely. (*Translator’s Note: this is a paraphrase of a teaching from Ono-ha Itto-ryu)

The entire body is Aiki

Head, hands, shoulders, elbows, feet, to the end of the fingers one’s entire body must be “Aiki”. One’s entire body matches with the opponent’s movement. To match is to remove the opponent’s power, to use the opponent’s movement and power (“Nuki-aiki” / 抜合気). Without resisting, one drains away and annihilates the opponents Ki through Nuki-aiki. (“De-aiki” / 出合気, “Hiki-aiki” / 引き合気, “Nuki-aiki” / 抜き合気)

Opportunity is important in “Aiki” – it is not something that develops at random, or for everybody.

Coordination and Changes in technique:

A) Use of the technique applied by the opponent.
B) Undo the opponent’s technique, or ward off and use the opponent’s destabilized posture.
C) Take the opponent’s technique into a reversal.

“Aiki” is to use the opponent’s power to throw.

A section of Tokimune Takeda’s personal notes

Secrets of Aiki

1. Use of the Fingers (from Tokimune Sensei’s personal notes)

Little Finger Outside

Spiral, rotation, power leading up and down.

Ring Finger Outside

Push forward. The power of Aiki-age.

Extend the Index Finger

Spiral power.

“Kakete”

(*Translator’s note: there is more information on “Kakete” in the article “Hakaru Mori on Kakete and Aiki no Jutsu“) 

Gripping hand (“tsukami-te” / 掴み手) in Kakete concentrates the consciousness in the thumb, index finger and little finger.

2. Stickiness (“Kuden” – “oral teaching”)

“Stickiness” is an extremely important element of Aiki technique. The following two points are important for mastering this:

a) Cultivating softness.

Ceaselessly train the arms (from the tips of the fingers to the shoulders) to be soft. Particularly, stiffness in the elbow is something that persists until the end.

b) When one is fortunate enough to be grabbed don’t separate from the grabbing hand until the opponent is controlled.

Release your strength and allow the opponent to grasp you completely. Then it is necessary to build a body with soft musculature that can follow the movements of the opponent wherever they go.

3. Returning

“Use of reaction” – this is an extremely important component of Aiki technique. Use the reaction to the direction of the pushing and pulling power. Forward and back, up and down, left and right.

4. Stretch out the opponent’s arms.

When grabbing the opponent, the power of their arms is enabled by their ability to bend their wrists and elbows.

5. Omote Aiki, Ura Aiki (“Kuden” – “oral teaching”)

Omote Aiki: fingertips pointing upwards
Ura Aiki: fingertips pointing downwards

6. Salmon Fishing (“Yamame-tsuri” / やまめ釣り)

Move your hands slowly up and down, lead the opponent and throw.

Tokimune Takeda teaches Daito-ryu Aikibudo

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Tokimune Takeda – Aiki Kuden and Hiden appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Tatsuo Kimura demonstrates Aiki-age

Stretching his right hand upward, Morihei Sensei said, “Those who practice Aiki should understand the heart of faraway America.”

I immediately thought to myself, “Please come and throw me,” expecting that Morihei Sensei would read my thoughts. Of course, this was merely something I thought in my own mind. However, at that instant, Morihei Sensei, who was looking out the window, turned to me. To my surprise, he started to walk in my direction. He was small, about 150 cm tall, but at that time I felt he was very big. It seemed to me that there was a big wall in back of Morihei Sensei and it was approaching me powerfully. Since I had never taken a fall for Morihei Sensei up until that time, I became very tense. I thought to myself, “Oh no! What shall I do?” as he approached very close to me. He raised his right hand up as if to execute an iriminage throw and shouted, “Eii!” I fell backward. Then, turning to me, Morihei Sensei said, “That was good!” Then, I bowed down with both hands touching the tatami mumbling, “Ha-ha.”

I was really surprised by this. I felt that he read my thoughts at that instant. He had a powerful aura about him and an amazing kiai.

Morihei Sensei often appeared in the Hombu Dojo during Seigo Yamaguchi Sensei’s practice. One day, Morihei Sensei started to explain the kotegaeshi technique while holding Yamaguchi Sensei’s right hand with his left hand. Then Morihei Sensei applied a pressure on Yamaguchi Sensei’s right hand with his right hand. Yamaguchi Sensei hesitated an instant and then took the fall by himself. Suddenly, Morihei Sensei, who was smiling until then, shouted at us, “Do not practice so that if someone moves a certain way, the other person falls in a certain way!” Morihei Sensei’s voice had a metallic sound that could be heard far away.

His eyes flashed and I suddenly felt thunder coming down from the fine blue sky. I was really surprised. In this sense, Morihei Sensei was not a normal person. His spirit and kiai were really extraordinary I had never seen such a person up until that time.

The atmosphere was completely different when Morihei Sensei was performing techniques compared to the other instructors. When I look at the videos of Morihei Sensei I cannot feel his “ki” and more than half of the information is lost. It seems that the camera cannot capture the atmosphere or the feeling of the dojo. Actually, there was a certain tension in the air when Morihei Sensei was present.
…..

Frankly speaking, when Morihei Ueshiba died, I felt Aikido was finished. It disappeared from the world because the Aikido of Morihei Ueshiba and that of his students are completely different.

Tatsuo Kimura
from “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei“

Tatsuo Kimura (木村達雄), born in Tokyo Japan in 1947, is a well known mathematician and professor at Tsukuba University. He was also a long-time student of the famous Daito-ryu instructor Yukiyoshi Sagawa (佐川幸義). He published two books about Sagawa Sohan (宗範) that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially) – “Transparent Power (透明な力)” and “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei (合気修得への道―佐川幸義先生に就いた二十年)”. He also holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi (山口清吾).

This is the first part of a two part interview that appeared in Japanese in the book “Daito-ryu Aiki Bujutsu Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Divine Techniques of Aiki – Signposts to ‘Aiki’, a miraculous technical method that surpasses strength” (大東流合気武術 佐川幸義 神業の合気 力を超える奇跡の技法“合気”への道標), which was published in March 2015 by BAB Japan publishing company (BABジャパン出版局), which also publishes the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”).

Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan in his youth

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Part 1

Interview with Tatsuo Kimura

Meeting Sagawa Sohan

Q: When was it that you first met Sagawa Sensei?

A: It was on November 28th of Showa year 53 (1978). I had been practicing Aikido day in and day out since the third year of middle school, had taught it overseas, and had established an Aikido club at Nagoya University – that was how soaked in Aikido my existence was. At the time I was an assistant instructor at Nagoya University, and I learned of Sagawa Sensei through a book called “Hiden Nihon Jujutsu” (by Ryuchi Matsuda / 松田隆智, published by Shin-jinbutsuraisha / 新人物往来社). So I wrote a letter and went to meet him.

Hiden Nihon Jujutsu (秘伝日本柔術)
by Ryuchi Matsuda (松田隆智)

In the dojo I was taken to the reception room, but at the time I wasn’t aware that Sagawa Sensei was such an important person so I spouted off about the things that I had done in Aikido and about how great Ueshiba Sensei had been in front of him! When I think about it now I break out in a cold sweat… (laughing)

Then Sensei said “try holding down both of my hands!”, so I did as he told me and held down both of his hands from above while he remained sitting on the sofa. At the time Sensei was around 76 years old, so speaking from the common sense of the Aikido that I had practiced I thought that there was no way that such an old man would be able to do anything if I held him down seriously, but when I held him down lightly he said “Is that all the strength that you have? What a pitiful fellow…hold me down seriously!”, and since he insisted I held him down with all my strength. As I did that, before I could understand what was going on I was shooting backwards. Normally, if one holds someone down firmly from above then no matter what their strength will collide with you, but there was nothing like that, I was destabilized in an instant. Then Sensei stood up and said “try grabbing my collar”, but when I grabbed the collar of the sweater that he was wearing I was thrown to the floor with just a slight movement of his body.

Then I said “one more time please” and tried grabbing both of his arms with all my strength, holding onto his legs, just trying whatever I could, but no matter how many times I tried I fell just the same. I was really shocked. But when I took his hand right there and said “please allow me to become your student” he refused me with “Dame da!” (“No!”) right away.

The Reality of Sagawa Dojo

Q: What is the truth behind the strict selection of students?

A: It was certainly strict. In any case, as far as I was concerned my heart was filled with joy that I had finally found the real thing, and I thought that I wanted to gain entrance no matter what. Once more I wrote a polite letter, but then I was told “I will allow you to become a student, but I won’t teach you!”. What he meant was that in Sagawa Sensei’s dojo the beginners were taught by the students, and Sensei wouldn’t give them any direction. As one’s capability and dedication was recognized they would become able to be taught directly by Sensei.

For that reason I was left alone in the beginning, and I was extremely jealous of those people who were able to take Sensei’s hand and be taught. But I thought that I should be grateful just to be allowed to become a student, and somehow continued my training through worries and impatience. Then gradually I became able to receive direction and instruction in technique, and became able to take his hand and be taught directly.

Tatsuo Kimura being thrown by Yukiyoshi Sagawa
at a seminar for the 3rd Gen techniques, May 1982

Q: What was training in the dojo like?

A: In the case of Sagawa Dojo, the beginning student’s techniques had absolutely no effect on the older students. It wasn’t a matter of using strength to resist, the partner’s arms came down as if they were dangling and they weren’t even intimidating. Their bodies were completely different. I did Aikido for fifteen years, but in the end my body was no different from a novice. We would fly for each other, so my body was essentially unchanged.

In Sagawa Dojo technique cannot be applied at first, and as one trains their bodies gradually become stronger. So the toughness in the bodies of those who have trained three years, five years, ten years, or twenty years is completely different. They look the same, though. In any case, it is a kind of toughness of the body that I had never seen in Aikido – I thought that they were a group of monsters! (laughing) But that is the way that they would train and without realizing it they would certainly become strong.

Q: At Sagawa Dojo the training was primarily the repetition of technique, wasn’t it?

A: That’s so, but if the technique didn’t work it was okay not to fall – I think that it may have been a strength that came through taking that as a pre-condition for training. So, when one reached a certain level the techniques become ineffective between the students. Sagawa Sensei could apply technique to them extremely easily. For example, Nikajo – in Aikido one would say Nikyo – at some point this would stop working, but when Sagawa Sensei applied it no who it was or how hard they struggled they would crumble straight down. Watching that really started my aspirations boiling.

However, and this is something that I have gradually come to understand, no matter how much one conditions their body that kind of thing is something that is normally not possible. It was about five years after I started that I became convinced that there lay the technical principles of Aiki.

A Miraculous Conditioning Method

Q: Is it true that Sagawa Sensei did an enormous amount of solo training?

A: Yes, he would think up a variety of conditioning methods and then continue training in them for a long time. Sensei said that everyday solo training is about 70%, and training in the dojo is about 30%. I believe that is the reason that he was able to reach the level that he did. One will never become like that just by training in the dojo. In any case, he was on a completely different level from other people. How he was able to do such a thing was something that I just couldn’t understand – in any case, conditioning one’s body and always being original and inventive. Then, testing that research in the dojo. It’s not simply teaching, he taught while conducting his own research.

For that reason, and this is something that left an impression on me, the day before he passed away I was thrown by Sensei for the first time in a week and the end of his techniques was especially sharp. It may have been that in just one week of not meeting he had made new discoveries and research – in any case the deepening of his technique was faster than our progress forwards.

As one ages it is inevitable that they become unable to move in the same way that they once did, but what I thought was admirable about Sensei was that he invented methods of conditioning in response to that. For example, if it were difficult for one to stand and move then he would think of methods that could be employed from a seated position.

Q: You touched on Sensei’s conditioning a little in “Transparent Power” (透明な力)…

A: In the past he never showed anybody the contents of his solo training, but but he gradually began to teach it after he passed ninety years old. Among his conditioning tools were something like iron hammers, and they were extremely heavy. He would hold them by the end of the handle and swing them with one hand, but he thought that if one were to suddenly pick them up and swing them without knowing how that one would injure their arms.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrating two sword techniques
throwing Yoshio Ohara (小原良雄)

Q: In Sagawa Dojo Kogen Itto-ryu (甲源一刀流) is taught separately, does that happen after the 3rd Gen?

A: Yes, that’s right. However, although we call it Kogen Itto-ryu, in Sensei’s case it is a distinct entity that includes Aiki and tai-sabaki. Here is one thing about kenjutsu that left an impression on me – Sensei said “come strike me”, so I aimed at his head and moved to strike, but just before the bokken struck it seemed as if Sensei’s body had suddenly disappeared and he somehow appeared diagonally behind me with his sword overhead in a posture ready to cut me at any time. I couldn’t understand at all how he could have moved like that. We did it several times, but although I watched him with eyes as large as saucers I couldn’t understand it. It was incredibly refined tai-sabaki. When Sensei held a bamboo sword it moved as if it were a separate living thing. I did kendo up until san-dan, but I never saw anything like that.

In Sensei’s case there were other weapons such as short sword, staff, spear and two swords, but whatever the case the source of the techniques was Aiki, so it would depend on whether or not one could grasp that. If one were to collect all of the techniques that Sagawa Sensei taught, from 1st Gen to 10th Gen, it would be more than two thousand techniques, so just collecting the outer technical methods would be like spreading out a catalog and they could not possibly be used.

When I was learning the Aiki Kenpo (合気拳法) of the 8th Gen Sensei said “strike me in the face”, so I put on boxing gloves and punched him in the face as strongly as I could. In the next moment Sensei moved in a flash and I was blown backwards. The movement itself is simple, but if one’s Aiki is not developed enough than it’s not something usable. I had a hard time writing it down in my notes later!

When the methodology of the technique is clear it is okay, but the higher the level of Sensei’s techniques the simpler they became. “I punched and then I was thrown” isn’t something that makes much sense in one’s notes! (laughing)

Continued on Part 2…

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Interview with Tatsuo Kimura Part 1 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrates Aiki-age on Tatsuo Kimura
while on a train in 1987

Yukiyoshi Sagawa was a contemporary of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and a fellow student under Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda. He often accompanied Takeda Sensei in his travels around Japan, and received his Kyoju Dairi (assistant instructor’s license) from Sokaku Takeda in 1932 (this is the same license that Morihei Ueshiba received from Sokaku Takeda in 1922).

In Sagawa Dojo the techniques that Sagawa Sensei learned from Sokaku Takeda were organized into ten levels (“Gen” / 元). Only a few of Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s students received the Kyoju Dairi certification from Sagawa Sensei, and among those only three have completed the 10th Gen.

One of the three student to have completed 10th Gen with direct instruction from Yukiyoshi Sagawa is Tatsuo Kimura (木村達雄), a long time student of Sagawa Sensei. Born in Tokyo Japan in 1947, Kimura Sensei is a well known mathematician and professor at Tsukuba University. He published two books about Sagawa Sohan (宗範) that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially) – “Transparent Power (透明な力)” and “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei (合気修得への道―佐川幸義先生に就いた二十年)”. He also holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi (山口清吾).

This is the second part of a two part interview that appeared in Japanese in the book “Daito-ryu Aiki Bujutsu Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Divine Techniques of Aiki – Signposts to ‘Aiki’, a miraculous technical method that surpasses strength” (大東流合気武術 佐川幸義 神業の合気 力を超える奇跡の技法“合気”への道標), which was published in March 2015 by BAB Japan publishing company (BABジャパン出版局), which also publishes the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”).

You may wish to read Part 1 of the interview before reading this section.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrates Tai-no-Aiki (体合気 / “Body Aiki”)

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Part 2

Interview with Tatsuo Kimura

Sagawa Sohan’s Aiki

Q: In the end, Aiki is the heart and soul of Daito-ryu, isn’t it?

A: That’s right. Those who came from the outside included many high ranking practitioners of other forms of budo, and it was my responsibility to pair up with that kind of person in the beginning. I thought that it would be unforgivable to lose to these people, so I repeated the conditioning exercises that I had been taught by Sensei almost twenty-thousand times every day.

But Sensei told me one day “Whatever conditioning you do, once a new person masters Aiki it’s all over! That’s the way that Aiki is.”, and from that time I thought that I must grasp Aiki no matter what. That is to say, even though I could not be defeated by other people after heavy training in the conditioning exercises that I spoke of before, when I got caught by Sensei there was nothing that I could do. And then Sensei told me that it was because he understood that one could be defeated through Aiki no matter how much they were conditioned that he taught me the conditioning methods, and I thought that I understood.

(*Translator’s Note: the language here is as in the original, and is somewhat awkward. The sense is that Sagawa Sensei would teach the conditioning exercises, but without explanation. The exercises are necessary for developing Aiki, but are not themselves Aiki, so he would watch to see if people could grasp the connection. If they did then they were worth teaching, if not then…)   

Sagawa Sensei would never teach anything about Aiki straight out. There was a heart and soul called Aiki, and he would teach the technical methods on the periphery of it, until he got quite close to the components of the heart and soul. In other words, he would teach that much, and then watch to see if one could grasp the components of the heart and soul. He thought that if someone could not grasp that then there was no point in teaching them. Originally, Sagawa Sensei himself expended considerable effort until he mastered it at last, so he thought that it natural that the person learning should invest that kind of effort.

For that reason, it was inevitable that he would concentrate the people that he needed to teach and bring them up intensively. He set up the steps of 1st Gen and 2nd Gen so that people who established their capabilities and zeal could progress ahead of the others.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa (front center), around the time that Sagawa Dojo
was opened in Nakano-ku, Tokyo

Q: Among those people are some who don’t speak well of Sagawa Sensei, giving as the reason that they were never able to take his hand, even once.

A: I know that there are some people like that. However, in the majority of those cases those types of people have some points of their own that they ought to consider. Just as the student chooses the teacher, the teacher also has the right to chose the student, and I think that it is those who do not understand this point who are in the wrong.

For that reason, if one cannot be taught directly by the teacher then one must change themselves into a student that the teacher desires to teach. I myself was refused admission at first, and was only admitted on the condition that I would not be taught. Basically, it was thought that I had come to steal techniques to use in Aikido. For that reason I was not taught, even slightly, by Sensei in the beginning. But I changed that through my own efforts. In my case, I thought that at least I would try to become, even a little bit, a good student for Sensei. That sincerity gradually got through, and Sensei began to teach me. That is the effort of the student. In other words, it is really that, more than learning, one must stand in Sensei’s shoes and become the kind of person that Sensei would think to teach. Expecting to be taught as a matter of course without doing that is a mistaken understanding.

Besides, if one did not adopt a teaching method like Sagawa Sensei’s then I think that a technical method of such depth and difficulty as this one would not survive. From the very beginning it is not something that can be taught equally to all people, and if one did something like that it would be impossible to maintain the technical level of the art. If it is a matter of the form of the technique then one can make an explanation, but the essence of the techniques is an area that cannot be explained with words. Aiki is particularly something that is mastered through the internal senses. For that reason, it is impossible without the capability and zeal of the person learning, their own training and conditioning and their ability to understand. So if one stands in the place of the instructor it is inevitable that one will choose the people that they instruct.

Q: In other words, as concerns instruction, if one does not have an attitude like that then it will be difficult to preserve the level of the techniques?

A: That’s right. At least, of those who were actually able to use Aiki, there were only Takeda Sensei and Sagawa Sensei. If it’s just form then there are many people who are doing it, but there were only two who were able to apply it when an opponent came to attack in earnest. However, the fact that there were those who could use it is without doubt, so I would somehow like to leave this behind for the human race.

I’m hesitant to mention a personal matter, but with regards to Aiki I have repeated a long process of trial and error. When I was fortunate enough to get it right and destabilize someone I would think “Ah – is this Aiki?” and feel good, but when I tried it on Sensei he would yell “No, no, that’s just strength! Aiki is like this!”, and when I tried it it was completely different from what I was doing. I would give up and think of a different method. But that would also be wrong. This happened many times.

“Transparent Power” (透明な力) – Japanese and English Editions

Transparent Power (透明な力)

Q: What motivated you to write “Transparent Power“?

A: At first it was the fact that in order for someone to get that much real power takes incredible effort. If that is the case, then such a person should be formally recognized, shouldn’t they? I don’t really want to say this kind of thing, but I think that it was a tragedy that even though Sensei had such real power he lived a life that was not formally recognized because he did not put himself out in the world, while at the same time there are those people who are all talk and have nothing yet are selling their false reputations. That thought is what motivated me to write the book.

In the beginning Sensei did not participate in any way. However, little by little my resolve drew him in and he contributed things such as the personal history in the beginning – he also proofread the manuscript. Thanks to that, three years ago, I can remember even now, I was able to publish it at last on March 24th. However, I think that was the last chance to write a book like that one. Oddly, Sensei passed away exactly three years after that book was published. Perhaps there was some kind of connection…

Q: Reading the words of Sagawa Sensei that were recorded in that book one senses that he always kept a positive attitude towards budo. More than anything else he believed in the possibilities of Daito-ryu to the end, his immersion in that is wonderful. Each time that I read it I always think that this is what a budoka must be like.

A: At one point Sensei and I developed the habit of talking before training in the kitchen and from the many things that we discussed I selected those parts that were not related to technical methods. If you can gain some appreciation of him from that then I think that there was some value to writing that book. For the most part, it is only those that give up on becoming strong at some point that try to rationalize the matter by saying “trying to become strong is superficial”. But Sensei was different. Right down to the very end he never abandoned his aspirations. I would really like the world to know of the life and the spirit of a Sensei like that.

Q: I feel the same way. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule today.

(Interview conducted on April 19th 1999 at Tsukuba University)

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Interview with Tatsuo Kimura Part 2 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura and Hiroshi Sagawa,
Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan’s younger brother

“There are those who say that Morihei Ueshiba operated on a different dimension, but since I came to Japan two months after he died, I couldn’t experience Ueshiba Sensei’s technique personally. But I am glad to know that Aiki truly exists.”

– Aikido Journal editor Stanley Pranin, on visiting Yukiyoshi Sagawa,
from Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei

Yukiyoshi Sagawa often accompanied his teacher,  Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda, on his travels and was a contemporary of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, who was also one of Sokaku Takeda’s long time students.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s younger brother, Hiroshi Sagawa (佐川廣) was born in Shimo-yubetsu Hokkaido in 1909 (Meiji Year 42). He did not himself train in Daito-ryu, but he was raised in an environment in which both his father and his elder brother trained extensively with Sokaku Takeda.

Tatsuo Kimura (木村達雄) is one of three of Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan’s students to have completed the 10th Gen level of techniques (the techniques in Sagawa Dojo that Sagawa Sensei learned from Sokaku Takeda were organized into ten levels, or “Gen” / 元).

Born in Tokyo Japan in 1947, Kimura Sensei is a well known mathematician and professor at Tsukuba University. He published two books about Sagawa Sohan (宗範) that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially) – “Transparent Power (透明な力)” and “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei (合気修得への道―佐川幸義先生に就いた二十年)”. He also holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi (山口清吾).

This is part 1 of the English translation of an interview conducted in Japanese by Kuni Azumi (安積 邦) with Hiroshi Sagawa and Tatsuo Kimura that previously appeared in the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”) in 2001.

You may also be interested in another interview with Kimura Sensei that appeared on the Aikido Sangenkai blog previously – “Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Interview with Tatsuo Kimura, Part 1 and Part 2. 

Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan demonstrates Aiki

Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura

If the seed of Aiki doesn’t exist…

Azumi: I would like to discuss a number of things along the theme of “Yukiyoshi Sagawa and Aiki”. It is close to three years since Sagawa Sohan passed away, but I still can’t forget the impact that I felt upon hearing of his passing. Later on I learned of the the story of his “final practice”, where he seemed to foresee his own passing and I was even more greatly astonished.

“Transparent Power” (透明な力) – Japanese and English Editions

Kimura: I have promised (the publishing company) to include the story of that last practice when “”Transparent Power” is reprinted. ….Including Sensei, there were only five people there at the time.

Azumi: Was there some kind of special instruction….?

Kimura: I don’t know about that. (smiling) That is, even if that were that case, this is not something that you are able to do just because you have received instruction. That is because it is something that must come to a boil over time.

Azumi: “Come to a boil over time…”?

Kimura: I was often told this by Sagawa Sensei while he was still living. “Aiki, you see, Aiki has a ‘seed’. It’s because this seed exists that that it sprouts and develops rapidly. That is why one can understand whether someone has Aiki by the degree of their progress.”.

Azumi: “A seed of Aiki”?

Kimura: In other words, someone without Aiki can get to a certain limited understanding, but there they stop. When one has Aiki a bud emerges automatically, and that rapidly matures and continues to change with great vigor. When I had just entered the dojo Sagawa Sensei pointed to one of the sempai and told me that I should watch them and learn since they had just grasped Aiki. But one day after about half a year had passed I was told “He has no Aiki, if he did then he would be completely different by now”, and Sensei told me about the “seed of Aiki”.

Azumi: I see. But from the position of one who doesn’t understand what Aiki is, one starts to think “then how can one get ahold of this seed?”. I can’t think that it is something that can be obtained simply through exerting great effort…

Kimura: In Bujutsu it is difficult to progress without meeting someone who already has the ability to do it. Particularly with relation to Aiki, I think that it is absolutely impossible. It is necessary, indispensable, to take in information through the body. Once one experiences the sensation of such a body I think that they will be able to grasp that however much they read books or watch videos there is no way that they would be capable of understanding without that.

Azumi: Without directly experiencing the techniques of someone who already has the ability it is impossible to master Aiki.

Kimura: That’s what I believe. Leaving aside a genius like Takeda Sensei, without the feeling of it actually being done to them one will not understand. Because it is difficult even if one receives such techniques many times. Because over a period of twenty years I had such techniques done to me thousands of times.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki Bojutsu

It must be preserved!

Azumi: In appearance I think that there are techniques that appear to be Aiki. However, it is difficult for us to distinguish them from those techniques done with real Aiki.

Kimura: As one’s level rises they come to understand the difference. When I first entered the dojo of course I was thrown by Sagawa Sensei, but also by the sempai. I was thrown with a single finger. I thought they they (Sagawa Sensei and the sempai) were both strong – but I didn’t understand the difference in their strength. However, after conditioning myself for three years there was a sempai that couldn’t apply techniques when I resisted. And that sempai was really strong! Even so, after five years had passed techniques became completely ineffective. It wasn’t just that person, everyone’s techniques became ineffective. However, just with Sagawa Sensei I would be thrown every which way (of course, that didn’t happen to just me). At first I thought inside myself, “Sempai that are that strong wouldn’t fly (when thrown) like that…it must be a lie! They must be holding back for Sensei.”. (laughing)

Azumi: That’s normal, isn’t it?

Kimura: However, as I continued to be thrown, and as I become stronger, I suddenly came to understand – “There is something essential about Sagawa Sensei’s technique that is completely different!”. That took me five years, to become clearly aware that Sagawa Sensei had Aiki. As I said before, when I was weak I had suspicions that sempai who were so strong could be thrown around like that, but although the sempai never batted an eye no matter what I tried, they couldn’t resist Sagawa Sensei at all and were just tossed about. I couldn’t remain unaware that those sempai were actually being handled like that.

Azumi: And so, became dedicated to grasping Aiki?

Kimura: I felt instinctively that if I said it out loud that nobody would believe me. That is, however one tries to explain the magnificence of Sagawa Sensei’s techniques, they far surpass common sense. For someone like me who is training but cannot even duplicate a single thing, especially in the current age, nobody would believe me, would they? Anybody can talk about it, but that won’t wash in Budo. It’s a matter of whether you can or cannot do it, that’s what’s important. For that reason, if I became capable of demonstrating it I would be able to say “Sagawa Sensei’s techniques were far and away greater then mine”, and have a platform to speak from. I thought that then I would certainly be able to communicate how incredible Sagawa Sensei was.

Azumi: So this was the force driving your training into those thousands of repetitions?

Kimura: Well…say that there were a lot of repetitions (embarrassed smile), that’s certainly the case.

Allowing the students to “experiment”!

Sagawa: Certainly there are levels in learning Aiki.

Kimura: Once one reached a certain level Sagawa Sensei would check the students (this only applied to special people) and give them some advice. It was said in a way that a normal person wouldn’t notice, but that the upper level people would understand. Sagawa Sensei would carefully observe those that were working seriously and say something to them.

Azumi: Was the advice something that one had to be of a fairly high level to understand?

Kimura: Everybody’s ability to understand is different. However much one tries to give an oral explanation there are some aspects that are difficult. Even if one uses the same words to explain, each person will take it their own way depending upon the suppositions and judgement of their own experience, so if one does not have the foundation for an explanation or they make an error then no matter how much one explains in words they will not be able to comprehend, it will be beyond their imagination. In one sense, words are an extremely inconvenient means of transmission, because especially in the experience of Budo the areas that cannot be expressed in words are quite large. There is no way other than actually experiencing the techniques.

Azumi: You mean “seeing is believing” (百聞は一見にしかず)?

Kimura: However, to speak truthfully, even seeing is no good. However much one tries to observe from the outside, in the end one cannot understand what it feels like without experiencing it directly. Particularly in the case of Sagawa Sensei’s technique, there is a completely different feeling when one receives them directly.

Azumi: But even if one learns through their body I think that there must still be a process of trial and error. It’s normal to expect that there are people who will think “That didn’t work, so next time I’ll try something different.” or “This goes against what I was taught, I wonder how Sensei would handle this.”, isn’t it?

Kimura: You may think it surprising, but Sagawa Sensei permitted a lot of experimentation and trial and error. To state it in the extreme, one was allowed to try anything.

Azumi: What? Anything was okay?

Kimura: For that reason, I tried many different methods. Always about eight different ones.

Azumi: That many?

Kimura: Thanks to that Sensei once said “Kimura-kun always tries a lot of different things”. (laughing)

Tatsuo Kimura demonstrates with the interviewer, Kuni Azumi
Kimura Sensei thought “If I rest my hand lightly like this (then
Aiki won’t work….)” and tried it on Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan
– the result was as shown above

Azumi: For example, what kind of things did you try?

Kimura: Essentially, I would say “What happens if I do this?”, “If this doesn’t work then next time I’ll try the opposite.”. Once I thought “Perhaps if I grasp lightly then the technique won’t work?”, so I tried laying my hand softly on Sagawa Sensei’s hand. It’s difficult to explain in words, I tried to replicate what Sagawa Sensei showed me at that time. *See photo above.

Azumi: That’s incredible.

Kimura: This was done to me. This was about three years after I entered the dojo….but I’m happy that I was able to imitate it. (smiling) This kind of thing happened many times, I was absorbed by Sagawa Sensei. It was really incredible!

To be continued in Part 2, with more from Hiroshi Sagawa and a discussion of Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s interactions with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba…

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura – Part 1 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Tatsuo Kimura Sensei Instructing

“Sagawa Sensei entered the world of Aiki when he was 17 years old. However, his younger brother Hiroshi Sagawa, said, ‘My brother could throw anyone when he was 17 years old, but it was after he became 50 that he reached Takeda Sensei’s level where the hands of his opponent no longer let go.’…..Mr. Hiroshi Sagawa, Sensei’s brother, also told me that when Sagawa Sensei was young, he continued training and would say, ‘Although everyone says that only Takeda Sensei can do techniques using Aiki, Sensei is also a human being so it must absolutely be possible for me to understand Aiki.'”

– Tatsuo Kimura
  Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei

Yukiyoshi Sagawa was a long time student of  Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda, who was also the teacher of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s younger brother and favorite sibling, Hiroshi Sagawa (佐川廣), was born in Shimo-yubetsu Hokkaido in 1909 (Meiji Year 42) into a family in which both his father and his elder brother trained extensively with Sokaku Takeda.

Tatsuo Kimura (木村達雄) is one of three of Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan’s students to have completed the 10th Gen level of techniques (the techniques in Sagawa Dojo that Sagawa Sensei learned from Sokaku Takeda were organized into ten levels, or “Gen” / 元).

Born in Tokyo Japan in 1947, Kimura Sensei is a well known mathematician and professor at Tsukuba University. He published two books about Sagawa Sohan (宗範) that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially) – “Transparent Power (透明な力)” and “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei (合気修得への道―佐川幸義先生に就いた二十年)”. He also holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi (山口清吾).

This is part 2 of the English translation of an interview conducted in Japanese by Kuni Azumi (安積 邦) with Hiroshi Sagawa and Tatsuo Kimura that previously appeared in the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”) in 2001. You may wish to read Part 1 before reading this section.

You may also be interested in another interview with Kimura Sensei that appeared on the Aikido Sangenkai blog previously – “Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Interview with Tatsuo Kimura, Part 1 and Part 2.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa and Kimura Tatsuo in 1985

Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura, Part 2

Sogawa Sohan and the Venerable Morihei Ueshiba

Azumi: But I’ve heard that you had a number of difficulties when you entered Sagawa Dojo, didn’t you? Although you thought “This is the Bujutsu that I have been searching for!” when you first laid eyes on Sagawa Sensei and immediately decided to enroll, Sensei only said “But I won’t teach you!”.

Kimura: Yes (embarrassed smile). At first when I was refused, I thought that I would just stand there under Sensei’s eaves and wait, like something out of a story. (laughing) But then I thought that in the present age that would just be a nuisance. At the end of my desperation I decided to write a letter.

Azumi: A letter?

Kimura: Because I had already been refused once I really agonized over the content of the letter. Well, this is what I wrote. “I think that there is such a thing as fate in this world. I believe that if I had known of Sagawa Sensei first that I would not have done Aikido. Additionally, Sagawa Sensei does absolutely no advertising of any kind. For this reason there was no way that I could have known about him, and to be refused for doing Aikido in this case…”.

Azumi: Was the reason that you were refused that you had been doing Aikido up until that time?

Kimura: Shortly before I started, there was a person who was a fourth dan in Aikido. However, just as Sagawa Sensei was at the point of teaching them they were told by their Aikido teacher to become an instructor and they quit Sagawa Dojo. Just before that a long term student who had practiced Karate for fifteen years quit as well…that number of years matched my fifteen years in Aikido exactly. (embarrassed smile) Sagawa Sensei must have felt that we came from bad roots. (laughing)

Azumi: Perhaps that’s right! (laughing)

Kimura: In addition to that, at our first meeting I made bold speeches about how incredible Ueshiba Sensei was in front of Sagawa Sensei. At the time I certainly didn’t believe that Sagawa Sensei had surpassed O-Sensei long ago. It may be that it was thought “This is suspicious, he must have come to steal my techniques”. (laughing)

Azumi: Or he must be a spy… (laughing)

Sagawa: In this connection, my older brother said that he went to Ueshiba Dojo in order to test whether or not Ueshiba-san could do Aiki when he was around thirty years old, but Ueshiba-san resisted training with him. Eventually he did, but my brother said that Ueshiba-san just grabbed desperately, pushed and turned red.

“Transparent Power” (透明な力) – Japanese and English Editions

Azumi: That story certainly appears in “Transparent Power“, doesn’t it?

Sagawa: So, and this wasn’t written in Kimura-san’s book, sometime later he partnered with one of the students, one named Yukawa-san. Well, my brother threw that person many times, more than ten times. It seems that at first Yukawa-san was stubborn and came to attack my brother, but as he was thrown over and over he gradually came to accept being thrown. After that Ueshiba-san was training with that person and my brother said “Yukawa took ukemi well, so it looked as if his throws were more brilliant than mine (laughing)”. When I heard that I thought that Ueshiba-san might be beyond my brother, but listening to Kimura-san’s stories…

What was Behind Sagawa Sohan’s Blistering Anger

Kimura: Sagawa Sensei’s force of personality was incredible, wasn’t it? Especially when he became angry about the state of one’s technical progress… (embarrassed smile) Yes, that was explosive! I experienced that kind of thing many times. Later on, before training I had the custom of always drinking coffee with Sagawa Sensei while we discussed various things together (Note to the editorial staff: this custom continued for over seventeen years, until Sagawa Sensei passed away). One time, as we were drinking coffee as usual, Sensei suddenly shouted “For the last two months your progress has stopped!” – that was really frightening. Whenever work was busy and I wasn’t doing my solo training for a week or so I would soon get scolded. That was always straight on the mark. When I would try some kind of conditioning that I had devised myself, even though I had said nothing to Sensei about it he would say “Stop that training you’re doing”…..it was really incredible.

Azumi: He must have been sharply perceptive, but it’s incredible – honestly, it’s difficult to believe.

Kimura: It’s true, all of it. It’s impossible to overstate talk of Sagawa Sensei – that’s how incredible he was. Rather, there are many stories that are even more surprising. As far as I am concerned, when put in words the actual events come across as being less then they were, so I feel as if I don’t even really want to speak about them.

Azumi: When I speak to members of Sagawa Dojo they tell me that it was extremely frightening when he became angry. How did your brother appear from your perspective?

Sagawa: I didn’t have a frightening image of my brother myself, even though he may have displayed harsh face with regards to Bujutsu. But he never nagged me, his younger brother, or tried to interfere with me in any odd ways just because we were brothers. Our father was a person like that. Father experienced many hard times, and it may be that he wanted to allow his children to do as they liked. I went to two universities, going to Waseda University after leaving Hokkaido University, but my father excused even that selfishness. I was never told that I couldn’t go out on the town at night, I was free to do anything.

Azumi: ….?

Sagawa: Even so, it’s not as I was doing anything bad!

Azumi: No, no, I didn’t say anything! (sweating)

Sagawa : Well…I would go to friend’s houses and stay late, that’s about it. Because I can’t drink alcohol. It may be that we saw what our father was like and naturally developed the same kind of relationship between us.

Kimura: When I asked Sagawa Sensei about his siblings he’d just go on and on about Hiroshi-san. I never heard anything about any of his other siblings, I heard a lot about Hiroshi-san.

Sagawa: As I mentioned before, in the past I often partnered with my brother during training (embarrassed smile), and perhaps he cared for me because of that.

Azumi: What kind of stories did Sagawa Sensei tell about Hiroshi-san?

Kimura: Stories about the chicken, and Hiroshi-san’s hands…”If only they were as big as my younger brother’s…” he was burning with envy! (laughing)

Sagawa: My brother’s hands were very small.

Kimura: Although one wouldn’t think that, they way that they were conditioned. (embarrassed smile)

Sagawa: Yes, that’s true. I think that he conditioned them and they became strong. During the time that he was in Hokkaido, there was a student of his who was a fifth or sixth dan in Judo, that person had thick arms. My brother would grumble that if his hands were as large as mine it would have been easier to hold on to him. (laughing)

Azumi: Sagawa Sensei grumbled!?

Kimura: In any case, from my discussions with Sensei I was left with the impression that he took his younger brother Hiroshi-san under his wing.

Hiroshi Sagawa and Kimura Tatsuo re-enact
Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s one-finger pin

Anecdotes of the Master Sagawa Sohan, Heroic Exploits

Azumi: Hiroshi Sensei, are there any memories of your brother’s Aiki that left an impression on you?

Sagawa: One time my brother said to me “With one finger I will make you unable to move”. Inside myself I thought “Hold me down with one finger? That’s absurd! There’s no way that’s possible”. However, (making a gesture) like that I was thrown with the most natural feeling in the world. I was put down face up, with my arms turned up against my back. When that was done my own body held down both my arms, and I couldn’t move at all. My brother pressed down firmly on my head with his little finger and said “Try getting up!”. I couldn’t get my body to move, so there was no way that I could get up! (embarrassed smile) If the truth be told, the first time that I realized how incredible my brother’s techniques were was when I brought a friend to see him.

Azumi: What do you mean?

Sagawa: During the time that were were in Maruyama (Sapporo), I had a friend who was a fourth dan in Judo and had never lost a fight. I thought that this guy would be able to give my brother some opposition, and so I took him brother’s place. My brother was around thirty years old, and I was around twenty two or three. His name was Shinji Toba (鳥羽信次), and he had three swirls in his hair. (laughing) In Sapporo he’d fight with the young gang toughs and he had a violent temper. They actually crossed hands, but when he came on to my brother he was handled like a complete child! So that rough man turned bright purple and was made small. He wasn’t any kind of opposition.

Azumi: A Judo fourth dan handled like a child…

Sagawa: That man, Toba, had a match the previous year with a strong Judo sixth dan, but however strong a fourth dan Toba was there was no way to expect that there was any way that he could defeat a sixth dan opponent. However, he was strong in his will to avoid defeat, entered his opponent’s opening and, throwing him over his back, dropping him into a choke.

Azumi: Wow!

Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame
“Judo Kyohan” (柔道教範) 1913, by Sakujiro Yokoyama and Eisuke Oshima 

Sagawa: So what did my brother think, paired with that Toba? He took ukemi when he was thrown, and then while lying down he stretched out one hand and had him apply Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame (腕挫十字固). Anyway, he was the kind of man that you couldn’t predict what he would do, so I suddenly became worried as to whether everything would really be alright.

Azumi: That’s true, isn’t it?

Sagawa: However, when my brother said “OK?” in no time at all he stood right up. So that means that his opponent was hanging down from him. And that wasn’t all – he would have his opponent put the lock full on and then say “OK? I’m going to start!” and then just pull his arm out of the lock.

Azumi: How could he do such a thing? How did it work? Kimura Sensei…

How did Sokaku and Sagawa throw strong Judo players?

“This was a question of mine for many years, so I had to ask these two people. As Hiroshi Sensei explained Kimura Sensei said “It must be like this…” – and here it is! As far as I can tell, it must be that the Judo-ka are sent flying instantly as they come to grab. Certainly, this prohibits the Judo-ka from executing a technique, and it may be that this is contrary to the expectations of the Judo-ka, who is expecting to stay in close contact. They may have been a simple challenge as opponents for Sokaku and Sagawa in their matches with other styles.”

-Kuni Azumi (shown above with Kimura Tatsuo)

Kimura: During the Second Gen direct transmission workshop Sagawa Sensei lay face downwards and said “Try holding me down!”, so I twisted Sensei’s arm up behind his back and held him with both hands in a way that he would certainly be unable to move. However, just as I thought that I heard Sensei’s voice say “OK?” from below “Bang!” – I was thrown. So I can visualize that story, but, well…. (laughing)

Sagawa: Students other than Kimura-san have also said things like “Before I realized it I could see the ceiling, and then it felt as if the tatami was in front of my eyes in the next moment.” when being thrown by my brother. It was while hearing those stories that I began to think that my brother’s techniques were those of a master, that they weren’t necessarily just overacting, that they must be the real thing.

Azumi：He had an incredible memory…

Sagawa: If we talk about that then we must also talk about Takeda Sensei.

Azumi: Sokaku Takeda Sensei?

Sagawa: As you know, Takeda Sensei could not write, but his powers of memory were something extraordinary. “I taught this student up to here, I taught that student up to the XX technique of XX kajo.” – he remembered this things so sharply that it was frightening.

Azumi: Since he couldn’t write, he must not have been able to record any notes, right?

Sagawa: My brother really admired him for that reason “Hundreds, no thousands, of students and he would never (forgetting what he had previously taught) teach a duplicate technique.”.

Kimura: Sagawa Sensei also could have been called almost abnormal (laughing), he had tremendous powers of memory. It just felt to me as if they declined just slightly (compared to what it was previously) about two or three years before he passed away. Even then, I think that it was when Sensei was 87 (Showa year 63 / 1988) that he said “Kimura-kun, recently my memory has been getting worse”, and when I asked him why he said “I can’t remember the street that I used when I visited my friend in Showa year 19 (1944)”. He treated it as something that would be remembered as a matter of course. (embarrassed grin) At the time I couldn’t say anything but “Sensei, whatever you say…”. That is, it was something from more than forty-four years ago, wasn’t it?

Azumi: Rather one would wonder if something like that could even be recalled… However, perhaps that incredible memory was also part of Takeda-den (Translator’s Note: “the transmission from Takeda”). Aiki, incredible powers of memory, long life, the vigor of his anger, Takeda and Sagawa Sensei had many very interesting commonalities, didn’t they?

To be continued in Part 3, with a discussion of the unknown side benefits of Aiki…

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura – Part 2 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Kisshomaru Ueshiba – Morihei Ueshiba – Koichi Tohei

What does all of this mean? It means that the common view of the spread of aikido following the war taking place under the direct tutelage of the Founder is fundamentally in error. Tohei and the present Doshu (*Kisshomaru Ueshiba) deserve the lion’s share of the credit, not the Founder. It means further that O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba was not seriously involved in the instruction or administration of aikido in the postwar years. He was already long retired and very focused on his personal training, spiritual development, travel and social activities.

—“Is O-Sensei Really the Father of Modern Aikido?”, by Stanley Pranin

The quote above comes from an article written by Stanley Pranin that was originally published in Aikido Journal #109 in 1996. Long time readers of Stanley Pranin are probably familiar with this line of thought, which has been supported by a cornucopia of material published in both Aikido Journal and the older Aiki News.

What follows is an essay by Mark Murray that was originally posted to the Rum Soaked Fist discussion forums, and appears here with his permission. It is a further summation of some of the important issues surrounding the now clear divergence between the Aikido of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei and the Aikido of his son, Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba.

Mark is an “IT Specialist by trade and a writer by choice” (check out the Mark Murray Books website, and the Mark Murray author page on Amazon), but when he’s not doing either of those things he is usually training in the martial arts, and that is the context in which most of us are probably familiar with him.

In 2006 he was one of the first Aikido people to post a detailed public review (which originally appeared on AikiWeb) of his meeting with Dan Harden, and this was an important step in the process that eventually brought Dan to teach publicly:

Work sent me to Boston for a few days. Before I left for Boston, I contacted Dan Harden and asked if he’d meet me. I said I’d like to start learning the internal stuff. Once in Boston, I met Dan at my hotel after work one day and we walked over to the Commons.

I ended up learning a lot of things. One is that Dan is a great guy. Working out with him for the short time I had was a pleasure. I went back and forth from, “Okay how did you do that” to laughing. Most of the time I forgot I was even standing in the Boston Commons.

Two is that I just couldn’t push him over. And let me tell — that was a very disconcerting feeling. I tried pushing with both hands on his chest, tried pulling him sideways using one of his arms, and then placing a hand on the side of his head and pushing. He just stood there relaxed. I don’t know how to explain some of what I felt there. Part of it was just like pushing and nothing was budging. Almost like putting your hand on a wall, leaning into it, pushing, and it’s just there not moving, but not nearly as hard or unyielding as a wall’s surface. And parts of it I could feel that I’d lost my own balance as I started to push. In those instances, I was pushing and Dan was moving his center in such a way that he knew where I was losing my balance or what foot held most of my weight.

It was an eye opening display of some of what he can do. I say some because I also got to feel a small portion of the power he can generate. Another example of this relaxed power was that he held out both hands and asked me to throw him in a judo type throw. I grabbed both arms and that was as far as I got. There were no openings. I never got to the tsukuri, or fit, because I couldn’t even get kuzushi. In fact, there was a kuzushi but it was on me. If you’ve ever seen some of these sayings, “keep weight underside”, “extend ki”, “keep one point”, well, I got to experience them first hand. Dan also showed me the “push out exercise” where I had hold of him but couldn’t step forward. Although I didn’t feel like I was overly weighted down, I still couldn’t take a step. My feet just felt rooted to the ground.

The no-inch punch was amazing. And yes, there was no distance but the force was definitely there. I wouldn’t say it felt exactly like a punch, which is more of a percussive feel. No, this was more like a ball of energy/power hitting me and shockwaves vibrating out from where it entered my body. Next thing I know, I’m picking myself up off the ground a few feet away.

All the while, Dan is explaining how all of it is done. He was open and willing to share information on what he was doing and how it was done. He showed me some exercises to do and I tried some of them. Try is a good word. It’ll take some time doing them, especially the hanmi. LOL. But in the short time I was there, I will say that they definitely helped.

The stuff Dan is doing is good stuff. I wish I’d been able to visit his dojo and meet everyone else, but I’m hoping that my next visit, I’ll be able to do that.

And now…on to Mark Murray’s essay – “The Ueshiba Legacy”.

Father and Son in front of Aikikai Hombu Dojo
Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba

The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray

There are two Ueshiba Legacies. The legacy of Morihei Ueshiba and the legacy of Kisshomaru Ueshiba. The two are completely different. Their paths rarely cross, with only a smattering of commonalities.

A: The Words

From the translation on the Sangenkai website, “Aikido is the way of harmony, that is to say the living form of Ichirei Shikon Sangen Hachiriki, the form of the fabric of the universe, specifically the form of the High Plain of Heaven.” (1) Ueshiba would talk about this often. He explained Hachiriki as “The 8 powers are opposing forces: Movement – Stillness, Melting – Congealing, Pulling – Loosening, Combining – Splitting / 9-1, 8-2, 7-3, 6-4” (1). Note that the 8 powers are 4 pairs of opposites.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba and a group of foreign students
Left to right: Alan Ruddock, Henry Kono, Per Winter, Joanne Willard,
Joe Deisher, O-Sensei, Joanne Shimamoto (later married to Akira Tohei),
Kenneth Cottier, Edward Yamaguchi, Norman Miles and Terry Dobson

When Henry Kono asked O-Sensei “Why can we not do what you do, Sensei?” the answer was quite simply “Because you don’t understand In and Yo.” (2) Opposing forces. One of Ueshiba’s doka (“poems of the way”) was “Manifest yo (yang) in the right hand, change the left hand to in (yin) and guide the opponent.”.

More from what Ueshiba said: “Aikido is the Way and Principle of harmonizing Heaven, Earth and Man.” Ueshiba talked about Izanami and Izanagi. He talked about The Floating Bridge of Heaven. He talked about kami, which was often written as ka (火 / fire) and mi (水 / water). Whether during the famous pre-war era or during the post-war era, Morihei Ueshiba described his aikido by using a specific spiritual ideology.

Rinjiro Shirata at the Kobukan Dojo in 1935

Rinjiro Shirata, another pre-war student, gives some more details about Ueshiba’s teaching style – “We never practiced techniques in any specific order. It was not a practice where we were taught. As I told you before, Ueshiba had his own training. Therefore, he practiced techniques as he wanted. That was his training. Ueshiba Sensei’s way of explaining techniques was first of all to give the names of kamisama (deities). After that, he explained the movement. He told us, ‘Aikido originally didn’t have any form’. The movements of the body in response to one’s state of mind became the techniques.”. (3)

“Aikido Shugyo“, by Gozo Shioda

Shioda’s thoughts about Ueshiba: “As mentioned earlier, at the Ueshiba Dojo in the old days we didn’t explicitly have any pre-set forms. The only thing the students could do was copy the techniques that Sensei performed on their own. In terms of instruction, the only thing we were told was to ‘become one with heaven and earth’.”. (4)

Black Belt magazine, May 1966

From an article in Black Belt magazine about training in post-war: “The first class is usually taken up mostly with discussions about God and nature – Uyeshiba doing the talking and the uchideshi listening. It is in this hour that the young uchideshi is exposed to Zen philosophy and the deeper meanings of aikido – its nonviolent and defensive perfection and understanding

If this all sounds rather remote and difficult to grasp for a Western reader, he may be interested to know that the young Japanese uchideshi often feels the same way. The 83-year-old Uyeshiba many times speaks about highly abstract topics, lapsing usually into ancient Japanese phraseology, so that his listeners often find it difficult to follow him.”. (5)

Morihei Ueshiba with Robert Frager

Robert Frager also talks about his training and Ueshiba’s incomprehensible speeches – “I understood very little of his talks. Osensei used a great many esoteric Shinto terms, and he spoke with a strong regional accent. His teachings were pitched at a philosophical, mystical level, far above my beginner’s concerns about where I had to place my hands and feet. I puzzled over statements like, ‘When you practice Aikido, you stand on the floating bridge between heaven and earth,’ and ‘Put the Shinto Goddess ‘She-who-invites’ in your left foot and the God ‘He-who-approaches’ in your right foot.’.”. (6)

Training with the Master, by Walther Krenner and John Stevens

Walther Krenner notes that Ueshiba would sometimes come in and talk for a long time. (7) Kisshomaru Ueshiba also talks about his father’s baffling spiritual experiences. (8) Yoji Tomosue also found it difficult to understand Ueshiba. (9) Tamura relates that the young students didn’t understand what Ueshiba was saying. (10) There is an interesting interview with Henry Kono in an Aikido Today magazine:

ATM: When you had conversations like these with O’sensei, what would you talk about?
HK: Well, I would usually ask him why the rest of us couldn’t do what he could. There were many other teachers, all doing aikido. But he was doing it differently – doing something differently. His movement was so clean!
ATM: How would O’sensei answer your questions about what he was doing?
HK: He would say that I didn’t understand yin and yang [in and yo]. So, now I’ve made it my life work to study yin and yang. That’s what O’sensei told me to do. (11)

Looking back to the pre-war era, one would think that Ueshiba would have been much easier to understand. However we have to remember that Ueshiba had about ten years before the Kobukan dojo opened to refine his spiritual ideology. Takako Kunigoshi states that there wasn’t anyone who could understand Ueshiba. (12) Shirata remembers Ueshiba giving the names of kamisama as explanations. (13) Mochizuki considered Ueshiba a “primitive genius who couldn’t explain anything.” (14) In fact, Mochizuki goes on to say that Ueshiba wouldn’t explain but would rather say it came from God. (15) (16)

The Gods Izanagi and Izanami on the Floating Bridge of Heaven

Ueshiba stated: “The left hand is Izanagi, the right is Izanami, in the center is Ame-no-minakanushi, this is yourself. This is standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and turning in a spiral. This is called Taka-ama-hara. Heaven and earth are one unit, water and fire are also one unit, all appears through Iki (breath). This is the endless appearance of the Kami. Aiki technique comes forth endlessly.” (17)

More from Ueshiba: “It is said that Aikido must first stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven. It is said that the Floating Bridge of Heaven is the exchange of Fire and Water. Precisely in the form of a cross, it is the world of Fire and Water in harmony. In other words, it is said the this world is created through the two actions of the twin gods Takami-Musubi and Kami-Musubi winding up in a spiral on the right and winding down in a spiral on the left. Fire (“Ka”) and Water (“mi”) become “Kami”, the source of this “Kami” (Fire and Water) returns to the one, but the one becomes the source of the physical and the spiritual. “. (18)

No matter if we look at the pre-war period or the post-war one, we find that Ueshiba’s spiritual ideology hindered his students understanding of what to work on in training aiki. Hardly anyone ever really understood what Ueshiba meant by his explanations.

Regarding the worldwide version of aikido that was disseminated after Morihei Ueshiba’s death, from around 1970 on, how often has a student of aikido been frustrated to understand Izanami, Izanagi, kami, Hachiriki, or the Floating Bridge of Heaven from their instructor? How often has those terms actually come up? If they ever have (which is rare), how were they explained?

Kisshomaru Ueshiba was given control over the Tokyo dojo and he changed many things. One of those was the actual message of his father. As a brief explanation, this was after the war when Japan had lost and was in turmoil. Martial arts were mostly banned. The Tokyo dojo was in shambles. Kisshomaru picked up the pieces, put them back together, and from his experiences during the war, changed aikido’s message to something the world could embrace – which it did by millions of people.

The fact remains that the words and vision of aikido between Morihei Ueshiba and what was spread throughout the world, Modern Aikido for lack of a better term, are completely different.

(1) “Aikido and the Structure of the Universe”
(2) “Aikido Memoirs” by Alan Ruddock
(3) Aiki News Issue 062
(4) “Aikido Shugyo” by Gozo Shioda
(5) Black Belt 1966 Vol 4 No 5
(6) Yoga Journal March 1982
(7) “Training with the Master” by John Stevens
(8) Aiki News Issue 031
(9) Aiki News Issue 031
(10) Aiki News Issue 066
(11) Aikido Today Magazine; #31 Dec.93/ Jan. 94.
(12) Aiki News 047
(13) Aiki News Issue 062
(14) Black Belt 1980 Vol 18 No 4
(15) Black Belt 1980 Vol 18 No 4
(16) Black Belt 1989 Vol 27 No 8
(17) “Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven”
(18) “Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross”

San-Dai Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba teaching 3,000 people in Paris – 2004

B: The Training

According to an Aikikai estimate, 1.2 million people are practicing aikido worldwide, but that probably doesn’t include non-Aikikai related schools. Still, at a minimum, millions of people are training aikido. If we focus on all those millions of aikido people taking “ukemi” for 40 to 50 years and that some of them spent quite a bit more time training with their teachers than pre-war or post-war students did with Ueshiba, then where are the people that rival Gozo Shioda or Kenji Tomiki’s abilities, let alone the skill level of Morihei Ueshiba? How many of the millions who have trained and learned the outward physical techniques of aikido for 40-50 years have replicated Ueshiba’s exploits?

Under the Dai-Nippon Senyokai (大日本武道宣揚会) banner Morihei Ueshiba (left) with the Omoto-kyo’s Sumiko and Onisaburo Deguchi
in 1932. Aritoshi Murashige standing back right

What happens when we look at all the people who are studying misogi-no-gyo or Omoto kyo or Zen meditation? If we focus on those people, you still have no one who has achieved Ueshiba’s abilities. How many people who focused on the spiritual only and practiced misogi exercises have replicated Ueshiba’s abilities? We can turn to one of Ueshiba’s students for an answer. Around 1952, Seiseki Abe says this about talking to Ueshiba, “How did you ever learn such a wonderful budo”, and he answered, ‘Through misogi.’ Now I had been doing misogi since 1941 and when I heard that Aikido came from misogi, suddenly ‘snap’, the two came together.”. (1)

Seiseki Abe, standing far left, with Morihei Ueshiba
Kumano Juku, 1954

Seiseki Abe had been doing misogi for at least 10 years prior to training in aikido and wasn’t at all near Ueshiba’s skills or abilities, nor did he even see misogi and aikido as being similar. However, under Ueshiba’s tutelage, Seiseki Abe continued to grow as a martial artist. We can see from this that something that Ueshiba knew and had trained was the underlying basis for powering his misogi exercises. Other people who did not have that certain something did not grow to replicate Ueshiba’s abilities. Looking at Omoto kyo, how many people who don’t practice techniques have replicated Ueshiba’s abilities? How many Omoto kyo people who do practice techniques have replicated Ueshiba’s abilities? Yet, when we look at Ueshiba’s peers, we find that they did replicate exploits and abilities. Those peers did not practice Omoto kyo nor misogi. What they did practice was exercises for Daito ryu aiki. This aiki was the power behind Ueshiba’s misogi and not the other way around.

Now, if we look at the millions of aikido people practicing techniques day after day, year after year, decade after decade and not replicating Ueshiba’s abilities, isn’t it time to accept the truth that Morihei Ueshiba’s aikido and Modern Aikido are very different?

The focus on techniques was a modern change instilled into what became Modern Aikido for the world. Ueshiba never preached techniques. In fact, his art was formless. Students griped that they rarely saw a technique twice. When asked about techniques, Ueshiba’s reply showed the overwhelming nature of trying to learn them all. He said, “There are about 3,000 basic techniques, and each of them has 16 variations … so there are many thousands. Depending on the situation, you create new ones.” (2)

Rinjiro Shirata explained his memories of early training with Ueshiba: “We never practiced techniques in any specific order. It was not a practice where we were taught. As I told you before, Ueshiba had his own training. Therefore, he practiced techniques as he wanted. That was his training. Ueshiba Sensei’s way of explaining techniques was first of all to give the names of kamisama (deities). After that, he explained the movement. He told us, ‘Aikido originally didn’t have any form. The movements of the body in response to one’s state of mind became the techniques.’.” (3)

and

“Since Aikido is formless, we move according to how we feel.” (3)

and

“Ueshiba Sensei didn’t have techniques. He said: ‘There are no techniques. What you express each time is a technique.’.” (4)

Kanshu Sunadomari with Morihei Ueshiba, around 1960

Kanshu Sunadomari remarked that if you stick to form, you only get the old style martial arts. He also talked about Ueshiba and training: “O-Sensei said, ‘Aiki is to teach the basis for the creation of budo in which techniques are born as one moves.’ So you have to understand the basis for the creation of techniques. The basis is kokyu power. There is nothing else. When you develop kokyu power, countless techniques emerge. You can’t create techniques only by doing the forms of the past.”. (5)

Shioda notes that in pre-war training, there were no pre-set forms. They had to mimic what Ueshiba did. (6) In turn, David Lynch states that Shioda developed a systemized curriculum to help new students learn better. (7) If we address the actual issue of techniques, it’s interesting to find what two main aikido instructors thought about them.

Kisshomaru Ueshiba: “It was around 1937 or 1938 that I began to practice Aikido seriously. I had already learned techniques by then. One can learn techniques in two or three years.”. (8)

Koichi Tohei: “… the physical techniques can be easily learned within a short time span, like other Martial Arts.”. (9)

Koichi Tohei: “When I visited Chicago a few months ago, four Ohioans came to study under me and I was surprised because they knew the techniques quite well. When I inquired who taught them, they said that they had learned it from my book. One person would read while the others practiced the techniques. They didn’t reveal any major faults in their movements.”. (10)

As merely a technicality, one could say that Ueshiba taught techniques. A major point of fact as shown by the various schools of aikido, Ueshiba had to have taught something or else they wouldn’t have a technique based curriculum. As a matter of actual truth, though? No, Ueshiba didn’t teach techniques. He viewed his art as formless and where his body moved, his training partner created the openings for techniques to happen. The students did the best that they could with what Ueshiba gave them. Since he wasn’t really teaching the secrets, the students mimicked the forms and trained techniques. It was the students who developed a curriculum by writing down techniques and sorting them into some type of syllabus.

In the pre-war era, there weren’t that many hours of being taught by Ueshiba but rather many hours of practice with peers and seniors. It was mentioned that pre-war students often did techniques with seniors. We can see on film how Ueshiba “taught”. Who actually learned techniques from Ueshiba in those films or did the students just mimic what they saw? Many of the students of Ueshiba complained that he wouldn’t show a technique twice. We also must consider Mochizuki complaining that Ueshiba completely pared down the Daito ryu techniques into a much small number. If techniques were Ueshiba’s focus, then why did he trim so much? Why didn’t he set some sort of curriculum? Why did he say his art was formless?

If we shift our focus to consider the post-war era when Ueshiba was in Iwama, who taught at Tokyo? When Ueshiba was traveling around, who taught at Iwama or Tokyo? How about the training schedule at Tokyo where Ueshiba only “taught” the morning class? Even then, many of the students complained he talked away most of the time. Who actually put together a jo and bokken syllabus in Iwama? Saito did.

Morihei Ueshiba demonstrating at the Shinbuden Dojo
Manchurai, 1942

We can also look at another example to show that Ueshiba wasn’t focused on techniques at all but rather his vision of aikido. At a demonstration in Manchuria, Ohba, as uke, showed that Ueshiba had skills that went outside the spiritual vision. This was supposed to be a prearranged demonstration but Ohba changed his attacks. Ueshiba was called upon to handle some very realistic attacks. In fact, Shigenobu Okumura stated: “At that time I was a student and I saw this demonstration. The demonstration was as serious as any I have ever seen. I could tell that it was not a prearranged demonstration at all.” (11) Ueshiba was fumingly angry that Ohba had changed his attacks and he stayed that way until appeased by the words of Hideo Sonobe, who gave high praise. It would appear that Ueshiba’s chosen demonstration of how he viewed his art of aikido was ruined by Ohba’s very strong and unrehearsed attacks. Ueshiba had a prearranged vision of his aikido that included an emphasis on set attacks with which he allowed the kami to manifest the technique. The focus was not on techniques.

Gozo Shioda and Morihei Ueshiba
from the technical manual “Budo”, 1938

Shioda also said that Ueshiba told him, “In a real fight, Aikido is 70 percent atemi and 30 percent throwing.” (12) The specific factor here is “real fight”. We can guess that in a real encounter which isn’t preset, Ueshiba relied upon his Daito ryu training, which included atemi and aiki. Techniques were not the focus. We can see that Ueshiba definitely had the skills, but chose to only show or use certain aspects, or certain subsets, in his vision of aikido. Consider that when a student was picked as an uke by Ueshiba, if that student didn’t attack in a very specific way that Ueshiba wanted, then that student didn’t get picked as uke again. Ueshiba was very specific in demonstrating his vision of aikido. He viewed what he did as a spiritual ideology using his students as training partners rather than focusing on actually teaching his students the secret of aiki.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa with Masaru Takahashi and Tatsuo Kimura

Speaking of aiki, if we look to Yukiyoshi Sagawa, we find that he states aiki is a body training method and it isn’t about techniques. In fact, Sagawa, Kodo Horikawa, Seigo Okamoto, and Ueshiba all said their art was formless. Not some set curriculum of techniques, but formless. Then we find that Tokimune Takeda (*Note: see “Solo Training for Kokyu-ryoku and Ki in Daito-ryu Aiki Budo“), Takuma Hisa, Kodo, Sagawa, and Ueshiba all had solo training exercises that did not get shown. Where is their focus on techniques? They did not have it.

Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Kodokai founder Kodo Horikawa

The focus on techniques is in Modern Aikido. Now that the world has practiced Modern Aikido and its techniques since, let’s say, 1960, where have people progressed? Where are the peer level people of Gozo Shioda or Rinjiro Shirata? How about those who have made it to replicate Ueshiba’s abilities? Even some of the direct students have said that they haven’t reached Ueshiba’s level. What does that say for their students?

What has Modern Aikido been doing for 50 years? Techniques. Why is it that Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei stated that techniques can be learned in a short amount of time? Doesn’t 50 years of focused study on techniques with no worldwide appearance of anyone like Shioda, Shirata, or Ueshiba state something very definitive? Doesn’t that state that there are two unique visions of aikido? Morihei Ueshiba’s and Modern Aikido’s.

(1) Aiki News Issue 045
(2) Aiki News Issue 018
(3) Aiki News Issue 062
(4) Aiki News Issue 063
(5) Aiki News Issue 065
(6) “Aikido Shugyo” by Gozo Shioda
(7) Aikido Journal 103
(8) Aiki News Issue 056
(9) From Westbrook and Ratti’s “Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere“.
(10) Black Belt 1965 Vol 3 No 11.
(11) Aiki News Issue 086
(12) “Aikido Shugyo” by Gozo Shioda

Conclusion

There are two very different legacies to aikido. Kisshomaru created a worldwide vision of aikido that was accepted by millions. The world adopted the peaceful vision and the created curriculum. Some took the spiritual message as the most important part over martial viability, some took the martial viability over the spiritual, and others blended the two.

Someone who wanted a peaceful, spiritual training environment could find it. Someone who wanted a more martial environment could find it. Make no mistake, even with all the hoopla about aiki bunny hopping, there are people who have made Modern Aikido very martially viable. Ellis Amdur has an eloquent blog regarding just one example. (1)

The world embraced Modern Aikido, gave it life, gave it purpose, and created a legacy. The only unfortunate thing to it all is that the world mistakenly traced that legacy back to Morihei Ueshiba.

Morihei Ueshiba’s legacy is based upon aiki. This was the aiki that was passed down to him from Sokaku Takeda. His words were actual training explanations for developing the way of that specific aiki. And beyond those words that most couldn’t understand, he also explained aiki in very simple, direct terms … to a select few. A very specific training paradigm to change the body. Morihei Ueshiba took that aiki training, changed his body, studied Daito ryu, dabbled in other martial arts, and infused his Omoto kyo with it. A very different legacy than Modern Aikido. Ueshiba’s aikido was martially valid and stood out as unique from koryu jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems. Ueshiba’s aikido also created a visionary spiritual idealogy based entirely upon aiki but couched in Omoto kyo terms.

The world is big enough for both legacies. Different visions for different people. Modern Aikido must take a step back and start acknowledging their actual Founders – People like Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Koichi Tohei, Morihiro Saito and others. Give them the credit that is rightly due by hanging their picture on the shomen. Morihei Ueshiba should be reserved for those seeking the legacy of aiki that was passed down from Sokaku Takeda.

(1) “The Use of Weapons in Aikidō Training”

Appendix – Formlessness of the Arts

Aiki News Issue 018

“Ueshiba: There are about 3,000 basic techniques, and each of them has 16 variations … so there are many thousands. Depending on the situation, you create new ones.”

Aiki News Issue 062

“He told us, “Aikido originally didn’t have any form. The movements of the body in response to one’s state of mind became the techniques.” ” — Shirata

“Since Aikido is formless, we move according to how we feel.” — Shirata

Shirata Sensei: We never practiced techniques in any specific order. It was not a practice where we were taught. As I told you before, Ueshiba had his own training. Therefore, he practiced techniques as he wanted. That was his training. Ueshiba Sensei’s way of explaining techniques was first of all to give the names of kamisama (deities). After that, he explained the movement. He told us, “Aikido originally didn’t have any form. The movements of the body in response to one’s state of mind became the techniques.

Aiki News Issue 063

“Ueshiba Sensei didn’t have techniques. He said: “There are no techniques. What you express each time is a technique.” ” — Shirata

Aiki News Issue 065

“Sensei understood the word “takemusu” as the revelation of one of the kami. “Takemusu” is the basis for the creation of all things. Aikido represents the form which creates all things through the body. O-Sensei said, “Aiki is to teach the basis for the creation of budo in which techniques are born as one moves.” So you have to understand the basis for the creation of techniques. The basis is kokyu power. There is nothing else. When you develop kokyu power, countless techniques emerge. You can’t create techniques only by doing the forms of the past.” — Sunadomari

“If you teach form only, you end up only with an old-style martial art.” — Sunadomari

Aiki News Issue 074

Sagawa: Takeda Sensei’s teaching method was always practical. He never taught us kata (forms).

Aikido Journal 103 (Vol 22, no 2)

Interview with David Lynch
Shioda Sensei, like many other former students of O-Sensei, felt that O-Sensei’s teaching was unsystematic, and he therefore devised his own set of basic exercises that were intended to make the art easier for the average person to learn. These basic exercises (hiriki no yosei and shumatsu dosa, for instance) are not found in other dojos.

Aikido Shugyo by Gozo Shioda

As mentioned earlier, at the Ueshiba Dojo in the old days we didn’t explicitly have any pre-set forms. The only thing the students could do was copy the techniques that Sensei performed on their own. In terms of instruction, the only thing we were told was to “become one with heaven and earth.”

International Aikido Federation (IAF) Chairman Peter Goldsbury

(originally posted on AikiWeb)

There are many subjective accounts of how Morihei Ueshiba trained and what he taught, but I do not think that these accounts allow us to state categorically that this or that was how Ueshiba taught or trained. Apart from Doshu, who I think is in a special category, the Hombu instructor with whom I have discussed these issues the most is Hiroshi Tada. Like Tohei, H Tada was a student of Tempu Nakamura, but he seems to have been very careful as to what he taught in the Hombu and what he taught in his own dojo and in Italy. In other words, he seems to have accepted the idea that only certain things were to be taught or practiced in the Hombu, but also that the other things were to be practiced elsewhere. He teaches weapons in Italy, but never in the Hombu, and when I mentioned some details of a certain jo kata that I practiced in Italy to another Hombu instructor, he was very curious and wondered where Tada had learned it. Like other older Hombu instructors, Tada sets great store by solo training exercises and these seem to consist mainly of kokyu exercises of increasing sophistication and complexity. But he has never taught anything like pushing hands etc and I suspect that the occasion for seeing the results of all this kokyu training would be in basic aikido waza, like shoumen-uchi 1-kyou. This issue for me is which bit of Tada’s training comes from Nakamura and which bit from Ueshiba — and whether he could make such a distinction. Add to this Ellis Amdur’s theory of Ueshiba’s use of his students as ‘crash-test dummies’ and you also have to entertain the possibility that he showed different things to different students — and he showed this by having them take ukemi. You also have to entertain the possibility that the skills that Ueshiba possessed which could be interpreted as IP skills could be acquired by Ueshiba’s students in various ways, but not necessarily from Ueshiba himself by a direct transmission.

and

I am not sure that acceptance is the right word here. Sufferance might be more appropriate. One of the yudansha who trains with the group I look after in the Netherlands attends the workshops of Dan Harden and Minoru Akuzawa when they come to Europe. His aikido comes from another source, of course, but on one occasion a senior Hombu instructor stopped and asked him, “Why are you so strong?” The question was not meant in a negative sense at all and he was not talking about physical strength. The instructor knew exactly what he was seeing and I believe the older generation of instructors in Japan also know this. But, as you say, this knowledge is clandestine and limited to individuals. These individuals are in the Aikikai, but are dwindling in number. Yamaguchi, Tada and Arikawa used to visit our dojo regularly and I once asked an instructor why Doshu (the present Doshu, not Kisshomaru) was never invited. This was a few years ago and the answer was quite blunt: “He’s too young and does not know enough.”

I think Doshu is an active exponent of a certain interpretation of iemoto, but the great danger here is that aikido is not a koryu and does not have kata in the sense understood in a koryu. There is a sense that the waza can be seen as vehicles for the expression of creativity and this, to my mind, is what Morihei Ueshiba meant by Takemusu Aiki. He always showed waza, as did Takeda Sokaku, but seems to have presented them slightly differently to different deshi. So creativity can be understood in many ways. Unlike the present generation of Japanese martial arts exponents, Morihei Ueshiba also read the Chinese classics and was familiar with all the texts that are the foundation of Chinese internal arts. Recently I came across a scholarly work on yin-yang and its place in Chinese thought and culture. Even a quick read was enough to show that this is a complex and multi-faceted concept. We all know the question that a student asked Morihei Ueshiba and his answer, citing the knowledge of yin and yang. Ueshiba did not give any further explanation and left it to the students to grasp what he meant. The point is that he was probably familiar with the whole breadth and depth of the concept, but his students did not share this familiarity.

“Hidden in Plain Sight“, by Ellis Amdur (pp. 181-182)

“Solo training seems to be a common link among Daito-ryu practitioners and the various methods of this training develop different types of internal strength. Such training can include: a) wringing / twisting / coiling of the body to develop the connective tissue; b) methods of breathing to generate “pressure”, which builds power from the inside out; c) mental imagery and focused attention that causes subtle micro-adjustments of the nervous system that, in essence, “rewire” the body, so that it functions at increasing levels of efficiency, without unnecessary conflicts between extensor and flexor muscles, for example. Different practitioners of Daito-ryu, including Ueshiba, probably used different exercises and also probably trained in these aspects in different proportions. In this way, their abilities would have developed in different spheres.”

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Tatsuo Kimura and Seigo Yamaguchi in Karuizawa, 1968

“That was how I entered the University of Tokyo and became a formal student of Seigo Yamaguchi Sensei beginning Aikido practice at Ikenoue located next to the Komaba-Todai-mae train station. During that time, I was often with Yamaguchi Sensei all day. He would many times say that his dream was to find some method to deal with any power no matter how strong without using strength. He said he was searching to find this method. At some point, this became my own dream. However, it was like the blue bird in the story of M. Maeterlinck, but it seemed that this was not something that could be realized in this world. Later, I will mention that such a method that answered Yamaguchi Sensei’s dream does indeed exist in this world.”

– Tatsuo Kimura
  Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei

Yukiyoshi Sagawa often traveled as an attendant to his teacher,  Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda, who was also the teacher of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. At one time, around 1956, an agreement was made for Sagawa to become an instructor at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo, but he took exception to some remarks about Sokaku Takeda made by Morihei Ueshiba in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun around that time and changed his mind.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s younger brother and favorite sibling, Hiroshi Sagawa (佐川廣), was born in Shimo-yubetsu Hokkaido in 1909 (Meiji Year 42) into a family in which both his father and his elder brother trained extensively with Sokaku Takeda.

Tatsuo Kimura (木村達雄) is one of three of Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan’s students to have completed the 10th Gen level of techniques (the techniques in Sagawa Dojo that Sagawa Sensei learned from Sokaku Takeda were organized into ten levels, or “Gen” / 元).

Born in Tokyo Japan in 1947, Kimura Sensei is a well known mathematician and professor at Tsukuba University. He published two books about Sagawa Sohan (宗範) that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially) – “Transparent Power (透明な力)” and “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei (合気修得への道―佐川幸義先生に就いた二十年)”. He also holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi (山口清吾).

This is part 3 of the English translation of an interview conducted in Japanese by Kuni Azumi (安積 邦) with Hiroshi Sagawa and Tatsuo Kimura that previously appeared in the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”) in 2001. You may wish to read Part 1 and Part 2 before reading this section.

You may also be interested in another interview with Kimura Sensei that appeared on the Aikido Sangenkai blog previously – “Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Interview with Tatsuo Kimura, Part 1 and Part 2.

Aiki News issues 140 and 141 – Tatsuo Kimura and Yukiyoshi Sagawa

Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura, Part 3

The Unknown Side Benefits of Aiki

Azumi: Clearly and unmistakably, the one who experienced Sagawa Sohan’s Aiki the most times must be Kimura Sensei, who is sitting right here. However Kimura Sensei speaks about Aiki, I think that it is of great interest even to those who are not training in Aiki, is that so?

Kimura: Once one experiences Aiki it sparks an incredibly strong interest. One becomes unable to be thrown by techniques without Aiki. In Sagawa Dojo there was a very large person who Sensei left completely untouched for about five years. Through that time, no matter how much he struggled I was able to throw him. Then Sensei said that he wanted to forge him into a strong member of the dojo. Sagawa Sensei began to throw him, and within two weeks most of the people in the dojo became unable to apply techniques to him. (laughing)

Azumi: Do things like that…really happen?

Kimura: Therefore, the meaning of those people who have been thrown by Sagawa Sensei becoming unthrowable becomes extremely important. However, Sensei would select people, so it’s not as if everybody in the dojo was thrown.

Azumi: Does that mean that something would happen inside their bodies?

Yukiyoshi Sagawa Demonstrates Aiki-age

Kimura: Hmm…what could it be? (laughing) But I can say this. In other words, it is that when one experiences Aiki one feels that it is a truly great way of being handled. When that happens it is that everything else becomes uncomfortable – that conveys a feeling of being forced, and the body becomes unwilling to accept it. As I said before, normally it is difficult to imagine that the techniques of people who can throw you with one finger, like the sempai in the Sagawa Dojo, become ineffective. Just the same, no matter how good a person’s techniques are, they are manifestly different from Sagawa Sensei’s. One doesn’t understand at the beginning. As one’s abilities gradually increase, the difference becomes clear. In time, the body completely refuses to receive other’s techniques – “that’s not going to work”. However, saying that one cannot be thrown and saying that one can throw another person are two separate issues. Just because one’s body has become strong doesn’t mean that one can throw a strong person.

Azumi: Yes, I suppose so.

Kimura: Further, in the magnificence of Sagawa Sensei’s bujutsu, there is one more thing that is not well known.

Azumi: Oh? What’s that?

Kimura: The body becomes energetic and invigorated.

Azumi: It becomes energetic?

Kimura: Yes. The effects are similar to the those things recently being called “healing”. (Translator’s Note: there was a “healing boom” in Japan starting in the 1980’s that spurred many products and services aimed at enhancing general psychological well-being.)

Azumi. Ah. Yes.

Kimura: Actually, when one received Sagawa Sensei’s technique it felt really wonderful. Even now, I think that must have really been healing. When one was thrown it penetrated right through into your core. It felt as if something was being purified. Strength would well up and one would become incredibly energized. In fact, a number of times during training after being thrown by Sagawa Sensei my head would start to start to work oddly well, and on the way home I would be able to solve mathematical equations (Note: Kimura Sensei is a professor of mathematics at Tsukuba University. Additionally, he is the mathematics department head!). This happened to me many times. (laughing)

Azumi: It seems as if there is an injection of energy…

Kimura: Yes! It feels as if a fire has passed through the inside of your body. Aiki passes through the body. It’s not external, it enters into one’s body so one becomes extremely energized. It’s natural, so one feels good. There is absolutely nothing that feels forced! However severely one is thrown. It feels like a technique that happens while one is still thinking “What!?!” (and they are already thrown).

Azumi: Do you think that Sokaku’s Aiki had the same kind of “side benefits”?

Kimura: Whether or not Takeda Sensei got to that point or not…I can’t say. Of course, the throwing the opponent instantly with Aiki that forms the foundation must be absolutely the same.

Sagawa: With both Takeda Sensei and my brother, when Aiki was applied one’s strength would be removed.

Kimura: Sagawa Sensei said that Takeda Sensei would throw with a conventional technique after removing their power (with Aiki), but there was even further development (by Sagawa Sensei) from there. He made a great discovery concerning Aiki when he was seventy years old. By the way, I first met Sensei when he was seventy-six years old, from that time – that is, from the beginning, he was incredible. (laughing)

Azumi: (laughing)

True Throws – the Intensity of the Last Practice

Kimura: When I was thrown by Sagawa Sensei, I experienced truly being thrown for the first time. Until that time I did Aikido and it felt as if I was taking ukemi, but with Sagawa Sensei’s throws I couldn’t understand where I would be thrown – at first it was extremely frightening. There was no way to prepare oneself, since one would be thrown flying in an instant it was a real surprise. In any case, it was all that one could do just to avoid hitting one’s head. Even so, at the last practice, just before Sensei passed away, I hit my head three times.

Azumi: In the at least twenty years that he taught you, there wasn’t even a slight decline in Sagawa Sensei’s technique?

Kimura: A decline? Although each time I thought that a superior technique was inconceivable, it was continuously the case that each time I went there was something that was clearly superior to the previous time. Furthermore, I had been building strength over that period of twenty years. In spite of that, the power of his throws never changed.

Azumi: However, you hit your head even up until that last practice shortly before he passed away? Even though you are one of only three 10th Gen shihan?

Kimura: That’s how intense that last practice was. I think that Sagawa Sensei probably staked his life on it for us.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrating Hiden Ashi no Aiki (秘伝足の合気)

What is the Aiki Body?

Sagawa: Kimura-san probably thinks the same way, but his body was like steel – although one tried to immobilize him he could not be immobilized. If one goes up to here with an untrained person it’s all over, but with someone like Kimura-san it really can’t be applied. There were times that I tried to immobilize my brother, but I couldn’t do it, you know. It felt as if I were pulling on steel, it didn’t feel as if I were immobilizing him at all.

Kimura: One time we paired up like Sumo wrestlers and Sagawa Sensei told me to come at him.

Azumi: Yes…

Kimura: At the moment that we met there was a shock.

Azumi: Ei? What was it like?

Kimura: “Hey, hey, what’s this!?!”. That Sensei’s body was completely different from ours came through in a very real and emphatic manner. It felt as if I had grabbed on to some strange object. (In severe training) the body is really like steel…it felt as if I were touching something of a completely different quality, something with an extremely high density.

Azumi: The quality was completely different? Dense?

Kimura: In other words, how can I put this – his body density was completely different. It was so dense that it seemed as if one became like paper and flipped away when touched. This was when he was well past ninety years old! Anyway, he had an amazing body…it’s difficult to express it in words.

Azumi: I think that there are many readers who are curious about Sagawa Sensei’s body. Relating to that, it must have been in Sagawa Sohan’s later years, but there was a time when he injured his tendons from too much conditioning and was unable to turn off the faucet of a sink….

Kimura: That’s true. Sensei told me that in the end “I couldn’t do anything, all that I could do was throw people“. (laughing)

Azumi: He couldn’t do anything but throw people….. (speechless)

Kimura: He couldn’t even pull the tab on the pop-top of a can of juice. But although he couldn’t open a pop-top, when one was caught by that finger they couldn’t move (smiling)….”What’s going on?”.

Azumi:……

Kimura: Even more mysteriously, in his very last years there were some times when Sensei’s walking was a little unsteady. He’d wobble around, and when others watched they would become a little bit worried. At that time he’d walk towards you with a gait that looked as if he was just about to topple over. After he sat in his wheel chair he’d say “Kimura! Come grab my legs!”. At first I held back, but sure enough (smiling) I was surprised to be thrown flying even further than usual. One more time, and this time I grabbed him strongly – and I was handled even more severely. ….Ahh, that really surprised me (embarrassed grin) – “What happened with Sensei’s legs? They were completely emaciated!”.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa and Tatsuo Kimura – Ashi no Aiki, 1996

Azumi: Ahh (surprised). Since, to all appearances, a physical decline equivalent to his age can be observed, normally that would be inconceivable, wouldn’t it?

Kimura: So that means – they are the same legs, but the wobbling walk and the strength to throw a person flying are completely different things. One could say that the level of the principles behind their movements are different.

Kinji Sakuma (佐久間錦二) demonstrates the Shiko exercise
taught directly to him by Yukiyoshi Sagawa.
Sagawa Sohan would do these several thousand times each day.

Legendary Solo training

Azumi: From what I have heard, from the parade of anecdotes, he was overwhelming. However, behind the scenes of that severity, I have been told that there was special conditioning that Sagawa Sohan did alone and did not show to other people.

Sagawa: He was always doing those exercises! But it certainly seemed as if he didn’t want to be seen. And then he would note them in his diary each day.

Azumi: Was kind of things were written in his diary?

Sagawa: Things like the number of times that he had trained. What he did and how many times, how his suburi went, how much bojutsu he did, and things like that. He’d write that he did one thousand push-ups or today he did two thousand push-ups, and so forth.

Kimura: It (Sagawa Sensei’s conditioning) was usually in units of one-thousand. Actually, and it was only twice, I saw it myself.

Azumi: Is that right!?!

Kimura: I don’t know if I can talk about this…..(thinks for a moment).

Azumi: Please, please! (smiling)

Kimura: ….(embarrassed grin) It was a time right after I started when there were still very few students, only three or four. On the grounds of Sagawa Sensei’s home there was a spot basking in the sun that was just perfect. On that day I went a little earlier than usual to practice, and Sensei was doing some kind of exercise there by himself. That was the first time. The other time was when Sensei’s home was undergoing some construction. The gardeners were taking a long time to finish up, so he shook the numbness out of his limbs and started his own training right there. Later on Sensei said “I did my exercises right in front of them!”.

Azumi: What kind of conditioning did Sagawa Sensei do?

Kimura: …………. Actually, there were times that I heard (from Sensei) about his conditioning. But that was when the two of us were alone, and Sensei spoke of it unintentionally.

Azumi: What were the specifics?

Kimura: For example, “The bokken is really used like this…” – things like that.

Azumi: ………….

Kimura: However, his way of thinking was so completely different that I was surprised. Perhaps one could say that it was a completely separate thing from (the way of thinking of) conventional conditioning.

To be continued in Part 4, with a discussion what happened inside of Sagawa Sohan’s body…

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura – Part 3 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa and Kimura Tatsuo
on the cover of Aiki News 117 – the Yukiyoshi Sagawa memorial issue

I also applied techniques to Mr. Pranin when he was collecting materials for a memorial issue on Sagawa Shihan for Aiki News 117. His impression at the time was, “When I tested the small, stubborn 50-year-old Kimura Sensei, I was completely controlled by him. I attempted to grab Sensei’s arm many times while seated, but I couldn’t grab him strongly. My power of resistance was neutralized by the use of Sensei’s stance and internal energy. While I was being thrown backward repeatedly I couldn’t tell when the technique was beginning or ending. The energy released from his center was gushing out of his arms. Kimura Sensei clearly demonstrated to us the world of energy that exceeds the physical dimension. This energy did not affect the state of the body and I thought that it was possible to execute highly effective techniques that went beyond the bounds of simple techniques.”

However, then it seems that Mr. Pranin thought that this was merely some form of energy and, given my level at that time, he was not persuaded. On his third visit, he said for the first time that he was truly convinced of Sagawa Sensei’s Aiki.

– Tatsuo Kimura
  Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei

Yukiyoshi Sagawa was one of the longest students of Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda, who was also the teacher of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. Not only was he was asked to become the Soke of Daito-ryu by the Takeda family (he eventually refused), but at one time, around 1956, an agreement was made for Sagawa to become an instructor at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo (this, also, he refused eventually).

Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s younger brother and favorite sibling, Hiroshi Sagawa (佐川廣), was born in Shimo-yubetsu Hokkaido in 1909 (Meiji Year 42) into a family in which both his father and his elder brother trained extensively with Sokaku Takeda.

Tatsuo Kimura (木村達雄) is one of three of Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sohan’s students to have completed the 10th Gen level of techniques (the techniques in Sagawa Dojo that Sagawa Sensei learned from Sokaku Takeda were organized into ten levels, or “Gen” / 元).

Born in Tokyo Japan in 1947, Kimura Sensei is a well known mathematician and professor at Tsukuba University. He published two books about Sagawa Sohan (宗範) that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially) – “Transparent Power (透明な力)” and “Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei (合気修得への道―佐川幸義先生に就いた二十年)”. He also holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi (山口清吾).

This is the fourth and final section of the English translation of an interview conducted in Japanese by Kuni Azumi (安積 邦) with Hiroshi Sagawa and Tatsuo Kimura that previously appeared in the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”) in 2001. You may wish to read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 before reading this section.

You may also be interested in another interview with Kimura Sensei that appeared on the Aikido Sangenkai blog previously – “Yukiyoshi Sagawa’s Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power – Interview with Tatsuo Kimura, Part 1 and Part 2.

Hiroshi Sagawa and Kimura Tatsuo
“I don’t do Daito-ryu” says Hiroshi Sensei. However, when he actually
shows us something he looks pretty good! Pictured here at the age of 91.

Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura, Part 4

Just what was it that happened inside Sagawa Sohan’s body?

Azumi: What would you say?

Kimura: In the end, I think that this is the main point in the refinement of Aiki. Conditioning of the muscles is not the number one goal. I discussed this before, but in his later years Sagawa Sensei, from an ordinary point of view, was certainly physically weak. That’s because he was ninety-five years old. However, while what we would call physical strength had declined in accordance with his years, it is a fact that something had become considerably stronger. Of that alone, there can be no mistake.

Azumi: Something became incredibly strong….?

Kimura: In other words, the interior of his body had become incredibly strong. When a human being becomes ninety-five the exterior of their body doesn’t have much muscle. However, in the case of Sagawa Sensei, there were many times that left me with no choice but to think that something unthinkably huge was inside (his body). Just what was that?

Azumi: ??? What could it have been?

Kimura: When one thinks about it, there is not a single person who has continued to condition themselves to that age. Well, so far as I know.

Azumi: No, even so far as I know there isn’t. (embarrassed smile)

Kimura: When one usually talks about conditioning it is only so far as when one is young, even if one continues for a long time, it’s not so far as ninety-five, is it? (laughing)

Azumi: (laughing) Further, the content of the conditioning was also incredible.

Kimura: That’s why Sensei himself would say “It’s as if I’m using my own body to experiment with”. It seems that there were many phenomena that occurred of which nobody is aware. Even I, who had many chances to be by his side, sometimes felt awe at the potential of human beings.

Azumi: And then he trained until the end of the end….?

Kimura: He continued his conditioning until it was really just before he passed away (I think that one could say, until his dying breath). That practice continued until his last years, overlaid with his innovations. As his legs and hips weakened, he’d grab on to the lintel and try things like kicking, and try to think of methods to be used while seated…. Whatever happened, he never tried to give up his conditioning, and he would invent new methods and try them out as his body declined.

Azumi: Until he was almost one-hundred, over many decades, Sagawa Sohan would teach at his dojo without fail, and would never omit his daily conditioning. Those facts alone are amazing. One view of that that lifetime is “One man, spending their life on an magnificent experiment” – I would really like to know what that body was like. However, those who have previously walked that path are so rare that it is virtually impossible to see how the body and mind of someone who has been through that process has changed.

Kimura: Yes, that’s true, isn’t it? In the case of Sagawa Sensei, if we are talking about that I think there is certainly nobody else like that (laughing). Although his body was said to be declining, there was the phenomenon that occurred in which something was steadily increasing in strength. That’s all that I can think….

Azumi: Whether one believes it or not, if such a thing were true it would be really incredible.

Kimura: It’s the truth. I myself was really astonished. For that reason, even more, that is why I thought at length “Just what is Tanren (“conditioning”)!?!”. That said, it is an interesting discussion. Where was that person called Sagawa Sensei coming from in his thinking? In order to preserve one’s health “Perhaps you should do that this way…” – he would innovate in even the smallest of things.

Azumi: If we are speaking of Sagawa Sensei’s health methods, I would be very interested. What were they, specifically?

Vinegared Eggs (酢卵)

Kimura: At one time it was vinegared eggs. I thought they tasted awful and didn’t do it, though. (laughing)

Azumi: Vinegared eggs?

Kimura: Yes. vinegared eggs. At time he’d do it on and off, but he stopped in his final years. (laughing)

Azumi: “Vinegared eggs aren’t useful for Aiki!” (laughing) Now that you mention it, there was a famous story of one time that Sagawa Sohan had a heart problem when he was ninety years old and went to the hospital for a re-examination, he did 150 pushups in front of the examining physician and scared the wits out of him. But when I tell my friends they never believe me. (embarrassed grin)

Kimura: Speaking of push-ups, in the past there was a time that I went to the dojo and Sagawa Sensei remarked “Yesterday there was a visitor and I couldn’t do them, so today I finally got caught up”. So, I asked him “How many did you do?” and he said “1300 times”.

Azumi: 1300 times! By the way, what year are we talking about?

Kimura: That was when Sensei was eighty-three years old.

Azumi: 1300 push-ups at the age of eighty-three! This is another one that nobody will believe. (embarrassed grin)

Sagawa Sohan’s “Frustration”, Sticky Aiki

Azumi: You’ve told me that Sagawa Sohan used his brother Hiroshi Sensei as a partner during his technical research, and you’ve said that Sagawa Sohan also used his wife as a partner during his research. Rather than being because she was the person closest to him, I have heard that this was because his purpose was to apply technique to female partners….If that is the case, then what was Sagawa Sohan’s goal?…I would really like to know.

Sagawa: Before talking about training partners, it’s Aiki.

Azumi: What do you mean?

Sagawa: Until that time my brother, no matter how much strength his partner used when grabbing his wrist, was able to use Aiki and raise his hands (and destabilize them). However, not allowing the partner grabbing his wrists to let go, in other words, making them stick to him, was not yet going well. Being sticky means doing it without grabbing the partners wrists. Leaving the hand grabbed by the partner as it is, and throwing. It’s simple to talk about, but this is extremely difficult. Normally they separate from you.

Azumi: I would think so.

Sagawa: For that reason, at the time my brother was bending all of his efforts into considering how to make it so that they could not let go. Well, he had that ferocious tenacity. Our father, who trained until he received his Kyoju Dairi (“Assistant Instructor” / 教授代理), said “It may be that this, at least, cannot be done by anybody other than Takeda Sensei”, but my brother said “No, Takeda Sensei was a human like me. If he could do it then there’s no way that I can’t!”.

Azumi: What a thing to say! Nobody other than Sagawa Sensei could say such a thing…

Sagawa: Thanks to that, we were told “Grab my wrists, grab”, he made us work with him until we were exhausted and fed up with it. (embarrassed grin) Just grabbing would have been okay, but each time we’d tumble over…that time was really exhausting. (laughing)

Azumi: That it was difficult has come across quite well. (laughing) But why did he choose a woman as a partner?

Sagawa: That, well that’s because women’s bodies are special.

Azumi: I see….?

Sagawa: What my brother said is that women’s bodies have a stickiness like mochi (“sticky rice cake” / 餅), and are convenient for training sticky Aiki.

Azumi: They’re convenient because they’re like mochi?

Sagawa: Because of their flexibility things like joint techniques are difficult to make effective. Further, with men their hands quickly let go, but women tend not to let go very much. For that reason, he carried that into his reasearch when considering how to best make it so that one’s partner cannot let go.

Azumi: Hmm…

The Sagawa family at their house in Yubetsu, Hokkaido
From right: wife Michiko, Sagawa Sohan, mother

Sagawa: So my brother used his wife (Sagawa Sohan’s wife Michiko) as a training partner. My sister, who was five years older than me (Editor: Tama-san, who passed away last year), was also used as a training partner.

One More Brother

Azumi: What time period are we discussing?

Sagawa: It was when I was in my late teens, so my brother would have been in his late twenties (Note: they were born seven years apart) to his early thirties. Because when I was around twenty years old there was already nobody who could be a partner for my brother.

Azumi: During that time Sagawa Sohan had returned from Tokyo to Hokkaido, and Hiroshi Sensei had graduated from Hokudai (Hokkaido University) and had gone to attend Waseda University.

Sagawa: I had another brother, but he was fourteen or fifteen years younger than my older brother so his didn’t have a close a relationship with him as I did.

Azumi: So Sagawa Sohan had one more younger brother?

Sagawa: He was named Masataka Sagawa (佐川正隆). He didn’t appear in Kimura-san’s book (“Transparent Power“), so you may not know of him. He is already eighty-three or eighty-four years old. Nowadays he’s moved to Yokohama, before that he was employed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (三菱重工).

Azumi: As Sokaku Sensei’s unknown son (Takemune / 武宗) was just like Takeda Sensei, was was he just like Sagawa Sohan?

Sagawa: His temperament and everything else were the complete opposite of my brother’s.

Azumi: Ah, is that so?

Actor and Singer Koji Tsuruta (鶴田浩二)
“Bakuchi Uchi” (“Gambling House” / 博奕打ち) – Toei Films, 1968

Sagawa: This youngest child loved company and got along well with me. I often took him to movies and had a soft spot for him. He was tall, and manly. Enough so that people often said that he resembled Koji Tsuruta. (laughing)

Azumi: Koji Tsuruta! With Sagawa Sohan and Hiroshi Sensei, the Sagawa brother’s are really handsome, aren’t they? No, really.

The Difficulty with Transmitting Aiki, the Impossibility of Spreading Aiki

Azumi: How do you think that Aiki can be transmitted and spread in the future?

Kimura: There is no way that Aiki can be spread. That is, even if one writes books or shows it on videos, it all must look like a lie, doesn’t it? After Sagawa Sensei passed away, a film production company approached me about putting out a video, so I said that they should first try receiving the techniques, and threw them softly a number of times. When I did that the person said “Even if we film this, nobody watching will believe it, will they? One has to actually have it done to them to understand…” – so they understood and left.

Azumi: They understood after having it done to them a number of times.

Kimura: That’s right, one must experience it. However, one cannot understand with just one or two times. One experiences it over and over, and then with great effort one understands at last – it is a matter of that kind of perspective. After all, there is a limit to what I can teach over the span of a lifetime. For that reason, if one tries to transmit this (Aiki) widely it would be impossible without the Kata or Kata training method of other Budo, in which they apply techniques on each other cooperatively. However, once one does that it disappears. In order to transmit the true thing there are some things that are impossible by just showing a model and saying “OK, now do it!”.

Azumi: Some things are impossible…?

Kimura: At the very least, the transmission of Aiki would be absolutely impossible. Because receiving direct instruction is an absolute requirement. So, inside of me I think that is impossible, that it can only be done with those that encounter it by fate, this is what I feel. Speaking honestly. (laughing)

Azumi: Really. You don’t see any hopeful signs when you are teaching?

Kimura: Especially now, because my work at the university is so busy. Ten years from now after I retire I might open a small dojo, though. And yet, even now I am letting people looking for the real thing experience it. Sagawa Sensei and Takeda Sensei were this way, so I am doing the same. It’s not good without being able to actually show the techniques (with just lip service). With Takeda Sensei, and with me, whoever the opponent is, when they come I do it right away (partner with them and throw them). That’s the way it is. That’s important. Sagawa Sensei often told me “Those guys who just talk, even though they can’t do that, are useless”. For that reason, in the same way I handle whoever comes with that same feeling. (laughing)

Azumi: But even if you say that you are doing the same as Sagawa Sensei, isn’t it actually difficult?

Kimura: There was a giant that I met in Germany, at first no matter what I did they were as steady as a rock, but after deepening my research for five years I got to a point at which I could always topple him. It seems to have shocked him, though…

Azumi: …..

Kimura: But if, by any chance, there is a person on whom my technique were ineffective then I suppose that I would have to innovate and research from that point again in order to progress. Human beings, when they are protected they stop progressing. That position is unacceptable.

Azumi: Sagawa Sensei also left some similar sayings, didn’t he?

Kimura: That’s right. Sagawa Sensei would never say that this is good enough, that he was satisfied with where he was. He would say things like “There is no such thing as perfection! When one thinks that their progress stops right there.” and “No matter how high a level one has reached, if one thinks that they have progressed enough then there is no value right from that point!”.

Azumi: Furthermore, he put that into practice, didn’t he…? There is much more that I would like to talk about, but unfortunately our time has run out. Thank you for taking so much time to speak with me today.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Interview with Hiroshi Sagawa and 10th Gen Shihan Tatsuo Kimura – Part 4 appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Eiichi Kuroiwa (黒岩 暎一) teaching Aikido at the Rikuryo Aikikai (六稜合氣会)

One of the articles that I have enjoyed reading the most was “Mr. Kimura’s Aikido Memories” (Part 1 | Part 2). Of course, the recollections of training with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in 1942 were fascinating, but much of what I appreciated about it was that it presented the perspective of an ordinary person encountering the Founder.

Here is another account along those lines – an account of training with the Founder, this time in the 1960’s, from an ordinary person. This is a brief collection of memories of his time with O-Sensei by Eiichi Kuroiwa, who trained with Morihei Ueshiba in Osaka for five years from 1963 to 1968. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!

“Floating Bridge of Heaven” (天の浮橋) calligraphy by Seiseki Abe

Aikido and Me – Training with the Founder

– by Eiichi Kuroiwa

My first encounter at Kitano High School and afterwards

(大阪府立北野高等学校 / Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School)

I’m certain that I remember being taught Aikido by (Seiseki) Abe Sensei when I was in my third year at Kitano High School.

Seiseki Abe, standing far left, with Morihei Ueshiba
Kumano Juku, 1954

I was told “It’s not strength, it’s Ki”, and I thought that was quite mysterious. The round ukemi, silent like a cat, and so different from the loud vigorous “bam” “bam” of Judo ukemi, was very interesting to me. The next thing that I knew I had been enchanted by Aikido. We trained enthusiastically, and when I look at pictures of that time there were some ten or twenty people training. There were also a number of women.

Kitano High School Gymnasium (Judo Dojo) around Showa 37 (1962)

1. Seiseki Abe Sensei (阿部 醒石)
2. Houun Abe Sensei (阿部 豊雲 / son of Seiseki Abe)
3. Osamu Kuri (久利 修)
4. Katsuhiko Tatsumi (辰巳 勝彦)
5. Eiichi Kuroiwa (黒岩 暎一)
6. Masakazu Asano (浅野 昌和)
7. Masanori Nose (能勢 正則)
8. Kiyomi Yagi (八木 汐美)
9. Mieko Yoshimura (Nakamura) (吉村(中村) 美恵子)

My classmate Mr. Katsuhiko Tatsumi from this period continued Aikido after high school, and opened his own dojo while working as a physician.

Aikido Hakutaikan (合氣道白太館) – Katsuhiko Tatsumi Kancho

I had been under the impression that it was the Aikido Club, but when I look at the roster of the club it seems that this was before the formal establishment of the Aikido Club. Even so, I believe that the activity was formally acknowledged by the school. The reason that I can say that is that I remember performing in the “first demonstration” as one of the individual club activities at the school’s culture festival.

Since Abe Sensei built a dojo in his house, after I started college in Osaka I often went to his dojo in Suita.

Amenotakemusujuku Aikido Dojo (天之武産塾合気道道場) in Suita City

It was at this dojo in Suita City that I met Ueshiba Sensei. The presence of his appearance, the aura that he emitted, made a deep impact on me. Fortunately, at the time there were only beginners throughout the dojo, so I was able to receive instruction directly from Abe Sensei and Ueshiba Sensei. Once I became an adult I was chased by work and life, so I was not able to have much contact with Aikido. For exercise I wasn’t able to do more than some jogging when work allowed, but fortunately I was blessed with a healthy life.

After passing my sixtieth birthday I realized again the importance of one’s health. I thought about trying to do Aikido once more, but I had been apart from it for so many decades that I gave up that thought for a time. However, I thought it over and decided that I might just have enough time to start again, so I visited the Ofuna Aikido Kyokai / 大船合気道協会 (Shihan: Satoshi Takeda / 武田聡, 7th dan Aikikai) near my home (Kamakura-shi), and started again in August of 2008.

Satoshi Takeda (武田聡)

At that time Takeda Shihan said to me “I started Aikido after Ueshiba Kaiso passed away. There is hardly anyone left who received instruction from the Founder. Now that is an incredibly valuable experience. I’m envious.”, and I realized once again what an incredible experience I had been allowed.

Thanks to my training at Abe Sensei’s dojo in Suita City and with gratitude to O-Sensei, I received a shikishi (“colored paper” – a calligaphy paper). This precious shikishi has accumulated wrinkles and mold as it has passed through many long years, and I feel an unforgivable sense of wastefulness. Like the shikishi, if I were to keep the things that the Founder taught me to myself they would dissappear at some point in the future.

Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to collect as much of what O-Sensei taught to me as possible. Memories of the deep gratitude accorded to the Founder by Abe Sensei to the instructor who taught him so thoroughly left a strong impression on me.

However, since I was a beginner at the time I think that there may have been things that were beyond my understanding, or that I have recalled incorrectly. I would be grateful if those reading this could help me to correct those errors.

I have paid particular attention to presenting the personage of O-Sensei that I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears and to presenting the instruction given to the beginners at the dojo.

Shikishi (calligraphy card) received from O-Sensei in Showa 42 (1967)
氣魂 / “Kikon” / “Spirit” in the center, meaning the “ki” of the yo (yang)
“soul”, the soul associated with the intellect in other words, “intent”.
武神 / “Bushin” / “God of War” bottom right.
合気道は魂の学びである。 – “Aikido is the study of intent.”
– Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Things taught to me by O-Sensei

(the Founder, Morihei Ueshiba)

Morihei Ueshiba was born on December 14th 1883 in Tanabe City in Wakayama Prefecture. He passed away on April 26th 1969 (Showa 44). He was eighty-six years old at the time.

• Period of Instruction: 1963 (Showa 38) – March 1968 (Showa 43), for five years prior to his passing.
• Location: the Osaka dojo (Abe Shihan) – Ame-no-Takemusu Aiki Juku (天之武産合気塾), opened in Showa 38 (1963). The dojo name was given by O-Sensei. Also in the Osaka area were the dojo opened by Bansen Tanaka (Chairman of the Osaka Aikikai, passed away in 1988) in Showa 27 (1952) and the dojo opened by Michio Hikitsuchi in Showa 29 (1954) in Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture.
• The setting for O-Sensei’s visits:
  • He would visit and stay in Osaka and Wakayama in order to spread Aikido (I have heard that he would stay at Hikitsuchi Dojo for periods of a month at a time).
  • Omoto-kyo: he would stay when he went to visit at Kameoka and Ayabe in Kyoto.
  • Abe Shihan constructed a dojo adjacent to his home. Also, he constructed a new room in his home in to receive O-Sensei (it seems that he thought of Hikitsuchi Shihan and Abe Shihan in a special way. In later years both shihan received tenth dan certificates.).
• During his stay: He would accompanied by an uchi-deshi. We would receive direct instruction.
  • He would always be accompanied by an attendant or an uchi-deshi.
  • He would stary for a period of about one week to ten days.

Aikido instruction in the dojo

During the period of his stay O-Sensei would give direct instruction in the dojo. If O-Sensei had another engagement then there would be instruction from the uchi-deshi.

The uchi-deshi were overwhelmingly strong, and their instruction was something severe. The Osaka dojo had just been constructed and there were only beginners, but thanks to the strict training from the uchi-deshi I think that everybody was able to improve.

The uchi-deshi who seemed so incredible to our eyes would be handled like a child by O-Sensei, and we were once again able to see O-Sensei’s amazing strength with our own eyes.

Lectures in the dojo

Many people would come to visit when they heard that O-Sensei was staying in Osaka (they would just show up on their own).

“I want to get a look at the famous O-Sensei”, “I want to hear stories of his training” – people came with for a variety of reasons. One could tell at a glance that the people gathering all around were not ordinary people. I would listen to them chatting to each other before O-Sensei’s lectures began – there were Yamabushi (ascetic mountain hermits) from Nachi (Wakayama), budo-ka of considerable strength, religious figures and more.

O-Sensei knew that those kinds of people would show usually show up on their own, so in the evenings after training he would give lectures to the people who had gathered.

Lecture Content: details of O-Sensei’s shugyo period, the world of the Kojiki, training, etc. However, it was extremely high level for the beginners and young people like myself, very difficult to understand.

O-tomo: I acted as an o-tomo (attendant) for O-Sensei on two occasions.

I accompanied him to the Omoto-kyo compound (Kameoka). Then I accompanied him from the Omoto-kyo compound (Kameoka) back to the dojo in Suita.

The person who was originally scheduled to go had a scheduling conflict, and I was suddenly asked to take their place. Along the way we had many conversations. I met many people and had many experiences.

• The people weren’t ordinary in appearance, when I look back they were all people following a path.
• When they saw O-Sensei they would press their hands together and bow to him without thinking.
• O-Sensei was of advanced years, so climbing places like the stairs in the train stations was difficult. (I would push him up from behind)
•  Just by acting as O-Sensei’s o-tomo I became stronger. When I trained after being an o-tomo I was told “You’re projecting a lot of Ki, you’re different than you usually are. What happened?”. (Abe Sensei taught me “The Ki emitted by O-Sensei is transferred. It happens to everybody.”)
• One of my classmates, Masakazu Asano, also acted as an o-tomo, and reported that he had the same experience.
• Unfortunately, after a week I would return to normal.

Training Trips: we travelled with introductions to Hombu Dojo, the Aiki Jinja and Kumamoto.

• I was able to be taught by Kisshomaru Hombu Dojo-cho, Saito Shihan (Aiki Jinja Dojo) and Sunadomari Shihan (Kumamoto).
• While on the training trips I realized that Abe Sensei’s “Go along with the flow of Ki (“Ki no nagare”)” was something special. Each dojo had it’s own particular characteristics, and I realized that everywhere was not uniform.
• Saito Shihan commented “You’re soft, as one would expect, since you’re being taught by Abe Sensei”.

The O-Sensei that I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears

O-Sensei’s appearance, daily and during training:

•  A 153 centimeter (5′ 1/4″) older man. However, one could see at a glance that he didn’t have the appearance or look of an ordinary person.
• In any case, his piercing gaze was incredible, his aura was really incredible.
• When going out with him as an o-tomo people passing by would turn and look back. (some people would press their hands together and bow to him)
• He was a person for whom every day, the totality of his life, was conditioning (“tanren”).

The piercing gaze: everyday (yellow light), during training (white light). His everyday eyes and his eyes during training were different people’s eyes.

Dragon eyes (“ryugan” / 竜眼): a blue ring (his wife Hatsu also had the same dragon eyes)

Voice: It reverberated clearly. His Kiai was really incredible.

Dress: Haori, hakama, tabi, geta. He would always wear tabi during training. His belt was always fastened tightly. There was not a fingernail’s width between it and his body. (His attire was suitable for any time or for meeting any person.)

Stairs: It was difficult for him to climb the stairs himself at the train station (I would support him from behind and push on his hips. I was taught that this was Ki conditioning.) . He seemed like a different person than during training.

Shiatsu: He was happy when I gave him shiatsu on his back. It felt like pushing on an iron slab with my fingers. My fingers would bend back and forth. It wasn’t the back of a normal person. (I was taught that this was Ki conditioning.)

Bokken: He would always bring one. Perhaps it was handmade? Red oak (赤い樫)? (It was the color of a person while drinking alcohol.) His bokken would shine. He used it when he demonstrated or trained.

Jo: He would always bring one. He only used it for demonstrations or training about three times.

Spear: He didn’t bring one, but most of his lectures were about the spear.

Every morning: Cold water ablutions, and then chanting of Norito (祝詞 / Shinto prayers). After that, training, receiving guests, calligraphy.

Meals: Vegetarian. brown rice.

Training: Starting with Funa-kogi and Furi-tama. Oriented towards beginners. The uchi-deshi would take ukemi. Sometimes he would give demonstrations (bokken, jo, multiple attackers, Reppaku no Kiai)

Translator’s Note: “Reppaku no Kiai” (裂帛の気合), “ei”, the shout that cuts away barriers or impurities, and unites opposites.

8 millimeter film: When one saw him he moved slowly, as if he were dancing. The projected films seem as if they are time lapsed.

Hands: When he touched you it felt as if it were the hands of the Kami. It was a mysterious sensation.

O-Sensei’s Lectures

Many people (budo-ka and others) would hear rumors of O-Sensei’s stay and begin to gather. Although nobody had notified them, they would just show up on their own (they couldn’t be turned away). Mostly, he would speak to the people who had gathered after training had finished – “A lot of people are here, what would you like to do?” “They must want to listen to this old man again…”.

Also, during his stay he would talk to the young people – “I enjoy speaking to young people.”. He’d speak about his early life, his training, Omoto-kyo, the Kojiki, enlightenment, comments to society, etc.

Lectures that made an impression

O-Sensei really spoke about a lot of things. Unfortunately, I was a beginner and many things were beyond my understanding. Even so, I remember a few lectures that reflected the essence of Aikido.

Masakatsu Agatsu Katsuhayabi (正勝吾勝勝速日)
Calligraphy by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

The Secret of Aikido: “The secret of Aiki is Masakatsu Agatsu Katsuhayabi” (合気の極意は、正勝吾勝勝速日なり)

• Masakatsu (正勝): The person with the correct spirit will be victorious (正しい心の人が勝つ)
• Agatsu (吾勝): If one can be victorious over themselves then they can also be victorious over others (自分に勝てれば他人にも勝てる)
• Katsuhayabi (勝速日): Victory with the speed of light (speed, do not be lazy) (日の速さに勝つ (スピード、怠けない)

Aikido conditioning: Why do we do Aiki?

Calligraphy by Seiseki Abe – Gan-Sa-Tan-Riki
眼(がん)、作(さ)、胆(たん)、力(りき)

“Aiki is something for conditioning human beings. It is Gan Sa Tan Riki (眼作胆力)”

• Riki (力): No matter how much one trains their physical strength there is a limit, they cannot fight oppose one who has trained their “Tanryoku” / 胆力 (“Ki”).
• Sa (作): Even if one trains their physical strength, they will be thrown easily by one who trains their technique (“Sa” / 作 – “waza”). (However, technique must have contact with the opponent.)
• Tan (胆): A person who trains their Ki, trains their strength, and masters technique (“Sa”) can throw independently from the opponent. “It’s water and fire (“Iki”)!” (水火（いき）じゃよ。)
• Gan (眼): However, however much one trains their strength, masters technique, or trains their Ki, they will be thrown at a single glace by one who was trained their eyes (眼). “I immobilize an opponent with my eyes.”

Translator’s note: Tokimune Takeda’s personal notes of his training with his father Sokaku Takeda make several mentions of the importance of training the eyes.

“Aikido is something for training human beings.”

Training partners: “I don’t use human beings for partners, the universe is my partner. It’s not a battle, I train to become one with the universe.”

Kojiki: All of the secrets of Aikido appear in the Kojiki. The Kojiki points to many truths through things such as the names of the Kami. These are different from the names of the gods in the West.

The secret of Aikido: Masakatsu-Agatsu Katsu-Hayabi-Ame-no-Oshi-Ho-Mimi-no-mikoto. (正勝吾勝勝速日天之忍穂耳命) Translator’s note: The child of Susanoo and Amaterasu, who would become the ancestor of the Japanese imperial line.

Takemikazuchi-no-kami subduing the earthquake (the catfish)
Woodblock print from 1855

The application of Aikido technique: Takemikazuchi-no-kami (建御雷神)

“When one takes this hand it is as if it is covered in ice, then covered with the blade of a sword.” – Meaning that when Takemikazuchi-no-kami puts Ki into the hand, it is as if it is covered with ice, then it becomes like the blade of a sword.

“When one takes the opponent’s hand, grasp and break them (crush them) like taking a reed, then throw them away… “ – Meaning to put Ki into one’s hand when they grasp the hand of the opponent (Yonkyo), and then throw them away.

Translator’s note: Takemikazuchi, also known as “Kashima-no-kami” was a god of swords and thunder that was said to have participated in the first recorded Sumo match in the Kojiki. Interestingly, Sokaku Takeda cited this match as the origin of Daito-ryu Aiki:

Aiki is said to have originated in the ancient art of tegoi, which is mentioned in an ancient Japanese myth about two gods, Takemikazuchi no Kami and Takeminakata no Kami. Recorded in Japan’s oldest written document, the Kojiki, (Records of Ancient Matters, compiled around 712 AD), this story recounts how Takemikazuchi no Kami took the hands of Takeminakata no Kami and “as if he had taken hold of a reed, squeezed his hands and threw him.”

Tajikara-o no Mikoto (太力男命): Open the stone door of heaven (incredible power)

Everybody posseses great strength: Like Kajiba no Kuso Djikara (“Burning Inner Strength” / 火事場のクソ力) – latent power that emerges during a great dilemma. This isn’t normally available. To condition oneself so that it is normally available is Aikido.

“Burning Inner Strength” – from the Manga “Kinnikuman” (キン肉マン)

In his youth nobody could best him in contests of strength. In the sea at the edge of the rice fields of his home town there was a foreign ship that came and caught a whale. That ship came to shore to get refresh their supply of water. They loaded barrels of water into sculling boats (伝馬船) and took them out to the ships anchored at sea. He would lift up the barrels easily and pass them up to the sailors, but they were surprised at the weight and had to use a crane to receive them.

He learned Budo from the Daito-ryu instructor Sokaku Takeda (he’d be told how much to pay for each technique, and used up quite a bit of money), and at the time that he had become an exceptional budo-ka he encountered Onisaburo Deguchi and entered Omoto-kyo. Then Onisaburo Deguchi drew out his true strength.

Morihei Ueshiba and Onisaburo Deguchi, around 1933

The two miracles of Omoto-kyo

Everyone was out in the garden, when Onisaburo Deguchi suddenly spoke to him:

“Ueshiba-san, Ueshiba-san, you can uproot that pine tree.”
“Ueshiba-san, Ueshiba-san, you can lift up that large stone.”

“At the moment that he spoke to me my body became bright red and incredible strength welled forth. Then I uprooted the pine tree and lifted the large stone.”

• Onisaburo Deguchi was able to see the strength that he had been unaware of.
• It’s not that he believed in Omoto-kyo, but because he felt an obligation he continued to attend their ceremonies even until that time.

“The strength of Aiki is an incredible power, like the gravity of the Earth. It exists naturally. Just lifting a bucket of water is difficult. The earth supports the water of the vast oceans. Where does that power come from? It is in the center of the Earth. What is in the center of the earth? There is nothing material there. Gravity is created from a place where there is nothing. Actually, it isn’t nothing, it’s something (“nothingness is substance” / 無即有). This power that is like gravity is the Ki of Aiki.”

Teaching Beginners

We beginners were taught Ikkyo, Nikyo, Sankyo, Yonkyo, Shiho-nage, Irimi-nage, Tenchi-nage, Kote-gaeshi, Ushiro-dori, Kokyu-nage and other basic forms. Additionally, the following instruction left a deep impression – immovable posture…hanmi with ma-ai, immovable like a boulder. Then respond to the partner’s movement.

How to Put in Ki

If one is conscious of the flow of Ki then it will flow. When Ki flows the arm becomes unbendable without putting in strength. The opponent will move in accordance with the flow of Ki from one’s fingertips.

• Bend in the direction of the bend. Aikido does not bend the joint backwards.
• There is no kicking.
• Match without fighting.
• Condition oneself daily. There is training and there is refining.
• What would you do if you were thrown on concrete? (ukemi that makes a loud noise is no good)
• Kana-shibari no Jutsu (金縛りの術) – spirit binding techniques.
• This is a Budo of the spear (point) rather than the sword (line)
• Don’t leave the other hand behind.
• Harmonize with Heaven and Earth, practice with the intent of harmonizing with the Universe.
• Funakogi (Ki training: e/ho and e/sa), Furitama (achieve Mushin)

A Close Friend Becomes an Uchi-Deshi

They came from the Shingu Dojo to Osaka on training trips. Since we were of similar ages we would train together. Then they became an uchi-deshi. About six months later they came to the Osaka Dojo as an o-tomo to O-Sensei, where we met again and trained together.

They had become incredibly strong.

“How much time do the uchi-deshi spend training?”

“Apart from the regular clases, we train with Doshu and the other uchi-deshi everyday. However, just for about 15 minutes at a time. It’s not a kind of training that one can do for longer than that.”

“What kind of training is only for 15 minutes?”

“It’s hard to put into words.”

“You’ve gotten incredibly strong, I was really surprised.”

“…I’m surprised to hear that. This is the first time since I’ve been an uchi-deshi that I trained with someone from outside. I had a vague feeling that I was different than I was before. I’m happy to hear that I’ve gotten stronger.”

Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei: I received instruction from him on a training trip to Aikikai Hombu Dojo. When my wrist was taken by Kisshomaru Waka Sensei I couldn’t move my body.

“Bushin” (武神) – “God of War”
Calligraphy by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

O-Sensei and Calligraphy: He would write continuously from start to finish – “I want to communicate through the calligraphy.”

When I was promoted to san-dan I received the shikishi from him – “In thanks for your hard work when you attended me in Kameoka.”

Conclusion

During the time that I received instruction from O-Sensei I was a student majoring in electrical engineering. In a normal way of thinking Aikido and electrical engineering are unrelated and very far apart. Partially because of that my student friends of the time would often question me.

“You do Aikido enthusiastically, what’s the difference between Aikido and Judo?”

When I answered them in the following way they were able to understand:

“Judo is the world of Newtonian physics. In contrast, Aikido is the world of quantum mechanics. “

Judo

• Founder: Jigoro Kano (嘉納治五郎)
• Scientific
• Philosophical
• “Softness overcomes hardness”
• Use the opponent’s strength
• Train your strength
• Make contact with the opponent and apply technique
• Can be seen with the eyes
• Can be understood with the mind
• Newtonian physics

Aikido

• Founder: Morihei Ueshiba (植芝盛平)
• Mysterious
• Religious
• Harmonize with the opponent
• Harmonize Ki
• Draw forth Ki (that one already posseses)
• Apply technique independently from the opponent (Ki)
• Cannot be seen with the eyes
• Cannot be understood with the mind
• Quantum mechanics

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Aikido and Me – Training with Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Hiroshi Tada Sensei in 2014

Aikikai 9th Dan Hiroshi Tada (多田宏) is one of the most influential instructors to come out of the post-war Tokyo Hombu dojo. Born in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan December 13th 1929, he began training at Aikikai Hombu Dojo on March 4th 1950.

Tada Sensei has appeared on the Aikido Sangenkai blog, both in “Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Day I Entered Ueshiba Dojo“, and in the series of articles below:

“Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Budo Body”
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

“Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada – the Yachimata Lecture”
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

This is the English translation of a short piece written by Tada Sensei that recounts some of his memories of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, it appeared in the Aikikai newspaper “Aikido Shimbun” in March 1998 (Heisei 10).

In October 1964 Tada Sensei was sent to Rome, Italy in order to help establish Aikido in Italy. He had been preceeded there by Professor Salvatore Mergè, who was mentioned by Tada Sensei in the article “Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada: The Budo Body, Part 6“.

The grave of Salvatore Mergè

In 1942 Salvatore Mergè, a Japanese linguist and a member of the Italian diplomatic mission, became a student of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba – perhaps the first occidental to do so. After returning to Italy in 1946 he taught privately and then helped to establish the first Aikido classes in Italy, taught by the sculptor Haru Onoda in 1959.

Haru Onoda in 1968

Here is some of the story of how he met O-Sensei, re-told by Stephen Serpieri, one of his Japanese language students:

“He had heard much of the Master’s deeds and of this new martial art he created, Aikido, but had never had the opportunity to see any of its “embukai” (public demonstrations). Intrigued by the stories that were made ​​of this master and the reputation that had been created around him, he decided to go to his dojo and ask to be admitted as a student of Aikido. The house of Master Ueshiba and the attached dojo were far outside of Tokyo, and to get to the Italian embassy ​​where Professor Mergè worked took over an hour by train. One day, before going to work, he went to the home of the teacher, saying that he was a lover of Japanese tradition and would like to know O-Sensei. He was made ​​to wait in the atrium of the house for a time, but was eventually told to come back because the teacher was busy. He tried again at other times but the answer was always the same.  Finally, after several failed attempts, he was brought into the house to get an answer to his request for a meeting with Master Ueshiba. He was made ​​to sit in a room with an elderly gentleman who was reading a book and did not raise his head when he entered. After a short time the person reading stood up and, without a word, he left the room. … When the day came that he was able to speak to the teacher finally arrived he saw that he was the person that had refused to speak to him as he waited in the atrium. He was accepted as a student, which was quite extraordinary, as the Master had not wanted any new Aikido students during the period of the war, let alone a stranger! “

Marco Muccio, a close friend of one of Professor Mergè’s students, adds:

“The interesting thing is that the first Aikido training with Salvatore Mergè was held in Morihei Ueshiba’s home, with particularly exhausting exercises for the development of the Hara, and ukemi on pillows on the floor!”

Here’s a little more about Tada Sensei’s journey to Italy, from his essay “Founders of Aikikai d’Italia” (イタリア合気会を創った人々), published in the Aikikai’s “Aikido Tankyu” magazine:

One hears the words “the foreign expansion of Aikido”, but what I remember most are the bells and steam whistles that I heard at the pier in Yokohama and the farewell parties with O-Sensei at their center that surrounded my Sempai going abroad – Mochizuki, Tohei and Abe.

A postcard of the Tatsuta Maru – 1931

Of course I can’t reach back that far, and those memories may have overlapped with memories of tapes of my father’s trip abroad on the Tatsuta Maru in the beginning of the Showa era, but in spite of that I had vague thoughts at the time that someday I too would be going abroad.

That became a reality in Showa 39 (1964).

At that time, those going abroad specifically to spread Aikido had to do three things:

1. Go alone.
2. Go with a one-way ticket.
3. Go without money, receive no allowance from their family, do no other part time work.

Keeping faithful to to “Haisui no Jin” (Translator’s note: 背水の陣 – the “fighting with one’s back to the river” strategy made famous by General Han Xin in the Battle of Jingxing), with $250 in my breast pocket I left my home in Jiyugaoka just as the Tokyo Olympics were in their final stages. My tentative goal was Italy, and from there I would travel through South America and then return home. It was an incredibly uncertain plan, but those were my expectations at the time.

Motokage Kawamukai in 2011

The first person to make the existance of the thing known as Aikido in Italy was Tadashi Abe (阿部正), who was active in France. Next were the sculptor Haru Onoda (小野田はる) and Mr. Kawamukai (川向), who had traveled to Rome as a tourist.

When I arrived in Rome I was introduced to a club at the Administration of the State Monopoly Autonomy (“Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato”, the state monopoly on tobacco) which was run by Mr. Chierchini, and started training at that dojo. Six months later we had a demonstration at the National Police Academy, and then held a two month training session hosted by the Ministry of the Interior. This is how my Aikido life in Europe began.

The Italian Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Rome

Professor Mergè, who was a member of the Italian embassy during the war and entered Ueshiba Dojo, was in good health in Rome, and people who had heard him speak of Morihei Ueshiba Sensei at the school of Oriental languages at which he taught were quick to enroll. Through the introduction of one of these people, Mr. Serpieri, in later years we would be able to use one of the of the buildings designated as a national property as a dojo. It was surrounded in four directions by the ancient Roman aqueduct and castle wall, monuments, the military museum and the department of waterworks, and after nightfall it was a place where not a sound could be heard. This is now the Italian Aikikai Hombu dojo. I lived in one room at the bottom of the stairs there. The students called it “Sensei’s Grotto”.

Hiroshi Tada taking ukemi from Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba
at the Ueshiba Dojo – 6th dan at the time

Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada – Speaking of The Founder

Sharp, warm, a spiritual master.

I became a student at Ueshiba Dojo on March 4th 1950 (Showa 25). I wrote about that day in “Aikido Tankyu issue 4“. When I first laid eyes on Morihei Ueshiba Sensei what made the strongest impression was that, towards a student like me, he took off his hat and introduced himself “I am Ueshiba” – that image and that voice, even now they remain deep in my memories.

At that time the morning and evening training at Ueshiba Dojo would have at most six or seven people, and the majority of those would be students from Waseda and Hitotsubashi universities, or members of the Nishikai and the Tempukai. Sensei would throw each one of them courteously and then everybody would practice. We students (門人 / “monjin”) would practice that technique with each other, and a little while after we started Sensei would say

“If you will permit me…”

Without thinking I would l look around, thinking that some important personage had come. However, the only people in the dojo were the baker Mr. Hata Kikuchi, who had started one day before I had, and us students. Sensei always used polite language like this during training.

That was likely because there were many royalty, army and navy generals, and people who represented Japan among Sensei’s students. However, that wasn’t the only reason – words are power. That politeness and the care that reached into every corner gave rise to a sense of refinement, and that was directly connected to the techniques of his Budo.

The young Hiroshi Tada during a demonstration at Aikikai Hombu Dojo

Sensei’s training was enveloped in a mysterious atmosphere. Even while moving to sharply suppress his opponents in an instant, he would somehow create a feeling of great warmth in the dojo. He would clearly adapt even to immature students like I was at the time, that kind of inspirational power was really incredible.

During one period I became aware of something mysterious. When I drew close to Sensei, my mind and body would feel as if they had somehow become transparent. When I was touched by Sensei that would become even clearer, it was as though the boundary between our bodies and minds had dissapeared. It was a powerful force that came from Sensei’s training in surpassing confrontation and we must have become caught up in it. That force was received in Ayabe in a direct heart to heart transmission (以心伝心) from Onisaburo Deguchi, who Sensei greatly respected, and I think that must have been further developed through Sensei’s own all-out efforts at training. When Sensei spoke of his own teachers, Sokaku Takeda Sensei and Onisaburo Deguchi Seishi, he spoke of them with real respect. Particularly when he spoke about Deguchi Seishi, he would call him “Seishi Sama”, using a double honorific title.

Morihei Ueshiba and Onisaburo Deguchi – around 1933

I was scolded severely by Sensei many times, but there were also times that I received undeserved praise. He often reprimanded me – “don’t manufacture”. By “manufacture” he meant when an Uke would take it upon themselves to take the appearance of being off balance even though they actually were not, releasing their grip or moving.

Hiroshi Tada taking ukemi for Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Why were we told “don’t manufacture”? When one becomes used to the technique they perform it absent mindely, or they chase the technique intellectually instead going ahead straight forwardly with the feeling of a blank white sheet of paper. In other words “don’t manufacture” is the same as when we were scolded “you have an opening”.

One day I was training alone in the dojo when Sensei entered and spoke beside me.

“Tada-kun, you should become a professional. a body like yours is the best for Aiki.” – if I had heard those words from Sensei now how moved I would be. However, at the time I thought it was normal to enter a large company after leaving the university as my father and grandfather had and live a life of leisure, so I listened absent mindedly as if he were speaking of some far off place. When I thought about it later I realized that those words of encouragement had come from the warm feelings in Sensei’s heart for his students.

The last time that I laid eyes on Sensei was the day before I left for Europe in order to spread Aikido there, October 23rd of Showa year 39 (1964).

Sensei encouraged me “Oh really, that’s quite soon. Go and do your best.”

Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada in 2014

When Sensei passed away in Showa year 44 (1969) I was in Europe. When we received the news at the dojo in Rome I was surrounded by a moment of wordless silence. In Italy there is a sympathy and kindness towards other people’s hearts. The picture of Sensei in the dojo was soon surrounded by flowers of mourning. The members of my group sat in front of it in silence for many hours.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Aikido Shihan Hiroshi Tada – Speaking of The Founder appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

“The Secret Teachings of Budo (Poems)” – From “Budo Renshu” – 1933

The 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu”  (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“) was initially given to the students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba as a kind of a teaching license.

It was filled with illustrations depicting techniques (such as the one above) taught at the Kobukan Dojo which were drawn by Takako Kunigoshi, a student at the Kobukan who began training shortly before her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University.

Takako Kunigoshi and Shigemi Yonekawa

It is believed that the sections of text were assembled by Kenji Tomiki, under the direction of Morihei Ueshiba.

Among the text that precedes the technical portion of the manual is a section entitled “The Secret Teachings of Budo (Poems)” that contains many of the Doka (“Poems of the Way”) written by O-Sensei.

There is a similar collection in the 1938 technical manual “Budo”. A loose translation of “Budo” was published in English under the name “Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido” by John Stevens. There is also a commentary by Morihiro Saito published under the name “Budo: Commentary on the 1938 Training Manual of Morihei Ueshiba“, but if memory serves that edition did not include the Doka.

Together, those two collections make up the bulk of the pre-war Doka that exist today. There are also a number of Doka that appear in the post-war works of Morihei Ueshiba such as “Takemusu Aiki” (a highly abridged version of which was published by John Stevens as “The Heart of Aikido: The Philosophy of Takemusu Aiki“).

The Doka are often quoted without context or explanation (for example, as they appear in John Stevens’ “The Art of Peace: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido“, or in various internet memes).

Why are they important?

Just like the man said – these are “The Secret Teachings of Budo (Poems)” – Morihei Ueshiba encoded many of the inner teachings of his art in these short poems.

Actually, it was/is a very common practice in China and Japan to preserve knowledge (particularly martial knowledge) in the form of poems or “songs” for future generations – and Morihei Ueshiba was no exception.

For example, here is one that was quoted by Morihei Ueshiba, who often stated that it contains the secret of Aikido:

来たれば即ち迎え、去れば即ち送り、
対すれば即ち和す。
五五の十
二八の十
一九の十
是を以て和すべし。
虚実を察し、陰伏を知り、
大は方処を絶ち、細は微塵に入る。
殺活機にあり、変化時に応ず。
事に臨んで心を動ずること莫(なかれ)や。

If it comes, then meet it, if it leaves, then send it away.
If it resists, than harmonize it.
5 and 5 are 10.
2 and 8 are 10.
1 and 9 are 10.
You should harmonize like this.
Intuit true and false, know what is hidden,
The large suppresses all, the small enters the microscopic.
There are chances for life and death, without reacting to changes.
Approach things without moving your heart (without being disturbed).

The above is a passage from a Chinese text on strategy that is more than 900 years old – for a more detailed discussion about that you may want to read “Kiichi Hogen and the Secret of Aikido“.

For some some other examples, let’s take a look at a few of Morihei Ueshiba’s classic Doka here, and then take a brief look at how he further encoded his training method for future generations.

Here is the first Doka…

Doka and calligraphy by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

主之御親至愛

之心大壺空

世の営み之本と

生りぬる

“The spirit of the great love of the divine parent Su-,

vast and limitless.

It is the origin of the workings of the world“

“Su-” (主) has one of those layered meanings that the Founder was so fond of using. While it is sometimes translated as “Lord” (we’ll see a place where that happened later on in this article), according to Seiseki Abe, the Founder’s calligraphy teacher (the original of the calligraphy above belonged to Abe Sensei), it represents two things – “breath” and Amenominakanushi (天御中主).

Let’s start with Amenominakanushi – the “Diety at the Absolute Center of Heaven” – the Founder said that this diety represents you, yourself.

Amenominakanushi was the first Kami to come into being on the “High Plain of Heaven” (“Takamagahara” / 高天原).

Where is the High Plain of Heaven?

Here’s what Masahisa Goi had to say about it:

高天原がここにあるんですよ。みんなの体ですよ。

Takamagahara is right here. It’s everyone’s body.

Goi Sensei was a close friend of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. The Founder once said that Goi was the only person who truly “knew his heart”. He was also the inventor of the Peace Prayer.

But there’s more about that, the Founder himself was quite specific:

タカマガハラも自分にあるのであります。天や地をさがしてもタカマガハラはありません。それが自己のうちにあることを悟ることであります。

“Takamagahara is within yourself. If you search for Takamagahara you will not find it on Heaven or Earth. That is when you will become enlightened to the fact that it exists within yourself.”

Morihei Ueshiba

from “Aikido and the Structure of the Universe“

Amenominakanushi manifests in a triumvirate with Takamimusubi (representing “Yang” or “Heaven”) and Kamimusubi (representing “Yin” or “Earth”).

In other words, “Heaven-Earth-Man”, a.k.a. the “Sangen” (“Three Origins”) in “Sangenkai“. Yin and Yang opposing forces matched inside the body, inside oneself.

Further, these forces are bound together by “great love”. Here’s how that works out:

1. Love is “Ai” = 愛 or “A”+”i”.
2. “A”+”i” = 天 + 意, or the “intent of Heaven”

The technical reading here is that Yin and Yang are manifested as opposing forces through intent,  and this is the source of the “workings of the world” – this is how things move, how things work.

Now, before somebody says “well, what about the love part?” – there’s a multilayered meaning here that makes everything work out!

1. According to Morihei Ueshiba’s teacher Onisaburo Deguchi there is selfish (“bad”) love and unselfish (“good”) love, and the love of the Kami is unselfish (“good”) love.
2. Kami is written “K+a” and “M+i”. In other words, “Kami” is “Ai”, which is both “love” (the good kind!) and “heavenly intent”.

So we see that when Morihei Ueshiba said “Aiki is the study of intent” (合気は魂の学びである) and when he said “Aiki is love” (合気は愛なり) that he was referring to intertwined concepts in a phrase with multi-layered imagery.

That crossover between “intent” and “love” is actually key concept for Morihei Ueshiba, but that’s deep enough in that direction for the time being. Moving back on track…here’s a note about Heaven-Earth-Man in the Chinese arts before we move on to fire and water:

Heaven-Earth-Man – from “Illustrated Explanations of Chen Family Taijiquan”

From this fundamental triad, many other triads can be developed to explain internal arts and internal training. Heaven’s energy (yang qi) flows downward and is received by Earth. Earth’s energy (yin) flows upward. The two interact and co-mingle in living things.

Tom Bisio: “What is an Internal Art?“

Now, let’s get to the “breath” part – if you remember, that was the second element represented by Su-, according to Seiseki Abe.

“Su is the beginning of universal breath, movement and power.

“The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido“, by William Gleason

Breath” is “Iki” – which is commonly written 息, but that the Founder said was composed of the characters for “water” and “fire” (水火). According to Seiseki Abe what is being referred to in this Doka is the breathing in which fire and water are concentrated and mixed in the tanden (丹田).

火・水（カ・ミ）の動きによって中心ができる。中心ができるから万物の生「イキ」がある。これが水火の恵みという。 

It is through the movement of Fire and Water (“Ka” + “Mi”) that the center is created. It is because the center is created that the life (“Iki”) of all things exists. This is called the blessing of Water and Fire (“Iki”).

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Oral transmission to Bansen Tanaka

As seen above, “Fire and water” were often spoken about as “Kami” by the Founder (adding more layers to the multilayered encodings that the Founder delighted in using). “Kami” also means “God”, and of course the Founder often spoke of the Shinto gods as well, which illustrates the importance of background knowledge when attempting to put the speeches and writings of the Founder in context.

Fire and water, by the way, didn’t originate with Morihei Ueshiba, they came from China – and from India before that. In China they are an integral part of the internal martial arts (as they were integral to Aikido for Morihei Ueshiba):

On the most basic level, internal martial arts and internal exercises focus on engaging with the two fundamental forces in the body, water and fire, the archetypal expressions of Heaven (yang) Earth (yin) which move within human beings. These forces have a relationship with the kidneys (water) and the heart (fire).

Tom Bisio: “What is an Internal Art?“

There is a more detailed discussion of this internal process in Tom Bisio’s article “Daoist Meditation Lesson Seven Theory: Three Treasures and the Circulation of Water and Fire“. Also, there is more about Morihei Ueshiba’s thoughts on the matter in “Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross“.

In any case, now we can see that the original Doka refers to the basic Chinese cosmology of the world – Heaven and Earth, Water and Fire, Heaven-Earth-Man, and we see from the context provided that this cosmology is presented in the context of internal training, martial internal training.

Yin and Yang manifested as opposing forces through intent within one’s own body.

For reference, here is a translation of the same Doka translated by John Stevens, that appeared in “The Essence of Aikido: Spiritual Teachings of Morihei Ueshiba”:

SU, Exalted Father

with a heart of love

as vast as the sky–

it is the source of all that

functions in this world.

Actually, the differences in translation here are not that large, but perhaps you can see that it is difficult to divine the meaning represented by the Doka from a stand alone reading.

Moving on to the second Doka…

Doka and calligraphy by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

「世の仕組國

の御親の命

もて勝速日立

つ天の浮き橋」

“Take the life given to you by the divine parents

of the nation and the structure of the world,

and swiftly

stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven”

According to Seiseki Abe (the original of this calligraphy belonged to Abe Sensei as well), the “divine parents of the nation” are the three creator gods of the Kojiki that we saw in the first Doka – Amenominakanushi (representing “Man” – or oneself), Takamimusubi (representing “Yang” or “Heaven”) and Kamimusubi (representing “Yin” or “Earth”), the foundation of the “Aiki O-Kami” – the “Great Gods of Aiki” (along with the five generations of earthly deities / 地神五代 and the seven generations of heavenly deities / 神代七代).

Once again – the Heaven-Earth-Man model that we saw above.

This may be of interest to Aikido folks, since one of the definitions of Aikido given by the Founder in the first chapter of “Takemusu Aiki” is 「合気道は天地人和合の道と理なり。」 – “Aikido is the Way and Principle of harmonizing Heaven, Earth and Man.”

The mini-diagram of Heaven-Earth-Man that we see here was expressed by the Founder as the “Ame no Uki Hashi”, the “Floating Bridge of Heaven” (also mentioned above).

Here’s a fun fact – “Takemusu Aiki” is the largest and most reliable collection of the Founder’s lectures. The most common phrase in “Takemusu Aiki” is not “Takemusu Aiki”, not “Love”, not “Harmony”, not even “Aiki” – it’s “Ame no Uki Hashi”, which may tell you a bit about it’s importance as a model of Morihei Ueshiba’s method:

合気道はまず天の浮橋に立たなければならないと言われる。天の浮橋とは火と水の交流という。丁度十字の姿、火と水の調和のとれた世界である。つまり高御産巣日、神産巣日二神が、右に螺旋して舞い昇り、左に螺旋して舞い降り、この二つの流れの御振舞によって世界が出来たという。火と水でカミになり、このカミ（火と水）の根源は一元に帰るが、一元から霊魂の源、物質の根源が生まれる。

It is said that Aikido must first stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven. It is said that the Floating Bridge of Heaven is the exchange of Fire and Water. Precisely in the form of a cross, it is the world of Fire and Water in harmony. In other words, it is said the this world is created through the two actions of the twin gods Takami-Musubi and Kami-Musubi winding up in a spiral on the right and winding down in a spiral on the left. Fire (“Ka”) and Water (“mi”) become “Kami”, the source of this “Kami” (Fire and Water) returns to the one, but the one becomes the source of the physical and the spiritual.

Even those who trained with the Founder directly had a hard time dissecting this. A direct student of Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei once expressed it to me this way:

The Founder told us that we would be unable to practice martial arts if we did not stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven. We were told that if we could not stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven then our training would not bring forth Aikido technique, so it was essential that we do so at all costs.

However, we didn’t understand anything about where this Floating Bridge of Heaven was. Since we didn’t understand where it was there was no way that we could stand on it, so the reality was that we just put on a good face and kept on applying techniques to each other.

I’ll leave a detailed discussion of the Floating Bridge of Heaven alone for now, except to say that he was essentially talking about the basic model of Yin-Yang (in-Yo) matched opposing forces. You can find out more about the Floating Bridge of Heaven in these articles:

• “Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven“
• “More on Aikido and the Floating Bridge of Heaven“
• “Morihei Ueshiba and the Way of the Cross“

So…the Doka above is describing the basic structure of Yin-Yang forces at work, the classical Chinese structure that moves from the structure of the world to the structure of the nation to the structure of the individual (the “life”).

Then, it instructs you to “stand on the Floating Bridge of Heaven”, which as we saw above, the Founder stated as an absolute requirement for producing “Aiki”.

For the Founder, as in the classical Chinese model, the structure of the universe was linked and mirrored in the government and the individual.

Note that the Founder states above that this model is the source of both the physical and the spiritual..

In other words, the physical practice of Aiki is linked to, and inseparable from, both spiritual and cosmological Aiki.

For reference, here is the commonly published translation of the same Doka. This is the one that is part of a list edited by Seiseki Abe – but not translated by him:

“Build up the world”

This command he did grasp

Received from the honored mother of the nation

Thus stands Katsuhayabi

On the Floating Bridge of the Heavens

That there are some differences in translation ought to be immediately apparent. Note that this translation misses some of the references, making some of the implications quite different.

Moving on to the third Doka…

Stone monument at the Aiki Jinja in Iwama

The inscribed Doka is by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

calligraphy by Seiseki Abe

「美しき

この天地の御姿は

主の作りし

一家なりけり」

“So beautiful,

the form of this Heaven and Earth

created by Su-

to be a member of the one family”

As noted above, “Su-” is “breath”, composed of fire and water, which represents Amenominakanushi – whom the Founder identified as representing oneself.

In other words, the Founder is again talking about “Heaven-Earth-Man”, here as a method of internal training that creates a unification of opposing forces (Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang) inside Man, inside oneself, and that this process is a path to creating better human beings – those who have the capability to form the world family.

So here we have a model for Morihei Ueshiba’s training in a nutshell – a technical method driven by internal training that crosses into personal development and refinement that drives a potential societal transformation. All of that makes sense in the light of the second Doka, which shows that all of the various systems are actually linked and inseparable.

For reference, here is a translation of the same Doka translated by John Stevens, that appeared in “The Essence of Aikido: Spiritual Teachings of Morihei Ueshiba”:

How beautiful,

this form of

heaven and earth—-

all created by the Lord,

we are members of one family. 

Once again, that there are some differences in translation ought to be immediately apparent. Note that “Su-” is translated here as “Lord” (if you recall, this was mentioned above). The translation is not incorrect because of that, but it does make determining the meaning of the Doka much more difficult.

A version of the Iwama monument Doka

from the Aikido of Honolulu dojo

(originally the Hawaii Aiki Kwai dojo)

calligraphy by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

Moving on – here’s a photo of the Shomen at the Aikido of Honolulu dojo in Hawaii. Although now called Aikido of Honolulu, this is the original Hawaii Aiki Kwai dojo that was built in 1961. It was the first dojo in the United States to be built specifically for Aikido, and when the Founder came to dedicate the dojo it was the one and only time that he ever taught Aikido in the United States.

The Shomen at the Aikido of Honolulu dojo on Waialae Avenue

When O-Sensei came to Hawaii in 1961 he said:

“I have come to Hawaii in order to build a “silver bridge.” Until now, I have remained in Japan, building a “golden bridge” to unite Japan, but henceforward, I wish to build a bridge to bring the different countries of the world together through the harmony and love contained in Aikido. I think that Aiki, offspring of the martial arts, can unite the people of the world in harmony, in the true spirit of Budo, enveloping the world in unchanging love.”

There’s that bridge reference again – remember it, because it will come up again a little bit later.

Detail of the Aikido of Honolulu dojo scroll

As noted previously, the “Aiki O-Kami” (“Great Gods of Aiki”) in the center of this scroll are expressing the foundation formed by the three creator gods of the Kojiki – representing here the basic Yin-Yang model of paired opposing forces embodied in the Floating Bridge of Heaven mentioned above.

On the top left the kanji reads “Sarutahiko-O-Kami” – a monkey god (luckily, this is being written in the Year of the Monkey!), this god is particularly associated with Misogi, and was one of Morihei Ueshiba’s guardian deities.

The Founder often told Bansen Tanaka 「猿田彦大神の化身じゃ」 – “I am the incarnation of Sarutahiko-O-Kami”.

Further, in 1958 Morihei Ueshiba visited Tsubaki Grand Shrine and said:

“These are the basics of Aikido. Moves which unite the being with the great nature, all of them given by Sarutahiko-no-O-Kami.” He continued, “Aikido is misogi. Misogi of ourselves. Aikido is the way of misogi itself, the way to become Sarutahiko-no-O-Kami and stand on the Ame- no-Ukihashi (the bridge between heaven and earth). In other words, the skills of misogi are Aiki, the way of uniting heaven and earth, the way of world peace, the way of trying to perfect humanity, the way of the Kami, the way of the universe.

There’s that bridge again – which makes sense, since Sarutahiko-O-Kami is, classically – the guardian of the Floating Bridge of Heaven.

So….that’s a second reference to the Floating Bridge.

The kanji in the top right of the scroll reads “Ame-no-murakumo Kuki Samuhara Ryu-ō” ( 天の村雲九鬼さむはら竜王). This phrase, which Morihei Ueshiba stated contains “all the techniques of Aikido” contains quite a lot of information, but we’ll leave a detailed dissection for a later time.

In simple terms – the Founder stated that “Ame-no-murakumo Kuki Samuhara” represents the divine sword whose edges unite Heaven and Earth. In some places he would refer to this sword as 天地人合気の御剣 – “The Divine Sword of Heaven-Earth-Man Aiki”. Once again representing the basic Yin-Yang model of paired opposing forces embodied in the Floating Bridge of Heaven mentioned above.

The last “Ryu-ō” (“Dragon King”) section is important as well, pointing back to Sokaku Takeda, China and India – but we’ll leave that discussion for another time.

“Aiki” – calligraphy by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

from the Aikido of Honolulu dojo (originally Hawaii Aiki Kwai)

If it sounds repetitive – it is. Morihei Ueshiba was so repetitive on the basic themes of his method that at times it seems hard to believe that we have had so much difficulty noticing the patterns….

So….three references to the Floating Bridge.

Last kanji – the set at the bottom left of the scroll reads “Takemusu Aiki”. Most people have heard of this one….

There’s a more detailed discussion of this phrase in “Aikido without Peace or Harmony” (and in some of the other articles), but here is the short version:

1. “Aiki” was defined by Morihei Ueshiba as matched opposing forces (Yin-Yang forces) – 「合気というものは、初め円を描く。円を描くこと、つまり対象力。」 “In this thing called Aiki, first describe (draw) a circle. Drawing a circle is, in other words, opposing powers.“.
2. “Takemusu” was defined by Morihei Ueshiba as the training of attractive force – 「武産とは引力の錬磨であります。」 “Take Musu is the training of Attractive Force.”
3. According to Morihei Ueshiba, attractive force is generated when opposing forces are joined by Ki – 「上にア下にオ声と対照で気を結び、そこに引力が発生するのである。」” Above the sound “A” and below the sound “O” – opposites connected with Ki, there Attractive Force (“Inryoku”) is created.“. This is the “unification of opposites” that is so common in Chinese internal martial arts. An interesting note here is that the Founder actually used the phrase “unification of opposites” (陰陽合致) in the 1933 technical manual “Budo Renshu”. Takuma Hisa also used this phrase in “Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden” (惟神の武道 : 大東流合気武道秘伝) in 1942, published after receiving Menkyo Kaiden in Daito-ryu from Sokaku Takeda.
4. According to Kanemoto Sunadomari, Morihei Ueshiba’s biographer, “intent” makes “ki” work – giving us the same basic model that forms the Chinese internal harmonies – the basis of the Chinese internal martial arts: 心と意の合、意と気の合、気と力の合 – “Heart/mind leads intent, intent leads Ki, Ki leads strength/power”.

“The connection of intent and the body is the beginning of Aiki.”

– Kanemoto Sunadomari

So…more Yin and Yang (or perhaps, In and Yo, if we’re speaking Japanese) – the basic model represented by the Floating Bridge of Heaven. There is much, much more layered depth and meaning in the scroll, but one way of summarizing would be to say that it expresses Yin and Yang four ways. O-Sensei hammering the basic model of his method and training over and over – kind of a “cheat sheet” of the basic principles of the Silver Bridge that he brought to Hawaii.

Over the years I’ve made a habit of surveying people about this particular calligraphy whenever I stop by the Aikido of Honolulu dojo on Waialae Avenue.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I have found that very few people are able to even read the kanji of the scroll that they bow to at the beginning and end of each class. The scroll that they have bowed to (in some cases) for forty or fifty years.

It’s common for instructors from Aikikai Hombu Dojo to visit each year as well, from the junior instructors on their first trips abroad all the way up to Moriteru Ueshiba Doshu and Mitsuteru Ueshiba Waka-sensei (and Kisshomaru Ueshiba Doshu before them).

Of course, the Japanese instructors can generally read the kanji, but discussions with many of these instructors over the years have revealed that, in a reflection of the non-Japanese speakers mentioned above, the number who are able to discuss the meaning of the scroll in any depth is quite small.

I’ll end here with a few thoughts from Masatake Fujita Sensei concerning the importance of the Founder’s words:

I thought that if O-Sensei’s words were preserved than there might be somebody who would be able to follow after them.……..Even among those of high rank, those who don’t understand don’t understand. There are many people who are practicing Aikido today but have never even read a single book about O-Sensei.

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Three Doka and the Aiki O-Kami appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

The cover of “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” (1954) and the first page of the technical explanations
This page is identical to the first page of “Budo Renshu” (1933)

The 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu”  (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“) was initially given to the students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba as a kind of a teaching license. It was hand illustrated by Takako Kunigoshi, a student at Morihei Ueshiba’s Kobukan Dojo who began training shortly before her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University. This was also discussed in the article “Three Doka and the Aiki O-Kami“.

Women’s self-defense demonstration.
Fujiko Suzuki (鈴木富治子 or 富士子), founder of Daiwa Goshinjutsu (大和流護身術)、 left
Sokaku Takeda and Morihei Ueshiba student Admiral Isamu Takeshita on the right.
The book “Daiwa Goshinjutsu” was published in 1937 and illustrated by Takako Kunigoshi.

In 1938 Morihei Ueshiba privately published another book, a technical manual called “Budo”, for Prince Tsunenori Kaya, who was one of his students at the time. This manual was (re) discovered entirely by chance by Aikido Journal editor Stanley Pranin during an interview with Zenzaburo Akazawa.

A loose translation of “Budo” was published in English under the name “Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido” by John Stevens. There is also a commentary by Morihiro Saito published under the name “Budo: Commentary on the 1938 Training Manual of Morihei Ueshiba“. Oddly, “Budo” has never been published in Japanese (with the exception that the Morihiro Saito commentary contains both Japanese and English).

I’ve discussed parts of this book before, in articles such as “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae” and the following parts two and three.

In 1954 a book called “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” was privately published by the Aikikai Foundation – this book was mentioned by Aikido 10th Dan Michio Hikitsuchi during the course of this interview:

Is our current style of practice different from that when you started?

Yes, the waza were done differently. You know, the other day I pulled out a book, Maki-no-Uchi. That was O-Sensei’s first book. We practised along the lines described in Maki-no-Uchi. ‘

Did O-Sensei distribute that book?

No. To have it, you had to have O-Sensei’s permission. For me, that was when I reached what would now be called shodan.

Was it a secret book, something that was never shown around?

Well, I don’t know whether I would call it “secret”. It was, after aIl, a book, and there probably are people who can learn just by reading. But it would have been very hard for someone to read the book end understand what it was about unless that person were practising Aikido. Unless you were shodan or higher, you wouldn’t know what to make of it. I think that is still true today. It’s not as if you can tell someone, “Here, do it as the book shows.” Aikido is something that becomes a part of you – something that comes through the spiritual training [shugyo] of physical practice [keiko].

Now, you don’t have to be too sharp to note that Aikido Maki-no-Ichi was not Morihei Ueshiba’s first book, since it was preceded by (at least) both “Budo Renshu” and “Budo”, but it is the first book by the Founder that contains “Aikido” in the title and was published after World War II and the formal adoption of the name “Aikido” for Morihei Ueshiba’s art.

So what is it? This book was privately published and distributed in 1954 by the Aikikai Foundation in mimeographed bound format, and was edited by Koetsu Ueshiba (Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba’s birth name).

The back pages of Aikido Maki-no-Ichi
On the left – the signature of Koetsu Ueshiba, dated April 8th Showa 31 (1956)
On the right – published April 1st of Showa 29 (1954) by the Aikikai Foundation
and authored by Koetsu Ueshiba, Wakamatsu-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

The material will be familiar to you if you are already familiar with Morihei Ueshiba’s pre-war publications. The text is mostly a combination of text from both “Budo Renshu” and “Budo” (cleansed of most of the pre-war imperial language), with the bulk of the book (which totals some 150 pages) consisting primarily of hand illustrated techniques from “Budo Renshu”.

Why does this matter, except as a curiosity? Well, this work is significant because it shows that what Morihei Ueshiba was teaching in 1954 was the same as what he was teaching in 1933. That five years after he told Morihiro Saito in Iwama that he had “completed” Aikido…he was still distributing the same material, containing the same explanations and the same techniques that had given his students in 1933 – when they were firmly students of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu.

Atemi
“Budo Renshu”, 1933 on the left  /  “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi“, 1954 on the right

In other words, the idea of a radical phase change in the technical core of Aikido after the war that is so commonly accepted…never happened.

This supports what Yasuo Kobayashi said about what he practiced during the early 1950’s at Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo:

Moderator: There were two books published before the war, “Budo” and “Budo Renshu”, was it only those techniques?

Kobayashi: Yes, that’s right. Of course, we did not do staff (jo) or sword (ken).

There is a discussion of this issue in “The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray” which you may like to read if you find this issue interesting.

This won’t be news to everybody, of course, Morihiro Saito used to carry a copy of the 1938 technical manual “Budo” with him while he was teaching so that he could show people that what O-Sensei had taught him in Iwama after the war most closely resembled what was represented in that manual published before the war, and not necessarily what was commonly being taught in other places.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba demonstrates Kamae in “Budo”, 1938
“In footwork there is an external six directions and an internal six directions as well as an outer spiral and an internal spiral, this will be taught in practice.”
– From “Morihei Ueshiba, Budo and Kamae“
The identical instructions appear in the Kamae section of “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, 1954

What is news is that, for the first time, this 1954 work presents hard evidence that what Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba was teaching and distributing after the war in the 1950’s was essentially the same material that he was teaching and distributing before the war. That, while some things changed, of course, there was no phase shift in core technology, or radical invention of new martial technology.

We also have this very interesting study by John Driscoll, originally published on AikiWeb, the almost exact correlation between the techniques taught by Morihei Ueshiba and the techniques of the Daito-ryu Hiden Mokuroku shows the continuing technical links between the two arts.

And this good visual comparison of the pre-war and post-war technique of Morihei Ueshiba that illustrates this point quite clearly:

So..how did “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” come to see the light of day (and the light of the internet!)?

Last year I was talking to Scott Burke, who lives in Fukuoka, but often comes to Hawaii to join the Sangenkai workshops with Dan Harden.

Scott Burke, left, in Hawaii – December 2013
Aiki-age at the Sangenkai workshop with Dan Harden

We got to talking about how riffling through old library archives led me to what I believe to be the oldest recorded interview with Morihei Ueshiba – the one contained in the article “A Leap of the Spirit – Moritaka (Morihei) Ueshiba in 1932“.

We talked about doing more of that kind of research (easier for Scott, since he’s actually in Japan), and Dan Harden encouraged the idea enthusiastically.

“Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden”, by Takuma Hisa – 1942

After returning to Japan he started frequenting the prefectural library and accessing the university library catalogs, and things started moving. In addition to things like “Kannagara no Budo – Daito-ryu Aiki Budo Hiden”, published in 1942 by Takuma Hisa (which he published about Daito-ryu, as a menkyo kaiden in the art, but duplicates large sections of the text in “Budo Renshu” and “Budo”), he also came across….”Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”.

And now you have too – here is the 150 page complete scanned edition of “Aikido Maki-no-ichi” in PDF format. Published in 1954 and edited by Koetsu Ueshiba. There is only one alteration, the name to whom this particular volume was dedicated has been omitted for reasons of personal privacy.

• Download (Dropbox) “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” (PDF format / 14 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” (PDF format / 14 MB)

 Enjoy!

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Aikido Maki-no-Ichi – O-Sensei’s First Book on Aikido appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

“Secret Teachings of Budo (Poems)” – from “Budo Renshu”, 1933
also see “Three Doka and the Aiki O-Kami“

The first known book published by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba (“Moritaka Ueshiba” at the time of publishing) was the 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu”  (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“). This manual was initially given to his students as a kind of a teaching license.

It was filled with illustrations depicting techniques taught at the Kobukan Dojo which were drawn by Takako Kunigoshi, a student at the Kobukan who began training shortly before her graduation from Japan Women’s Fine Arts University.

The text portions of this work were largely complied and edited by Kenji Tomiki, one of Morihei Ueshiba’s senior students. Kenji Tomiki began training at the Kobukan Dojo in Tokyo around 1926 after being encouraged to meet Morihei Ueshiba by Hidetaro Kubota (who later changed his name to Nishimura), a fellow Judo student at Waseda.

Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, back row center
Kenji Tomiki, back row right (red box)
1934 summer gasshuku, from the Kobukan Dojo newsletter “Kobu” (皇武)

Hidetaro Kubota had trained with Morihei Ueshiba in Ayabe, on the Omoto-kyo compound. One of Kuboto’s fellow students, Yutaka Otsuki(大槻豊), would later go on to found his own school of “Otsuki-ryu Aiki-jujutsu”.

“Hiden Ogi” scroll issued in “Otsuki-ryu Aiki-jujutsu” by Yutaka Otsuki (大槻豊), 1940

Kenji Tomiki, also a senior student of Judo Founder Jigoro Kano, would go on to become Morihei Ueshiba’s designated representative at Kenkoku University in Japanese occupied Manchuria.

Kenji Tomiki and Morihei Ueshiba in Manchuria, 1942

When the Dan ranking system became required by the consolidation of Japanese martial arts by the Japanese government prior to World War II under the Dai Nippon Butokukai he would receive the very first 8th Dan ever to be issued by Morihei Ueshiba.

Tomiki was an instructor at Aikikai Hombu Dojo after the war, but a division gradually developed over the issue of competition in Aikido and the division grew into a split between Tomiki and the Aikikai organization when Tomiki established his Shodokan Dojo in 1967 to refine his teaching methods and then held public tournaments beginning in 1970.

“Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, published by the Aikikai in 1954

In 1954 Morihei Ueshiba published “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi”, edited by Ni-Dai Doshu Kisshomaru (Koetsu) Ueshiba. This book, which was not publicly distributed (but is available here), duplicates much of the text and many of the drawings that first appeared in the 1933 publication “Budo Renshu” – text that was originally compiled and edited primarily by Kenji Tomiki.

Also in 1954, Kenji Tomiki published a book demonstrating his own efforts at combining the scientific methodology and educational pedagogy that he had absorbed from Jigoro Kano with the teachings that he had received from Morihei Ueshiba.

“Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles”
by Kenji Tomiki, 1954

Like “Aikido Maki-no-Ichi” mentioned above, this manuscript (which includes a forward written by Jigoro Kano’s son Risei Kano – 嘉納 履正) was recovered through the efforts of Scott Burke, who lives in Fukuoka, but often comes to Hawaii to join the local Sangenkai workshops.

About half of the work itself is text – but the pictorial content in the remaining sections should be understandable even to non-Japanese speakers.

Enjoy!

• Download (Dropbox) “Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” (PDF format / 15 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” (PDF format / 15 MB)

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.

Around 1926 – the year Kenji Tomiki started Aikido
Morihei Ueshiba next to Admiral Isamu Takeshita,
Center rear: the son of Gonnohyoe Yamamoto*
Lt. Colonel Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Kenji Tomiki standing next to Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Right: nephew of Gonnohyoe Yamamoto*
Vice Admiral Eisuke Yamamoto
*Admiral Gonnohyoe Yamamoto was
the 16th and 22nd Prime Minister of Japan

Kenji Tomiki (富木謙治) began training under Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu in 1926.  He was largely responsible for the compilation and editing of the text in Morihei Ueshiba’s 1933 training manual “Budo Renshu”  (published in English under the name “Budo Training in Aikido“), and was later appointed to be Morihei Ueshiba’s representative at Kenkoku University in Japanese occupied Manchuria.

At the time that he started training with Morihei Ueshiba he was already a student of Judo – an uchi-deshi (“live-in student”) to Judo Founder Jigoro Kano. He was encouraged to visit Ueshiba by a fellow Judo student at Waseda, Hidetaro Kubota (who later changed his name to Nishimura), who had trained with Morihei Ueshiba in Ayabe during the 1920’s.

Daido Gakuin (大同学院) in Manchuria prior to 1945

In 1936 Tomiki left Tokyo to become a part time instructor at Daido Gakuin in Japanese occupied Manchuria. Before he left he went to pay his respects to Jigoro Kano, and was told:

「富木君、講道館には植芝さんのところで君が学んできたような技が必要なんだ。昔の柔術というのは、みな植芝さんと同じようなことをするのだ。しかし、あれをどうやって練習させるかが難しいんだよ」

“Tomiki-kun, the Kodokan needs the kinds of techniques that you learned at Ueshiba-san’s place. Because the jujutsu of the past, they all do the same kinds of things that Ueshiba-san does. But it’s how to practice those things that is difficult!”

This was Kenji Tomiki’s conundrum after the war, just as it was a conundrum for JIgoro Kano, and even Kisshomaru Ueshiba – namely, how the older arts could and should be modified for popularization among the general public (there’s a little about the changes in post-war modern Aikikai Aikido in “The Ueshiba Legacy, by Mark Murray“) .

A page from “Judo Taiso” by Kenji Tomiki, 1954

In 1954 Tomiki published a book called “Judo Taiso” (“Judo Exercises” – the book is available for free download from the article “Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles“). This book represents some of Tomiki’s earlier work at integrating the work of his two teachers and then presenting the results to the general public.

“Judo Taiso” (mentioned above), the texts that will be available for download below, and the rest of the content on this site are provided free of charge as a service to the community. You can help support this project by contributing a little bit to help support our efforts. Every donation (even $1) is greatly appreciated and helps to cover our server and bandwidth costs, and the time involved. The more support that we get the more interesting new content we can get out there!

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When Keizou Yamamoto (山本敬三) went to train with Kenji Tomiki at Waseda University in 1957 he encountered that book:

Although I had gone to Waseda University with the intention of learning Aikido, we were given a booklet called “Judo Taiso”, and we did the Judo exercises that Sensei had invented. I understood at last, years later, that Sensei had deeply respected the late Jigoro Kano Sensei – “The way that I see Aikido is through Judo”, he said. In the forward to that book that Tomiki Sensei wrote was the following:

“I was introduced to Kodokan Judo some forty-five years ago, when I was in elementary school. Leading to the present day I have received instruction beginning with the late Jigoro Kano Sensei, and then through many Sempai. From around thirty years ago I was taught Aikido by Morihei Ueshiba Sensei. “Judo Taiso” was born through the comprehensive study of both of these people, with the structure based on Aikido technique. The movement of the body has been transformed to modern gymnastics and with this the unification of power developed through the “Principles of Judo” and the management of the body can be practiced.”

Tomiki further discussed some of the issues surrounding this problem in this interview with Aikido Journal, in which he was asked about some of the spectacular feats that Morihei Ueshiba was able to perform with his internal skills:

This problem is one of modern physical education’s muscle training. It’s called isometrics. That is to say, by pushing or pulling you train either the outer muscles or the inner muscles. When you get perfect at this form of training you can hardly see any muscle movement at all during the exercise. When you can’t see any movement you are using the muscle very skillfully. But, in the educational field if you demand a similar level of perfection then you are making a big mistake. If anyone trains sufficiently it is possible to do it to some degree, but, of course, there are limits what a human being can do. Perfection is a problem of belief. Can we call it religious faith? If we have to disrupt our partner’s psychological state through some hypnotic technique it would not be a matter of religion as we usually think of the word. I for one, take the normal point of view that education appropriate for the general public is correct and I think aikido should be something usual, or normal, as well.

Tomiki wasn’t alone in these sentiments, his teacher Jigoro Kano also wrestled with the problem of balancing his desire to preserve the traditional arts of Japan with the his desire to create an art that would be suitable for the modern educational system and the general public:

The pioneer who modernized the feudal era schools of bujutsu and brought them to into the context of modern physical education was Master Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. When I say that he modernized ancient bujutsu, what I mean is that, first of all, he categorized and arranged the techniques so that they transcended schools. The main feature of this rearrangement was organizing and categorizing the major techniques according to the form of combat, so as to make tournaments (shiai) possible. 
– “On Jujutsu and its Modernization” by Kenji Tomiki

And Kano dealt with similar issues as well – according to Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin-ryu (新道楊心流)  Menkyo Kaiden Toby Threadgill, there was a point in time when the entire Internal Power (内力の業) training syllabus of Shindo Yoshin-ryu was included in Kodokan Judo textbooks – a chapter that was removed from later editions. Here he speaks a little bit about that section of the training:

They are solo exercises that inculcate the proper balance, movement and muscular application utilized in our greater curriculum. These types of exercises are actually quite ubiquitous in Japanese jujutsu schools of the Edo Period, although they are rather unfamiliar to those outside the membership of specific Nihon koryu. According to Yoshin ryu lore, this form of body training was introduced to Japan from China in the mid-Edo Period. In the case of Yoshin ryu, the Nairiki no Gyo were specifically created adaptations of Chinese practices intended to augment the study and application of specific body skills required in Yoshin ryu’s greater curriculum.
– From “An Interview With: Toby Threadgill, Menkyo Kaiden, Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin ryu“

In the end, Tomiki opted to follow Jigoro Kano’s thinking and introduce a form of competitive Aikido:

I introduced Randori Aikido so that students could make their techniques more effective by ‘free play’. These techniques originate from Kata and can develop through Randori to competition. In order to teach the spirit of Budo in a modern educational system, it is necessary to introduce it as a sport. The reason I developed Randori Aikido from Kata Aikido is because I wished to follow the method and thinking of Dr. Jigaro Kano in which he evolved Judo from old style Jujutsu

That would lead to his eventual break with the Aikikai and the Ueshiba family over the issue of competition in Aikido. Morehei Ueshiba’s granson Moriteru Ueshiba even went so far as to say that Aikido with competition can no longer be considered “Aikido”:

For example, those that have instituted competitive matches have obviously forgotten the true nature of Aikido, and cannot be called Aikido.
– From “Aikido ™ – Can it really be trademarked?“

Nonetheless, Tomiki was still in Morihei Ueshiba’s thoughts in his last moments, as we see here in this recollection from Yoshinkan Aikido Founder Gozo Shioda:

Four of the younger deshi were staying with Sensei. He was asleep when I went there, but he suddenly woke up and said, “It’s you, thanks for coming. I’m riding on a winged horse around the heavens. I can see the earth. Shioda, what is [Kenji] Tomiki doing now? I’m watching.”

At that time Kisshomaru had changed his name and was called Koetsu. He was waiting at the foot of the bed and Ueshiba Sensei said the following, “Shioda, I want you to support Koetsu on the technical side. I want you always to cooperate with him. I’m counting on you.” Kisshomaru stood there and listened.
– From Aiki News issue 93 (now Aikido Journal)

So…now we have a couple of downloadable documents in PDF format (provided from scans originating with Eddy Wolput and the Study Group Tomiki Aikido).

Kenji Tomiki shows a technique from the Goshinjutsu no Kata

The first is “Kodokan Goshinjutsu” (講道館護身術), by Kenji Tomiki. This is Kenji Tomiki’s commentary on the Kodokan Goshinjutsu no Kata (講道館護身術の形 / Kodokan Self Defense Kata), first published in 1958.

The Kodokan Goshinjutsu no Kata is a set of pre-arranged forms, set techniques, intended to focus on self-defense applications. Created by a Kodokan committee over a period of some three years, Kenji Tomiki had a huge influence on the final form of the Kata.

In the introduction to the Kodokan book “Goshinjutsu”, Risei Kano (嘉納 履正), Jigoro Kano’s son and the second president of the International Judo Federation, wrote:

The writer of this Book, Professor Kenji Tomiki, has deep understanding of Judo as Professor of Waseda University and also is an authority on the research of Aiki-Jutsu in the light of Judo principles. In formulating the Goshin Jutsu no Kata, he played a leading role in the panel.

Kenji Tomiki and Tadao Otaki gave the first public demonstration of the Goshin Jutsu no Kata at the Kagami Biraki in 1956 at the Nippon Budokan.

• Download (Dropbox) “Kodokan Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 36 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Kodokan Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 36 MB)

“Introduction to Goshinjutsu” by Kenji Tomiki, 1974

Next is Kenji Tomiki’s “Introduction to Goshinjutsu” (護身術入門), published in 1974. This book is an interesting follow-up to the “Kenji Tomiki: Judo Taiso – a method of training Aiki no Jutsu through Judo principles” publication mentioned above.

It is also clearly aimed at the general public, although there are also some interesting sections.

For example, here is one about the “Principle of the Lever”. Here Tomiki talks about Yin/Yang (In/Yo) opposing forces with a central non-moving pivot in the text, but in terms of modern mechanics as a force couple. According to Wikipedia this is defined:

A couple is a pair of forces, equal in magnitude, oppositely directed, and displaced by perpendicular distance or moment.

Further:

Its effect is to create rotation without translation, or more generally without any acceleration of the centre of mass.

The above ought to be familiar material to those folks training in the Sangenkai method.

Also, here is one demonstration using a spinning top to illustrate the stability and power of spiral force:

The principle of the spinning  top

• Download (Dropbox) “Introduction to Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 22 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Introduction to Goshinjutsu by Kenji Tomiki” (PDF format / 22 MB)

The “Gendai Aiki” correspondence course

As a final bonus, the six volume “Gendai Aiki” series of books below is a 1970’s correspondence course in Aikido – the type of course one often sees advertised in the back of Manga and other popular magazines. The series was not authored by Kenji Tomiki, but was clearly written by someone who had experience with the Tomiki system of Aikido. I hope that you find these interesting as well.

• Download (Dropbox) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 1” (PDF format / 3.2 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 1” (PDF format / 3.2 MB)
• Download (Dropbox) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 2” (PDF format / 3.8 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 2” (PDF format / 3.8 MB)
• Download (Dropbox) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 3” (PDF format / 3.8 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 3” (PDF format / 3.8 MB)
• Download (Dropbox) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 4” (PDF format / 1.7 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 4” (PDF format / 1.7 MB)
• Download (Dropbox) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 5” (PDF format / 1.8 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 5” (PDF format / 1.8 MB)
• Download (Dropbox) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 6” (PDF format / 2.4 MB)
• Download (Aikido Sangenkai server) “Gendai Aiki – Volume 6” (PDF format / 2.4 MB)

Enjoy!

Published by: Christopher Li – Honolulu, HI

The post Aikido Shihan Kenji Tomiki’s Goshinjutsu appeared first on Aikido Sangenkai Blog.