The following interview was conducted by Hiden Budo Magazine, one of the most prominent martial arts publications in Japan. In this discussion, the Executive Editor of Aikido Journal talks with the Japanese Budo community about his current focus and initiatives. This interview is co-published here with the kind permission of Hiden Budo. 

Josh Gold: Pioneering the Future of Budo

In this interview we speak with Josh Gold, an American Aikido instructor who has been at the leading edge of promoting Budo in North America. Mr. Gold has over 30 years of Aikido experience and is one of the most visible leaders in the English speaking Aikido world. He is Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, the world’s largest Aikido media publication, and Chief Instructor of Ikazuchi Dojo, a prominent California-based Aikido dojo with a 20 year history. And in late 2019, Josh co-founded Budo Accelerator, a new educational nonprofit organization with plans to use Budo to improve the lives of thousands of teens and college students from low-opportunity backgrounds. Mr. Gold is also a notable speaker on the martial art of Aikido, having led presentations for Fortune 500 companies and at premier events and idea festivals like Summit LA19. Earlier in his career, Josh built over 15 years of entrepreneurial and executive management experience in the technology sector, having founded a series of start-ups and led special projects for clients such as Sony, Nissan Motors, Disney, and Formula One.  

Thank you for joining us today Mr. Gold. 

It’s a great pleasure to speak with you and to connect with your audience in Japan. 

Can you please tell us about your history with Aikido Journal? 

Aikido Journal (originally Aiki News) was founded in California in 1974 by Stanley Pranin. He moved to Japan in 1977 and lived there for 20 years, researching,  documenting, and publishing a large portion of the world’s history of Aikido. Aikido Journal is the most important single producer and publisher of historical research related to the birth and development of Aikido. 

Before Stanley passed away in 2017 he named me as his successor. I was surprised he asked me to undertake this responsibility since I was not his direct Aikido student and certainly not a historian. I knew of him since the early 1990’s but only got to know him personally in 2012. I think he saw me as someone who could take what he built over a period of 45 years and transform it in a way that both preserved the spirit of the Journal and revitalized it for a new era. 

Now Aikido Journal reaches over 500,000 people a year across more than 60 countries. We’re the largest Aikido-based media publication and have created the world’s largest knowledge base on the art of Aikido with thousands of published articles and an archive that contains many times more information in the form of interviews, photos, films, audio recordings, and research findings. 

What are your plans for the future of Aikido Journal?

Stanley Pranin was a researcher and historian. His mission was to tell the story of the birth and development of Aikido. In contrast, I’m driven by the desire to innovate and build. I believe Stanley was successful in his mission to research and document the history of Aikido and feel that Aikido Journal’s role should now be to unify, elevate, and expand the global Aikido community. We’ve modernized our technology platform, invested in professional media production, made our content more accessible to a wider audience, and shifted our focus to put a greater emphasis on telling stories of today and sharing the community’s ideas and visions for the future of the art. 

What are some of the projects Aikido Journal has done recently?

We’ve done some great interviews, like the one with Dan Inosanto which you published recently. I’m very thankful that you shared his and Bruce Lee’s Aikido experiences with your audience in Japan. Aikido Journal also recently released a comprehensive video course on Kazuo Chiba. It’s an artfully crafted showcase of his Aikido through the years. A number of Chiba Sensei’s students who watched the course told me that it brought them to tears. I’m very proud of this effort. 

We also made our first return to print publishing in over 20 years. With the support of the Aikido community in the form of a crowdfunding campaign, we created a large-format hardbound limited edition version of one of Stanley’s books: Aikido Pioneers of the PreWar Era. It’s unlike any Aikido book that’s been produced. All of these initiatives were done in the pandemic lockdown. 

Outside of Aikido Journal, what are you doing to promote Aikido and Budo in the United States? 

I introduce Aikido to some of the world’s leading thinkers, influencers, and organizations. One thing I learned through Stanley Pranin is that Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, surrounded himself with the business, military, and political elite of Japan, and that this provided opportunities that played a significant role in Aikido’s development. I’m taking a similar approach in America. These people and organizations can be great allies, advisors, and sources of inspiration. 

I’m also very excited about Budo Accelerator, a new educational nonprofit I recently co-founded. Budo Accelerator has big plans and if we are successful, it has the potential to change the face of Budo in the West. 

Tell us about Budo Accelerator.

Budo Accelerator uses Budo as a platform for leadership development and elevating young people from low-income families and communities. We combine Budo training with modern learning science and technology to create programs for teens and young adults. Even in the pandemic, we brought together students from all around North America to participate in our programs – in person and online. We’ve had world-class experts in education, psychology, and Budo designing our curriculum, and the results have been great. We’re focused on leadership development, cultivating emotional intelligence and resilience and building workforce readiness. Our programs create significant, measurable and repeatable gains in these areas for our students. We’ve also connected many students with mentors and advisors from the Aikido community who support them academically, professionally, and in their personal growth and development as human beings.

This year, we plan on working with 100-200 students from around North America with a goal of designing programs that can scale to reach 1,000 or more students next year. In the next few years we hope to serve 10,000 or more students. By doing this, we can give new opportunities to lower income youth and underrepresented groups, bring a large number of new young people into Aikido dojos, and develop future leaders of America who embody the ethics and principles behind Budo and Aikido. 

Those are very ambitious goals. Why do you think you can succeed? 

We have a clear vision, a strong team, and we are building tremendous support within the Aikido community. We already have dojos in many major metro areas in North America that are excited to partner with us to run programs. 

Speaking of your team, you said you have a co-founder. Can you tell us a bit about him? 

My co-founder is Mark Tercek. He began Aikido when living in Japan over 40 years ago and after a long hiatus, he made an enthusiastic return to Aikido in 2019. While I have start-up experience that will help us build Budo Accelerator through our early stages, Mark has tremendous experience growing large organizations. From 2008-2019, he was CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the world’s largest environmental nonprofit. Under Mark’s leadership, TNC grew to over $1 billion in annual revenues with over 1 million donor members. He raised over $7 billion in his time there and grew TNC operations to span over 70 countries, leading massive global conservation projects and climate change initiatives. Prior to that, Mark was a major force on Wall Street for over 25 years. He was a partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs and ran most of the firm’s major business units in his time there. He’s also the author of Nature’s Fortune, a bestselling book that has been praised by people such as Bill Clinton (former President of the United States),  Hank Paulson (former U.S Treasury Secretary under George Bush and CEO of Goldman Sachs), and many other leaders from the worlds of science, business, and politics-both Democrat and Republican. 

He sounds like a great ally and a valuable member of the Budo Accelerator team.

Indeed. He’s been a steadfast supporter and we look forward to tapping into his expertise even more when the time comes to move from our development stage into a scaling phase.   Mark and I are both excited to build Budo Accelerator as a way to do social good and give back through a Budo-based initiative. 

I’m also very thankful to have the support of many teachers and organizations within the Aikido community, starting with my own teacher of 30 years, Haruo Matsuoka. Kei Izawa, Chairman of the International Aikido Federation, has also been a wonderful supporter and mentor to me. We’ve also had the support of many senior leaders from private sector companies such as Google, IBM, and Aston Martin. We hope some of the larger Japanese companies with a presence in the United States will see our mission as worthy and will also support our efforts. 

Where do you find the time and motivation to undertake all of these initiatives?

It is a lot to run three organizations, but they all work together and support each other. 

My dojo keeps me grounded and in touch with the challenges and joys my fellow dojo leaders experience. Ikazuchi Dojo is also an extended family for me. It’s a place where I can learn, grow, teach, and challenge myself and others. The dojo also serves as a media production studio for Aikido Journal and a laboratory for testing Budo Accelerator programs. 

Aikido Journal allows me to build new bridges and friendships in the community and gives me a powerful platform to communicate with the Aikido world. It also gives me access to Budo experts and a deep knowledge base. All of these things allow me to be a better teacher and bring new knowledge and expertise to my dojo. And the vast data and visibility into the Aikido community I have through Aikido Journal allows me to make better strategic decisions at Budo Accelerator.

Budo Accelerator brings new life to my dojo. We have a large and growing group of young people in our ranks. People who would never have had the opportunity to experience Japanese culture or the way of life that is Budo. Their energy, enthusiasm, and insights make our dojo better. And if we’re successful, we hope to bring a wave of young people into dojos all around North America, where through Budo, they can build the leadership skills that will be required to face the great challenges of our time. 

It’s my love for the art of Aikido and it’s community, and the potential to contribute and give back in a big way that motivate me. But it would be impossible to do what I do without Anne Lee, my wife. She supports all of these initiatives in so many ways – directly and indirectly. And she keeps me in my best possible mental and physical condition to perform at the peak of my abilities. 

Do you have any parting words you’d like to share?  

I’d like to thank you again for giving me the opportunity for this interview. It’s quite an honor to share my perspective and experience with Budo enthusiasts in Japan. Budo and Aikido changed my life. These are important cultural assets that I believe can be a powerful force for social good, and by doing so can elevate the status of Budo arts in North America. I have an ambitious plan to make it happen but need allies and support to bring it to life. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have ideas or can partner with us to further our mission. And if you’d like to stay up to date on our progress, please sign up for our email newsletter on our websites.

You can learn more at: Budoaccelerator.org, Aikidojournal.com, and Ikazuchi.com

Special thanks to BudoJapan.com / Hiden Budo for allowing us to co-publish this article.

And please check out BudoJapan’s video on demand collection here. 

The following is an excerpt from The Kingdom of Dust, a book written by Piotr Masztalerz (6th Dan Aikikai). Piotr began his Aikido journey in 1988 and is a professional Aikido instructor. He studied as a uchideshi under Kazuo Chiba Sensei in San Diego and is the founder and head instructor at Wrocław Aikikai Dojo in Wrocław, Poland. Piotr has had thousands of students across Poland, including at the Wrocław University of Technology, the University of Wrocław, and the Grotowski Institute. He has also taught outside Poland in countries such as USA, Russia,France, the UK, Kenya and Chile. Piotr holds a degree in medieval history. 

Sensei

To understand who Chiba was, there is only one thing you need to know: he belonged to the group of those rare people who fall in love with one thing and dedicate their whole life to it. Their whole time, their whole attention. He was a soldier, one who served Aikido – he believed in his mission and sacrificed his whole self for it. For it he abandoned Japan. Under the command of O’Sensei he spent 10 years in barbarous Britain where they overcook fish and it always rained. Under the same orders, there he spent years building the foundations for the international organisation in Tokyo, and following another command he then went away to spend the rest of his life in the United States. All because, when he was a teenager, in a small book shop in Tokyo he came across a book about Aikido and first laid eyes upon a portrait of Ueshiba. Apparently, this is the exact moment when he understood that he wanted to follow Ueshiba as his master. He packed his bags, and for three days he sat in front of the dojo waiting for approval to enter. Regular, composed people are terrified of such characters. They should be. For him, the training or studying wasn’t a hobby but a sense and centre of life. The rest was just a side effect – a marriage arranged by Ueshiba, a house close to the dojo. There were no holidays, only summer schools, sleep was only a rest from the training. He hosted the first generation of uchideshi, so he even had to give up his privacy. Home and dojo intertwined – he gave his whole self to people. 

It is these kinds of people you must be afraid of because with each gesture, each word, they show you that you don’t do enough. 

He was an apostle and a madman, and we were playing with that which he had sacrificed his life for.

For most of us Aikido was a nice hobby, an interesting way of spending one’s time. He was an apostle and a madman, and we were playing with that which he had sacrificed his life for. Like a child who plays with his insurgent father’s gun. In another time and place he would, most likely, have stood with an axe on the front line of the army, or have been a kamikaze pilot or a suicide bomber. Or maybe I am mistaken, and he would be a monk? Aikido is what made him. He was wrenched away from Japan, but he took her everywhere around the world with him. In this way after thousands of years he had more of the old Japan inside him than what was left in his native land. Wrenched from the field of battle 300 years ago, that is how we used to talk about him. The art which he sacrificed his life to was not his mask, it was just him. This was why he was not able to play the role of peaceful master. Aikido was his life: complete, natural, honest, and organic. He lived with fascination and anger. With great patience and fits of rage. For us he was the god of Aikido. A concerned god who accepted hard work in silence without praise and punished faults in a divine rage. He broke bones, screamed, and beat. 

He was a living man, not a mask. A legend, one of few living students of Ueshiba. After years spent with the founder of Aikido, he knew what he was doing – and no one could challenge that. Inside him he held an ultimate truth which everyone had to agree with. What he was doing was beautiful, terrifying, and true. Around this core, like around the eye of a cyclone, circled broken hands, knee surgeries, bruises, pain, stress, fear, and a sea of sweat. Chiba was honest and open for everyone. Anyone could enter inside if they managed to confront what was happening outside. 

• Read The Kingdom of Dust here (free PDF)
• Buy Portrait of a Master: T.K. Chiba here

In the tribute to her father spoken at his memorial gathering on July 25, 2015, Kano Chiba said, “In all of you who practice Aikido, especially for those who practiced with him and learned from him, his Aikido lives on with you. Please pass the torch on my father’s behalf.”

It is my hope that the new course from Aikido Journal: Power and Grace, Portrait of a Master, will inspire both those who trained with Chiba Sensei, and those newly introduced to his art to approach their Aikido with Shoshin – that is, beginner’s mind, or unstained mind — with the spirit of sincerity, and with the physical vigor that was a fundamental element of his practice.

Chiba Sensei’s teaching spanned 50 years, from 1962 until 2012, while he lived and taught in Japan, England, Europe, and the U.S. This portrait of his teaching has been drawn primarily from video and written material produced between 1980 and 2012, most of it from within the U.S.

As his student, I know how much he honored his own teachers, both those inside the world of Aikido and those outside it. I would like to acknowledge some of the people who influenced what you will see and read in Power and Grace, Portrait of a Master. We begin with O Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba, Chiba Sensei’s master. Chiba Sensei spoke of him always with great reverence and appreciation. Kisshomaru Ueshiba Doshu, Koichi Tohei, and Morihiro Saito also powerfully influenced his Aikido. In the breathing exercises and conditioning exercises utilized by Chiba Sensei to develop himself and his students one can see the work of Tempu Nakamura and B.K.S. Iyengar. His Zen teachers, Harada Tangen Roshi and Hogen Zenji and his Iaido teacher, Takeshi Mitsuzuka, warrant acknowledgement. Throughout his career Chiba Sensei collaborated with other senior Japanese teachers who were committed to promoting Aikido internationally. Among them I mention a few: Mitsunari Kanai, Yoshimitsu Yamada, Nobuyoshi Tamura, Ichiro Shibata and Tsuruzo Miyamoto.

It has been a privilege to work with Josh Gold, Roy Dean and their support team at Aikido Journal to create Power and Grace, Portrait of a Master. Our collaboration developed in an atmosphere of mutual respect, and it has ripened into rich friendships. For myself, and for my colleague Rob Schenk, representatives of Birankai North America, which Chiba Sensei founded, this has been a labor of love. In Rob’s case in particular, the labor has been nothing short of Herculean. The production of this beautiful showcase of Chiba Sensei’s Aikido reflects the complex process of inquiry, discovery and dialogue that informed his art’s creation.

Aikido teachers trained by Chiba Sensei can be found actively teaching throughout the world. I hope those of you intrigued by the images and words of Chiba Sensei presented here, will seek out one of his students to practice with directly. This would be the most tangible way to honor Chiba Sensei, his teachers and his colleagues.

In her closing remarks in 2015, Kano Chiba read the final letter her father wrote, which ended with these words from his favorite poet, Walt Whitman.

        If you want to see me again
        Look under your boots.

In the world of martial arts, Dan Inosanto is a repository of history as well as history in the making. Most known as Bruce Lee’s training partner, confidante, and the most highly ranked by Lee in his own personal art of Jeet Kune Do, Inosanto’s martial background spans years both before and after his time with the iconoclastic legend. Dan Inosanto’s first introduction to Japanese martial arts began as a boy, studying “Combat Judo” from an uncle who returned from World War II. Because of his father’s respected position within the Filipino-American community in and around Stockton, California, Inosanto was afforded the opportunity to study and train with several of the masters his father befriended and helped. 

Over the years, in addition to studying with dozens of masters of Southeast Asian martial arts, Inosanto has also researched several grappling styles such as Japanese Shooto, freestyle wrestling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.  In recent years, after a meeting arranged by one of his students, legendary action director and fight choreographer, Jeff Imada, Inosanto began meeting with Haruo Matsuoka of Ikazuchi Dojo to study Aikido. In this special interview, Josh Gold caught up with the martial pioneer to hear his thoughts on Aikido and get a sense of where it stands in the context of his vast martial arts experience.

Josh Gold (Aikido Journal): Thank you for joining us today, Guro (Sensei). I thought we could start by having you talk a little bit about your early experiences with Aikido.

Dan Inosanto: My pleasure, Josh. I was first exposed to Aikido when I got a book by Kenji Tomiki. I saw it in 1963 or 1964, and I bought the book right away. Soon after, I picked up another book by Koichi Tohei. I’ve always had this drive to learn about every martial art I can. I think all the arts should be studied. 

When was the first time you saw Aikido in person?

The first time I saw Aikido in person was a demonstration led by Mito Uyehara around 1966. Mito was the founder of Black Belt magazine and he was a 3rd degree black belt in Aikido. He became pretty good friends with Bruce Lee. One day Mito came by Bruce’s house in LA and did an Aikido demo for Bruce and I. I thought “this is pretty good.” I thought it was very interesting. I especially liked the locks and the pins.  

You later visited Gozo Shioda’s dojo in Japan, right? 

Yes. That was probably sometime between 1989-1991. I went to Japan with Yorinaga Nakamura, who was my shoot wrestling teacher. He brought me to Shioda’s dojo and I really enjoyed my visit there. I was very, very impressed with him. I stayed in his dojo around two hours watching class. I found it very difficult because I was trying to sit Japanese style (seiza) the entire time. I was really hurting (laughs). Yeah, that was really difficult for me. 

Did they know who you were?

Yes, they did. When I entered the dojo, I saw some of the Aikido students watching a video of me teaching a seminar. I don’t know where they got it. This was before Internet times, so they had to somehow find a physical videotape. And later on, Shioda told his students, “I think maybe you can learn something from this man.” I was very flattered he would say that to his students. While on that trip to Japan, I was scheduled to teach a seminar. It was mostly focused on Filipino martial arts but we did a little Jeet Kune Do as well. So all these Aikido people – Shioda’s students, ended up coming to my seminar.

I really like the Aikido ukemi system – when I see people like you fall, it’s very soft and very controlled.  I had developed this fear of falling after all these years of getting thrown around, so I thought, “I’m going to learn how to fall again.”

Speaking of FMA (Filipino Marital Arts), you once told me a story about one of your teachers, Floro Villabrille and Koichi Tohei. 

I don’t know the year, but Tohei had gone to Hawaii to give a series of goodwill demonstrations. He showed the unbendable arm and some joint lock techniques at a demo for a police department. None of the cops could bend his arm. Tohei asked for a volunteer from the audience to try to bend his arm and the crowd yelled for Villabrille, who was watching the demo. By this time, Floro Villabrille had participated in 44 full-contact stick fighting matches in Hawaii. In those contests, you can punch, you can kick, elbow, knee, choke, use takedowns or throws, or just knock the guy out with the stick. Most of Villabrille’s matches ended by knockout with the sticks. Sometimes they ended in submissions or by broken limbs. It was pretty serious stuff. 

Tohei tried to apply some techniques to Villabrille, but I guess he, at that time, couldn’t throw Villabrille. That’s the Filipino version of the story, anyway. They went back and forth for a while testing each other but it ended in kind of a draw or stalemate.  And then Tohei said to the audience, “This man and I are of the same ability and I cannot throw him.” So Villabrille said, “Let’s do it for real.” Tohei replied by saying, “No, I’m here not for that. That’s not the purpose of Aikido. I’m here to introduce Aikido in Hawaii and that’s my purpose. I’m not here to show that I’m better than, or worse than any man.” 

And it’s interesting because Villabrille talked to me about that afterwards, specifically as a character lesson. Villabrille told me that on that day, Tohei was a better man than him because of the way he handled the situation. Later, Tohei gave Villabrille a knife, a Japanese tanto, out of goodwill. And Villabrille showed it to me when I was in there in Hawaii. So he had a very high regard for Tohei.

It’s not just Aikido – even Bruce Lee has been the target of MMA type criticisms on the Internet.  Some say, “Well, he was never in a real mixed martial arts match, so you can’t say his skill is good.”

As someone who has incredibly deep knowledge of fighting blades, and quite an extensive collection, I understand you have great admiration for the Japanese tanto. 

The tanto is one of my favorite blades, along with the Filipino punyal. I like the blade length of the tanto, and the craftsmanship is excellent. It’s a beautiful and versatile blade. I remember there was a Filipino martial arts practitioner who loved the Japanese sword so much that he practiced his Filipino art with a Japanese sword. I thought that was interesting.

A number of years ago you started your own Aikido practice with my teacher, Haruo Matsuoka. Can you share a little bit about that? 

I think I was about 75 years old at the time and realized, “Oh man, I’m scared to fall now.” I’d always admired the falls in Aikido so I asked Jeff Imada to help find me a teacher. Jeff was nice enough to introduce me to Matsuoka Sensei, and that’s when I started to rebuild my rolling and falling skills. I really like the Aikido ukemi system – when I see people like you fall, it’s very soft and very controlled.  I had developed this fear of falling after all these years of getting thrown around, so I thought, “I’m going to learn how to fall again.”

I also wanted to just study the art because I thought it would be good for me to learn. The locks and the lock flows (henka-waza / technique transformation) you guys have shown me are really great. I’ve very much enjoyed training with you and Matsuoka Sensei over the years. He’s really an amazing martial artist. Too bad the pandemic got in the way. Aikido was a big thing that I’d look forward to.

For me, martial arts is really about bringing people together.

For me personally, our weekly cross-training sessions with Matsuoka Sensei and Guro Jeff Imada, have been one of the highlights of my martial arts training. I’m so thankful and honored to have had the opportunity to learn from you and share what I can of the art of Aikido.  I know Matsuoka Sensei feels the same. He really looks to you as a mentor and is very inspired by you. 

Well thank you. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed our cross-training sessions together. I look forward to more of them once we get past this pandemic.

You mentioned that the first time you saw an Aikido demo was with Bruce Lee. What did he think about Aikido? 

Well, if I remember clearly, he thought the system was good for dealing with grabs and that it had some powerful joint locks, but he felt it wouldn’t do well against someone who is punching and kicking. He thought the falling techniques were great. Bruce would always analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the arts he researched. As one example, I remember when he looked at Korean karate, he really liked the discipline, kicking skill, and the flexibility it built. But then he’d outline what he saw as the weaknesses of the style – no takedowns, no grappling, and no falling skills. Bruce did this for almost every art that was known at the time. 

And by the way, I don’t think the disadvantages or weaknesses of an art discounts its value. Every art has to specialize in something. For example, I’ve seen some stuff on the Internet where people criticize Aikido because it doesn’t do well in an MMA ring. Well that‘s not the point. I personally don’t think you should do that because you’re looking at an art out of context and asking it to perform in an environment it’s not designed for. 

The other day, I was listening to a highly respected researcher and authority in the Japanese martial arts. He believes that in certain scenarios,  Aikido can be quite effective for self-defense. Imagine you end up in some kind of riot or civil unrest, which is happening with greater frequency these days. If you need to get from point A to point B safely, through a group of people or a chaotic environment, Aikido is great for that. Aikido builds tactical positioning skill and situational awareness attributes that are far more applicable at allowing one to move through a crowd safely, than say MMA. 

That’s right. Bruce Lee was a big believer in testing arts in different environmental conditions. He felt that a lot of people were too narrow in their exploration of how arts work in different contexts. I mean, if you’re interested in self-defense or applications, you need to look at environments outside of an open space with some mats, right?  If you jumped into a swimming pool at eight feet, what art is superior? Wrestling or boxing?  What art is effective where you don’t have space to move laterally, like going up stairs or down stairs? And if you’re on a flight of stairs. you might fall if you get pushed or kicked. Now you’ll want some falling skills. What art is the best if you’re in a rice paddy in Southeast Asia, and there’s water coming up to your knees? What if you’re in a public bathroom stall? 

Bruce told me that you want to research, you want to experiment, then you want to develop something for you, and finally you have to develop something that will work for the majority of your students, because what works for one individual may not work for another individual.

I believe you once told me that Bruce Lee asked you to spar with him in a van?

Oh, yeah. Bruce knew I depended on footwork to create an advantage. One day after training we get in the van he says, “What do you think about going for it right now? We should study this. What are the possibilities?” We had no training gear and just started tussling in the back seat. We were playfully punching and kicking. And I quickly realized that it’s hard to kick inside a vehicle, and it was hard to knee. I got my right shoulder pinned against the door and that was a tough position to get out of. I couldn’t turn around and he had two free arms to attack while I could only defend with my left side. 

It was so chaotic, but we learned so much. We learned that you can use a seat or the steering wheel to secure a position or help move to a different location. And when you’re pushed against the inside of a door in a tight space, you’ll have a trapped limb. How do you move, defend, and attack when one of your arms, or an arm and leg are pinned against a seat or door?  It’s an art form to fight in the back of a vehicle (laughs). 

You’ve been involved in the martial arts for almost 75 years and have studied such a broad range of martial arts and fighting systems. What do you think is the value of martial arts training for people in today’s society? 

For me, martial arts is really about bringing people together. I learn the culture of a country through the martial arts. When I study a Korean art, I learn something about Korea. When I study a Japanese martial art, I’m learning about the history and culture of the Japanese. Learning about other people and other cultures brings people together, and creates greater understanding among people.

And as a physical activity – a health and wellbeing system, nothing can beat the martial arts. If you play football, you’ve got a limited number of years to practice. If you do martial arts, you can start at five years old and keep studying all the way until they close the coffin at 80, 90, 100 years old. It’s a system of education that builds physical attributes like strength, agility, flexibility, awareness, speed, accuracy of movement. Then it builds other attributes too, like awareness, respect, humility, perseverance, and compassion. 

And then there’s this amazing dynamic element to a lifelong martial arts practice. As your body changes, you need to adapt your practice, but the systems allow you to do that in a way that the training is never boring. That can’t be said for every kind of activity.  

For example, I practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I love my practice in that art. I started at 59 and never stopped, until this pandemic got in the way. It stopped when I hit 83, but it will restart again soon. And I didn’t start Aikido until I was in my late 70’s. You can always modify practice in a way that’s meaningful to you. My BJJ instructors, the Machados, were so understanding and flexible with my training. 

I find that the need to adapt my training over time keeps my mind and spirit flexible – ready to adapt to new situations. 

That provides a nice transition to another topic I wanted to discuss with you, which is adaptability. Most would say that adaptive capacity is something all martial artists should try to embody. When you look at the pandemic, how have you adapted to this challenge, or more accurately, crisis, for the entire martial arts community? 

I had to rethink everything at the Inosanto Academy. We have to keep six feet away, wear masks, and be outside. So the pandemic has not been good for me. I really dislike it. Now I teach a lot of long range stick fighting. I’ve focused a lot on staff. I started teaching everything I learned from the Japanese systems, the Chinese systems, the Korean systems, the Filipino systems, and the Indian systems. I also draw from Thai weaponry.  I’m glad I have such broad exposure to these different weapons systems. So I can stick with long range weapons and still go really broad or really deep in different areas.  We’re able to do some empty handed work too. I teach trapping hands, but use a pole that’s about 6 feet long. They do trapping on the pole as a way of representing the arms. I also use Wing Chun dummies, but we have to disinfect the dummy every time as people take turns. We try to be creative.

Many people consider the founder of Aikido as an innovator and in a way, a bit of a renegade or rule breaker. Many say the same thing about Bruce Lee. How did Bruce think about innovation within the martial arts? 

Bruce did so much research on different marital arts. He believed that if you want to innovate, you have to know what’s already out there. What are the strengths and weaknesses of different systems? How do other arts do things, and why? This is what Bruce Lee taught me. He told me that you want to research, you want to experiment, then you want to develop something for you, and finally you have to develop something that will work for the majority of your students, because what works for one individual may not work for another individual.

Can you tell me a short story about Bruce Lee? Perhaps a memorable event for you?

Well, I think one of the most memorable moments with him was on my 27th or 28th birthday. We had just finished a workout and he said, “let’s spar just a little bit more.” And I remember him hitting me in the liver. I went down so fast. I couldn’t do anything but gasp for air, and Bruce just started to laugh. And at the time, I thought, “What a sick sense of humor!” But I realized he wasn’t laughing at my pain, just at the entire situation.  Anyway, while I’m on the floor curled into a ball, he brings in a birthday cake. And as I’m gasping for air on the ground, he sings Happy Birthday to me. And that was especially memorable because it turns out that singing was not one of his most distinguishing talents (laughs).  

Is there one thing you found that is commonly misunderstood or misrepresented about Bruce?

Well, I think for all the people that love Bruce Lee, there are many who are envious of him, or don’t like him. It’s really funny. You can’t please everybody.  It’s not just Aikido – even Bruce Lee has been the target of MMA type criticisms on the Internet.  Some say, “Well, he was never in a real mixed martial arts match, so you can’t say his skill is good.”  So it’s stuff like that. 

How would Bruce Lee perform in an MMA ring? I believe he would do well, but we’ll never really know. But in a way, he was one of the early innovators in mixed martial arts. He drew techniques and tactics from all the arts. We wouldn’t criticize a World War 1 fighter ace for never shooting down a jet fighter because jets didn’t exist in that era. Whether in the martial arts, science, education, or military, we should afford more respect to our predecessors. They are the giants upon whose shoulders we stand today.

Do you have any parting advice or things you’d like to share with our readers? 

Be kind, be courteous and respectful, and avoid negative people because they’re really not good for the soul. Eat as healthy as possible, take care of your body and mind, and learn to adapt. Find your place in this world and seek connection with your spirituality – whatever form that may take. 

Aikido Journal is pleased to announce our new video course: Power and Grace, Portrait of a Master. 

The course highlights T.K. Chiba, the legendary (and sometimes controversial) master who captivated the aikido world with his dynamic and powerful technique and played a major role in the international development of aikido.

The course is not designed as a pure instructional, but as a beautiful showcase of T.K Chiba’s personal expression of the art of aikido and how it evolved over his lifetime. Nevertheless, great technical knowledge and insights can be gained from Power and Grace. 

We’re honored to bring this course to life and hope it will inspire and inform future generations of aikidoists. My personal understanding and appreciation of aikido expanded and deepened as I immersed myself in the production of this course. I hope many others will have a similar experience as they journey through the series of videos and stories herein. 

This was the most challenging project I’ve undertaken at Aikido Journal since taking over the helm in 2018. Project planning happened in early 2020 and we went into production during lockdown. Despite a flurry of obstacles and challenges, we were able to bring the vision for the course to life. None of this would have been possible without the help of the Birankai organization for their spirit of collaboration, the encouragement and guidance of Darrell Bluhm, the incredible video production work of Roy Dean, and the monumental contributions of Rob Schenk, without whom this project would never have been completed in the middle of a pandemic. 

The course releases on May 4th and is available for pre-order now.

Josh Gold

Executive Editor

Please excuse our brief absence.

As Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, it’s my responsibility to design our editorial calendar and oversee publishing activities. However, in addition to my role at Aikido Journal, I’m also the CEO of Budo Accelerator, a new educational nonprofit, and Chief Instructor of Ikazuchi Dojo. The last two months have been incredibly productive but left me overextended. Publishing new stories was one of the things that had to be set aside during this fairly intense period.  However, I’m now able to allocate time to this important responsibility and look forward to sharing lots of great content with you in the coming weeks. 

Here’s an overview of 4 initiatives that have kept me running at redline for the last two months:

1.) Budo Accelerator 

Budo Accelerator, an aikido-based educational nonprofit, is now running an online leadership academy for over 50 teens across North America in partnership with a group of dojos. Budo Accelerator plans to work with 100-200 teens throughout the year, with a goal of having 1,000 students from around the world in our programs by 2022.  I’d like to sincerely thank everyone in the aikido community who have supported our efforts so far.

Learn more about Budo Accelerator’s plans and see what we’ve accomplished so far in this short overview. 

2.) Aikido Pioneers

Our hardbound limited edition of Aikido Pioneers is almost ready to print! We’ve completed our design phase and will soon be moving into production. We’ve put great effort into crafting the book and are excited to bring the project to completion. If you’d like to order a copy and have not done so yet, we will be closing orders on Tuesday April 6th, after which we will send out a backer survey to collect shipping information and the names of dojos and chief instructors who backed the Dojo Edition. 

If you’d like to secure a copy before we close orders on Tuesday April 6, you can do so here.  

3.) Portrait of a Master: T.K. Chiba

We’ve been hard at work on a new video course on Kazuo Chiba, the legendary (and sometimes controversial) master who played a major role in developing aikido internationally. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished with this course and look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks. We’d like to extend a special thanks to Birankai North America for collaborating with us on this project. 

4.) Ikazuchi Dojo

The pandemic continues to challenge all of us around the globe. However, things are looking up for us in California. At my dojo, we’re retiring our Zoom classes and transitioning to indoor and outdoor partner and weapons classes. Covid cases in our region are extremely low and an increasing number of our students have been vaccinated. 

I feel as though we’re now at the tail end of a year of crisis management at Ikazuchi Dojo. Soon we will roll out “normal” classes for vaccinated students and in California, everyone age 16 and above will be eligible to get vaccinated by April 15th.  We hope our friends around the world will see similar progress in the weeks ahead. 

Closing Notes

As a final note, if you’ve reached out to me in the last two months and have not received a response yet, I’ll reconnect with you in the coming days as I get through my backlog of digital correspondence. Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

I look forward to sharing lots of great content with the Aikido Journal community in the coming days. I’m excited and hopeful for our future together, and for the art of aikido. 

Best regards,

Josh Gold, Executive Editor

This editorial has been contributed to Aikido Journal by Patrick Cassidy Sensei. Patrick started Aikido in 1983 as a university student and soon after, left for Asia.  He studied for a total of 7 years in Japan (primarily with Morihiro Saito), and 3 years in India, Nepal and Tibet. During this period, Patrick devoted his time to Aikido, Yoga, Meditation and Japanese Tea Ceremony.  After returning to California, he became Dojo-cho (Executive Director) of Aikido of Fresno and continued his training with Peter Ralston, Robert Nadeau Shihan and Richard Moon Sensei.  Seven years later, he left the U.S., moved to Switzerland, and founded Aikido Montreux.  He is currently ranked 6^th dan Aikikai and is founder and director of the EAC, Evolutionary Aikido Community.  Patrick also leads the Conscious Practice Institute, which offers conflict resolution programs for psychiatric hospital caregivers.  

Aikido has been going through a number of transitions over the last few decades, as a practice and as a community.   When I began Aikido, almost 40 years ago, the community was still full of 1^st generation teachers.  Teachers who had been students of the founder, were in their prime, and leading global communities themselves.  Senseis Tohei, Chiba, Nishio, Yamaguchi, Shioda, Kobayashi, Hikitsuchi, and my first sensei, Morihiro Saito, among many others were leading the charge and bringing Aikido to the Western world with a passion.   It was the great migration of Aikido into the public eye and it had a huge impact on human culture.

We were introduced to a physical practice that employed “ki”, which spoke of blending with the attack of the aggressor and finding a way to be in harmony with the world.   Aikido’s message was welcomed by many.  It was a golden time for Aikido and many Western teachers grew in popularity during this period.   One aspect of the world of Aikido was the diverse physical interpretations that were offered by the various students of O’Sensei.  From Shioda to Tohei, from Yamaguchi to Saito, each sensei seemed to offer a different perspective on the art.  This was both a strength of the art as well as a potential weakness.  It engendered both an appreciation of differing perspectives and stimulated attempts to define who is teaching the true Aikido and who is not.  This became evident as the 1^st generation teachers became more popular and more vocal about what they felt was important and valuable in the art.

In the last 30 years, Aikido had started another transition.  We began to lose many of the 1^st generation teachers and the world of Aikido was starting to be led by 2^nd generation and 3^rdgeneration teachers – instructors who trained with students of the founder or a student of those students.  Aikido was becoming more independent from the original voice of O’Sensei and it started taking on a life of its own.   This has obviously led to more diverse interpretations while stimulating attempts to codify Aikido according to different sources.  It was as if each teacher felt that their interpretation was the “correct” one and what was being taught in other dojos was less pure.  From my perspective, this led to many disagreements in the Aikido community and rather than appreciating the differences, Aikido communities started to become more insular.

At this time, we also had the introduction of the UFC, the combat sport that welcomed anyone to test their skills in the “octagon.”  It was a big wake up call for many and it introduced the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and eventually the practice of mixed martial arts into the world.  This has created another form of debate- which martial art is the most effective in this context?   The martial arts became training for gladiator-like combat in the ring and each was trying to show its effectiveness in this new-found arena.  Of course, Aikido was drawn into this debate as well.

With Aikido being a practice of meeting aggression with an aim towards harmony, it did not seem to translate itself well into this new world of MMA.  Although the techniques of Aikido can be lethal in nature, the art is practiced without competition, and explored collaboratively between training partners.  The perspective of Aikido as professed by the founder, was to “end the discord in one’s mind/heart” and to bring the world into “one family.” Aikido struggled with the question of functionality within the world of MMA as the intention of the art of Aikido did not seem suited for this gladiator-like approach.

On top of this, Aikido still existed in a traditional hierarchy.  This hierarchy set up to appreciate not only the skill of practitioners, but their experience and time committed to the art.  It followed a Japanese cultural bias of a sempai/kohai relationship that attempts to honor each person in their role based on their history, experience and skill.  This is based on a positive sentiment but can fuel a lack of transparency and dialogue within the community as junior students do not question the judgement of the senior students in this type of hierarchy.   It can lead teachers to hide themselves within a role of being higher ranked and therefore more “advanced” and not available to questions or challenging opinions.   This type of structure does not function within the MMA world of testing of one’s skills in the arena and letting the best man or woman win. Bringing the art of Aikido into this domain and attempting to measure its worth as a fighting art was never really going to be successful.  Of course, certain techniques of Aikido can be applied to the MMA context and the principles of the art certainly are functional in this realm.  But the art of Aikido attempts to address conflict at the physical level through resolution rather than destruction or competition.  This vision of Aikido concerning conflict is fundamental to the art and translating that vision into the competitive combat arena is contradictory to its nature.

Yet bringing the question of how Aikido does function in real time with a committed attacker is a valuable exploration.  From this question, the effectiveness of Aikido in the physical domain has been debated. For the most part, this debate has been stimulating as it brings us into addressing the physical practice for its merits.   But the art is bigger than just studying how we response to physical attack.   Aikido researches how we respond to conflict in all of its manifestations.  It is a systemic and integral art.

This last year with the covid crisis and all of the challenges that have arisen from it, has been a huge blow to our world health, culture and economy.  Many people have lost jobs, businesses, family members, their wellbeing and emotional stability.  It also hit the Aikido community with a terrible impact.  Long established dojos have had to close their doors for lack of financial support due to lockdowns and the regulations that were implemented due to the virus.  With to the loss of the chance to train together indoors, many teachers moved their practices outside using the weapons training of Aikido as way to continue. Other teachers moved to online venues as a way to stay connected and keep the practice alive.

We have seen an explosion of classes held online, with everything from practicing basic body movements to exploring the relationship of Aikido with Meditation.  There have even been a number of seminars held online and the International Aikido Federation itself has featured different senseis from around the world leading classes.  It has been a radical shift in how we share and practice the art.  But even more importantly, it has brought the discussion of “What is Aikido?”, to a greater audience.

As the founder put it, Aikido is not found in the dojo but exists where you are at all times, in all places.  For many, this had seemed like a nice sentiment, but not truly understandable.   Yet now with the Covid crisis, we are faced with the question of finding Aikido outside of the dojo.  If the dojo is no longer available for us, can we continue to walk the path of Aikido?  Can we still practice the art?  What is Aikido, if there is no longer any dojo to train in?

This has been a challenging endeavor. I personally have seen many instructors and practitioners struggle to come to terms with their work and their path as their dojos have had to close.  I have seen many teachers ask the question, “Who am I as a person, if I can no longer teach Aikido, if I am no longer a sensei?”  This is a wake-up call for those of us that have identified so strongly with being an Aikido sensei or sempai.  We can feel lost without that role.  But I believe most of us can see that being attached to the identity of being a teacher or senior student is fundamentally a limitation.  Being attached to our role in Aikido, keeps us from truly embracing the art with that important “beginners mind,” shoshin.   It is humbling to see how much our personal confidence can take a hit when we lose that role of being an Aikido teacher/senior, even for a short time.

And yet there have been other leaders in our community who have found ways to innovate during the pandemic.  Leading online classes, seminars, creating instructional videos, sharing perspectives in online panel discussions, and offering new ways for the Aikido community to progress while being away from the dojo.  Creating a “virtual” dojo.  This new way of communicating and being in community has been impressive as it has been born almost overnight.  Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook have become the new method of sharing the art that we love.  This developmental step is inspiring and has in many ways brought us closer together as a world community.

And with all of that happening, there has been another movement within the Aikido community:  a movement towards a deepening of the practice on the personal level.  A valuable reassessment of our personal relationship to the art.  With no dojo, no partner, just our relationship to the moment, to life, how do walk our path?  What does it mean to practice Aikido as a solo path?   For some it means a turn towards a greater connection with meditation and the spiritual viewpoints of the art, others have found ways to deepen the relationship to movement and the intelligence of the body, and for some, they have found a deeper connection with nature and the elements in the natural world.

But with all these developments, the most valuable and yet perhaps least understood new perspective from this period of Covid quarantine has been a discovery of something very simple:  Aikido has been keeping us sane.  For many, Aikido is what keeps us in balance with life, centered under pressure, and empowered with a sense of being with our lives.  Aikido is like an internal compass that keeps us on track while we respond to the challenges we face.  Throughout these last months, many have shared with me the simple realization, “Aikido is what keeps me sane.”

Most Aikidoka agree that the value of the art is broader and deeper than just looking at the question of self-defense on the streets, or effectiveness in a MMA context.  Aikido offers not only a method to respond to physical aggression but also a way of meeting the challenges of life.   It offers a different operating system for processing the threats we collectively face.   This new operating system offers a way to respond and be with the threat, a way to thrive in relationship with that threat, a way to address that threat so that we may find a solution that includes the whole.   Aikido is a life art, integral and systemic in nature.  It looks to bring the individual into greater balance without destroying the system that individual lives in.  Aikido recognizes that fundamental truth that we have been reminded of with the Covid crisis, that there are some ukes you cannot over power, that we need to work together as a system to finds solutions, and that I as an individual am not “victorious” until I am at peace with my world.

Aikido offers a new way to be with the world.  Neither being victim nor aggressor, but somehow finding a way to be in accordance with the radical changes that life brings. And this ability to respond to radical change, is an ability that is sorely needed right now in the world.

So how do we convey this message to those who are really struggling with trying to keep control of their daily lives and feeling like each change is a threat to their survival?  Can Aikido help people find their center in the midst of an ever-changing context?  What if Aikido could be a way for people to learn how to navigate change rather than resist it?  Would that be of value?  To find one’s capacity to be creative under pressure, rather than reactive?  Can Aikido offer these skills?  What if the practice of Aikido included this perspective of learning to manage change?  Perhaps this could be one the roles that Aikido can play in the new world we all face.

For us as Aikido teachers, before we offer Aikido as art for navigating life, obviously we need to be able to live that art.  To be able to walk our talk.  That perhaps is the next step we can consider for the future of our community.

In the end, I will leave you with a short anecdote from my life in Japan.   During the winter of 1987, I believe, I and a good friend who lived also in Iwama, Lewis de Quiros, decided to join Shoji Nishio Sensei’s Winter Gasshuku which was held near Tokyo.  After we arrived, it was soon quite evident how skillful Nishio Sensei was as an Aikidoka and an overall martial artist.   Nishio Sensei was not only an 8^th dan in Aikido, but a 6^th dan in Judo, 5^th dan in Karate, 7^th dan in Iaido, and Jodo.  He had blended his total experience into a seamless expression of Aikido.   The training was very different than what we had encountered in Iwama yet we felt soon at home in the practice and enjoyed what was shared.   During the Saturday night party of the camp, we both found ourselves across the table from Nishio Sensei with few of his seniors in attendance.   The party was warm and we felt very welcomed, and Nishio Sensei was a gracious host.  He stopped at one point in the evening and turned to us and asked us if we had any questions that we would like to ask.  I turned to Lewis, and then back to Nishio Sensei and said yes.  I began by thanking him for the gasshuku so far and the wonderful experience I was having.   And then I asked my question. Without any disrespect to Nishio Sensei, I wanted to know his opinion about something our teacher would often say…Saito Sensei often would say that he is doing the Aikido of O’Sensei.  I wanted to know what Nishio Sensei thought of that statement.  I know that to say the least, this was potentially a very rude question to ask and may have even appeared as an insult or attack on Nishio Sensei’s teachings.  But in all honesty, I trusted him and it felt safe to ask this very delicate question at that intimate moment during a pause in the party.  To Nishio Sensei’s credit, he didn’t react or seemed put off by the question at all but responded with a deep sincerity.  “Saito Sensei is doing what O’Sensei was doing in Iwama, and yet O’Sensei was in a constant state of evolution.  Evolving both his Aikido and himself as a person.  That is what I am doing.  In that way you could say we both are doing O’Sensei’s Aikido”.   

This encounter with Nishio Sensei stayed with me and I was humbled by it.  He shared his perspective and convictions without needing to defend them.  He shared that Aikido had something more than tradition or technique as its foundation, but something that could support the practitioner to evolve.  

Where are we going as an Aikido Community?  I don’t know, but I do think we need to consider what it means to evolve…

An Introduction to the Report, by Josh Gold

As I sat down to create this report, I was saddened to revisit the data from our 2019 survey that would be the central focus of this article.  I wondered how publishing it might impact the morale of the aikido community in a time of crisis. I was hesitant to bring more bad news at a time when things are worse for the martial arts than they’ve been in our lifetime. But in the end, I decided this is the right time to publish the report.

I believe that as we look ahead to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important we know where we stand, what assets we have, and what challenges we will face as we begin to emerge from the global crisis that has prevented us from training and operating our dojos in the ways we’ve all known for our entire lives. 

Because data is critical to effective decision making, we want to make sure everyone in the aikido community has access to the available data about our demographics in order to form their own insights, ideas, and theories about how we arrived at our current state, and what perspectives and actions should be taken to preserve and advance our art. This is an ideal time for us to reposition for the future.

And although I was saddened as I began putting together this special report, by the time it was finished, I was encouraged and optimistic. Yes, things are bad. But I believe we are at an inflection point for our art.  I view this as a time for new beginnings, where great opportunity lies ahead.

The trajectory of aikido’s popularity and its health have been undeniably in decline. But I believe that the core of our community has been forged so strongly, and developed such adaptive capacity through the pandemic, that we’ll be well equipped to find ways forward that bring new life and meaning to the art of aikido in the 21st century. 

Please note that in this report, I’ve added Aikido Journal’s perspective and interpretation of some aspects of the data. However, we’ve made every effort to present the data itself clearly and objectively so you can draw your own conclusions.

I’d like to extend a special thanks to Adam Pilipshen and Josephine Fan of Long Island Aikikai for their diligent and professional work in helping us clean and organize the survey data, Mario Sapienza for creating the infographics for this report, and to everyone who responded to our 2019 survey.

Josh Gold, Executive Editor // Aikido Journal 

About the Survey

• Performed in February 2019*
• 2,214 validated respondents
• 85% or respondents are active practitioners

*Statistics are pre-pandemic (unless otherwise noted). We know our numbers have declined in 2020, although it’s not clear how those losses may have altered the demographic landscape reflected in our survey data. 

Interest Levels in Aikido: 2020

This data, sourced from Google, provides an important backdrop for viewing our demographics. Interest levels in aikido have declined 93% since 2004. Note that this chart does not represent the number of practitioners over time, but global search trends. Interest levels in aikido have been declining at least 10% / year. Anyone interested in playing with the Google Trends data can do so here. 

We will need a major catalyst to reignite interest in aikido, but this is well within our reach. Digital communication is frictionless. If we can find ways to make aikido interesting enough to new groups of people that they talk about it online, interest levels can rise rapidly. Budo Accelerator, a new aikido-based nonprofit, was able to recruit more high school students from around the country than it could handle for its 2020 online summer programs. This is one example of many, where we are finding new ways to connect with different parts of society around the globe. It takes time to build dojos and train teachers, but interest in aikido can scale rapidly if we can show the world why it’s worth paying attention to.

Demographics

Our survey polled teens and adults only. There are many young kids in children’s programs around the world, but as they enter teenage years and young adulthood, most disappear from the art.  A clear conclusion that can be drawn is that our community is aging out. This has been observed anecdotally by many teachers and students and our data confirms this to be the case. In the U.S only 4.8% of practitioners are under the age of 30.

With the rare exception, a look at photos from most aikido seminars will show a group of enthusiastic but mature practitioners. As one example, we’ve included a shot from the Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba seminar hosted by the California Aikido Association in September 2019. This was the largest aikido seminar held in the U.S last year. There were young people on the mat, but they were few and far between.

It’s also clear that the United States in particular has struggled to attract and retain young people as aikido practitioners. There are many theories why this is the case. We don’t have enough data to draw conclusions, but do know that there is a significant delta between the United States and other areas of the world in terms of the age of practitioners. Only 1.9% of our U.S survey respondents are age 25 or younger, with 81% over the age of 40. 

…ideally serious training should start at about 15 or 16. Physically speaking, the body frame becomes sturdier and the bones somewhat stronger at that age. Besides, aikido contains many spiritual aspects (of course, so do other forms of budo), so at that age one begins to acquire a perspective of the world and of the nature of budo. So, all in all, I would say 15 or 16 is a good age for beginning the study of aikido.

-Kisshomaru Ueshiba, 1957 interview translated by Stanley Pranin

It seems imperative that we revitalize our dojos and organizations with a new generation of aikido practitioners. The bad news is that as a community- at a macro-level, what we’ve been doing over the last 15 years has not been working. The good news is that there are success stories (like Tenzan Aikido in Seattle with a youth program 200 strong), and some promising new initiatives are being explored, like Aikido for Tomorrow. Our success stories can serve as case studies that can be replicated, and we can throw full community support behind the initiatives that can make the biggest impact in engaging youth. A new wave of teens and young adults will bring new life to our dojos, and new perspectives that can benefit us all.

We don’t know how gender ratios look in other martial arts, and it’s quite possible that aikido is a progressive leader among the martial arts in this area. However, most agree that more can be done to move towards gender balance in the art of aikido. Due to the nature of our principles and practice methods, there should be no reason we can’t achieve better gender balance. 

For those organizations and dojos implementing diversity and inclusion policies and / or initiatives, we’d encourage collecting, analyzing, and reporting data in this area, as a way of establishing a baseline, measuring change over time, and determining the effectiveness of any efforts undertaken in this area. 

Ikazuchi Dojo, where Aikido Journal is based, has done just this, and from 2014-2019 went from 15% female to 45% female members. And while this is not commonplace, it’s also not an isolated case. Other dojos have had similar or greater success. Birankai North America, one of the larger U.S aikido organizations, lists six 7th dan shihan on their website. Five out of the six are female. If more within our community can move towards gender balance, we’ll create a more diverse community and drive tremendous member growth. If a dojo can transition from 16% to 50% women, without losing male members at a greater rate than usual, membership increases by nearly 70%.

Across the United States aikido community, Asians and whites are overweighted while Latinx and blacks are underrepresented. However, aikido is also overrepresented with mixed individuals, which likely contain many people from our underrepresented ethnic groups. Despite being overweighted in the “mixed” ethnicity, those individuals still don’t come close to creating an ethnic landscape that reflects the U.S general population. 

As with gender, we don’t know how other martial arts compare in this area. And it’s important to understand that each local community has its own ethnic makeup and every dojo shouldn’t expect to have a student population that mirrors the general U.S. population. We do believe, however, that it’s important to note this imbalance at a macro level, and that individual dojos would be well served to look at the demographic composition of their local community vs. their dojo student population. 

As with gender, there are major segments of our society that are largely absent from aikido. If we can find ways to engage them and bring them into the art, we will end up with a stronger and more diverse community, and many new practitioners.

It’s clear that those who started aikido decades ago have stuck with it. They are resolute and dedicated to the art. However, we now have an inverted pyramid where senior level / experienced practitioners far outnumber newer students. For example, for every new student (less than 2 years of practice) there are 4 senior level practitioners with over 16 years experience. 

While this is a negative indicator of our past performance in attracting and retaining new practitioners, it does show a strong capacity of experienced practitioners to mentor new students- if we can find ways to engage them with aikido. Interest in aikido can scale rapidly, but developing quality instructors takes time. One advantage we have at this moment in time, is that if we can scale interest in aikido, we have more than enough teaching capacity to accommodate growth. 

Those who do practice aikido are a dedicated bunch – 70% of us train 4+ hours per week, which reflects a pattern of taking 2-4 classes / week on average.  

Conclusions

Let’s face it – aikido wasn’t in great shape before the pandemic. Now things are worse. 

Some thought leaders in the budo world believe that a shrinking aikido ecosystem can be a good thing; that it can create a contraction into quality. This is no longer theoretical.  Many casual practitioners are gone, but the strongest and most passionate of us remain- and we have been tested in a trial by fire. I believe we shouldn’t look at this data with despair, but as an opportunity and a challenge that has been issued upon us. One that we are ready to face. 

There is much to be done ahead. We must continue our training and uphold the principles and traditions of aikido. We must preserve quality. We must innovate. We must rebuild our infrastructure, find ways to attract a new generation into the art, and create a more meaningful place for aikido in today’s world. 

Not everyone needs to participate in all of these important initiatives, but together we must develop and pursue varying strategies, learn from each other, put support behind our most promising efforts, and be open to questioning our own assumptions, beliefs, and practices. Most importantly, we must continue to train- to practice and embody the techniques and principles of aikido, to build friendships, and to enjoy the art we love.

We hope this data will provide insights that can guide our decision making and our efforts to make the art of aikido shine more brightly than ever before.  We have a great opportunity before us and new beginnings ahead.  

I am convinced that it is our most important priority to pass on to the future in the best possible way, the aikido that the Founder created. For such purpose, those who are engaging in the propagation of aikido, including myself, must give our utmost efforts.

– Moriteru Ueshiba, 2019

We will soon release part 2 of our community overview, which will look at beliefs and motivations of practitioners within the aikido community.

Infographics by Mario Sapienza. Email him here, or check out his portfolio here.

With a 45 year history,  Aikido Journal has been one of the leading authorities and publishers for the art of aikido. An all-digital publisher, Aikido Journal stopped creating printed magazines and books decades ago, when digital publishing became the dominant way to disseminate information. 

But I’ve wondered if now, in 2020, there’s a place for Aikido Journal to make a return to print publishing, not purely as a method to transmit information, but as an opportunity to create beautiful “artifacts” that can be treasured for generations to come. We decided to stop wondering and find out. And it’s up to you. 

We’ve just launched a Kickstarter campaign to redesign and republish one our most meticulously researched books. With your support, we will republish Aikido Pioneers of the Prewar Era,  a groundbreaking book written by our founder, Stanley Pranin. Originally published as a softcover book, this new reprint will be a numbered, limited edition large format (9”x12″) hardback coffee table style book.  We’ll use the highest quality materials and expert craftsmanship to create a tome the entire aikido community can be proud of. 

If the community votes to support our return to print publishing by greenlighting this project, we’ll explore other initiatives, like creating a beautiful annual print edition of our editorial work. Aikido Journal is very happy to focus exclusively on digital content, but we know we can do great things in the print medium if there’s demand and support for it. 

I personally would like this project to succeed so we can create this book as a tribute to Stanley Pranin. His tireless and passionate dedication to his work produced a truly groundbreaking book. I believe this work deserves to be embodied in a form worthy of its significance and heritage. I know Stan would be thrilled to see the community honor his work in this way and would be encouraged to see more aikido practitioners learn more about the development and founding of the art they practice.  

We hope you’ll take a look at our Kickstarter page here and consider supporting this project. 

Josh Gold

Executive Editor // Aikido Journal

Quotes and Insights from Three Generations of the Ueshiba Family

In it’s 46 year history, Aikido Journal has had the opportunity to interview past and present aikido Doshu (leaders of The Way). As a look back at some of the insights and common points that have endured for decades and been passed from generation to generation, we’ve curated a small group of quotes designed to inspire and challenge our thinking. These quotes are all direct statements from the Ueshiba family. They’ve been selected by us at Aikido Journal, but for each quote, we’ve linked to the complete interviews so you can read each statement in context if you’d like to dig deeper. We hope you’ll enjoy this short compilation of wisdom from the founding family of the art of aikido. 

On the Essence of Aikido

“Aikido is not the kind of martial art in which there is competition to determine superiority, but rather one that strives to realize an essential ideal of forging respect among people.”

– Moriteru Ueshiba, 1999 interview with Stanley Pranin

“The first thing is to achieve friendship through aikido. To attack someone saying, “What you’re doing is wrong!” or “You shouldn’t do that because it’s not true aikido!” or to criticize saying, “Your way is wrong!” is something we shouldn’t do. The Founder underwent hardships to develop the Aiki Path and it turns out that we are all practicing aikido…I hope above all that everyone will join hands around this center through aiki despite differences in technique and nationality and practice the art and train daily…The Aikido Federation should grow to achieve friendship above all else.”

– Kisshomaru Ueshiba, 1978 interview with Stanley Pranin

“Aikido was created by the Founder based on his philosophy that, through daily practice, we must create a compassionate heart to bring our mind and that of our training partner into one.”

-Moriteru Ueshiba, 2019 interview with Josh Gold

“If we look back over time, we see how the martial arts have been abused. During the Sengoku Period (1482-1558-Sengoku meaning “warring countries”) local lords used the martial arts as a fighting tool to serve their own private interests and to satisfy their greed. This I think was totally inappropriate. Since I myself taught martial arts to be used for the purpose of killing others to soldiers during the War, I became deeply troubled after the conflict ended… Humankind seems to be in a state of upheaval. First of all, we must change this situation. The realization of this mission is the path to the evolution of universal humanity.”

– Morihei Ueshiba, 1957 interview translated by Stanley Pranin

“When (someone) studies aikido with the intention of using it as a tool for fighting, they don’t last long. Budo is not like dancing or watching a movie. Rain or shine, you must practice at all times during your daily life in order to progress. In particular, aikido is like spiritual training practiced using a budo form. lt can never be cultivated as a tool by those who would use it for fighting. Also, individuals inclined towards violence cease to behave in that manner when they learn aikido.”

Kisshomaru Ueshiba, 1957 interview translated by Stanley Pranin

On Transmitting the Art to Future Generations

“I am convinced that it is our most important priority to pass on to the future in the best possible way, the Aikido that the Founder created. For such purpose, those who are engaging in the propagation of Aikido, including myself, must give our utmost efforts. It is essential that we correctly transmit this magnificent art, which has already spread to 140 countries and regions.”

– Moriteru Ueshiba, 2019 interview with Josh Gold

“You can start training at around age 7 or 8, but ideally serious training should start at about 15 or 16. Physically speaking, the body frame becomes sturdier and the bones somewhat stronger at that age. Besides, aikido contains many spiritual aspects (of course, so do other forms of budo), so at that age one begins to acquire a perspective of the world and of the nature of budo. So, all in all, I would say 15 or 16 is a good age for beginning the study of aikido.”

Kisshomaru Ueshiba, 1957 interview translated by Stanley Pranin

“Many of our predecessors have gave their utmost efforts so ordinary people and society can understand the essence of Aikido. It is our duty to pass on this wonderful art and its philosophy to the generations of the future.”

-Moriteru Ueshiba, 2019 interview with Josh Gold

On the Founder

“There have been one or two other biographies written about my father. But always the authors have been caught up in their subjective viewpoints. They contain passages which have been dramatized to a certain extent…Regarding O-Sensei – I think it’s extremely dangerous to regard anyone as “almighty.” It can be carried to an extreme just like it was during World War II when Japan regarded herself as a “divine nation.” What is important is not that kind of attitude but to realize the true nature of aikido keeping in mind the hardships the Founder, Morihei Ueshiba Sensei, endured to forge his path and how he paved the way for us.”

-Kisshmaru Ueshiba, 1978 interview with Stanley Pranin

“I know it would sound good and fit the image for me to be able to say ‘Yes, I had a lot of special training under the founder,’ but that’s just not the case. (laughs) I was around him from the time I was small, so I watched him quite a bit. I lived under the same roof with him and often watched him train, and I also attended his morning classes…I don’t think he ever got angry with me about anything, even when I was small and used to sit there and hit him on the head for fun. I don’t remember it, but they say I used to do that! (laughs)”

-Moriteru Ueshiba, 1999 interview with Stanley Pranin

“My father was a very powerful man in his youth even though he was short… I mean in his thirties, forties and fifties. He was wider in breadth than the ordinary person so his technique used to be awesome and powerful. But as he grew older his power and strength came to be hidden and his techniques grew to be soft and round. I think that is true technique. Aikido should be like that. It should be strong at the core rather than on the surface. Within this core tremendous energy is always burning but on the surface there is soft movement which embraces all people. Otherwise it’s not true aiki. With his great efforts in training and spiritual discipline the Founder’s aiki developed into soft, pleasant movements which hid his inner severity. I think that’s the reason aikido attracts so many people. If it is only violence people won’t follow.”

-Kisshomaru Ueshiba, 1978 interview with Stanley Pranin

Now people ridicule my body but it used to be that you could see rippling muscles when this old man has his clothes off..but they’ve all disappeared. When I practice, I forget about  any pains. Usually it’s tough because I’m old. But once I’m standing in the dojo in front of people, the usual Ueshiba disappears…I forget that I’m old!

“When people say, ‘That old man Ueshiba really taught me some good things..’ When they really feel grateful, that’s when this old man Ueshiba will be of some value.”

-Morihei Ueshiba, 1967 radio interview

On The Preservation, Future, and Evolution of Aikido

“In order to improve techniques we have to change the teaching method little by little, but I don’t think we will do something unreasonable like fixing a framework and forcing everything into it. I think we shouldn’t do that. The way aikido should be is spontaneous and naturalness itself… Aiki techniques are varied and multi-faceted. They seem to be separate from one another, however, there is a unity and single order about them. This is where the exquisiteness of aikido lies, I think. Therefore, we have no intention of fixing a framework whether it be political, ideological or economic, that is, to form an organizational structure and force everything into it.”

– Kisshmaru Ueshiba, 1978 interview with Stanley Pranin

“I don’t ponder how Aikido and/or the Aikikai should directly contribute to society. It is not the way or approach that we should take. Instead, each Aikido devotee, after a long time period of practice, shall consider how they can offer their power and knowledge cultivated by Aikido practice to the betterment of our society.”

– Moriteru Ueshiba, 2019 interview with Josh Gold

We hope you’ve enjoyed this short collection of quotes from the founding family of aikido. I personally found the final quote above to be one of the most empowering and insightful. My interpretation is that the Aikikai views its responsibility as to preserve the technical and philosophical foundation of aikido; but that they have intentionally left it up to us, the art’s practitioners, to determine how to best use that treasure for our own personal development and for the betterment of society.

When sitting face to face with Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, I felt that he genuinely hopes (and expects) that each and every one of us uses the gift of aikido in our own unique way to create value in society, and at the same time, preserve and accurately transmit the foundational core of the art to future generations. There’s room for many creative approaches, strategies, and approaches to bring this to fruition.  I believe we need to embrace and respect diversity of perspective and expression for our art to truly reach its potential.  This gives me the conviction and motivation to pursue my own vision, and encouragement to support, learn from, and collaborate with, others who have different approaches. 

Josh Gold, Executive Editor // Aikido Journal

The winds of change are upon us. The United States is transitioning to new political leadership and much of the world is entering winter and facing the most dangerous phase yet of the pandemic. We’ve lost many aikido dojos around the world, and nearly every dojo has lost members. The very soul of our art is human connection, which we have largely turned away from for the common good.

We don’t know what the future holds for the aikido community and what our infrastructure will look like when we emerge from the pandemic. We do know that it will be our generation, those of us reading this editorial now, who will be responsible for the very survival of the art. I’m not a historian, as my predecessor, Stanley Pranin was, but I do believe that our generation will become known as one of most pivotal in the history of the art of aikido.

As we all find our way through this unique time in history, we can use this moment not just to hold our communities together, but to reflect and plan. What can we do through the remainder of the pandemic to best position us for its end? And what strategies will we pursue to preserve our art and create a more meaningful place for it in today’s society?

This is a time to ask the hard questions:

• What does our community look like now- demographically and organizationally? What‘s left of our infrastructure?
• What is the essence of what we are practicing?
• What should the role(s) of aikido be in today’s world?
• How can we best recover from this crisis?

Through the remainder of the year, Aikido Journal will be exploring these questions and looking at ideas and perspectives from both the past and present. We will be republishing interviews with members of the Ueshiba family, editorials from Aikido Journal’s founder, and pieces from others with keen insights into the essence of aikido. We will also be publishing new articles that outline key demographics of the global aikido community and highlight some forward thinking ideas and initiatives that have recently emerged. Lastly, we’ll have some announcements about products we have in development that I’m very excited about.

Now, more than ever, we need knowledge, ideas, and skilled leaders with the conviction to shape our future.

We hope you’ll join the conversation.

Josh Gold

Executive Editor // Aikido Journal

This is the third of a three-part article. Read the first part here and the second part here.

Onisaburo was a phenomenon in many regards. He was very well read and educated in esoteric Shintoism. He was a shaman, psychic, healer, and exorcist. He was a prolific author, poet, a gifted speaker, calligrapher, and ceramist. Onisaburo greatly expanded the publishing organs of the Omoto sect, and even purchased one of Japan’s largest newspapers to further his agendas. Added to these many talents, Onisaburo’s behavior was at times outrageous and provocative. He was constantly at odds with government and religious authorities, a practice that would lead to the suppression of the sect on two occasions, in 1921 and 1935. The latter event effectively destroyed the Omoto sect as a powerful social force.

In Ayabe, Morihei soon earned the trust of Onisaburo and little by little became a member of the religion’s inner circle. Onisaburo also became aware of Morihei’s superb skills as a martial artist and encouraged him to teach and develop himself further. Onisaburo had succeeded in adding a man of budo to his growing entourage.

At Deguchi’s urging, Morihei set up a private dojo in his home just outside the sect’s precincts. Many Omoto believers became Morihei’s students. The “Ueshiba Juku,” as Morihei’s dojo was called, effectively launched his career as a martial arts teacher. The bond between Morihei and Onisaburo grew ever closer.

Morihei was heavily influenced by Deguchi in a spiritual sense. He studied Onisaburo’s teachings and interpretations of such things as the Kojiki, Japan’s oldest creation story and somewhat akin to the Bible, and kotodama, the ancient belief in the mystical power of sounds and language. He further learned breathing and meditative exercises such as the “chinkon kishin.”

Morihei himself credited his years at Omoto under Onisaburo and his intensive ascetic practices as the reason for the deepening of his martial skills.

Morihei was living in the Omoto community when Onisaburo began his voluminous masterwork, Reikai Monogatari, or “Tales of the Spirit World.” This 81-volume narrative work was begun in 1921 after Onisaburo had been released from jail following the first Omoto suppression. He dictated its contents in the morning before arising while still reclined in his futon. A team of scribes would transcribe Onisaburo’s speech and then edit the text based on Deguchi’s corrections. The Reikai Monogatari is an eclectic work detailing Onisaburo’s spiritual experiences and contains novel-esque passages, poems and essays. It is considered a sacred text of the Omoto religion and offers as well a great deal of social commentary and prophecies.

The government was closely watching the content and progression of Onisaburo’s prolific writings that sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The authorities would later cite passages from Reikai Monogatari as proof of the sect’s anti-governmental activities, terrorist intentions, and opposition to the Imperial order.

As can readily be seen from the above, the religious and spiritual activities of Onisaburo and the Omoto invariably spilled over into the political realm with major consequences. For his part, Morihei was in the thick of things, so to speak. Ironically, his desire to lead a secluded life of introspection and simplicity thrust him in the middle of much political turmoil and would soon place his life in grave danger.

Fast forward three years to 1924, and we once again find ourselves back at the story of Morihei in Mongolia in 1924 as the bodyguard of Onisaburo Deguchi. This time we have reached this point of our narrative through the gate of religion, and found ourselves in the same place.

Earlier we saw that Onisaburo, Morihei, and their party entered Mongolia as the leaders of a self-proclaimed “Mongolian Independence Army.” Onisaburo styled himself as a Buddhist and “Dalai Lama” on this occasion to serve his immediate purposes. The realization of Onisaburo’s religious aims in northern China included military adventurism and collusion with various unsavory characters. This sort of activity led to the termination of Onisaburo’s expedition and nearly cost the party their lives.

Onisaburo had a calculating and opportunistic side to his nature. After the party’s return to Japan, he and his party were thrust into the public spotlight due to the intense coverage of the media of their Mongolia adventure. Some scholars have even advanced the view that the leaders of the Kwantung Army essentially adopted Onisaburo’s plans for the creation of a Utopian nation with the establishment of Japanese-controlled Manchukuo.

Bolstered by his increased notoriety and a surge in growth in membership in the Omoto sect, Onisaburo continued his associations with ultranationalist and military figures and strengthened his rhetoric in opposition to many political policies of the day.

This all culminated with the Second Omoto Incident of 1935 when the Japanese government brutally suppressed the Omoto and finally put an end to this shrill voice that was constantly challenging their authority and ruling of the nation. Onisaburo, his wife, and many church leaders were arrested, imprisoned and tortured. Plans called for Morihei to be detained together with them, but he was able to escape arrest due to his powerful connections in the Osaka police department.

This fascinating religious experiment growing out of traditional Shinto beliefs and rituals met its demise by venturing too deeply into the swamp of politics and militarism. On occasions, it resorted to the use of violence and coercion, and entered into unholy alliances, thus crossing the moral line. It is unlikely that Morihei fully understood the implications of what had happened to the Omoto religion in 1935. He would, however, later come to realize how power and influence bring with it the necessity of a moral compass if self-destruction is to be avoided.

By this time, Japan was far along its path of military intervention and conquest in Asia. It proved incapable of living up to its rhetoric of becoming a model for the world of pacifism and universal brotherly love (jinrui aizen) as evidenced by the horrific outcome of the Great Pacific War. Morihei would soon come to realize that Japan’s election of war set it on a mistaken path, one inevitably leading to the destruction of the instigator. And Onisaburo Deguchi was correct is his view that the kami would punish those who resorted to violence to achieve their aims.

In contrast, aikido must focus on its mission of peace and become a model for other martial arts to transform themselves into instruments for promoting love and cooperation. Morihei’s view came to be that the martial arts–traditionally tools of warring armies–must change their ways, and adopt a new model of loving compassion and protection of one’s enemies.

If the world is to escape further global destruction as occurred in the last world war, it must adopt a different way of thinking one that adopts cooperative methods, and not coercion and violence.

Morihei understood and modified many of Onisaburo’s concepts and goals in his own way. He applied them to aikido and defined its purpose as a bridge between Heaven and Earth and a way to achieve the loving protection of mankind. Aikido was an expression of the will of the kami or deities, God, if you will, and must be used to promote understanding among peoples.

Conclusion

Morihei’s spiritual master, Onisaburo Deguchi challenged political and religious authorities through the widespread activities of the Omoto sect. He publically criticized Japan’s leaders accusing them of the misuse of the imperial system to further its aims. The result of Onisaburo’s in-your-face opposition to the establishment was the nearly total suppression of the Omoto religion.

Morihei, for his part, chose a path of non-confrontation using budo by totally redefining its basic concept and assigning to it a life-affirming role, “katsujinken,” (life-giving sword) in contrast to the traditional view of martial arts as “satsujinken,” (killing sword). He turned the notion of budo–historically the tool of rulers and tyrants–on its head.

Whereas the Omoto religion is today only a shell of its former self, aikido–with its unique philosophy which also challenges the status quo but in a non-threatening way–has spread all the world over. Its ideas have entered into the mainstream of culture and provided an intriguing option to the “conquest and rule model” in which mankind has been stuck since recorded history.

This is the third of a three-part article. Read the first part here and the second part here.

This is the second of a three-part article. Read the first part here and the third part here.

Teaching as a military instructor in Tokyo

By 1927, Morihei had moved his family to Tokyo after spending seven years in the Omoto religious community in Ayabe, near Kyoto. This was done with Onisaburo’s blessing and support. For a period of four years, Morihei gave demonstrations and seminars, and taught in private venues. In 1931, Morihei finally succeeded in opening a fine private school in Tokyo called the Kobukan Dojo. This school is located on the same property as the current Aikikai Hombu Dojo.

Shortly into his stay in Tokyo, Morihei was hired as a military training instructor at a variety of army and navy institutions. These teaching opportunities emerged due to his wide range of associations with powerful persons in and out of government and his consummate skills as a martial artist.

Here is a list of his known assignments:

Naval Staff College (Kaigun Daigakko)
Army University (Rikugun Shikan Gakko)
Military Police School (Kempei Gakko)
Toyama School (Rikugun Toyama Gakko)
Nakano Spy School (Rikugun Nakano Gakko)
Naval Engineering School (Kaigun Kikan Gakko)
Yokosuka Naval Communications School (Kaigun Tsushin Gakko), Torpedo Technical School (Kaigun Suirai Gakko)

These teaching assignments at military institutions span the period of 1927 to 1942, after which Morihei retired to Iwama. The above list offers rather convincing evidence of Morihei’s extensive links to right-wing military figures and their activities.

During this 15 year period, Morihei interacted with many high-ranking military officers and was surely abreast of the activities of various factions and their agendas. He also witnessed the intense military build-up of the nation, and Japan’s expansionary activities all over Asia.

Morihei would once again visit Manchuria on several occasions during the period of 1939-1942. His destination was the town of Shinkyo in Japanese-controlled Manchuria, now called Changchung in Chinese. This was the capital city of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, and coincidentally, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army. Morihei taught and gave demonstrations of his Aiki Budo at Kenkoku University, an institution mainly for Japanese and Chinese students.

Shinkyo was a hot-bed of military activity, and here the palace of Pu’yi, China’s “Last Emperor” was located. One of Morihei’s most senior instructors, Kenji Tomiki, had been living and teaching in Manchuria for several years. Tomiki was the regular instructor at Kenkoku University and was also involved in giving martial arts instruction to Japanese military police. Hideki Tojo, then Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, briefly took lessons from Tomiki about 1937.

During these years, Morihei gave several widely praised exhibitions in Shinkyo as a distinguished member of the party of well-known Japanese martial artists who traveled to Manchuria to teach and demonstrate Japanese budo.

Devastation of Japan’s major cities and retirement to Iwama

Shortly after Morihei’s return from Manchuria in 1942, Japan was fighting on multiple fronts and the nation was on a war footing. The US forces had even managed to bomb Tokyo and other Japanese cities in April in the Doolittle Raid. Morihei, due to his army and naval connections, had access to information not available to the Japanese public. There is some evidence that Morihei did not fully approve of the decisions and conduct of the war of the militarist government.

Another telling fact is his resignation from all of his martial arts teaching posts at military and police institutions at the age of 58. The war was in full progress, and he had held these positions for some 15 years. If Morihei was in full support of the war and physically able, one would expect him to have continued to serve in this capacity as a patriotic Japanese.

It seems that the main reason Morihei cited to leave his teaching positions was poor health. Indeed, it is documented that he had suffered a bout of jaundice in 1941. Also, at the time of his retirement to Iwama later in the year, it seems he was quite sick with an intestinal disorder. This is supported by a group photo from 1942 shortly before his retirement in which he appears emaciated and scarcely recognizable.

In any event, as the war worsened and Japanese cities and military targets were repeatedly bombed starting in 1944, Morihei was living in Iwama and suffered from further bouts of ill health. The war had a debilitating effect on him physically and mentally, and forced him to contemplate the true purpose of martial arts.

I will revisit this matter shortly.

Religion

Although an important part of the time frame of Morihei’s religious odyssey parallels his participation in militarism and war-related activity, I have chosen to treat them separately. In a Japanese context, we must understand religion as including worship, meditation, study of classical religious texts, rituals, and shamanistic practices, etc.

Morihei, like many boys of his age in the early Meiji period in the final part of the 19th century, received his basic education in a terakoya, a temple school, in his native Tanabe. Though physically weak, Morihei was an intelligent boy with a good memory and a penchant for mathematics. His early education took place at a school attached to a local Buddhist temple. Students were taught reading, writing, and basic mathematics. Since many of the textbooks used at these schools were written by priests, religious studies were also part of the curriculum. Morihei’s sister recalls that, at about age seven or eight, he studied the Chinese classics of Shingon Buddhism and displayed a keen interest in religious studies. It seems that Morihei’s mother wished for him to enter the priesthood. His father, however, was of a different mind and opposed the idea.

As he approached adulthood, his focus seemed to be more on developing himself physically and preparing for a career. In 1901, at at his father and wealthy brother-in-law’s urging, Morihei moved to Tokyo to prepare for a career as a merchant. He was 20 at the time. He began an apprenticeship in a stationery business of a wealthy relative. Morihei proved ill-suited for life as a merchant, and in his spare time, preferred to practice martial arts. Soon thereafter, he joined the army, as we have seen, where he served for about three years before being discharged in 1906.

Back in Tanabe in 1910, Morihei did involve himself in political activity that related to the Shinto religion. He supported famous naturalist Kumagusu Minakata in championing the cause of the anti-shrine consolidation movement. His group was resisting government seizure of Shinto shrine property and encroachments into traditional religion. Morihei was focused on the issues of social injustice and the attack against traditional religious practices for political and financial gain.

As he approached the age of 30, Morihei was still looking for a career direction. He finally immersed himself in a grand venture by relocating to the northernmost island of Hokkaido in the company of many members of his immediate family and some 54 families from Tanabe.

Of course, it was in Hokkaido that Morihei met the famous Sokaku Takeda in 1915, and began serious martial arts training. This was a decisive period in his life, and it was in the latter part of his stay in Hokkaido, that he began to think seriously about launching a career as a professional martial arts instructor.

Morihei’s stay in Hokkaido came to an end in late 1919 as he rushed back to Tanabe to be at the side of his dying father. On his journey back to his hometown, fate would have it that he took a detour to the town of Ayabe, in the mountains to the west of Kyoto. There he sought out the charismatic leader of the Omoto religious sect seeking to receive prayers for his father’s recovery. The leader of this New Shinto religion was Onisaburo Deguchi, the same man whom Morihei would later accompany on the expedition to Mongolia. This meeting with Onisaburo would determine Morihei’s life direction from that moment forward.

After his delayed arrival in Tanabe, Morihei’s father had already passed away. Despondent and humiliated by his late arrival, Morihei entered a state of deep depression. His escape from this dark period was his decision to move with his family to Ayabe to be at the side of Onisaburo and his followers, and seek spiritual solace. This is where the religious phase of Morihei’s life really begins, and it is closely related to the later emergence of aikido.

This is the second of a three-part article. Read the first part here and the third part here.

This is the second part of a two-part article by Peter Goldsbury. Read part one here.

One consequence is that the international development of aikido as a “new” and “peaceful” postwar Japanese martial art expanded at about the same hectic pace as that of the postwar Japanese economy. Judo experts like Kenshiro Abbe taught aikido techniques to their own prized foreign deshi abroad, who later requested the Hombu to send Japanese aikido instructors. The late Doshu did his best to comply with these requests and a succession of very able (and highly individualistic) instructors arrived in Europe, the US and Australia during the 1960s and began to teach aikido. These “missionaries” had to open schools and create a grassroots organization, the overriding premise being that, in principle, the instructor was a professional and would have no other means of economic support. Doshu himself gave a strong lead to this international expansion by making frequent trips abroad.

The new instructors received no special training in language skills or intercultural communication and I suspect that not a great deal of thought was given by the Hombu to the organization of aikido in the “missionary” countries. Of course, to say this is not to lay any blame at the feet of the instructors involved. A shihan like Yamada Sensei, for example, would have arrived in New York with very little idea of what to expect. I am sure he will correct me if I am mistaken, but I would think that creating an aikido organization in the entire eastern USA was the last thing he considered. Yet he did so, and in fact was instrumental in creating a national American aikido organization. By virtue of its great size and the fact that in 1964 Yamada Sensei was the only Hombu shihan resident in the USA, the USA did not immediately have a national aikido organization, but it was an exception to a general tendency. Generally, the development followed the Japanese pattern and the result was a network of national aikido organizations.

There are good reasons why the overseas structure of aikido took this form. The Japanese shihan was the highest ranked practitioner of the art and also the only link in his adopted country with the Hombu in Japan. On the other hand, the fledgling aikido organization had to relate to government sports organizations like Olympic committees and judo federations and these are invariably organized on a national basis.

However, there are several important consequences of Doshu’s decision. One is that an old tradition was given a new twist. Links in the martial arts are generally vertical links from teacher to teacher and dojo to dojo and such links do not depend on any boundaries (in spite of the fact that in Japan aikido shihan do not usually compete with each other in the same locality). This tradition was not broken by the shihan who went abroad. They opened dojo, attracted members, and trained them in the same way that they would have done in Japan. The dojo had a vertical structure. However, the innovation is due to a certain ambiguity in the concept of a national organization. A national organization can be simply what it suggests: an organization which exists in a certain country, side by side with other such organizations. But in the aikido world, it usually suggests much more: an organization which is in some way representative of aikido in that country. Thus the freedom of the shihan to teach and grade was confined within certain borders, but these borders were national or continental and he was also the sole Hombu “representative” within those borders.

The notion of a “national character,” that there are special exclusive features of a culture, is notoriously fraught with difficulty, especially in relation to a supposedly non-political activity like aikido, whose freedom, creativity, lack of definition, and universality is its strength. Yet something like this appears to be the basis for the current international organization of aikido. I have suggested above that aikido in Japan presents a special case, first because Japan is the country where aikido originated and secondly because there are certain special features of Japanese culture. It has been said that the Hombu in Japan did not really understand the actual situation in foreign countries and that aikido in France, for example, should be run by the French, aikido in Germany by the Germans and so on. This is fine as far as it goes, but there is a danger that the supposedly unique features of “national” aikido organizations will be attributed to the art itself: that because aikido in Scotland is practiced by the Scots, it has special features not shared by the English counterpart over the border. But why should aikido in Scotland be any different from aikido in France, Australia, or Finland, or Japan?

The names of the techniques are only a superficial difficulty. The Japanese feel that the spirit and techniques of aikido should be expressed in Japanese and this is reasonable. As I have said earlier, nothing hangs very much on this because most non-Japanese simply do not grasp the cultural resonance of terms such as omote, ura, hara, or ki. Kotegaeshi and shihonage would be much more cumbersome if expressed in English, for example, but that is all. I think it is unlikely that anyone would argue that it is essential to the integrity of aikido in Spain, for example, that the spirit and techniques be expressed in Spanish.

The techniques themselves also present no special features. Thus, the skills required to practice aikido techniques do not vary from country to country and if the instructor has been properly trained, the techniques practiced in Boston should be just as effective as those practiced in Budapest.

This leaves organization and here the waters become rather muddy.

A distinction must be made between the art itself and the organization of the art. Aikido in Japan is practiced in a cultural context which the Japanese fully understand and accept. The organization of aikido in Japan is also Japanese in character and the two overlap very closely. Despite superficial appearances, Japanese society is also vertical in character, with decisions usually handed down from the top.

Equally, aikido abroad is also practiced in a Japanese cultural context which few foreigners fully understand, but which most accept as part of the package. However, the organization of aikido abroad is not Japanese in character, or is so only to the extent that a Japanese shihan might try to run things by himself in a Japanese way. There is no close overlap between the art and the culture in which it operates.

But all this means is that the reasons why aikido organizations overseas have a “national character” is that they are overseas and the Japanese are in a minority. A consequence is that the Japanese shihan might not be happy with the way decisions are made, but this has to be accepted. However, an area where “nationalist” considerations might obtrude more sharply involves the aspects of aikido organization concerned with international relations and with dan grades.

A person might move from one country, where he/she has trained for many years under Shihan A, to another country and a nationally-based structure would dictate that he/she must now transfer this allegiance to Shihan B, who is an unknown quantity. Practical considerations such as distance might dictate that this transfer of allegiance is unavoidable, but it still breaks a link thought by some to be essential to the integrity of aikido.

The person’s relation with Shihan A, and with Shihan B after moving to the new country, will almost certainly involve dan grades and here, also, it is likely there will be some tension. A grade is the expression of a vertical relationship between student and teacher but it is also an objective (i.e., horizontally based) indication of the person’s proficiency and thus of the teaching and examinations in an organization. In a nationally-based organization, it would certainly undermine the authority of Shihan B if the person were to insist on being graded by Shihan A.

By way of a conclusion, I believe that aikido is an activity which contains its own end and as such is morally neutral. Of course, practice might have other, beneficial, effects, but these are separate and should not be taken as automatic. Since it is practiced by human beings in groups, aikido will always have a cultural and political dimension, but aikido is not at all like a religious or political movement and in my opinion should not be used in support of political aims. The organization of aikido into national groups has good historical reasons and is sometimes practically necessary, but it should serve a purely pragmatic and utilitarian purpose and has no essential connection with the art itself.

(NOTE: The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author and should not be understood in any way as the views or policy of the International Aikido Federation or IAF, of which the author happens to be an official.)

This is the second part of a two-part article by Peter Goldsbury. Read part one here.

A book review of Dueling with O-Sensei, authored by Jonathan Swift. Jonathan holds a 5th degree black belt in aikido and Shidoin at Tenzan Aikido in Seattle where he has studied with Bruce Bookman since 2004.  He also holds a blackbelt in iaido in Shito-ryu karate.

This review is of the updated and expanded edition of Dueling with O-Sensei, published in 2016 (with over 1/3 more material than the original edition published in 2000). This book, authored by Ellis Amdur, is an important contribution to the aikido world, providing an unvarnished and unexpected perspective on the martial art of aikido and some of its best known personalities. 

Shifting between the deeply personal and academic, “Dueling with O-Sensei” is a series of essays, ranging from short vignettes on important aikido figures, to Ellis’s own felt experience and growth as a martial artist and human being.  Writing for martial artists, the author, through personal story, historical reconstruction and philosophical musing, eggs the reader on asking “why are you doing this?”

The book opens with the weight of Terry Dobson, a larger than life figure who spread the notion of aikido as a higher form of conflict resolution in the United States.  The painting of Dobson is of a boisterous yet sad romantic who became a father figure to Ellis.  Terry, by many accounts, had an enormous presence and wholehearted faith that aikido would bring a great peace to the world.  He was also flawed, and Ellis finds a way to compassionately share stories that bring a complete picture of the man.

Several chapters unravel the many historical paradoxes and myths surrounding the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba.  The retelling is unvarnished and complicated, revealing the imperfections and facets of a historical figure who was not, after all, supernatural or a saint.  The author directly challenges the reader to let go of these myths, and instead, embrace the dualism of violence and love, peace and war, and student and master to come to your own understanding.

Exploring the spiritual, psychological, and physical aspects of aikido and other martial arts, Ellis enlivens the narrative with his professional and personal experiences with sometimes awful situations with people on or past the edge of rage and madness.  These dangerous interplays point to the reality of the risk and edge of putting any art, particularly aikido, into the real world. A common thread that runs through the book are descriptions of the varying forms of abuse at the hands of instructors and senior teachers.  You may cringe because of your own experience, but Ellis explores this at a deeper psychological level not only asking why this happens but why do people put up with this in the first place – why do we accept abuse?

You may not love every chapter, but there is enough story, conviction, and fascinating characters to keep the reader engaged through the end.  If you have trained for a few years, you will recognize many of the personality archetypes that show up in the book: the savant, the holy fool, the unlikeable. And in that way, the author points you back to look at your own experience to penetrate the truth, and challenging you to get real about your own practice.

There are many stories of known and unknown martial arts greats which leave the reader wanting to see and understand more.  One of my favorites is of Nishio Sensei as “aikido’s future” pushing the art beyond what the founder taught to something more modern and relevant to today’s world through his own creative synthesis.  He seamlessly blended the best of his diverse “hard art” experience with the aikido that he was taught. Nishio Sensei fully grasped and taught mixed martial arts fifty years ago.   Astounding.

And here is the higher aspiration epitomized in a real person (Yasunori Kuwamori):

“He led a group of people without domination or intimidation or charisma – he led through warmth and openness.  He trained to make himself stronger, just because it gave him joy to do so, not out of any pompous proclamation of forging his spirit nor in a fantasy that he was a 20^th century warrior.”

Ellis directly implores the reader, “How will you use your power, your understanding of harmony acquired in aikido practice?”  Dueling with O’Sensei respectfully urges you to be bigger than your concept of the art, bigger than yourself, and embracing the larger sphere of humanity and purpose.

Dueling with O’Sensei by Ellis Amdur can be found here.

Stanley Pranin continues his tribute to Morihiro Saito in this second part. In it, Pranin recalls Saito Sensei’s trip to North America, seminars in Italy and France, and some humorous episodes while traveling with his teacher. You can read the first part of the tribute here and the third part here.

1979 trip to USA and Canada

I was very honored when Saito Sensei first asked me to travel abroad with him on his trip to the USA and Canada in August 1979. We participated in the United States Aikido Federation summer camp sponsored by Mitsunari Kanai Sensei and Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei, based in Boston, Massachusetts and New York City, respectively. Saito Sensei was well received on the east coast on this his first appearance and most aikidoka attending the seminar were seeing his weapons training for the first time.

I clearly remember too our meeting and chatting with Nobuyoshi Tamura Sensei and Tiki Shewan Sensei of France at the New York Aikikai just prior to the summer camp. Another standout memory was a delicious seafood dinner in Boston harbor following which Saito Sensei, Yamada Sensei, Kanai Sensei, Bruce Klickstein and I talked until late at night on every imaginable aikido subject.

Sensei also conducted a seminar in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on that trip. Takeji Tomita Sensei joined us from Sweden and assisted as Saito Sensei’s uke. We also enjoyed a trip to Banff, a famous scenic resort nearby. I really enjoyed traveling with Sensei and having all the time in the world to talk with him about O-Sensei and his early experiences in aikido. He was a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge about the postwar years in Iwama and the early period of the Aikikai. Sensei, for his part, never seemed to tire of these conversations and he was one of my most important sources of information on many aspects of O-Sensei’s life.

A remarkable discovery

One day in July 1981, I was conducting an interview with Zenzaburo Akazawa, a prewar uchideshi of Morihei Ueshiba from the Kobukan Dojo period. Mr. Akazawa proceeded to show me a technical manual published in 1938 titled Budo which I had never seen before. It contained photos of some fifty techniques demonstrated by the founder himself. As I slowly turned the pages of the manual, I was amazed to see in the photos that the execution of several basics techniques such as ikkyo, iriminage, and shihonage were virtually identical to what I had learned in Iwama under Saito Sensei. Here was the founder himself demonstrating what I had up until then regarded as “Iwama-style” techniques. Mr. Akazawa, who lives only a few blocks away from the Iwama Dojo, kindly lent me the book and I hurried to show it to Saito Sensei.

I’ll always remember the scene as I called at Sensei’s door to share with him my new discovery. To my surprise, he had never seen or heard mention of the book before. He put on his reading glasses and leafed through the manual, his eyes scanning the technical sequences intently. I felt compelled then and there to apologize to him for having ever doubted his assertion that he was making every effort to faithfully preserve the founder’s techniques. Saito Sensei laughed and, obviously with great pleasure, bellowed, “See, Pranin, I told you so!” From that time on up through the end of his life, Saito Sensei always had along his copy of Budo in the Iwama Dojo and on his travels to use as proof to show that a particular technique originated in the founder’s teachings.

The discovery of Budo was, to be sure, a watershed event in my personal aikido research, but I was even more delighted to see how important it was to Sensei to have this amazing document to wave in the face of his critics who doubted the authenticity of his aikido.

Travels abroad with Sensei

In late 1984, an Italian aikidoka named Paolo Corallini arrived at the Iwama Dojo to train. He became captivated by Saito Sensei’s aikido but could not speak Japanese or English. Though I was living in Tokyo by this time I sometimes visited the Iwama Dojo to practice and I met Paolo on one occasion. He asked me to interpret for him and this led to Sensei being invited to instruct in Italy in February 1985. I was invited along as interpreter.

This new connection with Europe proved to be of great significance to the future development of Iwama Aikido. Paolo Corallini was and is extremely devoted to Saito Sensei and this visit would be the start of annual and sometimes biannual visits to Europe.

On this first trip Sensei conducted seminars in Turin and Osimo, the latter located along the Adriatic Sea. The Italians and aikidoka from other countries in attendance reacted exactly like everyone else who came into contact with Sensei’s instruction. As I mentioned above, Sensei was a masterful teacher. Not only were his techniques superb, but he would vary the mood greatly while teaching. He would sometimes explain in an analytical way. At other moments, he would chide a student for a mistake and issue one of his famous “dame” admonitions, and then in the next moment make a hilarious comment that would break up the serious mood. Sensei was very conscientious about teaching these seminars and always succeeded in endearing himself to those who attended.

On this trip, we had an unexpected surprise in the form of a visit by Nobuyoshi Tamura Sensei, his wife, and Pierre Chassang, an aikido pioneer in France, who drove from the southern part of France to greet Sensei.

Although not much of a tourist as I will mention later, Sensei did find the Italian countryside and antiquities pretty interesting and made numerous comments about the beauty of the country and ancient castles and structures as we traveled about.

The seminars Saito Sensei taught were also professionally videotaped by one of Paolo’s friends. They capture the magic of his teaching skills and technique at this stage of his life.

Getting a new set of teeth

Paolo’s enthusiasm was contagious and he succeeded in convincing Sensei to visit again in May of that same year, not something that Saito Sensei would do normally. There was another reason for Sensei’s accepting a return invitation so soon after our initial visit. Paolo is a dentist by profession and Sensei’s teeth were in pretty bad condition. Paolo offered to completely repair his teeth prior to the seminar.

This trip proved quite an adventure because the dental work involved would normally have taken several weeks to complete. Paolo somehow compressed the entire treatment down to four days! He was a nervous wreck during this time as he was deathly afraid that something might go wrong. Fortunately, for all concerned, the treatment went flawlessly and Sensei emerged with a big smile and new teeth as you can see in the accompany photo!

Although I have remained silent all these years, I must confess that I hatched a sinister plot on this trip. As those who spent time with him know, Sensei was fond of drinking as are most Japanese men. Foreign visitors are sometimes shocked at this phenomenon when they first visit Japan, but it is a fact of life that social drinking is commonplace at all levels of society and is regarded as a safety-valve for the stresses of daily life. In any event, out of concern for Sensei’s health and perhaps due to a bit of prudishness of my part, I was always trying to get him to cut down on his drinking.

Well, this was my big chance! I conspired with Paolo and Tomita-san to have Paolo give Sensei a lecture in his capacity as a medical doctor on the reasons why it would not be a good idea for him to continue regular drinking if he wished to maintain his teeth in good condition. At the appointed time after the treatment was over, Paolo stood in his office wearing his white dental frock with Sensei seated unsuspectingly in the patient’s chair and delivered his lecture. Everyone knew what was going on except Sensei. Tomita-san almost could not contain himself and I feared he would burst out laughing and spoil everything! I was having a hard time keeping a straight face myself as the interpreter.

The upshot was that Sensei apparently took the lecture quite seriously and stopped drinking all together for several days. He would report to me everyday how he had not had a single drop! Finally, shortly after we boarded the plane to leave Italy, he could contain himself no more and poured himself a long drink. Seated at his side and normally very talkative, I remained stone silent pretending not to notice. Sensei looked very sheepish and said to me, “You’re angry at me, aren’t you?” I don’t recall what I mumbled in reply. But that was the last time I tried anything like that and it was a good lesson to me to mind my own business!

Importance of Italian connection

To the best of my recollection, we visited Italy five times all together, sometimes going to other countries on the same trip. The connection with Paolo Corallini would later give birth to the formation of a large, Pan-European organization centered on Iwama Aikido. The two main figures of this organization which remains active to this day are Paolo Corallini and Ulf Evenas of Sweden, the latter one Sensei’s first foreign uchideshi.

On a side note, these visits and the collaboration of Paolo enabled us to undertake some important historical work that could not have been attempted under normal circumstances. First of all, in 1987 I succeeded in talking Sensei into doing a very unusual project. This involved him reading aloud into the camera the text of the 1938 training manual Budo and then demonstrating the techniques from the book in front of the video camera. This is the same book I mentioned above that I had discovered in Iwama a few years earlier. I thought Sensei would be the perfect person to carry out this project because of his familiarity with the earlier techniques of O-Sensei. Also, since the content of Budo was very convincing as a validation of Saito Sensei’s approach to aikido, I believed he would welcome the opportunity since we had the cameraman and facility available. As it turned out, Sensei was tired from the long travel and I had to convince him to agree to the videotaping. By then, he must have known instinctively that if I were involved it would be a tough project!

One of the biggest problems to be overcome was the naming of the techniques covered in Budo. The techniques are merely numbered in the original manual and there are only single word section names. It took some cajoling on my part but Sensei succeeded in coming up with names for all 50 of the techniques. The finished video is an excellent technical document and also captures Saito Sensei in his prime.

The following year in 1988 we did yet another videotape, also of great significance. We recorded most of Saito Sensei’s aiki ken and jo suburi and kata as they stood at this point in time. The shoot took place in Paolo’s private dojo in Osimo and Ken’ichi Shibata partnered Sensei on this occasion. In looking back, I really appreciate how fortunate we are to have these documents preserved for future generations!

Sensei conquers France

In November 1985, Sensei and I embarked on what was in many ways the most ambitious of our trips together. Sensei conducted seminars in France, Belgium and Italy on that occasion. My accompanying Sensei on this particular trip was for a somewhat different reason than past travels. I was along with his encouragement mostly to promote Aiki News with our emphasis on the importance of remembering O-Sensei and his historical connection with Iwama. By that time we also had a couple of videotapes of Saito Sensei to offer as well. My Japanese editor Ikuko Kimura joined us on this trip along with a French staff member Gabriel Valibouze.

This time, I was even more loaded down than usual with gear and products because we were to give several film shows as well. In fact, I had along a heavy video projector that weighed at least forty pounds. It was physically impossible for me to carry everything in one go so Sensei dutifully helped me carry my luggage on and off the airplane. I was terribly embarrassed by this and reluctantly accepted his help all the while apologizing profusely. Sensei was visibly amused. I don’t know what you would say about the “kabanmochi” (bag carrier) who had his bags carried by the Sensei, but that’s what happened!

This visit was sponsored by the FFLAB organization of Nobuyoshi Tamura Sensei and the turnouts at the seminars in France were tremendous. There were 600 people on one huge mat area at the course in Lyons. This practice facility was about three times as large as a college gymnasium. Sensei, even though he had a strong voice, could not be heard by everyone so he came up with a quick solution. He got everyone to help stack up about 15-20 mats on top of each other so that the French interpreter, Daniel Boubault, could be better seen and heard. He also had everyone form a huge circle so that they could get in close to watch and listen.

Another memory I have of that experience was Nobuyoshi Tamura Sensei’s presence on the mat training in Saito Sensei’s class. I thought he set a wonderful example for others by being willing to display a “beginner’s mind” even though he was and is one of the most skilled aikidoka around. We also met Andre Nocquet Sensei, an early foreign student of O-Sensei, and Hiroo Mochizuki Sensei, son of the famous Minoru Mochizuki Sensei, on this trip.

Unforgettable episodes

We traveled together many times during the 1985-1989 period and I have had to set about constructing a chart of Sensei’s foreign trips to jog my memory. I recall visiting the following countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA, several of them on two or more occasions. Sensei also traveled a couple of times to Australia during this time frame without me.

The episodes from this period are endless, but here are a few that stand out in my mind. On one occasion, Sensei was making critical remarks in front of a large group of students during a seminar in Italy. He was pointing out a common technical error that particularly annoyed him and then proceeded to name a famous teacher who taught the technique the “wrong way.” I was always uncomfortable when Sensei criticized people publicly this way and I told him so, but he was a very direct, uninhibited person and he usually said exactly what he was thinking.

So on this occasion Sensei would make a remark and I would dutifully translate it. Then the criticisms became stronger and stronger. My translations started getting shorter and shorter. Finally, Sensei really let out a piece of his mind and I stayed totally silent. He then gave me the strangest look and said, “Oh, I can see you’re mad at me for talking this way. Okay, I’ll stop.” Everyone could tell what was happening and had a good laugh. I’m sure my face was red as an apple!

Another time, someone showed us a painting of O-Sensei done by a local aikido student/artist. This person was very proud of the portrait and had it prominently displayed in his home. He anxiously awaited Sensei’s reaction. Actually, I thought the painting didn’t look anything like O-Sensei at all and so apparently did Saito Sensei. I think it is very hard for western artists to learn how to capture oriental features and vice versa. Anyway, Sensei was in a tough spot because he didn’t want to tell a lie, so he mumbled something about how the artist was very skilled and the person seemed satisfied.

Sensei would always rib me for being a slow eater. In fact, he called me “the slowest eater in the world.” He would joke repeatedly how by the time everyone had finished their meal and was ready for dessert I was still on the first course! He and the other diners would wait impatiently for me to finish while poking fun at me for being so slow thus causing me further embarrassment. Finally, one day I evened the score. I said, “Okay, everyone, I don’t want to keep you waiting for me to finish so I’ll stop interpreting and let you talk among yourselves.” Needless to say, with the interpreter on strike, the dinner conversation dwindled almost to nothing.

Finally, I found a solution to the problem. I started showing up for meals about a half an hour early and eating by myself. That way when Sensei came down to dine I could devote my full attention to interpreting for him.

There was a particularly amusing incident that occurred during this trip that I would like to relate. To say that Saito Sensei was not much of a tourist would be a gross understatement. He much preferred shopping! I remember clearly our visit to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I had never actually stopped to take a good look at this famous structure and was very much looking forward to our visit. One of the hosts drove us to the tower and Sensei took a look around, remarked how big it was and snapped a couple of photos. Then he said, “Ok, now I’ve seen it! Let’s go.” The whole process took maybe five or six minutes. Although I was a bit disappointed, I had to laugh at his reaction. Maybe some day I’ll have another chance to visit the tower at my pace!

This is the second part of three of Stanley Pranin’s tribute to Morihiro Saito. You can read the first part of the tribute here and the third part here.

In this third and final part, Stanley Pranin remembers Morihiro Saito’s last demonstrations, their joint effort to preserve Morihei Ueshiba’s Iwama aikido, a chance meeting with Koichi Tohei, and looks towards the future with Saito Sensei’s son, Hitohiro. You may read the first part of the tribute here and the second part here.

Friendship Demonstrations

During these years of extensive contact with Saito Sensei even with all the foreign travel, we had his collaboration and support for yet another Aiki News undertaking in Japan. This was a series of events that took place from 1985 to 1988 called the Aiki News Friendship Demonstrations. Each year’s demonstration had a separate theme and different participants. Among those who participated were many famous teachers from various styles of aikido and from the kobudo world. Sensei of course knew some of the teachers, but he also had an opportunity to meet and interact with several of the participants for the first time.

As my personal teacher, Saito Sensei was the sole teacher we invited each year and he gave wonderful demonstrations. I remember in particular a series of techniques from the 1985 demonstration where Sensei threw one of his students flying in a seemingly casual way that left the audience agape. I imagine that the audience must have reacted in a similar way at his performance back in the 1964, the one I first saw in the 8mm movie.

A two-year blank

In the summer of 1989, Saito Sensei became upset at me for what later turned out to be a complete misunderstanding. At that time, Sensei was rather fidgety because he had been informed that the Ueshiba family intended to sell off the land in Iwama where the dojo and O-Sensei’s home stood. Not knowing what the future held in store or whether he would have a place to teach, he set about raising funds and eventually constructed a new dojo on his property not far from the old dojo.

The upshot of this incident was that I did not see or talk with Sensei for nearly two years. The ice was finally broken in 1991 due to some behind-the-scenes activity to get us back together. When we finally met for an interview after the long hiatus in the new dojo, it was almost as though nothing had happened. Our collaboration had been very productive over the years and we soon picked up things where we had left off.

Takemusu Aikido technical series

In 1993, after consultation with the Aiki News staff, we decided to propose to Saito Sensei a major project that would hopefully produce the definitive technical work on Iwama Aikido. The idea in a nutshell was to photograph and describe the vast technical repertoire known only to Sensei and to publish this material in a series of technical manuals. Saito Sensei’s earlier Traditional Aikido books were certainly landmark works, but I thought we could do even a better job.

This series too would be in bilingual, Japanese-English format and would include background material to provide better context as to the genesis of Iwama Aikido. It would moreover cover the weapons techniques that Sensei had devised over the years that were not covered in his books from the 1970s.

A personal concern of mine was that this project would require several years to complete and, since Sensei had slowed down a bit in recent years, I wanted to move forward as soon as possible while he was still in good health.

Sensei gave the provisional go-ahead to the idea, but was concerned about duplicating the techniques already published in his Traditional Aikido series. I personally didn’t think that this was a major issue because, by this point in time, those books were hard to obtain and subsequent reprintings did not reproduce the photos very well. Also, the translations I felt left something to be desired.

In any event, we rented the Taito Riverside Sports Center Dojo in Asakusa and shot several hundred photos of Saito Sensei and his son, Hitohiro Sensei. I also took several rolls of color film with a large-format camera which were later used as cover photos for the new books. If memory serves, there was another photo shoot in Asakusa and two more in Iwama, the final one taking place around 1999. In the last two sessions, Saito Sensei had Hitohiro Sensei perform most of the techniques since he still had not fully recovered from recent surgery.

The technical explanations were produced based on meetings with Sensei in Iwama. We had the sequential photos for each technique laid out so that Sensei could refer to them. He would invariably stand up and pantomime each technique giving an explanation of the roles of uke and nage for each photo. You could see his computer-of-a-mind hard at work. He visualized each technique breaking it down into its component parts and strained to find just the right turn of phrase to convey the key points. These sessions were tape-recorded and edited by the Aiki News staff and then sent back to Sensei for corrections.

A total of six volumes were published from 1994-2001 under the title of Takemusu Aikido. They cover the Iwama basics in great detail and present much material of intermediate and advanced levels. Volume one contains many variations of ikkyo through yonkyo techniques and also a rather long historical introduction I wrote on Sensei and Iwama Aikido. Volumes two and three complete the basics while volume four is an exhaustive treatment of kokyunage techniques. Volume five covers tachidori and ninindori techniques.

The sixth volume called Takemusu Aikido, Special Edition presents all of the 50 techniques from the 1938 manual Budo and serves as a companion to the videotape we shot in Italy in 1988 covering the same material. This book was an idea near and dear to my heart that Sensei also liked very much. Not only did it present an opportunity to call attention to this important historical book—the only one in which the founder appears demonstrating techniques—but it also provides incontrovertible proof of the close technical relationship between O-Sensei’s teachings and Saito Sensei’s aikido.

The Takemusu Aikido series is truly a valuable reference. Not only is a great deal of the Iwama technical curriculum documented, but also a good part of the teachings of O-Sensei from the immediate postwar period are preserved. This is the point in time generally considered to coincide with the birth of modern aikido.

Sensei is feted

On March 8, 1992, a large celebration was held in an Iwama hotel on the occasion of Saito Sensei’s promotion to 9th dan. Many dignitaries of the aikido world including Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba and his son, the present Doshu, Moriteru Ueshiba were in attendance. I snapped many photos at that celebration when Sensei received much deserved recognition for his contributions to the art.

Several years later on May 4, 1996, Sensei was honored once again, this time for his 50 years of involvement in aikido. A stretch-limousine pulled up in front of the Aiki Shrine to take him and his wife to the hotel just before the ceremony. They were both dressed in formal kimono and I thought this was a grand photo-op. Although they were in a hurry, he and his wife posed for several photos in front of the Shrine and I think they are among the best shots of Sensei ever taken!

The then Dojo-cho Moriteru Sensei attended this ceremony representing the Aikikai to congratulate Saito Sensei. Hiroshi Isoyama Sensei gave the toast on that occasion and referred to Sensei as “a modern Miyamoto Musashi.” With his wife standing at his side, Sensei gave a memorable speech that was both touching and humorous. Here is an excerpt:

One day, Ueshiba Sensei said to me, “Saito, get yourself a wife.” Fortunately, through some twist of fate, I ended up meeting my wife, Sata. I say fortunately because I wasn’t exactly a good catch as a husband, and I can’t think why anyone would want to marry her either. Once we had settled on one another, Sensei said, “You can have the wedding in my house,” which we did. Soon afterward, however he said, “You’re in charge of the place now,” and promptly left on a trip to the Kansai region. Well, I didn’t know what to do, so the next day I chased after him, following him all around Kansai asking him to come back. Because of that we never did get to go on a honeymoon!

In his speech on that occasion he made various mentions of his days training with and serving O-Sensei in Iwama. Those were clearly wonderful years, but at the same time a period full of hardships as the founder and his wife were demanding in many ways. I had heard Sensei and his wife speak in private about various matters so some of his references were obvious to me and others who knew him well.

Sensei reads my editorial in class

Saito Sensei was very supportive of my work with Aiki News over the years. He was quite tolerant of my associations with a broad spectrum of teachers from the aikido and Daito-ryu worlds. I think that this was possible for him psychologically because he had a great deal of confidence in his own abilities and was very focused on his mission of preserving and disseminating O-Sensei’s aikido.

In 1996, I wrote an editorial titled “Is O-Sensei Really the Founder of Modern Aikido.” The basic premise of the article was that it was actually O-Sensei’s son, Kisshomaru, and certain key students such as Koichi Tohei, Gozo Shioda, and a few others who were responsible for the postwar spread of the art. A corollary of my thesis was that, due to an accident of history and his exceptional talents, Saito Sensei was the person who spent the longest period learning directly under the founder and that he was in a unique position to preserve O-Sensei’s teachings, at least in a technical sense.

Sensei was very pleased with this particular piece and apparently read aloud excerpts to his students in Iwama. I was told this by one of his foreign deshi afterward and was very pleased that he liked it. To this day, it remains one of the most read articles I have written and is one of my personal favorites.

Final USA seminars

I moved with my family back to the United States in late 1996. Ironically, I was still able to see Saito Sensei with about the same frequency as when I was living in Japan. I would make 3-4 visits a year to Japan and usually be able to see him on those trips. Sensei also came several times to the USA to teach and I was able to meet him on most of those occasions as well.

Two of the seminars he taught in the the USA took place in Denver, Colorado in 1997 and 1999. Saito Sensei was hosted by Gaku Homma Sensei of the Nippon Kan. Homma Sensei had spent a short time in Iwama as a teenager and regarded his contact with O-Sensei and Saito Sensei as among his most valuable life experiences. I think these events were a way for Homma Sensei to express his profound gratitude.

Homma Sensei is a master organizer and these huge events attended by more than 300 people went off like clockwork. As usual, Sensei captivated his audience with his amiable manner, technical precision and virtuosity. He also had a habit of finishing off such seminars with an exciting demonstration and did so on these occasions too.

Sensei’s last seminar in the USA was a large affair in September 2000 in northern California. It was sponsored by Hans Goto with the cooperation of Dennis Tatoian and also attracted over 300 persons.

Last appearance at the All-Japan Aikido Demonstration

The last time I saw Saito Sensei perform was at the 2001 All-Japan Aikido Demonstration at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo held in May. He was not up to his usual par on that occasion as his legs had weakened and he could not stand unassisted. Nonetheless, the audience was very appreciative of his appearance and he received enthusiastic applause.

I recalled seeing him in so many earlier demonstrations when his performances were among the highlights of the events. For example, the 1978 demonstration where Shigemi Inagaki and Bruce Klickstein, two of Sensei’s strongest deshi, served as his uke was a tour de force. Sensei executed an explosive series of irimi techniques and was the personification of power and poise. The audience loved it, but Inagaki-san suffered a shoulder separation that day.

There was another demonstration, I think in the early 1990s, where Sensei just executed the basics of ikkyo through yonkyo to perfection. It was perhaps as much of a political statement as it was a demonstration of technique and I think the audience understood Sensei’s intent. It was as if he was uttering the simple statement in front of 5,000 people, “Back to basics, folks. Learn them and there is no limit to how far you can take your aikido!”

Sensei also used long-time students Bernice Tom and Pat Hendricks as his uke for memorable weapons demonstrations at two of the later All-Japan events. Sensei was race and gender-blind and from early on would freely use foreign students, including females, in his public demonstrations.

Visiting Tohei Sensei after 30 years

The last opportunity I had to meet Saito Sensei before he became bed-ridden took place on October 29, 2001. This was truly an historic day. His son, Hitohiro Sensei, asked me to attempt to arrange a meeting between Saito Sensei and his old sempai, Koichi Tohei Sensei. Since I had heard Saito Sensei mention many times how Tohei Sensei had been a role model for him in his early years in aikido, I had tried to set up such a meeting a few years earlier while interviewing Tohei Sensei, but the latter declined.

This time, however, Tohei Sensei agreed to the idea and the date was set. I took the train to Iwama in the morning arriving in the early afternoon. Then Hitohiro Sensei drove Saito Sensei, myself and two uchideshi to Tohei Sensei’s country home in Tochigi Prefecture. The meeting was cordial and nostalgic as the two had not met for nearly 30 years. It was a thrilling experience to see two martial arts giants reunited after such a long hiatus and I felt very privileged to be present.

Last visit with Sensei

When Sensei fell ill in January 2002, it soon became apparent that he would not recover. The word spread among his students that time was limited and that those who wanted to pay their respects should do so as soon as possible.

I last visited him on February 24 with Ikuko Kimura. Although he lay paralyzed in a special hospitable bed set up in his home, he was in good spirits and full of fight. I was quite relieved to see his spiritual strength had not waned. Not knowing what condition I would find him in, I brought along a tape recorder as usual just in case.

Since I suspected he might tire easily, I limited my questions to two so that I would be sure to record his answers for posterity. The two subjects I asked him about were, first of all, the circumstances leading to Saito Sensei being given a plot of land on Ueshiba property to build his home. Secondly I asked him to talk about the details of the proposal made by Gozo Shioda Sensei in the mid-1980s that Saito Sensei become the former’s successor at the Yoshinkan, something known only to a few people.

Sensei gave detailed answers to both questions but I could see he was tiring so we left after spending a little over an hour. When we got up to leave Sensei wished me the best of luck with the upcoming Aiki Expo. Then, he grabbed my hand with his left hand and simply said, “Pranin-san, thank you.” That was the last time I saw him.

In pulling together materials to write this remembrance of Saito Sensei, I discovered an old unedited audio tape from 1985 that was recorded on our visit to England. Sensei is relaxing after dinner with a group of students and Ikuko Kimura and I are present. His booming voice and laughter can be heard over and over again and his enthusiasm is infectious. I felt very happy listening just as though Sensei were in the room with me.

Sensei’s son and successor

In the last years of his life Sensei’s health went into a gradual decline. Little by little, his son Hitohiro began to take over his father’s duties. Hitohiro Sensei is an extremely talented aikidoka who began training under the founder and his father as a child. He is a gifted instructor in his own right and has traveled extensively abroad. Hitohiro Sensei has also shown a great interest in O-Sensei’s spiritual studies and as had frequent contact with Seiseki Abe Sensei in Osaka, one of the most knowledgeable people in this area.

There is no doubt in my mind that Hitohiro Sensei will make a fine successor to his father and show the light to the further development of Iwama Aikido worldwide.

Stanley Pranin
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
May 31, 2002

This is the third and final part of a three-part tribute to Morihiro Saito. You may read the first part of the tribute here and the second part here.

In August 2020, Josh Gold, Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, spoke with Kei Izawa Sensei, Chairman of the International Aikido Federation, from his home in Boulder, CO to discuss the global aikido landscape in the midst of a pandemic. 

Izawa Sensei has been an avid practitioner of Aikido for the last 50 years. He holds the rank of 6th degree black belt and has been active in teaching the art around the world. Izawa was elected in 2008 as the Secretary General of the International Aikido Federation and then elected as Chairman for the term ending in 2020.

Kei Izawa graduated from Keio University in Tokyo majoring in political science and completed his graduate studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in International Relations. Izawa spent 14 years as a senior executive for General Motors and 10 years working for the Japanese government in international trade.  

Josh Gold (Aikido Journal): Thank you for joining us today, Izawa Sensei. What’s life like at the moment for the Chairman of the International Aikido Federation?

Kei Izawa: It’s always a pleasure to speak with you, Josh Sensei. I am in quarantine in Boulder, Colorado in the U.S. and while we have a lot of nature and I can go out for walks, the activities available are quite limited. I only meet with aikido friends through Zoom classes so my aikido life is very digital at the moment.

We are in a similar position here in California as well. Through the IAF, you have a unique vantage point from which to view the global aikido community. We’re in pretty bad shape right now in the United States. Can you share with us what’s going on in other parts of the world and how aikido practitioners and teachers are facing the challenges of the pandemic?

Well, I think there are many differences in how the coronavirus has evolved around the world. As you know, it started in Asia and suddenly became a global phenomena. It became a pandemic. In the beginning, Europe was in a very severe condition while the U.S. had yet to face major difficulties. Countries like Italy, Spain, and others experienced dire conditions. But now things there have improved and in many Western European countries, aikido training has resumed, starting back in July. 

Japan has experienced a little bit over 1,000 people dead due to the coronavirus, but has resumed aikido training with contact. Other countries in Asia are doing fine as well, such as Taiwan. I think Taiwan experienced only seven people dying from the coronavirus, which is exceptionally good. 

Like the U.S, South America is also struggling right now. Circumstances vary by country, but the pandemic is forcing many dojos to close down, and the dojos that are open cannot have contact training, so options are very limited. Some people seem to be training behind closed doors privately on a small scale, but it’s not done openly in most of the dojos.

So Asia and Europe are, little by little, getting back to normal and have resumed practice, but in the Americas, it’s not looking good.

Well, I think some parts of Eastern Europe are also suffering. In many countries there they cannot train. But there too, some people gather behind closed doors. I think it’s against the law, but that’s how much people would like to train with partners. It’s very difficult to practice aikido digitally.

Indeed, it is. I’m fortunate in that I’m able to train with my wife, who never practiced Aikido before the pandemic. It’s been a great opportunity for both of us to connect, learn, and grow. But even so, it’s tough. My dojo has been closed since March, aside from Zoom and limited outdoor weapons classes. It’s quite limiting when we can’t practice the art in the way that it’s meant to be manifested. The experience and practice of aikido is so deeply rooted in creating a physical, intellectual and emotional connection with another person. When physical connection is not possible, we can focus on self-training, weapons practice, and research and discovery – through videos, books, discussions, and such. But it’s definitely not the same.

This is very true. Now many of us have to train by ourselves. We have to train the movements, and it’s good for us to maintain our physical capabilities, stability and so forth. But the beauty of aikido is in the merging with the energy of someone else. The word Ai-ki-do can be translated as “The Way of merging forces.” So if you don’t merge with another person, then yes, you still can train, but the level of enjoyment and the experience becomes much more limited. 

Sensei, you’ve been practicing Aikido, since 1969 I believe.

Yes, that is correct.

That’s quite a long history within the art. The world has changed so much over that period of time. You’ve seen Aikido grow and spread throughout the world and you’ve seen it endure great challenges. There have been wars, revolutions, economic downturns, and many other threats. In your history with the art, has aikido ever faced a challenge on the scale of what it’s experiencing now?

This is the first major global pandemic that’s happened in the lifetime of the art of aikido. However, one advantage or benefit we have while in quarantine is that we can communicate with each other online. This is changing perspectives, not just for aikido, but in the business world. Many companies are beginning to realize that perhaps there is no need to have so many office buildings, to staff everybody inside these huge, expensive structures that people need to commute to. People have been forced into a global experiment to see how far we can take digital communication and collaboration. 

And in the aikido world, it has really opened our eyes. People have begun to connect with each other and study aikido in ways they never would have dreamed of 50 years ago. 

I think that’s right. From my vantage point, I’ve seen the pandemic bring the Aikido community closer together in many ways. And I know the IAF has been organizing initiatives to to bring the community together using technology in the midst of the pandemic. 

We never expected the pandemic to last this long. We still don’t know how long it’s going to continue. This is a major problem for us because we cannot make plans. Because of the geographical differences in the progression of the coronavirus, the status within different regions is constantly in flux. 

In the beginning, we started to post some photos and short videos of people doing interesting things. We’re here, we’re a happy Aikido family and so forth. However, we soon realized that the pandemic was not ending. So we needed to do something more. We began hosting online classes with instructors throughout the world, including those outside the IAF family. Kayla Feder Sensei, who you know, led a class for us. This has been quite a successful way for us to bring many aikido people together.  We  also recently worked together with the Colombian Federation of Aikido to run a Zoom class with some senior instructors in South America. Wilko Vriesman, the IAF General Secretary, and I both joined. We consider that event to have been a major success..

More recently, we supported an event organized also by our Columbian member federation, in which 12 countries participated. We had an all-female instructor roster led by 17 women from around Latin America, many of them who are not even members of IAF at this stage. This has given us, I understand, a reach of more than 120,000 people in the course of two days, and it continues to be viewed by many people. So I think the pandemic has opened new doors – in ways we never expected.  We’ve recently started a series of events like this in the U.S. Patricia Hendricks Sensei just taught the first class of the series on August 10th. 

I think the pandemic has given us strong encouragement to get up to speed with the latest communication technologies and figure out how to use them as best we can. Then, post-pandemic, hopefully these online events can become a tool we use over the long term that can unify us with others around the globe.

Recently, I had a case. This is my personal thing. It’s not IAF or Aikido related, but one of my relatives was celebrating his birthday and his daughter arranged a Zoom meeting with all the family and friends. This was a surprise to him. He’s 78 years old. He never expected to suddenly see everybody on the screen. That was amazing for him. Some of our relatives said, “We should do this more often.” 

Now, the same thing is happening with the online seminar we organized with female instructors. Many talented and accomplished women instructors who couldn’t participate have expressed their desire to be involved in future activities. So what we have done became the first move of perhaps a much bigger initiative, and this will not go away. I think we can continue to expect that online events will become a strong asset for us in building the unity that we need to continue to seek.

What do you think are the greatest challenges facing the Aikido community right now? Especially in the countries like the United States where we don’t know when this is when this is going to end and many dojos are closed and struggling. 

Well, I think you can categorize this into a set of different cases. In many European countries, aikido is more established as a sport and dojos are integrated in the sports community of the country. The governments provide facilities at very low costs, or sometimes even subsidize them. Some of them provide pensions to the instructors and so forth. 

On the other hand, there are other countries like the U.S. and many others, where the government has no role in aikido. Instructors and dojos don’t receive any government funding, and don’t have access to facilities. As a result of that, many people have had to close dojos because they cannot continue to pay rent when they cannot operate classes and their full student bases are no longer paying tuition. I think many dojos have closed. The issue is very pronounced in South America right now. If the government is not subsidizing or not recognizing an entity, those entities are suffering a lot. There are a few places like Chile, where aikido is  recognized by the Olympic committee of the country, and they get some subsidy from the government. But that’s not the case most places. Many dojos have closed in South America.

I think a great challenge we will face is this: Once the pandemic is over, how do we recalibrate all the dojos back to their pre-pandemic status? This will take some time. I think many people have left. Those practitioners who were borderline in terms of commitment have stopped training. So one of the biggest challenges we will have as an IAF mandate or priority would be to find a way for all these countries to come back and stand up again and be able to train. So it’s not only a matter of, “Oh, now you can go back to train.” Sometimes the infrastructure is gone.

Many dojos have closed. Many dojos are struggling. Some simply can’t manage the financial challenges with many of their students having their own financial challenges and being unable to support the dojo with tuition, especially in a time when there’s no training. Some dojos have made intentional strategic decisions to shut down and say, “Hey, we know it’s going to be a while before we’re able to get back to practice so we’re conserving our resources, closing down, and we’ll be ready to reopen when it’s an optimal time to do so.” But I think across the board, it’s challenging for everybody.

Indeed. We cannot tell how long the pandemic will last, and I cannot tell how much this will impact the basic infrastructure for people training in aikido. There are many who are fanatic about their aikido, but if we continue without training for a long time and financial difficulties come on top of that, the situation for aikido will require a lot of care and attention to bring it back to pre-pandemic status.

What are your thoughts on how we can best unify and strengthen ourselves during this period of adversity?

Thanks to online video platforms, we have been able to connect people regardless of your organization, and the sensei you train under.  Many people said, “Let’s get together and let’s enjoy what we love to do.” So this has opened an opportunity to take a look, a serious look, at what is happening in the world of aikido.The fact is that many countries have so many aikido practitioners divided in small groups, sometimes single dojos, and even in the same state or city, they don’t talk to each other. People may see signs on a street from another dojo, and they’ve never dropped by. They never exchange training or get to know each other. 

This, from my perspective, is a very narrow-minded view. The pandemic has allowed us to open up our eyes and see the negative aspects of dividing into small groups. I’m not saying that you should lose loyalty to your teacher, your line of thoughts and so forth, but the exchange of ideas and training with people from different groups, I think will elevate the overall level of aikido. But moreover, I think it can strengthen the art and all of its practitioners and will allow us to do more things together. Perhaps some national events.

I couldn’t agree with you more. When Stan Pranin Sensei passed away and I took over the helm at Aikido Journal, I found myself in a position to spend time with, and learn from so many different instructors and aikido practitioners around the world from different lineages and organizations. I found it to be so enriching from a technical development perspective and also from the perspective of building new friendships. I was able to gain a better understanding of what the art of Aikido is and what it means to me personally. So I really resonate with what you’re saying.

Well, we have the responsibility to promote aikido as O-Sensei taught, but at the same time, reality tells us that we are influenced tremendously by who was our closest teacher in the beginning of our training. But we shouldn’t be restricted to only that lineage. I think if we want to grow, we have to find a way to unite. So one of the fortunate things out of the tragedy of this pandemic is that it gave us the opportunity to look inwards and say, “What are we doing wrong? What can we do to work together?” So I am very proud in a way to see the resilience and creativity of the Aikido community and I’m hopeful that through this time of physical isolation, we can build new friendships and alliances that transcend physical geography, organization, and lineage. We will need the strength that brings to face the challenges ahead.  

Christopher Mulligan Sensei began studying Aikido in 1974. He spent 11 years in Japan studying mostly at the Hombu dojo in Tokyo. Chris, along with Yoko Okamoto Sensei, established Portland Aikikai in 1993. Since returning to Japan in 2002, he has held the role of senior instructor at Aikido Kyoto, a prominent Kyoto-based dojo headed by Dojo-Cho, Yoko Okamoto. He holds the rank of 6 dan shihan. In addition to his Aikido expertise, Christopher has been an ESL/EFL teacher and administrator for nearly thirty-five years with an expertise in curriculum development, material selection, and design. In Japan, he has taught full time at several universities (Temple University, Kansai Gaidai, and Ritsumeikan University) as a lecturer, assistant professor, and associate professor.

In both first and second language acquisition, children or beginning students often apply a fallacious learner strategy referred to as “overgeneralization.” This is when learners overgeneralize a grammatical rule in cases where it doesn’t apply. In the case of the past tense, they apply the –ed form with irregular past tense verbs, as well: “I goed to the store,” “I knowed what he said,” “I swimmed in the river.” These are not necessarily errors, but rather interim linguistic stages of their interlanguage (Selinker, 1972). In aikido, we often see the same with beginning students. For example, in the process of doing katatetori ikkyo, where the nage correctly controls uke’s hand while holding the thumb, yet when coming down to pin, nage suddenly changes their grip and holds the wrist as in shomenuchi, or yokomenuchi ikkyo. Here, as in language development, they are overgeneralizing the shomenuchi version of the pin. This is an example of analogies that I often use in my aikido classes. I see the world through the lens of a linguist.

I have been an ESL /EFL instructor for more than 35 years. I have been studying aikido even longer and have been teaching for more than 30 years. Along the way, I have noticed and often incorporated similarities of language acquisition to that of aikido development in the dojo. There are many similarities not only in the metalinguistic acquisition process, but also similarities in the subsequent pedagogical execution of both. These similarities are not just inherent in aikido, but also apply to all body arts in general.

Input

In order to learn language we need input. In language, the input can come in the form of heard speech or written text. The input has to be comprehensible as well. Comprehensible input is input that contains language that is a bit beyond the current understanding of the learner—and the focus is on meaning, not on grammatical form (Krashen, 1982). Children in an elementary school would not acquire Chinese by listening to Chinese news programs, because the input is beyond their comprehension. We move to a higher level when the input is just above our present level, or what Krashen would term i+1 (1982).

In aikido the input comes in  two ways basically: visually watching the teacher throw and maybe to a certain extent, the verbal explanations presented. This is visual and auditory input. The input can also come from being thrown. Here, information or input is transmitted by sensation. We get to feel for how the waza should be done, or not be done depending on the quality and experience of the nage. Moreover, the input the learner sees or feels should be within their range of comprehension. Thus, the need for varied levels and the opportunity to train with people who are above their level is essential. Being thrown by the instructor is also crucial because this is the most direct way for a student to be given correct input keyed to the level of the student. The inappropriateness of the input is often demonstrated in seminars, when beginning-level students flounder in intermediate or advanced oriented classes. They see but do not comprehend.

In ESL/EFL, there are those who oppose pair or group work because the input they receive from fellow students at their level will not be near to or native proficiency, providing what is called “bastardized input.” The fear is that input provided by non-native proficiency will lead to fossilization: where incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot be easily corrected. In aikido, the image the students receive is also very important; it cannot be bastardized. If the body is the mode through which this input is transmitted, then the teacher needs to have a command or proficiency when demonstrating. Just like with language acquisition, the input must be provided by a “native speaker.” The critical question then is: Have the teachers who are teaching truly achieved a mastery proficiency of the art necessary to provide the quality input needed for acquisition to occur correctly?

Output

As well as input, we also need output. According to Swain & Lapkin (1995), output allows second language learners to identify gaps or differences in their linguistic knowledge, first by attending to the input and second by making efforts to communicate. We do this by noticing specific features in the input, comparing them to our present understanding, and then attempting to utilize the differences in an utterance. This is what is referred to as hypotheses testing. By uttering something, the learner tests this hypothesis and subsequently receives feedback from an interlocutor. If the utterance is not successful the speaker may (consciously or unconsciously) revise communication—gradually rising to a higher-level proficiency.

In language, interaction usually occurs in discourse, but in aikido it occurs when we throw each other. The learner attends to the input by noticing specific aspects of the teacher’s demonstration, footwork, handwork and comparing it to their present understanding, then with their partner they attempt to apply the difference. The feedback they receive will either validate or negate their hypothesis. This feedback enables reprocessing of the hypothesis if necessary with subsequent throws. Just like hypotheses testing in language, being attentive to the feedback from uke, the student’s proficiency will gradually rise.

An important point to mention here is that the process of “noticing” and “comparing” creates a richer form of input commonly referred to as intake. Many students watch but they do not see! According to Schmidt (1994), a direct link between input noticing and production must be established for acquisition to occur. Only when the input is attended to can further processing be possible and this is especially true when the input is unstructured or lacks a specific focus. The process looks something like below:

Input-noticing–comparing-testing –revising

In Taichi, for example, if I am following my teacher doing the 24 yang form, I notice that her hand position is higher than mine. The comparison helps me adjust getting me closer to a more competent performance. As the teacher comes around and provides correction, she will either confirm or negate the adjustment.

This begs the question of what is the appropriate feedback. How much leeway should students be given in order to expedite their hypotheses testing? Does this directly contradict an art that is often times transmitted in a highly orthodox, stylized manner, thus frustrating the process?

Schmidt (2001) further states that the students’ lack of proper noticing or attention and awareness is the main cause of language fossilization whereby regardless of the amount of correct input a learner is exposed to, many features of the language still become stubbornly arrested in their second language (L2) acquisition.

As instructors, we often see students who have plateaued, or whose development seems to have been arrested or fossilized. The ability to heighten attention and awareness in the dojo is a controversial one. Do we try to lower the affect, making it more relaxing—or does a higher affected, more martial atmosphere help sharpen attentiveness? Moreover, in smaller dojos that do not have the luxury of providing basic classes, beginners who start in mixed-level classes, where there is no systematic pedagogical progression, often miss fundamental features of the techniques that they would have otherwise naturally been exposed to in fundamental classes.

In the dojo, how do we facilitate the input to intake process? In the classroom, the language task or the isolation of specific features in the input creates the opportunity for noticing. A well-structured class with clear goals and objectives helps expedite this process. The teacher creates an environment that makes learning possible and provides a delimited goal to provide clarity. In the dojo, having a theme or specific focus helps students better attend to the input. Clustering elements into a logical provocative flow: Are you just taking five techniques (responses) from one attack or are you using the input to teach a certain principle: for example, where is the point of disengagement from a grab, or using the triangle as a tool for destabilization. The theme gives the input an intellectual or emotional charge that helps the information stick. Additionally, are the classes well-structured, demonstrative, and are the techniques done in a highly repetitive fashion providing repeated opportunities and time for students’ hypotheses testing?

Another way to draw a student’s attention to certain features and encourage noticing is the use of consciousness-raising activities. In grammar, it is an approach that provides specific data and students have to create the rules inductively (Ellis, 2002). Or showing how one feature that seems structurally similar actually operates differently in context. For example, tag questions, which are structurally identical, may have a falling intonation, denoting confirmation and rising intonation indicates the need for clarification. “This is the chemistry lab, isn’t it?” (falling: where the speaker is quite certain that it in fact is) compared to “This is the chemistry lab, isn’t it?”(rising: where the speaker is in doubt and seeking confirmation of the assumption).

On test, students often confuse the handwork on yokomenuchi shihonage and shomenuchi shihonage, the latter requires a crossing of the hands before you strike with a cut.  Same is true for yokomenuchi kokyunage and shomenuchi kokunage. Teaching these two forms together, and highlighting the differences implicitly or explicitly may make students more conscious of the differences, creating a higher level of noticing.

Surface Level vs. Deep Structure

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (2014): “Deep and surface structure are often used as terms in a simple binary opposition, with the deep structure representing meaning, and the surface structure being the actual sentence we see.” Chomsky (1964) identifies this linguistic dichotomy as a way to address some of the weakness of structural linguistics and to show that language learning is not a process of imitation, but rather an internal cognitive activity. It also helps explain ambiguities in the language. “I shot an elephant in my pajamas,” “Bob likes Mary more than me,” or “Call me a cab, please.” The meaning of the concrete surface representation lies in the deep structural grammatical transformation.

In aikido, the taijustu (body art) would be the concrete surface manifestation of a waza, but the rationale for the technique probably comes from the use of sword or spear, residing in the realm of the deep structure. Aihami nikkyo was probably applied when an opponent grabs a swordsman’s hand trying to prevent them from drawing, then the swordsman applying nikkyo with the hilt of the sword as the counter. This may reinforce the belief that only through weapons training do we truly acquire a deeper knowledge of the aikido body arts.

Moreover, because the acquisition of language is an internalized cognitive process, once the process has been triggered, it becomes generative in nature. Chomsky stated that there are unlimited possibilities once the acquisition process has started. Language is not something that is memorized. Aikido in a sense can be the same. Once you have acquired the foundation there is any number of generative possibilities.

Negotiation of Meaning

A basic principle of second language learning is the need to negotiate meaning in any language-learning situation. Once meaning is established, comprehension follows.  It is “the process by which two or more interlocutors identify and then attempt to resolve a communication breakdown” (Ellis, 2003, p. 346). It is a communicative repair-oriented “modification and restructuring of interaction between interlocutors when they experience comprehension difficulties” (Pica, 1994, p. 494). Long (1996) suggests that this process creates a higher potential for understanding between interlocutors. The strategies of negotiation, in this case, include the listener’s request for message clarification and confirmation; the speaker may then repeat, elaborate, or simplify the original message. These strategies are also inherent in both L1 (native language acquisition) and in L2 (second language acquisition).

In aikido, we either consciously/unconsciously—verbally or nonverbally– try to achieve a resolution to a breakdown in training—trying to adjust our effort to achieve a medium where optimal training can occur without a win/lose end-game. The negotiation will differ according to the power relationship between each practitioner. I recall training with a peer at the Hombu Dojo. Initially, I was trying to be the alpha dog, however, my partner responded with an equal amount of aggression—instead of resulting in mutually-assured destruction, implicitly without verbalization, we adjusted the intensity of our attack, eventually finding a medium for optimal training, where we both benefited. This negotiation of meaning is also an important part of conflict resolution, the process by which two or more parties reach a peaceful resolution to a dispute.

Accuracy vs. Fluency

In language learning pedagogy, there is a spectrum ranging from accuracy on one end and fluency on the other. Accuracy is the ability to produce language with grammatical and lexical accuracy, while fluency requires learners to produce language in a more coherent holistic way—in normal communication. Where we are on the spectrum, will often be determined by the level or the focus of the class: skill-based vs. communication-based. In more elementary levels, the focus would shift more towards an accuracy-based position, focused on the technical details, and gradually moving to the other end of the spectrum as the level goes up where the details are incorporated into the organic flow.

In aikido, on the accuracy end, working on conditioning skills and basic forms (kihon waza), or gradually grading activities from simple to more complex helps promote this process. The over-reliance on accuracy, however, can create students who lack fluidity and tend to be lumbering in their movement. The need for fluency, getting students to move in a smooth and fluid way, (nagare waza) where they are able to improvise and generate various possibilities is also crucial. Here jyuwaza (free movement) practice can be effective. Where you are on the spectrum, often depends on the level of the students. In basic classes, teachers should lean more towards the accuracy end, and in advanced classes, more towards the fluency side, ending each class with at least 10 minutes of jyuwaza.

Another way the accuracy/fluency dichotomy can be manipulated is by deconstructing a waza (accuracy): breaking it down into its logical parts and then reconstructing it, the same way you would a paragraph or an essay. The deconstructive approach allows students to see the discrete parts and how they connect to make a whole (the trees vs. the forest approach). This is a manageable way to lead students from discrete forms to a whole movement, while at the same time addressing differences in learning styles and broadening the level that can be accommodated in each class.

Peer Learning and Zone of Proximal Development

The zone of proximal development (ZPD) has been defined as: “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). Peer learning is a way that you can accommodate a wider range of levels in one class by combining less-experienced students with students who have greater experience or expertise. In the classroom, it is done by skillfully pairing or grouping students with “more knowledgeable others” (Wood, et al., 1976), ensuring classroom interaction, and providing necessary scaffolding and support activities to make the information more accessible to a wider range of learners.

In its pure and productive form, this should be the goal of the sempai/kohai relationship, and not as a form of control and power. I am amazed at how the range of learning possibilities changes in a beginner’s class with the presence of senior students. The less-experienced students are able to accomplish something they normally could not have achieved on their own or with a student of the same level.  At the same time, the sempai (more experienced peers) gain a deeper understanding of the skill by transmitting it. We learn the most when we teach something! Therefore, having black belts and more experienced students attend beginner classes not only expands the zone of development but also accelerates the learning process for a whole range of students.

Conclusion

Research and development in any field should drive practice, not tradition. This is illustrated by the poor quality of English language instruction in Japan. Teachers are not informed about the recent developments in second language acquisition (SLA) or are overwhelmed by the stubborn ingrained reliance on an arcane grammar-translation approach where the majority of classroom input is still in Japanese. The more informed you are about the process of language learning, the more effective you will be as a teacher. This also applies to the teaching of aikido. How many instructors are educators, who, aware of the process of learning, are utilizing the latest research and development to create a more systematic, pedagogical approach to the teaching of body arts? Could this be one of the factors for the decline of the art in the USA? Teacher certificates are issued, but based on what? Is there explicit instruction given on how to teach more effectively, how to manage a class (especially of children), and  how to manage a dojo? Is attending several seminars a year providing the instruction necessary to be an effective teacher? This-is-the–way-my-teacher-taught paradigm is impervious to the fact that curriculum development and pedagogy is an “ongoing, and iterative process” (Dawley & Havelka, 2004) that is constantly changing according to innovations in the field of education.

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