Interview with Clyde Takeguchi, 6th Dan, Chief Instructor of Capitol Aikikai

By Richard Wagner, 5th Dan,
Chief Instructor, Palm Beach Aikikai

[This interview with Clyde Takeguchi was made at the seminar at Palm Beach Aikikai in December 1999. Special thanks to Richard Wagner, and to Bill Bresnihan who made the videotape from which this interview was transcribed. Photos courtesy of Fred Richards, John Kenny and Capitol Aikikai.]

We are at Palm Beach Aikikai in West Palm Beach Florida with Takeguchi Sensei. He is the leader of Capitol Aikikai in Washington, D.C., and we wanted to talk to him about Aikido and his experiences in Aikido. Sensei, when did you first learn about Aikido and when did you begin Aikido?

I learned about Aikido in the mid-50s and I started in 1957 or 1958.

How old were you at that time?

About 1! A teenager.

Was it a local dojo?

Yes it was a local dojo. Our instructor had learned for a little while in the big town in Hawaii, in the city of Hilo, and the came to where I lived and started a dojo in a small Buddhist church. That's where I started to practice.

Did you witness any demonstrations?

It was a small, one-horse town. I can't remember if there were any demonstrations, but it was the first martial art in that area. There was kendo about 10 miles away in another town, and of course Hilo had judo, kendo and some karate as well.

As a young student did you jump right into Aikido? Did you go every day and train regularly?

In my small town it was the only thing in town. It was close, and we didn't have a car. You could walk to the dojo, practice and walk back home. It was definitely the thing to do.

And the origin of the Ki Society was at that time?

No, there was no Ki Society. It was just Aikido. Koichi Tohei came to Hawaii to teach Aikido in the early 50s and was part of a health group. He was brought over by Nishishiki, one of O-Sensei's friends who had this health group and it was through that group that he came to Hawaii. There were others as well. Like karate people from Okinawa they had a hard time because it was considered a martial art and in Hawaii at the time there were a lot of fights on the street with a lot of different martial arts. It was like the Wild West at the time for martial arts.

So you were learning martial techniques in a health club?

In the old days you needed a sponsor to come to the US and they were the sponsors for Tohei Sensei.

And you trained regularly for how long?

High school and then college and then I left to go to school in Wisconsin.

Was there the ranking system we are familiar with today?

Yes, from 5th kyu and up. It was white belts and black belts. Actually in Hawaii they started the colored belt system because that was the way the judo system was.

So you earned shodan in Hawaii?

Right.

And then you went off to Wisconsin?

Actually when I went to school I was a sandan and in Wisconsin I didn't do much Aikido. I didn't start a dojo but I practiced in Chicago and Milwaukee. I had to go to school so. I couldn't be a student and do Aikido at the same time. It was a little difficult but I tried to go to Milwaukee and Chicago when instructors came to the area and I spent a lot of time in Chicago. When I first went there. There was Hirata who was the chief instructor there and when he left

Takahashi took over and after he passed away Akira Tohei came over, so I was there during that whole series.

When was it that Akira Tohei came over?

I can't remember. I left to go to Wisconsin in 1967 so Tohei Sensei must have been there in the early 70s.

So you did your graduate work there.

Yes.

So you were a student all those years when did you finally start your own dojo?

I helped teach at a dojo at the University of Hawaii, a few miles from the campus, where my dorm was. When I went to Wisconsin I went to Milwaukee to help teach at the dojo there. I practiced in Chicago and when some of the students came to Milwaukee I decided to start a dojo. It was in the 70s when I started a dojo there. Then I came to DC to work for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a postdoctoral student. Then after a few years I went to Charleston SC to work at the medical university there and then I went back to DC, to work for the Food and Drug Administration. So then I started a dojo in Madison then one in DC and then one in Charleston as well.

So the official opening of Capitol Aikikai was in.

1973.

In what capacity did you work at the NIH and the FDA and what is your degree in?

I have a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical biochemistry. I went to the NIH as a postdoctoral student in the pharmacology research associate program and after my time there I was offered a job in South Carolina to do teaching and research in the pharmacology department. I didn't like the south so I moved to DC for a better job at the FDA writing regulations for food ingredients and food additives.

Did you have any experience in any other martial arts?

A little judo maybe prior to Aikido. It wasn't anything formal, just taking ukemi. In the old days senior judo students just threw you around. In Hawaii Buddhist churches and Shinto churches had kendo and judo clubs. Judo was taught in Hawaii quite a bit in churches because the ministers were martial artists, and the churches had all the mats and a big enough space to have training.

Were you there when O-Sensei visited Hawaii?

I was in high school when O-Sensei came. My instructors were the ones who took all the falls. Instructors came from other islands and we also had a kids class with about 70 kids when O-Sensei gave a class, a demo. He practiced with all of the students. It was amazing to see him take falls for all of the students. It was fascinating. Tamura Sensei was his uke at the time.

He did demos in different parts and we were all still white belts and we had to do demonstrations. I remember this friend and I practiced what we were going to do for demos and at the demo he didn't do what he was supposed to do so it was chaos. Just chaos. After that we decided not to plan demos. Whatever comes you have to take. The main thing was being prepared and after that the demo will come. To this day I don't plan demos and the main reason was that one day. It was terrible, and it was right in front of O-Sensei. My impression of it was that we preformed terribly. I hate to think of how we looked. Since then I hope I look better at demos.

Fortunately it wasn't testing.

I haven't thought about it in a long time. To top it all off it was on the other side of the island and I though no one knew us but my mother was from that area. Some of my mom's friends saw me. I don't know if they say how bad I did but they told my mom they saw me perform there. I think I felt very embarrassed and I did it in front of O-Sensei. He must have thought we were a bunch of students who didn't know much about Aikido.

It was interesting to see O-Sensei. He looked just like my grandfather. This old man got on the mat and threw Tamura Sensei like he was a feather. Then Tamura Sensei threw my instructors around like they were nothing. People couldn't move Tamura Sensei. We called him the stone wall. To think my instructors threw us around, and Tamura threw them around and O-Sensei threw him around. It was an amazing demo by O-Sensei, when though he was old, to see how powerful he was. He still had a presence. He definitely had a presence, especially on the mat.

My instructors told a story of how they took him up to the volcano while he was visiting, and while they were driving up he said there was an earthquake, even though nobody else felt it. When they reached the top they asked the rangers if there was an earthquake and they said there was at about the same time O-Sensei mentioned it. You would hear stories like that and it seemed like he was one with nature. Whatever it was, he was an unusual person.

What year was that he visited?

I left in 1967, it must have been in 1959 or 1960. I can't remember. It was definitely a long time ago.

About Capitol Aikikai. How big was it in the beginning? How many students did you have?

My first class had about six students. One of them is still practicing with me. A few others who started with me are still practicing around the U.S. We started at the "Y" and went to a gym at a private school for a few years. It was 19 years before we had a rented dojo. DC is quite expensive and the other thing was to have a core, a nucleus of students to have a supportable dojo but I think we have enough to do that. It is definitely good to have your own dojo.

How big is it?

We have 50 to 60 members, and 30 or so practice regularly.

Do you have children's class?

Children's class is on Saturday, once a week and varies from about 10-25.

Do you senior students teach them?

Yes I use that as part of their training as well. They teach but they also learn to control themselves and how to handle kids because adults are just big kids.