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INTERVIEW WITH KOICHI TOHEI (2)
What is true
aikido?
by Stanley Pranin
(Interviewed
February 8, 1996 at the Ki Society Headquarters in Tokyo)
This article is an extract from Aikido Journal 109 and
a Special Thanks to Aikido Journal
Profile of Koichi
Tohei
Born 1920 in Tokyo, Tohei moved when very
young to Tochigi
Prefecture where he
spent his youth. Frail health during his childhood forced him to visit the
hospital frequently. At his father’s insistence he took up judo. Having
strengthened his body to some degree, at fifteen he earned his black belt
and at sixteen entered Keio
University’s
preparatory program. He continued to practice judo enthusiastically, but
contracted pleurisy as a result of excessive training and was forced to
withdraw from school for a year. During that time he devoted himself to
self-training through misogi kokyuho, Zen, and other types of discipline.
At nineteen he met
Morihei Ueshiba and became his student. In the short span of half a year he
became the founder’s representative (dairi) and, having yet to receive any
official ranking in aikido, was sent to instruct at the Nakano Police
Academy and the
private school of Shumei Okawa.
At 23 he was called
into military service and learned under fire the secret of directing ki
into the one point in the lower abdomen (seika no itten).
Between 1953 and 1971
he visited the United
States on fifteen occasions, teaching
and spreading aikido and the principles of ki. Tohei received tenth dan in
aikido in 1969. He served as Director of Shihan (Shihan Bucho) and Director
(Riji) of the Aikikai until leaving that organization in 1974.
Tohei established the
Ki Society (Ki no Kenkyukai) in 1971 (recognized as a non-profit
organization in 1977), over which he still presides. The Ki Society is the
only organization in Japan
specializing in ki training to have been recognized as a non-profit
organization by the Ministry of Public Welfare.
Mind-Body
Unification (Shin Shin Toitsu) and Ueshiba Sensei
Ueshiba Sensei was
an individual who showed what it means to exist in a relaxed state, to
possess true ki, and to have a unified mind and body. His posture was as
solid as a rock and you couldn’t budge him no matter how you pushed or
pulled; yet he would toss me effortlessly without ever letting me feel that
he was using any strength at all. I was astounded that such a person should
actually exist in the world.
More than anything,
what Ueshiba Sensei taught me was that a relaxed state is the most
powerful. He himself was living proof of that.
I don’t think there is
anyone these days who can truly demonstrate this the way he could. This
truly wonderful quality that he took such great pains to develop— not
stories about him pulling pine trees out of the ground and other
nonsense—is what we should try to leave to future generations.
Why
Ueshiba Sensei forbade shiai (matches)
IUeshiba Sensei did not allow shiai. In a real shiai the goal is to deprive
your opponent of his power utterly and completely; failing to do that, you
can’t claim victory. On the other hand, modern shiai are governed by rules
that have been established for the sake of safety and to preserve the lives
of the combatants, and it is within these rules that victory and defeat are
determined.
Such contests,
however, are actually sports, and therefore are not really shiai in the
true sense of the word. Judo, for example, has been designed so that
players can get up off the mat after being thrown any number of times. This
is possible only because judo is a sport; in reality such a thing would not
occur.
In the past, shiai
meant that you either tried to kill or severely injure your opponent, or at
least render him incapable of further resistance. Otherwise, the match
would be considered unfinished and without a victor.
Budo, by its very
nature does not involve competitive fighting. If you examine the Chinese
characters you will find that they literally mean “the way of stopping the
weapon.” You lay down your own weapn and at the same time make your enemy
lay down his. In other words, defeating people is not the goal; rather true
budo is the completion and perfection of your own self. This is what
Ueshiba Sensei always said.
To maintain our safety
and preserve our lives we have to establish rules. But deciding victory and
defeat within those rules automatically places us in the realm of sports.
And Ueshiba Sensei was adamant all his life that aikido is a budo, not a
sport.
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