Finding one’s true ability through teaching

 

Back then, I was young so when I was grabbing someone to take ukemi for shihonage or something, I would be thinking about reversing the technique and throwing them instead. At the time, I thought that victory and defeat were central to budo, but now, I’ve finally come to realize that budo isn’t a contest, and that winning or losing is but a small part of it.

 

How did that change in your thinking come about?

 

Of course, that’s mostly through training with Nishio Sensei, but my thinking also changed once I started teaching aikido about 20 years ago. Once I started teaching, I had to think about what I wanted to convey most to my students, why we move the way we do, and how to get that all across to them in a way they could understand. It’s really a lot of trial and error!

 

What’s important as an instructor is to always pose questions to yourself. Is this alright the way it is? Or is this other way better? Through this process, you find little fragments of the puzzle, and then one day, all the scattered pieces come together and you can see the overall picture. By repeating this process over and over, I am where I am now.

 

Nishio Sensei always used to say, “You only really start to understand budo once you start to teach it.” The significance of his words didn’t really sink in until I started teaching on my own.

 

The spiritual backbone of the samurai – Bushido

As a teacher, what do you want to convey most?