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Insight
from a Single Statement of Tempu Nakamura
A.J: How is
Shinshin Toitsu aikido different from that of founder Morihei Ueshiba?
Tohei Sensei: When I went to Hawaii
and tried to use the techniques I had learned from Ueshiba Sensei, I found
that many of them were ineffective. What Sensei said and what he did were two
different things. For example, despite the fact that he himself was very
relaxed, he told his students to do sharp, powerful techniques. When I got
to Hawaii,
however, there were guys as strong as Akebono and Konishiki [two well-known
Hawaiian sumo wrestlers] all over the place. There’s just no way to use
force or power to prevail against that kind of strength.
When you’re firmly
pinned or controlled, the parts of your body that are pinned directly
simply can’t move. All you can do is start a movement from those parts that
you can move, and the only way to do that successfully is to relax. Even if
your opponent has you with all his strength, you can still send him flying
if you’re relaxed when you do your throw. This was something I experienced
first-hand during that trip to Hawaii, and
when I returned to Japan
and had another look at Ueshiba Sensei, I realized that he did indeed apply
his techniques from a very relaxed state.
While I was with
Ueshiba Sensei I was also studying under Tempu Nakamura. It was he who
first taught me that "the mind moves the body." Those words
struck me like a bolt of electricity and opened my eyes to the whole realm
of aikido. From that point on I began to rework all of my aikido
techniques. I threw away techniques that went against logic and selected
and re-organized those I felt were usable.
Now my aikido consists
of about thirty percent Ueshiba Sensei’s techniques and seventy percent my
own.
You can probably say
that Hawaii
was where I did much of my most important training (shugyo). The reason I
went there in the first place, by the way, was at the invitation if the
Nishikai, a group devoted to the Nishi Method of Health. Their intentions,
however, had something to do with pitting my martial arts abilities against
some pro-wrestler and using the proceeds from the event to build their
assembly hall. I didn’t know about that until just before my departure, and
by then it was too late to refuse, so I resigned myself to it and went
anyway.
The Hawaiians were pretty
frank in expressing their first impressions of me. They said, "Gee,
Sensei, you’re pretty young, aren’t you?" Then they said, "Gee,
Sensei, you’re pretty small...." Then they got to the point and said,
"Sensei, are you sure you can really do it?" I figured the only
thing to do was to show them what I could do and let them see for
themselves. After that all the local martial artists and wrestlers became
my students. The Hawaii Aikikai was established eight months later, and I
was also made an honorary lifetime captain in the local police force.
Ueshiba Sensei was never tested like that in his whole life.
A.J: We would like to ask you
about weapons techniques. At the Aikikai Hombu dojo there are some shihan
who assert that modern aikido has no weapons techniques. On the other hand,
there are teachers like Morihiro Saito who integrate these with the
teaching of empty-handed techniques (taijutsu). In your view, are weapons
techniques part of aikido or are they not?
Tohei Sensei: Saying there are no weapons techniques in aikido is
ridiculous. People say that because they don’t know them. Come see what we
do with weapons at the Ki Society. It’s also all on our instructional
video. That aikido has weapon techniques is just common sense, and it’s a
shame that people should say things to the contrary. I wonder, should I go
down there and teach them?
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Master Koichi
Tohei at Ki no Sato in Tochigi
Prefecture, 1995
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Mr. Yoshio Sugino [Dojo-cho of the Aikikai’s Kawasaki branch
Yuishin Dojo and tenth dan in Katori Shinto-ryu] attended one of our
physical training testings. Seeing our member’s weapons techniques he
praised them, "I see you have dozens of aspiring O-Senseis here."
A.J: Tohei Sensei, thank you for
taking so much time to talk with us.
Next Page is the Profile of Master Toichi
Tohei
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