Flexibility is supposed to be stronger than brute strength...

What made you start aikido?

 

I practiced judo since I was in elementary school, but I didn’t start aikido until my third year of junior high school, just after I completed entrance exams for high school. My reasons for starting are far from noble. Earlier in the summer of that year, I was in a judo tournament in Toshima Ward, and one of my opponents weighed 100 kg in junior high! It didn’t matter whether I pushed or pulled – I couldn’t budge him. When I tried to throw him with a seoinage, I collapsed and was pinned by him instead.

 

Now, I don’t mind if I lose to an opponent who is more skilled than I am, but if I lose to someone just because he is bigger, I want a second shot at him! Because of that incident, I was eager and ready to learn something new.

 

It just so happened that around that time, I came across an article about Koichi Tohei Sensei and his activities in Hawaii in a weekly magazine. My mother read it and said, “According to this, even Americans are no match for aikido!” When I heard that, I knew I had to try it.

 

As luck would have it, the Kenshyukan dojo was close to Sugamo, and they held judo practices on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while aikido practices were on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So that’s how I came to join the Kenshyukan dojo and start aikido. So really, I joined in order to learn some aikido techniques so I could defeat larger opponents in judo (laughs).

 

The head instructor of the Kenshyukan was Noboru Ishibashi Sensei, and he was trained primarily in judo, but when he was young, one of his judo friends, Nakazono Sensei, told him “There’s this incredible old man named Morihei Ueshiba Sensei. We’ve got to go see him!” and he went with him to the Hombu Dojo. When he got there, he thought, “I wouldn’t lose to this old man. I bet I could throw him.” The moment he thought that, O-sensei turned and gave him a look that seemed to pierce right through him. “At that moment, I knew this guy was for real”, he thought. Ishibashi Sensei was fifth-dan in judo at that time.

 

After that, Ishibashi Sensei decided to incorporate aikido training at his dojo, and Shoji Nishio Sensei was sent from the Hombu Dojo to instruct at the Kenshyukan.

 

As I carried Nishio Sensei’s bags...

Could you tell us about those early days with Nishio Sensei?

 

 

To be continued next