Aikido is a Language


nishio08
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
[This article by Nishio Sensei was first published in Takemusu Aiki – Kanagawa Univsersity Aikido Club – No. 6 1980.]

In martial arts the technique is an expression of the way of the art. Every martial art is involved in refining its technique. In Aikido we too strain day and night to improve our technique.

Thus, let’s try to think about how we practise techniques and the contents of our techniques. The doubt that comes into mind is “Is it really ok that every time we practise we do it in the same way as it was done in the past?” I personally believe that it must not be the same. This is because I see the raison d’ĂȘtre of Aikido as completely opposite to that of Japanese martial arts of the past.

There is probably no need to explain that the manner in which we practise, that is the way we seek the path, is expressed in our technique.

Since it is like that, then when we compare Aikido with the martial arts of the past the way of expressing our technique must necessarily change (I use the word “change” but that is in the meaning “develop”).

Put specifically, it is a complete change from a budo that takes to a budo that gives, from the foolishness of collision to the richness of communion.

Therefore lets try to look at the techniques in Aikido today. It is said that the techniques that are usually being applied in training are well above a thousand. The problem here is whether the Aikidoka is diligent in refining and understanding correctly the meaning of those techniques.

No matter how many techniques you learn they will not be useful at all if you don’t understand the correct meaning of them.

In what way do we for example grasp and understand the concept of maai (Editors Note: Maai is the distance between attacker and defender).

As far as I can see it, the situation today is that most people just come to the dojo and move around without even having the honest doubts of a beginner (I can’t call that training).

I don’t think that budo training is good if we just copy the old stuff because that was the way it was done in the past. However I don’t mean to say that old things are not important. Of course they are important, but a critical mind like ”For what reason do we have to learn the old things?” should be the point of origin for real training.

It is my opinion that to know how to do new things properly it is necessary to know the old things and in that sense old things (in Aikido’s case old techniques) are also necessary.

What I want to emphasize is that if we in our budo training always seek only old things then our budo will end up no good. A budo that follows the path of Kobudo (old martial arts) cannot survive the times and will end up as an empty shell.

Techniques in budo not only become useless when they get old, in time they may also do others harm and cause the ruin of ones own body. In that sense techniques in budo must continue to be renewed and improved over and over again.

Next, let us look at Aikido that has a different training method from other budo. It is said that there are more than 1000 techniques in Aikido and I will affirm that in one stroke. They all come from the one step of irimi. Irimi lets innumerable techniques emerge depending on its appliance in each situation and it is also here that we find the meaning of Takemusu Aikido -a budo that creates.

From ancient times competitions have been used to determine the mental and technical level of a martial artist and also today this method is applied in different martial arts and sports.

It is only in Aikido that this is not found necessary. Why is that?

To this question I was never able to get a satisfying reply from my seniors.

As commonly known it was very difficult to understand even half of the words that were said by the founder O-Sensei. If you understood one third you were among the top said the older students. Many years passed before I was in a state where I finally understood what I was told at that time.

It is now a little more than 10 years ago O-Sensei passed away and I have used the words of O-Sensei as a guidepost to reach the understanding of Aikido I have today.

First, why is it not necessary with competition in Aikido? This is because Aikido was born with a completely different purpose than that of the old martial arts. The purpose of the old martial arts was to take – suppress, destroy and ultimately take the life of the opponent. Aikido was born to be a budo that gives - a budo that shows the opponent how he/she should live and prosper.

At this point it is necessary to compare with other Martial Arts. Each martial art continues in strenuous devotion to a specific kind of technique. For example some specialise in the sword, some in kicks and punches, and others in throws and holds. In other words each of them only knows one expression of budo and to test their progress they apply competition.

But in real martial arts a fight is nothing like that. It is to stand face to face with death, and not something like a contest.

Therefore the competition that many martial arts except Aikido apply does not have a very high significance in a martial arts perspective and the same judgement has to be made on the practise methods that are applied in these arts.

It is not my intention to say that we should not compete but instead fight to the death. Such kind of thing cannot be allowed in modern society.

Therefore those people who want to know the strictness of real martial arts should already pause at this point and take a new look at things (in martial arts when confronting the opponent) and be strict against oneself.

”Being strict against oneself” in martial arts is to be able to, at any time, defeat and destroy the opponent that confronts you and not doing it. It is to make sure not to destroy the opponent but to greatly spare the opponents life.

Moreover, in order to foster the ability to make this possible, you must continuously practise with such mind and without lack of strict devotion through a long period of time.  

In Aikido the technique is a manifestation of ki and you can say it is a tool for reflection. KI is the source of life and that means the source of creation of all living beings. We cannot allow techniques that are generated from ki, from the source of life, to hurt other people.

In Aikido it is possible with the principle of irimi issoku to instantly destroy the opponent. But people who know the foolishness of destruction and the preciousness of life should not destroy an opponent.

The techniques of Aikido are such that the confronting opponent is given a place, a chance, for soul searching.

There are one, two or three places in each technique where you can destroy the opponent. These are the moments for soul searching.

In the process of performing a single Aikido technique, no matter how simple a technique, the essence of each and every martial art is found. This is something unique to Aikido.

Properly speaking this contradicts the fact that most people continue as ever to hit, clash and fight each other at the very moment of contact where you in fact with your Aikido technique can control the opponent.

We start our practise by taking hold of the hand. In a modern martial arts sense, in the modern fighting sports and the like grasping the hand is unthinkable.

How do people who diligently practise understand this point? Most likely they just practise without understanding it all. Or rather maybe because they don’t understand they feel they should just continue to practise.

The way of practising in Aikido by grasping the wrist manifests the helping and guiding spirit of Aikido. It is the method to realize the ideology of giving and guiding in Aikido. And even from a martial art perspective it can fully satisfy the people diligent in the pursuit of martial arts.

This is something that everyone at my place has a certain degree of understanding of but it is quite impossible to understand for people who only know the practise method of fighting each other. To know the opponent’s heart and mind and to know the importance of the moment of contact in budo practising by grasping the wrist is very important.

The practise of clashing gives birth to hatred and causes destruction, but those who know the practise of communion foster mutual love and it gives birth to new things. In daily life the communion between people gives birth to love, friendship and new life.

In any Aikido dojo there are wooden swords available, but to what extend are they used properly?

If you know how to use the sword correctly the same principle can easily be applied against the thrusts, punches and kicks of modern fighting sports even without the sword.

As it is often said Aikido is the manifestation of the principle of the sword in the body movements.

The foreign sword was for the sole purpose of destroying the enemy. The Japanese sword is different. It is the soul and spirit of the person carrying it. It is the finest when sword remains in the scabbard without hurting others or injuring oneself but once it has been drawn you can control everything in the moment of contact.

The Aikido technique we express with our body – that is with the heart of aiki and the principle of the sword – is not to make the opponent surrender but it is to reach a mutual understanding.

In other words it is exactly the same purpose as human language.

In that sense you can probably say that the practise that takes place in the dojo in Aikido is a hearty talk.

Aikido’s technique is in this way different from the techniques of other martial arts. The correct practise method in Aikido and the correct technique, are seen by whether both parts have a mind to seek correctness.

Correctness is then measured by mutual search for harmony.

In conclusion the correct way to practise and learn Aikido is when it becomes possible to talk to people through the language of technique.

I hope people practising Aikido, as soon as possible, and as many as possible, can talk together heart to heart by the language of Aikido – technique.
[Edited and Translated by Jan Max Bunzel. The Japanese text can be found http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~nisio/ text no 4. Budo and martial arts are used synonymous in the translation. If you have any comments on the translation please mail these to jan_max_bunzel@hotmail.com (underscores between names in mail address). The article has been edited for Web publishing.]

Nishio Atemi and Irimi


nishio00
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Nishio Atemi and Irimi

Nishio Entering


nishio04
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Nishio Entering

Nishio Sayu Undo


nishio03
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Nishio Sayu Undo

Nishio Irimi Tenkan


nishio06
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Nishio Irimi Tenkan

Nishio Boken 2


nishio09
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Nishio Boken 2

Nishio Boken


nishio10
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Nishio Boken

Nishio Shihan Atemi


nishio3
Originally uploaded by jimmycuervo21
Photos Of Shoji Nishio

Sejarah Singkat Dojo Sho Hei Kan

Pendirian dojo Sho Hei Kan diawali dengan pertemuan antara Agus Hermawan dengan Shigekoshi Satoru sensei pada tahun 1998 yang pada saat itu Satoru Sensei menjadi salah satu pengajar yang dikirim oleh pemerintah jepang untuk mengajar aikido di indonesia. Kedekatan keduanya mulai terjalin saat agus hermawan mulai berlatih aikido di aula sanata dharma dimana Satoru Sensei sering melatih disana. Seiring dengan kedekatan keduanya setra minat Agus Hermawan yang tinggi terhadap aikido maka pada akhir tahun 1998 dia membangun sebuah dojo aikido di daerah janti yang diharapkan dapat menjadi sarana terjalinnya komunitas aikido jogjakarta. Sekitar bulan juni 1999, dojo tersebut mulai melakukan kegiatannya hingga 16 Desember 1999 dojo diresmikan dengan nama dojo Sho Hei Kan. Nama Sho Hei Kan sendiri merupakan ide dari Shigekoshi Satoru Sensei yang merupakan singkatan dari sho yang berasal dari nama Shoji Nishio, Hei yang berasal dari Morihei Ueshiba, dan Kan yang artinya tempat. Jadi Sho Hei Kan adalah tempat berlatih aikido yang mengajarkan teknik Morihei Ueshiba (honbu) dan teknik nishio. Selain itu, nama Sho Hei Kan juga mengingatkan kita bahwa aikido lahir pada masa kekaisaran Showa (hirohito) dan Heimin (akihito).

P.S. Latihan ( pria & wanita ) setiap hari Senin, Rabu, Jum’at jam 19.00

Pendaftaran dibuka setiap pada saat latihan atau bisa contact :

· Sempai Kirno

HP : 0818.02654449

Email : sirno_sun@yahoo.com

Prelude Aikido di Jogja

Aikido diperkenalkan pertama kali oleh Morihei Ueshiba atau yang lebih dikenal sebagai O’ Sensei (1883-1969). Sebelum menciptakan aikido, O’ Sensei berlatih secara mendalam bermacam Jujitsu, Daito ryu, Aiki Jujitsu, Kenjutsu (Yagyu ryu dan lainnya), jojutsu dan beberapa beladiri yang lain. Ueshiba Sensei sendiri juga melatih diri dalam beberapa pelatihan jiwa dan pikiran (terutama omotokyo) sehingga melahirkan pandangan yang menarik tentang harmoni dan beladiri, kehidupan sosial dan relasi dengan tuhan. Secara harfiah Ai adalah harmoni, Ki adalah jiwa atau energi, dan Do adalah jalan. Jadi aikido berarti jalan untuk mencari keselarasan dengan alam semesta. Ueshiba mengintegrasikan prinsip ini ke dalam beladirinya dan mengembangkan aikido tidak hanya sebagai sistem berperang, tetapi juga menjadi media peningkatan, pengembangan, penguasaan tubuh, jiwa, pikiran kehendak dan intelektual. Setelah O’ Sensei wafat, Honbu Dojo dipimpin oleh anaknya yaitu Kisshomaru Ueshiba (1921-1999) dan dilanjutkan oleh cucu O’Sensei yaitu Moriteru Ueshiba (1951-sekarang).

Shoji Nishio Sensei (1931-2005) adalah salah seorang murid langsung dari Morihei Ueshiba Sensei. Shoji Nishio Sensei memiliki pemahaman yang unik mengenai Aikido dan mengintegrasikan pengetahuannya yang mendalam dalam Iaido,Iiaijutsu, Karate, Judo, Jojutsu, dan beladiri yang lain ke dalam aikido. Meskipun Nishio Sensei mengembangkan aikido sehingga memiliki perpektif dan manifestasi yang baru tetapi nishio sensei selalu berlandaskan pada ajaran dan filosofi dari morihei Ueshiba Sensei sebagai penuntun dalam pencariannya.

Nishio Sensei merumuskan sisi beladiri di aikido sebagai Yurusu Budo, “beladiri penerimaan” seperti yang dikutip berikut ini “pedang di aikido tidak digunakan untuk menciptakan kematian, tetapi sebagai alat untuk memperbaiki hal yang salah di dunia, dan jalan untuk menyempurnakan diri. Aikido adalah beladiri yang mengendalikan musuh sesaat ketika konflik belum terjadi, sehingga menjadi awal untuk mewujudkan keadaan dimana usaha saling membunuh atau mengalahkan digantikan dengan hidup berdampingan secara damai”. Hal ini merupakan manifestasi dari yang dimaksud O’sensei dengan “aikido adalah jalan untuk melindungi dan mencintai, membangkitkan dan membentuk, menghasilkan dan mengembangkan segala sesuatu di alam semesta ini” (nishio,2005).

Salah satu elemen penting dan tujuan dari aikido nishio adalah misogi no ken (pedang pemurnian) dimana pedang di aikido tidak digunakan untuk melakukan hal yang salah tetapi agar membantu satu sama lain menghilangkan keburukan diantara kita (Nishio,2005). Hal ini menyebabkan aikido menjadi media melatih tubuh, kehendak, jiwa, hati, karakter dan pikiran. Nishio sensei juga menyatakan bahwa hati dan aikido adalah michibiki yaitu kehendak untuk memberi, menuntun dan memahami kehendak sesama untuk mencapai tujuan bersama yang positif dalam setiap tehniknya. Karakter khas dari teknik nishio adalah tangan kosong, ken, jo, dan iai memiliki ekspresi yang sama dan tidak berbeda dan merupakan satu kesatuan yang utuh (Ri-ai). Elemen lain yang sangat penting dalam Aikido sebagai Yurusu Budo adalah Irimi Issoku, Atemi no Kokyu, dan Misogi no Ken.

Membicarakan sejarah aikido di jogja tentunya tidak terlepas dari sosok Laddy Lesmana yang akrab dipanggil sebagai pak lesmana. Jasa beliau dalam memperkenalkan aikido di Jogjakarta dimulai dari ketertarikannya terhadap olah fisik aikido yang berkaitan dengan olah rasa yang pernah dipelajari pada beladiri lain dan diantara kedua beladiri ini ternyata memiliki tujuan yang sama. Saat itu di jogja belum terdapat dojo dan kebetulan di semarang terdapat dojo aikido baru sehingga pak Lesmana berlatih disana bersama rekannya pak Handoko. Semasa itu aikido diarahkan oleh Maeda Sensei (dan 5) yang ditugasi oleh JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) untuk mengajarkan aikido di indonesia selama 2 tahun. Setelah beberapa kali latihan aikido di Semarang, pak Lesmana bertemu dengan aikidoka Haris asal Bandung (sabuk coklat) yang saat itu sedang bersekolah di salah satu smu di Jogja. Akhirnya pak Lesmana, pak Handoko, Haris dibantu pak Suyoto mempunyai ide untuk membentuk dojo aikido di jogja ini pada tahun 1996. Dojo pertama kalinya di Jogja ini bertempat di sebuah ruko (lantai 2) di daerah Janti (depan dojo Sho Hei Kan) dan dinamakan dojo jogja. Saat itu keanggotaannya pun masih bersifat terbatas. Pada tahun 1997 dojo jogja pun dibuka untuk umum.

Setelah masa kontrak Maeda Sensei habis, beliau digantikan oleh Yahagi Sensei (dan 3). Sejak itu, Yahagi Sensei rutin setiap bulan memantau perkembangan aikido di jogja hingga akhirnya dojo jogja berkembang pesat. Setelah satu tahun dojo jogja beroperasi, jumlah anggota pun semakin banyak maka tempat berlatih dipindahkan ke kemetiran (sanggar Senam Savitri) kemudian berpindah lagi ke aula universitas sanata dharma berkat jasa aikidoka Tata (saat itu sebagai mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma).

Setelah masa tugas yahagi sensei melatih aikido di indonesia habis, beliau digantikan ileh Shigekoshi Satoru sensei. Saat itu, Satoru Sensei harus belajar bahasa indonesia di wisma bahasa Demangan Baru, sehingga kehadirannya sangat mendekatkan hubungan beliau dengan pada aikidoka yang beruntung dapat menimba ilmu dari beliau hampir setiap hari. Pada tahun 1998 Agus Hermawan (sekarang sebagai Dojo Cho Sho Hei Kan) ikut bergaung mempelajari aikido di dojo jogja (lokasi masih di Sanata Dharma). Hingga kini jumlah dojo yang ada di jogja sudah lebih dari 5 buah dojo dan yudansha yang dihasilkan dojo jogja antara lain :

Angkatan 1: Grendy F., Wawan Setiawan, dan Wiwid W.

Angkatan 2: Frisko Santatanov

Angkatan 3: Eduard Rusdianto dan Teguh Juwono

Angkatan 4: Agus Hermawan

Interview with Shoji Nishio (1984), Part 2

What is the role of the present Hombu Dojo?

Mr. Ito: Their duty is to re-evaluate and run the organization properly.

Nishio Sensei:I think so, too. Nowadays, there are many branches all over Japan. But these are not at all functioning as branches, they are branches in name only but not in fact. This is because there aren’t talented people who can make them function or there may be some people preventing the branches from functioning. For the future development of Aikido, we need the strength to remove the grumblers. We shouldn’t indulge ourselves. Some people might say that a forgiving mind is the expression of Aikido, but I don’t think we can run the organization with that feeling. If you think of the future, we should band together. But if someone changes his mind, we should forgive him. That’s the Aikido way of thinking. It shouldn’t be a permanent exile. If the person himself changes his mind, we should forgive him. The central point of Aikido is forgiving. We should praise him for his actions. During daily practice, people who don’t know how and when to draw a sword or how to sheathe the sword shouldn’t swing the sword. As a result, they will cause damage everywhere. Sheathing the sword without hurting anyone is the future Aikido. We should learn the proper way of wielding the sword. You have to be able to express humanity through individual techniques. Those who only can execute ikkyo, nikyo and sankyo are not professionals. We should be able to express humanity with our bodies.

For example, the rank of gokyu involves knowing how to move about properly. We should start learning how to sit, stand up and walk properly. Proper behavior is really difficult. The budo world is completely at fault with regard to this point. Whatever is done is ineffective. They merely assume a stance. We have to begin correcting this. We teach this through the ken. The way of walking of many people is wasteful. If there is approximately five centimeters difference in each step you take, there would be a great difference of distance after taking a hundred or thousand steps. Another thing is that unneeded power is used. To make them understand this idea, I have students use the ken.

In fact, last year there was a movement. Yamaguchi Sensei suggested to me that we should hold a seminar for exchanging techniques. If there was a big difference in the numbers of the two groups, I requested that he take 5 or 6 from among his deshi or instructors. However, they didn’t come. It didn’t amount to anything. I was really looking forward to it. I wanted to explore the true way of budo with them. If holders of the 6th, 7th and 8th dans of Hombu dojo come we will train with them. Whoever comes from anywhere in the world, we will train with them. However, unfortunately, because they didn’t come, it didn’t become a reality. Someday, I would like to have that type of training.

In what way should Aikido beginners practice attacking?

In Aikido there is no preemptive strike. But in budo training, a proper shomenuchi and proper tsuki are basic. In my dojo I teach how to grab, how to stand up, how to swing the sword and the tsuki and oblique stance (hanmen) and yokomen. Proper grabbing, proper swinging and proper striking are transformed into atemi instantly. The reason I have students use the ken is to have them recognize these movements. In budo, you are inferior and the opponent is superior to you. Your opponent has more power than you. That’s very important. Techniques are for freely handling stronger people. Your power shouldn’t lessen even a little. You have to display 100% power through your body.

What is the importance of warming up before practice?

Even though you are warming up, you should always display your power. When we warm up we move our hands around, but in budo there is a possibility of victory or defeat in these movements.

You must pay great attention to these movements. The way of warming up is different depending on the dojo. In my dojo I explain the meaning of every single movement in the budo sense and have students practice. We can re-apply any form, like tsuki, kicks and ken and jo. By doing this we explain the rules of ken, the rules of jo and how to grab the ken and jo with the students actually holding these weapons.

I usually say that students should improve themselves by acquiring familiarity with the characteristics of Judo, Karate and Kendo. You won’t get anywhere by criticizing these arts. Those who say they are worthless are themselves worthless. You can further improve yourself by keeping in mind that they are wonderful arts. Without restricting ourselves to Aikido only, we should teach Judo, Kendo and Karate people the true content of Japanese budo. “You have these positive aspects which we are learning from your arts.” Conversely, we should teach them the wonderful aspects of Judo, Kendo and Karate. I think this is the duty of people who practice Aikido. There are various kinds of people who come to my dojo. When I go to a regional area, Kendo and Karate people come. For example, atemi is for stopping the opponent’s initiative in an instant and for controlling him without endangering him. This is what atemi should be. I think that this is a new way of doing Karate. Karate where you hit your opponent with full power isn’t good. I think our duty as Aikidoists is to teach Karate people the true budo life. I never limit myself to only a few opponents but always pay attention to Judo, Kendo and Karate. We should teach them a deeper Judo, Karate and Kendo.

This is one of our tasks. We are finished if we only do “Aiki Dance”.

In Aikido, one step means to accept the attack of the opponent. It shouldn’t be one step which ignores people. I wish people would recognize and help each other and complement each other. Our “one step” means “irimi” which has great content. It is to lead the partner. We should face the partner. If you turn away, he will turn away too. We can express humanistic traits through striking, kicking and use of the ken and jo in Aikido as budo. In my case, I have my own opinion and I express it. I can reapply it in an easily understandable form. Until now, people have only imitated. If they adopt old ways, they will not improve. Being old means being noneffective. If you practice in that way it doesn’t work now.

In the Aikido sense, Miyamoto Musashi is the biggest coward. There’s is no one more cowardly than him. He was a pitiable man. In the Japanese budo world, they say that there is no one greater than Musashi. But I tell lai and Kendo people without apology that Musashi was a cowardly person all of his life. He was a wild animal afraid of the rustle of trees and plants and the sound of the wind. He never had a wife, never took a bath and died in a cave. Even when I read The Book of Five Rings (Musashi’s treatise on swordsmanship), I wasn’t at all impressed. It doesn’t include human emotion. He lived all of his life in fear and trembling. It doesn’t matter if you bump into a person. If you are a person who can say, “Hi! How are you?”, it’s wonderful, isn’t it? Instead, if you become angry and say, “You bastard!”, you’re not a human being but a wild animal. That’s what I say. Musashi was the lowest form of human being. I say without apology you should never become like him. I think much of humanity.

Are you thinking of publishing a book?

I’m always practicing and questioning. So I can’t arrive at an absolute opinion. If you write a book and then die dissatisfied with it, who is going to rewrite it for you? Take the example of Saito Sensei’s books. At that time his techniques were the best, but now there are some aspects which are unsuitable. Especially, in the technical sense. You have to constantly keep rewriting. That is the case even for a person of such a high level. Aikido is to fell your opponent before touching him. You shouldn’t fell him by clashing against him. You should never hit him. You should lead him without hitting him. This is our way. Most people don’t understand this.

Aiki is wonderful. We practice it because we have fallen in love with something none of the other martial arts offer. O-Sensei told me this: “One step means discontinuity (danzetsu). Aikido involves a ‘half-step’.” This is a guiding principle. The “half-step” O-Sensei was referring to was “contact”. If you take one step, it implies discontinuity. O-Sensei’s way of expressing this idea is a little strange. I had a hard time understanding what he meant. He would say, “‘One step’ implies ‘discontinuity’. You should take a ‘half-step.’ There should be ‘contact’. Sanai Hashimoto and Choei Takano (*) had a good idea in the late Edo Period but both were killed. That was because they took “one step”. If they had taken a ‘half-step,’ they wouldn’t have been killed. “If you go to extremes, you’ll be done in. O-Sensei always said that leaders should act while maintaining contact.

When people of the 5th or 6th dan levels teach beginners they should not be condescending to them. Instead they should come down to their level and help them. It’s difficult to go from a lower level to a higher level, but easy to go from a higher level to a lower level. That kind of thinking is needed in present-day society. No one follows you if you use the form of “discontinuity.” If you only complain and give orders from a higher position no one moves for you. However, if you come down and say, “Let’s do it!”, people will move for you. The Aikido way of leading is alive in the real society.

When you say something to someone, what is important is not to talk a lot. What is important about saying something is to be understood. If you can’t be understood, it’s better not to say anything. Much less, if your partner feels a strong negative reaction towards you, it’s better not to say anything. However, in this bureaucratic world, if you can say, “I already said that,” then you have an excuse. This is counterproductive. What government officials or people in an administrative position have is authority and “ken” (fist) is “kenryoku” and the “ken” (sword) we swing is also “kenryoku.” However, our “ken” is not for cutting people. It’s for allowing people to live. It’s a wish for happiness, it creates happiness. The purpose of the ken is to cut a way through brambles. The ken of old Japan was always like that. Aikido’s duty is to re-transform the ken to its former correct form. The purpose of the ken in Aikido is to cut a way for people, not to cut people. That’s why it’s wonderful. O-Sensei said so too.

We don’t assume a stance in Aikido. O-Sensei said, “It’s wrong to take a stance. Taking a stance causes fights. If you don’t take a stance there’s no victory or defeat. You will always win. In Aikido, you win from the beginning. “Usually when your opponent assumes a stance and you do nothing, you feel uneasy. However, if you stand naturally you can enter immediately when it appears that your opponent is about to move. When your opponent moves you have already won. When you stand naturally, the form of the ken is already inside you. In other words, you yourself are inside the ken and you don’t have a body of your own. This is natural. Because you are within the ken there is no way the opponent can strike you. When he moves, you move, so you have already won. If you take a stance, you loose. If you take a stance wondering how to move, it becomes a cause of conflict. O-Sensei’s Aikido is a wonderful way of living and form of expression. I apply these ideas in my training. They are wonderful and can be applied to any opponent. Human beings should not fight. They should instead love each other, help each other, and complement each other. By doing so, they create a humane world. I accept anyone who understands this spirit. What is Aikido seeking? It’s not at all superficial. We have not yet reached this ideal. We advance slowly without impatience. I think practice means communication.

The way of living I learned from O-Sensei is not a matter of strength and weakness. As I told you before, I felt a great difference between the attitude of the two senseis with regard to the theft incidents. The fundamental principles of the Japanese martial spirit are different from the spirit of present sports or the spirit of the western knight. The spirit of the western knight gave rise to present sports. They fight for themselves or their own honor sacrificing everything. But this is not the Japanese budo spirit. They fought for the country, for their people, not for themselves or their honor. In the spirit of Japanese budo one fights together with one’s family for society and the people. With that spirit in mind we eliminate conflict. If you fight by yourself fighting will be endless. If people who say, “I can die to prevent others from being killed” get together, conflict will be eliminated. This is the spirit Aikido seeks. There is a big difference between the Japanese bushido (warrior) spirit and the budo spirit. We shouldn’t make winners and losers. If we have winners and losers we have conflict. If that disappears, we will have a peaceful world. True Aikido doesn’t need the word “lose.” That’s what I think. When O-Sensei first said, “It is not Aikido if there is winning and losing…”, I thought that he was saying something strange. I thought that without winning and losing in the budo world, victory and defeat couldn’t exist. But it’s easy to understand if I think of it now. Winning and losing means conflict. That’s what he meant. His way of thinking was ahead of the times. He had already said such a thing in that period.

I would like to express O-Sensei’s way in a new manner. O-Sensei said that it is a crime to fell opponents or hurt them even a bit. I tell students if they have to hit the opponent to execute a technique when their hands are held, they shouldn’t do that technique. If you have to use atemi, entering with a strike, then you shouldn’t do that particular technique. Aikido doesn’t need that. We never hit the opponent when we do kaitennage, for example, at the beginning of training.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to grant us this most interesting interview. (Translated by Stanley Pranin and Ikuko Kimura)

* Early Japanese practitioners of Dutch medicine who were suppressed by the government.

Taken from :aikidojournal.com

Interview with Shoji Nishio (1992), Part 2

In the technical manual Budo written by O-Sensei before the war, it says that nage should initiate the attack when executing shomenuchi ikkyo.

Yes. That was how it was practiced in the old days. However, we don’t enter directly from the front; instead we do irimi. It’s just a matter of a small difference in angle. If the angle changes 30 degrees you can control your opponent and avoid his attack. This represents a different dimension even from the classical martial arts practiced today. Since we do not do aikido in order to throw, the act of throwing the opponent is already accomplished before actual physical contact takes place. After that I think it’s a matter of how to get one’s opponent to become self-reliant while having him undergo a process of proper self-examination. I believe this is the right direction for martial arts to take. What purpose is there in throwing someone first? I think what is necessary for the future is the concept of allowing people to live. I think we must strive to achieve this through training.

Sensei, do you employ concepts from classical martial arts philosophy such as sen no sen (anticipation of attack) or ato no sen (response to an attack) in your teaching?

This sort of question was asked of a number of martial arts practitioners in a psychological study conducted by Tohoku University about our opinions on space and rhythm. It’s the same everywhere; martial artists say that things such as sen no sen are necessary in order to learn how to distract the opponent and enter. However, in aikido such things are completely unnecessary. We don’t disrupt the opponent’s breathing because in the aikido way the opponent adjusts his breathing and we adjust our breathing accordingly. When I replied to this survey with the statement that the aikido way encompasses a completely different dimension, they said it was the first time they had heard such an opinion. O-Sensei would often say. “You and your opponent breathe as one so that he comes to strike. What do you do if you disturb his breathing? In aikido we regulate people’s breathing.” Both the opponent and I grow together. Our way of thinking shouldn’t be on such a low level as to need to disturb people’s breathing. Therefore, in our way of doing things there is no kamae (combative posture) or anything. That’s the fastest way.

Would you please elaborate on this thought?

There is no kamae in the aikido way of thinking. Our basic premise is that we are dealing with someone in a normal manner. Aikido is really a searching spirit, the idea of connecting. We deal with the opponent from a correct position. It’s not a question of avoiding the opponent but rather one of creating a space for him. If you do things in the classical martial arts manner, you can instantly throw an opponent. In aikido we enter along the opponent’s center line because by blending with him and making a place for him we don’t receive his attack. So if you take that idea and use it in the opposite way, you can throw an opponent in a single instant. However, we don’t do that since we regard it as a crime. A person was regarded as strong if he threw an opponent in that way in martial arts before the development of aikido. This is the way of the weakest type of person. Aikido offers an opportunity for the opponent to properly recover by reversing the power used to throw an opponent in classical martial arts.

You really should write about your way of thinking even if you don’t do a book on techniques. Sensei, what are your thoughts on the aikido situation today?

It’s something that concerns me. It seems that it is moving away from being a martial art. You can’t consider something to be a martial art unless it has power. I believe that being able to successfully deal with an opponent brings things to life for the first time and that martial arts become useful for helping and protecting people. We have to protect each other. Our power must be used for protecting and assisting people.

I think this is something that a foreigner living in an unstable society can easily understand. You are not the only one, Sensei, who is worried about modern martial arts, but things don’t seem to change.

It’s hard to explain, but this is the kind of training we are doing now. Last year and the year before, I went to France and they are also very interested in our training method. I demonstrate how to deal with a sword, with a punch, and all different kinds of attack. I think that is what is wonderful about aikido. You can apply it just as it is to everything. O-Sensei spoke the truth when he said, “You can do these techniques with a sword, a jo, or anything.” All of this is part of aikido training. However, most dojos don’t do things this way.

For example, how would one handle an attack from a high-ranking karate practitioner?

My main background is not in karate, but that sort of thing can be easily handled. You can read his intent. For example, you can tell someone’s rank in judo by the way he ties his belt or what his favorite technique is. You can usually tell if a karate man is going to kick or punch.

The wonderful thing about body turning movements in aikido is that they can be used in any situation. O-Sensei’s thinking was great. He made a tremendous change from the former unforgiving, lethal martial arts to a “forgiving martial art.” In this sense, his way of thinking was an advance over Kano Sensei’s ideas of “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” and “mutual prosperity.” I think that at the time Kano Sensei came up with the concept of mutual prosperity it was a revolutionary way of thinking. But O-Sensei’s way of thinking was even more advanced. “Forgiving, giving, and leading” were his words. Previous martial arts, since they were concerned with the taking of life by force, valued forceful seizure rather than giving.

Kano Sensei was first and foremost an educator.

Yes. His ideas were wonderful. But O-Sensei’s ideas were broader in scope.

To what extent do you think that O-Sensei’s moral or spiritual side was influenced by the Omoto religious sect?

I think that the spirit of O-Sensei’s aikido was influenced not only by the Omoto religion but by other things as well. It was as if he was bom with it. It was not simply that he joined a religion. He went beyond that. I am happy to have met such a wonderful person as O-Sensei. His idea was that if aikido —this revolutionary martial art method which was born out of his personal experience—could be even a little bit useful, he wanted to leave it to society. Martial arts are not for the purpose of fighting, but rather for the purpose of eliminating fighting. It is also for that reason, for the protection of all people, that we must become strong. In other words, what is necessary is the strength not to injure your opponent. If you have that power, things can be solved without throwing the opponent.

My impression is that in your dojo the techniques are always suited to the attack.

Yes. I always say, “Now we are doing it this way, but if we extend this a little more the opponent will fall. However, because we regard throwing the opponent to be a crime, we avoid the attack like this.”

Depending on the circumstances, the ability to attack is sometimes necessary in order to protect people.

We can attack. Since we know how to attack we don’t have to throw. Since we are able to throw we don’t fight or engage in matches. Everyone is convinced by this. Therefore it’s necessary to teach everyone atemi strikes. It’s possible to kill a person with a single finger.

Sensei, your movements are quite rapid. I think there must be various levels of understanding required to attain such speed, including such things as reading the opponent’s intention, timing, balance-breaking, dealing with the attack, throwing, etc. There must be different levels beginning from the initial maai (combative distance) to completion of the technique.

Actually, I have never intended to do things quickly.

Student: Sensei, your jo techniques are so fast they are like a spinning fan! [laughter]

Maybe your movements are natural for you. Sensei, but they are so fast that people watching can’t tell what has happened. Would you explain your training approach in a little more depth?

We practice 20 different kinds of nikyo alone, and when we use the sword and jo, the technique changes a little as does our way of doing things. I always tell my students to choose a special technique for themselves out of these. In judo and karate most people have only one technique in which they specialize. I tell everyone to develop one technique that they can definitely use to win. I tell my students that in aikido we finish things off with just our appearance.

You often travel abroad to teach. How long have you been doing this?

For about 7 or 8 years.

You’ve traveled to Scandinavia, America, and more recently, France. In foreign countries, there are serious problems with violence and drugs. I think that people who come to practice want a martial art they can really use, not just a health method. I think that this is a difference between the way foreigners and Japanese look at aikido.

I think that in the beginning everyone starts training because they want to become strong. I think this changes because there is a difference between being strong in training and being strong as a person. There is the strength needed to be able to throw someone and there is another strength required to be able to protect someone. I focus on the latter. When I travel abroad, I state this clearly. For example, if I am explaining a punch I’ll say, “You shouldn’t use this in a normal situation. Stop here. If you extend here your opponent will fall. You should go this far.” Now I travel abroad for short periods of time so when I explain something they say they want to practice what I have shown them. Unfortunately, however, they haven’t developed a solid base. For example, very few can use a tegatana (hand-blade) properly.

Does your tegatana come from karate?

The basis of it does. But there are few karateka in Japan who have a high level of atemi technique. I tell my students that it’s a shame that techniques are disappearing and urge them to pay more attention to preserving them. I think that one of the roles of aikido is to offer such techniques as atemi. I think that atemi are the soul of Japanese martial arts. Atemi temporarily neutralize the opponent’s fighting ability and allow him to correct his attitude and return to his previous condition. The number of people who know how to use atemi to a certain extent is gradually decreasing. Therefore, I think that in aikido we should preserve this skill and use it when necessary.

Taken from : aikidojournal.com

Foreword to new book by Shoji Nishio Sensei


A number of people have suggested over the years that I publish a book. So far I have always refrained from doing so for several reasons. First, I have always considered myself simply another follower on the path, in a position neither to serve as a model for others nor to assert my views on budo technique.

However, having grown older, and having already mourned the passing of such teachers as Seigo Yamaguchi, who held my highest respect from the very beginning of my aikido career, and Morihiro Saito, who worked so tirelessly to transmit the Founder�s aikido in its purest possible form, I began to consider what will happen to aikido from this point on.

Aikido is a �budo,� a �martial way,� and therefore inextricably rooted in �jujutsu� or �martial technique.� Yet when I look at the aikido world today, I see very little �budo-ness� being expressed in technique, and I wonder if people haven’t begun to forget these important roots. While people often say things like, �Aikido is sword technique…� and �throws and pins are actually strikes….,� there is rarely any explanation of such ideas. There are even some who claim that aikido has no need for things like striking and weapons techniques. In many settings these days, aikido is becoming little more than a kind of health exercise pursued by the elderly and women and children.

It was in light of these considerations that Aiki News Editor Stanley Pranin once again approached me to publish a book, and I finally agreed with the caveat that I would simply be expressing my own thoughts on training.

I often tell people who come to train with me my view that the value of a budo is determined through comparison with other budo; even if you’re superficially mastered techniques like ikkyo and nikyo, these are pointless unless you can make them work in the context of other budo. Judo, kendo and karate all have their own stong points and we must study these too. Budo techniques are not permanent and unchanging; if other things change, then naturally budo change in response. What does not change, of course, is the spirit of aikido as it was taught to us by the Founder.

As the goal of my training I have always strived to realize even one of the Founder’s teachings. He taught, for example, about a certain universality inherent in aikido: With a sword this technique becomes a sword technique; with a jo it becomes a jo technique; it can become all things.� He also said, �the conflict is finished even before first contact is made.� Such teachings are the kinds of things I have strived to study in the course of my daily training.

The result, while still imperfect and incomplete, is that I am now able to express my everyday empty-handed aikido training using the sword (ken) and staff (jo).

Before starting aikido I had dabbled in both karate and judo. When I later heard it said that �aikido is the sword,� I took up studying swordsmanship as well. My subsequent practice has confirmed that idea, to the extent that I now doubt it is possible to understand aikido fully without some understanding of swordsmanship.

The sword in Japan has an undeniably bloody history. The sword of aikido, however, steps back from that use of the Japanese sword as an implement of death and attempts instead to restore it to its true, original nature: namely, as an ideal tool for rectifying that which is wrong in the world, for cutting a path by which humanity can live, and for perfecting the self.

Nowadays, I strive to use my aiki sword and jo to control my opponent from the moment just before contact would have been made between our weapons, attempting from there to embody forms in which cutting is superseded by mutual coexistence. In this sense, I consider aikido a morally principled �Yurusu Budo,� that is, a �budo of acceptance,� and a manifestation of what the Founder meant when he said that �aikido is a path of loving and protecting, generating and forming, and bearing and cultivating everything in the universe.� Before the Founder passed away thirty-four years ago he told us, �This old man has brought [aikido] this far; all of you must take it from here.� In light of these words, I think it is insufficient—unforgivable, in fact—for us to simply maintain the status quo.

I don’t think budo is something that can really be understood by reading books or watching videos; true comprehension can only come through actual experience. Accordingly, putting it all into words here will undoubtedly make for difficult reading. Nonetheless, I offer this publication in hopes that subsequent generations of aikidoists may find it of some small use, both as a genuine view of budo and as a pointer toward some of the worthwhile forms that aikido training might take.

Shoji Nishio

Interview with Shoji Nishio (1992), Part 1

The last time we interviewed you. Sensei, was about eight years ago [1983]. On that occasion you talked to us a bit about your early training experiences. I believe you enrolled in the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in about 1951.

That’s right.

Did you enter as an uchideshi (live-in disciple)?

No. The uchideshi at that time were Kanshu Sunadomari present head of the Manseikan dojo in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Sadateru Arikawa [present Aikikai shihan], and Mr. Noguchi. Shigeo Tanaka and Mr. Sakai were commuting to the dojo.

At that time was there a distinction between the aikido taught at the Yoshinkan and the aikido that you practiced at the Aikikai?

At that time the Yoshinkan had managed to open a dojo in Tsukudo Hachiman, but there didn’t seem to be any distinction made in what they were doing.

This unusual photo of everyone posing together was taken about 40 years ago. Here are Doshu, Morihiro Saito Sensei [head of the Ibaragi Dojo], Koichi Tohei Sensei [present head of Shinshin Toitsu Aikido], Kiyoyuki Terada [Yoshinkan shihan], Gozo Shioda Sensei [originator of Yoshinkan Aikido], Seigo Yamaguchi Sensei [present Aikikai shihan], Sadateru Arikawa [present Aikikai shihan], and the late Kisaburo Osawa Shihan [former director of Aikikai]. Looking at this photo, it doesn’t seem as if there was much of a distinction made between what different people were teaching. Did the late Kenji Tomiki Sensei [first president of the Japan Aikido Association] also sometimes come to practice?

Yes, at that time he came to practice and we sometimes trained together and would go to Okubo Station together on our way home.

Mr. Tomiki and I would leave for home together. The area around the dojo was burnt out during the war and there was nothing there.

Did Tomiki Sensei talk about competitive aikido at that time?

No, he had not yet begun to talk about it. But since I knew Mr. Tomiki from the Kodokan days, we would sometimes practice things like the eight-comer balance-breaking exercise (happo no kuzushi) when he had time. At that time I hadn’t been practicing aikido very long but I already knew quite a bit of judo and karate and I felt that he was easy to understand.

I believe Tomiki Sensei emphasized theory quite a bit in his conversations.

Yes, he thought about things from the standpoint of academic education. He would talk about rikaku judo (judo techniques executed from separated position, i.e. aikido techniques). I believe that Tomiki Sensei thought about changing aikido in a way similar to how Kano Sensei changed jujutsu into judo. I also felt it would be good if this method were adopted into junior and senior high school education. In other words, if you do a martial art like aikido when you are small, you may end up learning it superficially, and won’t be able to overcome your bad habits when it is important to do so. The result is poor technique. Because of this, I thought it might be good to have young people practice aikido competitively. My thought at that time was that it might be better to begin aikido at about university age after one has acquired a certain amount of judgement. Children practicing aikido lack the ability to understand it. From that standpoint, I thought that it might be good to incorporate Mr. Tomiki’s method [competitive aikido].

Did Shioda Sensei sometimes come to the dojo to instruct?

No, he didn’t teach. He would sometimes show up if there was an event. He would often peek into the dojo to see what we were doing. Mr. Mochizuki [present head of Yoseikan Hombu Dojo] would come too. I look back with fond memories on those days.

Besides O-Sensei was there anyone who served as a model for you at that time?

I learned quite a few things from Mr. Yamaguchi’s methods. He knew some things I didn’t. My background was in judo and karate, but he had studied the sword while in middle school under the old education system. I felt his approach was very original.

We were told that aikido came from the sword, but I was never convinced by the answers to my questions about this. So around 1955 I started to practice iai and also jodo. There were very few people doing iai at that time. Since I was doing it in order to learn aikido, I didn’t get caught up in a single style, but rather practiced a number of different systems.

The schools were all different depending on the period from which they came. But this was something that was necessary. For example, something like the present institutionalized iai which is based mainly on Omori-ryu is not particularly useful for us. That system evolved into a part of the samurai etiquette during the Tokugawa period. It’s far from being a real fighting system. My doubts about it started with the way they wear the sword. It’s impossible to sit while wearing a long sword. That’s the position for the short sword. Samurai didn’t sit while wearing a long sword. If you went to someone’s house you deposited your sword with the host. If you were somewhere where it was okay to have your sword, you placed it either behind you or on your opposite side. This was to show that you weren’t going to draw it.

Would you elaborate more on your sword background?

I learned directly from quite a few sword teachers, such as Shigenori Sano Sensei and sword masters who were 9th and 10th dans at that time. Normally, you couldn’t get close to such people, but I was young and lacking in discretion. I didn’t restrain myself and when I went to them they would talk to me a lot. Those experiences are very useful to me now.

What about your training with the jo?

For my jo training I went to the Shindo Muso-ryu dojo of Takaji Shimizu. It was about the same time, around 1957 or 58.

There is a man named Hosho Shiokawa who is the headmaster of Mugai-ryu and is the current ECO Karate Federation president and All-Japan Jodo Federation vice-president. It seems that he also was going to Shimizu Sensei’s dojo at that time. In his book he writes something about me. You’ll understand if you read it. He was having trouble progressing in karate and started practicing aiki. I was having problems with judo and started aiki. We trained together for about two years. After that, he went to Mr. Shimizu’s dojo to train. I went too, but it didn’t suit me at all. I’ll introduce him to you sometime, so why don’t you meet with him? He came to the dojo when Mr. Tohei was active. If you meet him I think he’ll talk about Mr. Tohei and Mr. Yamaguchi. He’s truly an exceptional person. He also taught at Sogen Omori’s dojo and for many years at the Tesshukai. Then I went to Shimizu Sensei’s dojo to talk for about half a year and met quite a number of people. I usually practiced jodo at the Yokohama dojo so if there was something I didn’t understand I would go to Shimizu Sensei’s place to ask questions. He taught me many times. His instruction has been very useful. A great man like that has many great things to offer. I tell my own students that if they are going to visit other teachers that they should see the top people. Then, even if there is something they don’t understand now they will someday benefit from what they have been exposed to.

Where did you practice karate?

First I went to Yasuhiro Konishi Sensei’s dojo. In those days Japanese university students who practiced karate were quite weak. Many young fellows were going to the universities to teach. I didn’t pay attention to different styles and whenever a new dojo opened I would go have a look. I didn’t concern myself with such things at all. In the beginning Tokyo was a fire-ravaged area and there weren’t any dojos.

Let’s see. First you did judo, karate, aikido, iai, and jodo. Did you practice any other martial arts?

I also practiced the spear. I did a little juken (wooden bayonet) training in school.

When watching your training today I saw that you apply the jo and ken to your practice of empty-handed techniques. Are they also applicable to atemi?

In our practice of the throws and pins of empty-handed techniques the important principles of tsukuri (preparatory action for attack) and kuzushi (balance-breaking) almost always involve atemi. I use atemi techniques and breathing (kokyu) in tsukuri and kuzushi. When I started aikido there were few throwing techniques. There were only iriminage, shihonage, and kotegaeshi. I made up most of the hip-throw techniques because of my background in judo.

It seems that Mr. Tohei once said, “Nishio’s not doing aikido. I don’t know whether he’s doing judo or karate, but it’s not aikido. He doesn’t know how to extend ki” [laughter].

Interview with Shoji Nishio (1984), Part 1

We understand that you first practiced Judo and Karate. What made you begin to train in Aikido?

When I first came to Tokyo, I was rather frail. I didn’t do anything. In 1942, after the war broke out, I used to go to the city Judo dojo. I was working for a public office then. In 1944, after the air raids, I started working the night shift so I was unable to continue my training. The war ended on August 15, 1945 and I went to the Kodokan on the 1st of September of the same year. There wasn’t anybody. There wasn’t even any glass in the windows. It must have been melted by the heat during the air raids. There was only half the number of tatami. The only person there was the old caretaker. There were no application forms. I just used plain paper and left it there. Then, I was contacted by the Kodokan and received a certificate of approval to begin training.

How old were you then?

I was eighteen. I was the first person to enter the Kodokan after the war. (Laughter) Anyway, there wasn’t anybody. There were no lights so it was not possible to train in the evening when it became dark. There was a time when I went there and practiced ukemi by myself and then went home. That’s how it was. About that time, the demobilization started. A lot of people appeared at the Kodokan. The following year it became very active. I was promoted to 3rd dan and 4th dan. I began to notice that there were restrictions in techniques because of competition. Because of that problem, I felt the limitations of Judo and started Karate. My teacher was Konishi Sensei of Jinen-ryu who had practiced Karate longer than anyone else at that time. I was practicing Karate with Konishi Sensei but I also felt the limitation of Karate. I thought there must be something else.

At that time, a former Karate sensei of the Butokukai named [Toyosaku] Sodeyama who was running Konishi Sensei’s dojo and also teaching there came up to me and said: “I met someone who is like a ‘phantom’. I couldn’t strike him even once.” I was amazed that there was someone that even Sodeyama Sensei couldn’t strike. It was O-Sensei. Sodeyama Sensei came back to Japan after the war. Since he did not have anywhere to go he came to Konishi Sensei. Then he was told to come to Hombu. Sodeyama Sensei laughed to himself thinking that this Aikido was being performed by such an old man. O-Sensei felt that the Karate sensei was making light of him and said: “You are thinking that you can strike me, aren’t you?” Sodeyama answered: “Yes.” O-Sensei then responded: “I see. I see. Strike me. I’ll just walk around. If you can, strike me.” Then he started to walk around he dojo. Sodeyama Sensei felt vexed as though he was being made a fool of. If they were confronting each other face to face it would have been all right, but O-Sensei turned his back and started walking around inviting him to strike. (Laughter) Sodeyama Sensei thought to himself: “What the hell kind of old man is this!”, and suddenly got up and tried to strike O-Sensei. But O-Sensei turned around and said: “What’s the matter?” Sodeyama Sensei froze in the act of striking with his hand poised in mid-air. In the twinkling of an eye, there was a distance between them. Saying, “Damn it!” to himself he tried to strike him again. Then O-Sensei repeated, “What’s the matter?” (Laughter) He couldn’t strike him at all. Then Sodeyama Sensei realized he had encountered a great sensei. He had to give full credit to O-Sensei saying, “I give up!” It was Sodeyama Sensei who told Mr. Nakajima and me to go to see O-Sensei and so we went. It was around 1951. Anyway, I went to see Aikido and immediately joined the dojo. I was told to go and see but I never went back. (Laughter)

Mr. Nakajima didn’t join up, however, saying he wanted to do a little more Karate. After one year, he came to practice Aikido. He practiced Karate and became a 6th dan. He continued Aikido until receiving his 2nd dan. He told me that his viewpoint on Karate as a budo had changed. I thought that if I used this kokyu I might be able to go back to Judo, however.

Mr. Tohei went to Hawaii in 1953. On his return, he brought back a leather coat which was impossible to obtain at that time in Japan. It had fringes like the ones you see in western movies. He had a leather coat when it was impossible even to obtain leather shoes… I really thought it was amazing. Then, that coat was skillfully stolen. That was what had happened when I turned up for training. I saw that all of the uchideshi had been made to sit in seiza and Mr. Tohei was shouting something. Then I heard that Tohei Sensei’s coat had been stolen. At that time Mr. Noguchi, Mr. Genta Okumura and Mr. Sunadomari were some of the uchideshi. Then O-Sensei appeared asking, “What’s up?” When Mr. Sunadomari explained what had happened O-Sensei responded: “Oh, it was stolen, was it?” (Laughter) Then he came into the dojo. Tohei Sensei also sat in seiza because O-Sensei entered. O-Sensei started to walk around them. We were really wondering what he was going to say. What he said was: “You’re the one to blame, Tohei.” Then, he disappeared. Tohei sat silently for a while. Then he, too, disappeared. Everybody was relieved and started training. (Laughter) After practice, I was leaving for home and ran into O-Sensei who was on his way to the bathroom. I went up to him and said, “O-Sensei!”. He said, “Ooh!” I asked, “A few minutes ago when Tohei Sensei had his coat stolen, you said he was the one at fault. Why did you say that?” He answered, “Don’t you understand why? Those who practice budo shouldn’t have that kind of spirit (kokoro). One shouldn’t show off things which people desire to have. You can show off things you can give, but otherwise you shouldn’t. Poor man, he took the coat because he wanted it. However, by taking it, he became a thief. It’s all right to have the coat stolen, but he was made a thief. Stealing is a bad thing, but the man whose coat was stolen committed the original sin. He created the occasion for an opening (suki) in the man. As a budoka (martial artist), that’s bad.” I was really amazed and I learned the depth of Aikido. To tell the truth, when I was practicing Judo, Mifune Sensei’s house was robbed twice in his absence. Those incidents were written up in a monthly magazine entitled “Judo” published by the Kodokan. Mifune Sensei was quoted as saying, “The next time he robs my house in my presence, I will catch him no matter what happens, even if I am killed!” An old man, nearly seventy was saying he would catch him even if he was killed… I was really impressed by Mifune Sensei’s reaction at that time. However, there was a big difference between O-Sensei’s and Mifune Sensei’s words. One was saying he would catch him even if he was killed and take him to the police. The other was saying that the thief took it because he wanted it and that he should be let to have it, that it was the person who was robbed that was at fault. There was a world of difference between the two spirits. I thought that even though one practiced Judo all of his life, he could only reach this staqe. On the other hand, I thought that the depth of Aikido as budo was great. It was that incident which caused me to stop my Judo training. O-Sensei’s way of thinking appeared in practice itself. He said, “It’s wrong to use the words ‘winning and losing’. You shouldn’t think in those terms.” His words were great. As we continue to live I think it’s important to digest all of his words.

They say that O-Sensei practiced the sword and staff, but he did so in the process of giving birth to modern Aikido. Even though we imitate him we will not be able to go beyond what he did. O-Sensei used to tell us, “This old man reached this stage, you should surpass me building on what I have left.” However, we tend to imitate what he did and end up going backward. Ten years from now, we may be practicing the level of Aikido of O-Sensei as it was a number of years ago. After fifteen years, we may end up going back to the forms he practiced at an even earlier date. This is not right, he told us over and over again to go beyond what he did. People like us didn’t understand what he meant. But after several years, when we ran into some obstacle, we would think to ourselves, “Oh, that’s what he used to talk about.” Our activities depend on O-Sensei’s words.

When you began practicing Aikido was O-Sensei living in Tokyo?

No. He rarely came down from Iwama. It was half a year after I joined the dojo that I saw his face for the first time. Until then, I only knew about him by hearsay. There weren’t any pictures of him like we have now. You know Mr. Otake who lives in Iwate Prefecture now, he used to be the captain of the Kendo Club at Waseda University. He participated in the National Kendo Championship several times and became famous as a representative of Tohoku Prefecture. It was he who told me, “This is it! He looked exactly like this”, while pointing at a drawing of a dragon with glaring eyes hanging in the tokonoma (alcove). I used to think “Gee, does he really look like this!” (Laughter) When he smiled, his eyes disappeared. But when you just caught a glance of him, the impression was really strong. When he looked at something for a second, his face disappeared into his eyes. (Laughter) O-Sensei used to tell us a story. We were really cheeky. For the most part, people did not approach O-Sensei… Whenever I had a question I went up to O-Sensei and asked, “O-Sensei, there was something I didn’t understand of what you said a little while ago.” Sensei would say, “Oh, good you noticed that.” O-Sensei often had me draw a circle, triangle and a square and would say, “Keep it with you and bring it to me when I need it.”

One day, when a guest came it happened that he explained the drawing and I was told to give it to him. But when I looked at the present Doshu he made a negative gesture. I think it was because once O-Sensei began talking about the drawing the conversation would be long and would be an imposition on the guest since he wouldn’t understand it. I was in hot water. One of them told me to bring it and the other, the opposite… Also, I myself had drawn it. O-Sensei asked, “What’s the matter?” So, there was nothing for me to do but give it to him. If that drawing was put somewhere, it would always disappear! (Laughter) Then, he would say, “Oh! It’s gone!” and have someone redraw it.

One week before O-Sensei entered the hospital, we posed for pictures with him. I said to him, “Sensei, let’s take a picture.” He told me to bring him his “montsuki” (kimono bearing family crest). He said, “My photo will remain. What I’m wearing is not appropriate.” I went to the present Doshu’s wife and asked for the montsuki explaining that we were going to take a picture of O-Sensei. Well, she sure complained a lot. (Laughter). It was very troublesome to have to dress him up in his montsuki. Anyway, we finally got him dressed. There was a sign which read “Aikido School” and I think he wanted a picture to be taken in front of the sign. He stroked the sign affectionately. We took the pictures there. That was in February 1969. One week after that he entered the hospital. That was the last picture. O-Sensei passed away on the 26th of April. I had a call in the morning and I drove fast to his bedside. I was the first one to arrive. Then Mr. Okumura, Mr. Yamaguchi and Mr. Tada came. His face was really beautiful like a Noh mask of an old man. If one dies of cancer, there is usually a lot of suffering and the pain remains on the face. But, that wasn’t the case with 0-Sensei. He had a divinely beautiful face.

Taken from :aikidojournal.com

Shoji Nishio (1927-2005): Aikido’s Innovative Genius

The young are often moved to action by heroic images. Like their heros, they long to become strong and just. As they are young and inexperienced, the path most immediately obvious to them is that followed by their heroes before them. Uncritical imitation is the first step in the quest of the young to become like their heros.

From time in memoriam, the warrior-soldier is the most likely candidate for a culture’s heros in that most nations have armies and engage in warfare. In our modern world, where the actual battles now take place in third-world proxy nations, the martial artist has risen to the warrior-soldier level in the eyes of our young due mainly to the impact of the mass media.

Turning back the clock to war-ravaged Japan of 1945, the image of the martial artist would overnight supplant the soldier/hero who had gone down to defeat in the devastating conflict just ended. The choice for the 18-year-old Shoji Nishio would be to continue his training in judo in order to develop his body and become strong like his martial heroes.

Born in 1927 in Aomori Prefecture, Nishio made his way to Tokyo as a teenager to work just prior to the outbreak of the war. He soon took up judo at a local dojo in order to improve his frail physical condition. When the war ended, training in martial arts was severely limited by the occupation forces and the famous Kodokan Judo headquarters had all but ceased operations.

Gradually, as troops repatriated to Japan after the war, activity at the Kodokan picked up and Nishio was able to resume his judo training. An enthusiastic, hard trainer, he steadily rose through the ranks eventually receiving a 4th dan. However, Nishio found himself dissatisfied with judo because of the compromises made to the art’s techniques to accomodate competition.

As a supplement to his judo training, Nishio took up karate in the late 1940s under the famous Yasuhiro Konishi (1893-1983), founder of Shindo Jinen Ryu. Nishio practiced karate for several years through 1952, but also found this art limited for similar reasons. There was a strong initiative afoot to modify the traditional techniques of Okinawan karate to bring this art into conformity with modern budo forms—primarily judo and kendo—which had been converted into sports.

As fate would have it, there was a close connection between Konishi Sensei and aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba that extended back to the early 1930s when Ueshiba was active teaching at his newly-built Kobukan Dojo. Konishi was already an accomplished karateka who had trained under many leading karate masters of the day such as Gichin Funakoshi, Chojun Miyagi, Kenwa Mabuni, and Choki Motobu. Konishi also trained seriously for several years with Ueshiba whom he considered “the greatest martial artist he had met so far.”

In 1952, one of the senior instructors at Konishi Sensei’s dojo, a certain Toyosaku Sodeyama Sensei, mentioned to the young Nishio that he had met a martial artist who was like a “phantom!” Nishio recalls: “I was amazed that there was someone that even Sodeyama Sensei couldn’t strike. It was O-Sensei [Morihei Ueshiba]…. Anyway, I went to see aikido and immediately joined the dojo. I was told to go and take a look at aikido, but I never went back to karate!”

Young Nishio joined the barely active Aikikai Hombu Dojo sparked by Sodeyama Sensei’s enthusiasm. However, there were few students in the dojo at that time and a couple of families displaced by the war were still living there. Classes were taught mainly by Morihei Ueshiba’s son, Kisshomaru, and Koichi Tohei. Training consisted of a relatively small number of techniques and about half of practice time was devoted to suwariwaza techniques done in the dojo, only part of which had tatami mats. Nishio describes the spartan conditions of those early days of Aikikai this way:

No one was there and sometimes I would swing a sword and then go home. We were lucky to have five people. It was a time when all Japanese were hungry and only people who could be called martial arts fanatics would come! The people who did come to train were those that had practiced arts like judo and karate, but thought that there had to be something more, something deeper than these arts. So everyone came after having tried something else. There was no one whose experience was limited to aikido. That was not a cause for concern. Today, when people know only aikido, many are filled with doubts.

When Nishio joined the Aikikai, the founder Ueshiba O-Sensei was spending most of his time in Iwama in Ibaragi Prefecture. It was a full year and a half before Nishio saw the imposing figure of the founder in action for the first time. What particularly impressed Nishio about Ueshiba’s technique was his lightning fast handling of the sword. Dazzling as his technique was, Ueshiba offered no real explanation of what he was doing. For example, when Nishio inquired of his seniors about the use and importance of the sword in aikido, no satisfactory answer was forthcoming, so he decided to take matters in his own hands.

Nisho was convinced that aikido was the true martial path for him. At the same time, he found shortcomings in its practice methods, especially after watching Ueshiba’s incredible sword work and noting the lack of inclusion of sword techniques in the art’s curriculum. To remedy things, as he had done before, Nishio took up the study of iaido (Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu) with 10th dan Shigenori Sano in 1955, and then jodo (Shindo Muso-ryu) with the famous Takaji Shimizu (1896-1978). Each of these arts contributed to his knowledge of the use of weapons and, in turn, complemented his aikido training. Not everyone was pleased with Nishio’s forays into other arts as his aikido began to take on a unique flavor.

Nishio recalls with a smile a remark attributed to Koichi Tohei: “Nishio’s not doing aikido. I don’t know whether he’s doing judo or karate, but it’s not aikido. He doesn’t know how to extend ki!”

Nishio also felt dissatisfied by the relatively few throwing techniques of aikido that included mainly iriminage, shihonage, and kotegaeshi. Little by little, he developed his own innovative repertoire of techniques that included aikido hip-throws (koshiwaza) based on his background in judo. In a like manner, he systematically incorporated atemi modeled on sword movements to facilitate the setup and execution—“tsukuri” and “kuzushi”—of techniques. He also devised sword and staff counterparts to empty-handed techniques drawn from his extensive weapons background.

Despite being somewhat out of the aikido mainstream, Nishio nonetheless rose quickly through the ranks achieving 5th dan in 1958 after only six years of training. This was not uncommon in the early years of aikido and many of the principal figures from the 1940s and 50s such as Tohei, Saito, Yamaguchi, Hikitsuchi, and numerous others were rapidly promoted.

By the mid-1950s, aikido was undergoing steady growth as many branch dojos, and university and company clubs sprang up all over Japan. Nishio began teaching more and more on the outside and frequenting the Hombu Dojo less and less. He was employed at the Japanese Mint during the day and taught aikido at night at various locations in Tokyo and its suburbs. Nishio’s network of dojos practiced methods that were widely seen as a deviation from the standard curriculum of Hombu that was based primarily on the approaches of Kisshomaru Ueshiba and Koichi Tohei. He did, however, maintain close ties with the headquarters organization and regularly participated in large aikido demonstrations and social events. The founder Ueshiba and his son would often appear as guests at the functions of Nishio-affiliated dojos.

When Nishio retired from his job with the government mint in 1980, he was an aikido 8th dan, iaido 7th dan, judo 6th dan, and karate 5th dan. This signaled a new era as he was free to devote full time to aikido instruction. His activities were not only limited to Japan, but he also made frequent trips to Scandanavia, the USA, and various European countries, in particular, France. Nishio maintained an active teaching schedule including regular trips abroad for some 20 years. Declining health gradually caused him to curtail his activities in the last years of his life.

Nishio Aikido

Technical

Nishio’s technical legacy is totally unique. Although Morihiro Saito’s aikido also included the use of the sword and staff, what Saito did was to preserve and formalize the founder’s weapons techniques with little modification. Nishio, instead, mastered the basics of several of the modern weapons systems from which he drew many elements in addition to his prior experience in judo and karate.

What then emerged as Nishio Aikido is an amalgamation of elements drawn from judo, karate, iaido, and jojutsu built on the aikido technical framework and philosophy. To supplement his martially-oriented taijutsu or empty-handed techniques, Nishio also developed an elaborate series of sword, staff, and iaido variations.

What are the basics of his system? “In my dojo I teach how to grab, how to stand up, how to swing the sword, the tsuki and oblique stance (hanmen) and yokomen. Proper grabbing, proper swinging and striking are transformed into atemi instantly.”

The highly-principled concepts of aikido take on a physical dimension in Nishio’s aikido. For example, one should adopt a natural stance when confronted by an adversary. “If you stand naturally you can enter immediately when it appears that your opponent is about to move. When your opponent moves you have already won.”

Applied in a social context, the natural stance might be akin to maintaining silence in a verbal exchange until your conversation partner expresses what he wants to say as opposed to arguing with him. Not having defined one’s position allows one to listen to and consider another’s intent and desires before acting. “Human beings should not fight. They should instead love each other, help each other, and complement each other. By doing so, they create a humane world.”

Another important concept is the matching of breathing in unison with the opponent. “We don’t disrupt the opponent’s breathing because, in the aikido way, the opponent changes his breathing and we adjust our breathing accordingly.” Breathing is the key component of the process of unification with an opponent and corresponds to the breathing employed when using the sword which serves as the basis for Nishio’s atemi.

While atemi or “preemptive strikes” have fallen into disuse is mainstream styles of aikido, Nishio saw their employment as essential to the success of aikido techniques: “I regard atemi as the soul of Japanese martial arts. Atemi temporarily neutralize the opponent’s fighting ability and allow him to correct his attitude and return to his previous condition.”

When Nishio explained the use of atemi in aikido techniques he demonstrated their application at successive points in the movement showing that they are always available. No physical contact actually takes place in order to assure safe practice conditions. The movement corresponding to the atemi does indeed neutralize the opponent’s mind and body rendering him unable to continue his attack.

In Nishio Aikido, the mechanics of achieving unification with an opponent often include taking a “half-step.” This is a critical concept expressed by the founder that allows the aikidoka to avoid discontinuity and make contact with the opponent. Looking deeper into the idea we discover that taking a “full-step” translates to opposing the will of the opponent and applying counterforce. In a physical sense, this implies a clash. Applied to social interaction, this is tantamount to imposing one’s will in defiance of or ignoring another’s desires. In contrast, the half-step of aikido facilitates the unification of energies, or, in social terms, a meeting of minds leading to agreement.

Philosophical

Nishio Sensei, while not imitating the founder’s techniques, took the aikido philosophy as espoused by the founder very much to heart. Among these principles that echo Morihei Ueshiba’s core beliefs is the concept that, in aikido, the intent and movement of the opponent are not opposed. Rather, a process of unification of energies takes place where the breathing and movement of the opponent are mirrored, thus allowing the aikidoka to neutralize his aggression. Having controlled the attack, aikido advocates the forgiveness and rehabilitation of the attacker rather than causing injury or death.

In a broader context, one of Nishio’s primary goals was to return Japanese martial arts to their original spirit. The contrast he draws between the Japanese spirit and the western culture are enlightening:

The fundamental principles of the Japanese martial spirit are different from the spirit of present sports or the spirit of the western knight. The spirit of the western knight gave rise to present sports. They fight for themselves or their own honor sacrificing everything. But this is not the Japanese budo spirit. Samurai fought for the country and the people, not for themselves or their honor. In the spirit of Japanese budo, one fights together with one’s family for society and the people. With that spirit in mind we eliminate conflict. If you fight by yourself, fighting will be endless. If people who say, “I can die to prevent others from being killed” get together, conflict will be eliminated. This is the spirit Aikido seeks.

Nishio chose the sometimes controversial path of not imitating the founder’s technique, but rather absorbing aikido’s essential principles and adapting them to the current cultural context. In this regard, his technique was constantly evolving as his technical understanding and skills improved. For this reason, Nishio’s aikido bore little resemblance to orthodox aikido exemplified by the Hombu approach that tended to be conservative in nature. “Budo must always reflect its surroundings. If it isn’t newer and stronger, it isn’t valid.”

Shoji Nishio was one of the strongest advocates of understanding and adapting the profound principles of aikido into one’s personal interpretation of the art. Morihei Ueshiba’s philosophy served as a beacon for Nishio’s thinking and actions in developing his unique form of aikido.

O-Sensei’s thinking was great. He made a tremendous change from the former unforgiving, lethal martial arts to a “forgiving martial art.” In this sense, his way of thinking was an advance over Jigoro Kano Sensei’s ideas of “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” and “mutual prosperity.” I think that at the time Kano Sensei came up with the concept of mutual prosperity it was a revolutionary way of thinking. But O-Sensei’s way of thinking was even more advanced. “Forgiving, giving, and leading” were his words. Previous martial arts, since they were concerned with the taking of life by force, valued forceful seizure rather than giving.

Nishio’s technical legacy

Fortunately for posterity, Nishio left extensive pedagocial materials in the form of a nine-volume video series and a book published by Aiki News. The Nishio Aikido video series consists of nine volumes covering: gyakuhanmi katatedori, aihanmi katatedori, shomenuchi, yokomenuchi, ryotedori, sodedori, and katadori menuchi techniques. In these videotapes he also demonstrates sword and staff applications of the techniques presented. The last two videotapes cover his sword forms.

For many years Nishio resisted the idea of publishing a book on aikido because his art was constantly changing. “I’m always practicing and questioning. So I can’t arrive at an absolute opinion. If you write a book and then die dissatisfied with it, who is going to rewrite it for you?”

Despite his earlier reluctance, he did indeed author a book titled aptly Aikido - Yurusu Budo in 2004 less than a year before his passing. In the foreword to the book, he states the reasons for his change of mind:

Having grown older, and having already mourned the passing of such teachers as Seigo Yamaguchi, who held my highest respect from the very beginning of my aikido career, and Morihiro Saito, who worked so tirelessly to transmit the founder’s aikido in its purest possible form, I began to consider what will happen to aikido from this point on.

Aikido is a “budo,” a “martial way,” and therefore inextricably rooted in “jujutsu” or “martial technique.” Yet when I look at the aikido world today, I see very little “budo-ness” being expressed in technique, and I wonder if people haven’t begun to forget these important roots….

Aikido - Yurusu Budo is a comprehensive look at Nishio Aikido and present the key principles of his art through presentation of gyakuhanmi, aihanmi katatedori, sodedori, katadori menuchi, shomenuchi, and yokomenuchi techniques. Both empty-handed versions as well as techniques using the sword and staff are presented.

Conclusion

In the annals of aikido, there are perhaps ten or so teachers who have commanded universal respect for their high level of skill and major contributions to the spread of aikido. Among this elite list of exceptional figures who have left an indelible impression on today’s aikido, Shoji Nishio stands out as one of the foremost technical innovators and strongest proponents of the founder’s philosophy.

Taken from : aikidojournal.com

Copyright © 2008 - Yurusu Budo - is proudly powered by Blogger
Smashing Magazine - Design Disease - Blog and Web - Dilectio Blogger Template