Ikeda Sensei at Aikido Eastside
March 23-25, 2001

Contributed by Kevin Lam and Kaizen*

First, with humble thanks and great appreciation, we must acknowledge Hiroshi Ikeda sensei's generosity in asking us to share our stories of training and travel. Your initial thoughts may be much like our own: what value can there be in the account of two young men's travels along the roads and below the skies of this country we call home. After accepting our new charge, we needed to contemplate the justification and focus of our purpose in this new endeavor. I must admit my initial thought screamed, "What! Write?!? I can hardly spell." My friend's thoughts were somewhere along the same lines; although, along with a handy spell checker, to him would be left the charge of technical editor.

After a bit of thought we began to sketch some ideas as to what value our stories could possibly have to the hapless reader who stops to ingest our words. Our hope is to produce something of interest and value, not only for the fresh indiscriminate mudansha or numb insomniac surfing the net, but also to be productive for the yudansha who share the roads with us. These roads are not of white speckled concrete or charred asphalt; rather, these are the many roads along the great way of Aikido. While there are many paths encompassing this way of life, each path is to be but a single thread in the great rope of michi.

Each thread flows interwoven with those around it. Each offers strength, stability, and direction for the rope as a whole. When one part of the rope is pulled forward along the path, whether by passion, curiosity, obligation or habit, the rest of the rope is spurred along as well. The rope progresses whether its threads are fresh and new, tattered and worn, or stretched and supple from years of friendly use. Each thread inadvertently pulls those around it through the process of michi, through Aikido. Like with many ropes, you can find knots of many kinds along its length. Some knots increase the rope's strength. Some knots improve its functionality, while others are aesthetic things of beauty.

Come join us in our journey as we visit the many different knots, represented by sensei around the country. While we will be drawn to some for their sheer simplicity, we'll also be drawn to others for their never ending complexity. One thing is certain; there will be something to learn along each twist and curve we follow. Something that will help us grow and learn, not only about ourselves, but about the friends and family we meet along the way.

The Seminar

On the weekend of March 23rd, 2001, we did not give our travels a second thought, since we hosted Hiroshi Ikeda sensei at Aikido Eastside in Bellevue, Washington, our home dojo. We make this trip many times per week to train and teach at Aikido Eastside. Ikeda sensei is the chief instructor of the Boulder Aikikai in Boulder, Colorado. He is a long time student of Saotome Mitsugi shihan the founder of the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba.

The weekend seminar was filled with Ikeda sensei characteristic subtle and small movements. One of the phrases that resonated throughout the weekend was, "you must break your partner's center to make him weak, this is what allows the not-so-big or strong martial artists to Świn'". Ikeda sensei spoke of finding the "dot" or one-point within the small spirals, the "dot" that will not only connect to uke's center but will create kuzushi as well. Once you are able to find that one-point you can then take it to several options. Ikeda sensei stressed that you must first find that connection and off-balancing. Many of you may have already heard Ikeda sensei say, "Catch it!" During the weekend he used more words to describe the coming together of bodies and energies, but at the essence of Ikeda sensei's message is that you do simply have to "catch it".

After Ikeda sensei demonstrated the intricacies of catching the opponent's center, each of us partnered up to attempt to catch a center of our own.

In addition to "catching it" Ikeda sensei constantly reinforced the concept that power is generated by the hip movement, not by the arms. The arms are merely a connection to your partner that only provides direction.

He emphasized that you must not just play with uke's arm or he will still have power and freedom to move in for attack. Ikeda sensei focused on breaking uke's balance as soon as contact is made. uke's power should be redirected by connecting and moving uke's center. Ikeda sensei demonstrated how at the moment of contact, you need to break uke's alignment by controlling his elbow, moving it either to the outside or inside of his center line. Once you have broken the alignment you take away uke's power. When this is accomplished you then have the opportunity to move the one collective body of nage and uke in any manner that you wish. Ikeda sensei also made sure to point out that it only takes a small movement of the hips and wrist to create this off-balancing. According to Ikeda sensei, human balance is a constant tightrope. It takes less than one-quarter inch to either side for one to fall.

Each time I see Ikeda sensei demonstrate these concepts, they become less and less mystical. Over the years I have trained my eyes to see what he is doing. I must admit, I used to feel there was a great deal of complexity in Ikeda sensei subtle techniques, but during the weekend I began to see its simplicity and efficiency. At one point, after receiving some good technical criticism, I found myself having momentary success in the initial joining and off-balancing of my uke using an outside spiral. I had been struggling for some time to be able to connect using that spiral. Suddenly, it seemed to be so obvious. I found myself exclaiming, "Ah, it's so damn simple," only to receive an amused grin from Ledyard sensei at my minor satori.

Ikeda sensei weekend seminar also gave us the fortunate opportunity to train with Shinai. Ikeda sensei demonstrated how effective the same small hip movements, in conjunction with the use of the knees as used in our taijutsu, become an effective body movement for the sword. We were able to observe how the sword can be a valuable tool in learning to integrate one's body alignment and focus one's intention beyond the hands. The same small spirals that break uke's alignment in taijutsu, create instantaneous deflections of the sword that capture the center of Uchitachi.

I must say that the best instruction we had gotten comes from actually getting our hands on Ikeda sensei. We were both very fortunate to take a fair amount of ukemi throughout the seminar. To be on the receiving end of technique gives us far more instruction than any words or demonstrations. To be able to feel the instant connection and weight of the technique as two bodies come together in a storm of intention is priceless. Besides getting a type of feed back that cannot be matched by any other method, I always end up feeling much better and stronger both physically and spiritually. Truly genki. For those of you who may be new to this strange world of Aikido, do try and get your hands on as many of the sensei as you can, as much as you can. Try to set aside any worries you may have. You will receive no better instruction or understanding than by being fully in the technique yourself. Although it may sometimes look scary or hard, you can not be in any safer situation on the mat. Try as best you can to throw away your fears (no pun intended) and be hungry for the one-on-one connection with sensei of high quality.

We were very lucky to have Hoa Haong take a very intense and exciting Nidan Shinsa. After the test Ikeda sensei commented on how it should be an excellent learning experience for the spectators. One aspect he emphasized, with which he was very pleased, was the intensity and focus that Hoa had throughout the test. After the test, Ikeda sensei announced the promotion of Alex Nakamura to Yondan. He passed on the message of thanks from Saotome shihan for his 30 years of dedication to the art of Aikido. Alex Nakamura sensei is an integral part of Aikido Eastside where he consistently trains and teaches his own class. We are very fortunate to have him as a part of the dojo and congratulate both Alex and Hoa on their promotions.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Seattle area, our dojo is located just off of I-90 near the Factoria Mall. It's only 11 miles and about 15 minutes away from Seattle. George Ledyard sensei is a Godan and the chief instructor at Aikido Eastside, now in its 12th year. Ledyard Sensei is a long time student of Mitsugi Saotome shihan from the Shobukan Dojo in Washington D.C.

We want to thank Stephen Hlawaty of the Boulder Aikikai for his editorial input into the article.

The opinions & views shared in this article are solely those of the authors. None of the statements are the views of Bu Jin Online, Aikido Schools of Ueshiba, Aikido Eastside, Hiroshi Ikeda sensei, or George Ledyard sensei. Any mistakes or misinterpretations are the sole responsibility of the authors.

*Kevin Lam and Kaizen are members of Aikido Eastside in Bellevue, Washington.