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An Update from Sensei
Dear students and friends of Three Rivers Aikido,
Considering we have had technical difficulties with our web servers, I feel
it’s time to fill you in on the recent news of what’s going on around the
dojo. In October I was invited for my first trip to Japan. Dan Woods (2nd
Dan), acted as my deshi on this trip as we visited Hombu Dojo and met with
the Doshu and several instructors. The training was so interesting and in
many ways different to the classes that we traditionally teach in St. Louis.
The Doshu’s emphasis of basic posture and technique will be something I will
remember and study for a long time to come. The meeting and photos with the
Doshu will always be a highlight of my trip to Japan. His comfortable and
personable manner and his inquiry as to how Seagal Sensei is doing made us
feel very much at home.
After classes, Dan and I, along with Dan’s significant other, Emily, visited
every city and national museum we could find, spending great time looking at
national treasure samurai swords that were on display. I have been
collecting samurai swords for over thirty years and to see the national
treasures up close, in perfect polish with great lighting to see all of the
intricacies of these incredible swords was like being in the presence of the
Mona Lisa (but better). Emily, Dan and I also visited many shops that
carried polishing equipment and stones for my new apprenticeship in sword
polishing. My interest in dating, evaluating and restoring old traditional
samurai swords has never been greater in the last thirty years of my
collecting.
After we left Tokyo on the bullet train, we traveled to Kyoto and then to
Osaka. In Kyoto we met up with my student, Eric Six (1st Dan), who came to
visit from his home in Hiroshima. His two years of living in Japan really
helped us in seeing Japan in a more intimate way. His constant outpouring of
Japanese culture, folk tales and history were so important to Dan, Emily and
me that I would like to thank him here in front of the rest of my students
and friends.
Climbing the mountains to visit the Shinto shrines was incredibly
moving for our group. At the end of the day we had to find an
appropriate restaurant where we could actually figure out what we were
ordering and not be too surprised. Dan, during one of the excursions,
insisted on visiting this particular restaurant. Nobody spoke English and
there were no pictures to point at on the menu. Still… Dan insisted on
eating there. After all, we had already taken off our shoes and were sitting
on the floor. So, there was no graceful way to leave anyway. I had to admire
Dan. When the waitress came over and said everything in Japanese (and we
couldn’t understand one word); to Dan’s credit, he figured out she was
probably asking for our order in as polite a manner as she could to us poor
“Western Barbarians”. As I was saying, to Dan’s credit, he proudly opened
the menu, pointed to one of the lines of Japanese text and smiled. With
that, Emily and I asked Dan to order for us also. Dinner was great and even
recognizable, but dessert was another adventure.
One of the great highlights of our trip was to meet and train with Abe
Sensei (10th Dan for the last forty years and O Sensei’s great friend).
Training with Abe Sensei is truly getting a lesson in what the ki in Aikido
really is all about. His amazing vitality and ninety-four years of age and
his ability to throw and train with every single person in the dojo is just
beyond belief. His approach, I suspect, must have been very near to O
Sensei’s in O Sensei’s final years. What struck me was his student’s
attentiveness to his every teaching and their constant respect for this
magnificent man.
After Abe Sensei’s Aikido class, Abe Sensei invited Eric, Dan and me into
his office where he presented all three of us with a calligraphy. Abe
Sensei, to my knowledge, is a living national cultural treasure and the top
calligrapher in all of Japan. I met Abe Sensei at an invitation by one of my
old students at the University of Iowa. It was obvious that after he had
thrown all one hundred of us that he was an incredibly special human being.
I was very humbled and thrilled to take ukeme from him and enjoyed his
constant smiles and twinkling eyes as we laughed with each other the whole
seminar. Abe Sensei, at the end of the seminar, demonstrated his calligraphy
for all to see and appreciate. He tried to make the connection of breathing
and body motion in calligraphy and Aikido as being the same. At the end of
the demonstration, he took out an extremely large brush and made one last
eight and a half foot calligraphy and presented it surprisingly enough to
me. In a smaller brush-stroke he wrote in Japanese “Made with my ninety year
old little arms.” After this experience, Dan and I were sure we had to visit
this great teacher in his dojo. I will always be appreciative. I also want
to express my thanks to all of his students in Japan and the U.S. for
setting this training up for Dan, Eric and me.
After our whirl-wind tour,
I am more determined than ever to create a better Aikido for the world.
In Aiki Spirit,
Elliot Freeman Sensei
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