Three Aikido Masters

by Mike Clarke 

Editor’s note: These interviews with San-dai Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba, Yoshimitsu Yamada Shihan and Seiichi Sugano Shihan were conducted by Mike Clarke in Melbourne, Australia in January 2006. The articles are reprinted by permission of the author. Mike Clarke is the founder of the Shinseidokan Dojo in Tasmania, Australia and author of Budo Masters and Roaring Silence (avaialble at www. Ryukyu.com)The photos were taken by John Litchen.

Seiichi Sugano Shihan

During the first training sessions this week, you spoke of heaven and earth, the way a tree stands between the two, and how this is in some way representative of an aikido-ka. Can you say a little more about this?

It is the reality of things, and just an idea that I would like people to recognize. We are standing on the earth and we move through the air. Therefore, we need this good connection between the heavens and the earth. This was the way O-Sensei would try to explain his ideas. In our days, we don’t say too much about this, but his idea was that we are the connection between heaven and earth, the ground and the sky, and our world and whoever it is we believe is “up there.” Also, he believed there was an exchange of energy taking place on the horizon.

And what of the interpretation of the kanji used to write Ai in Aikido? You spoke of this, too.

Yes, the way of writing the “Ai” in Aikido is used to describe unity or harmony, and this is the kanji people are using, but O-Sensei’s idea was not the same as this, so it’s not the same kanji [Chinese character]. Because O-Sensei hadn’t chosen to call his practice Aikido because of the meaning of that kanji, his idea of “Ai” was not about harmony or unity, but love and affection. That was the reason he called his idea “Aikido.” I think those people who were promoting Aikido, and translating the way the word Aikido was written, translated it as harmony and unity. So maybe we need some re-interpretation because O-Sensei’s feelings were more about love and affection.

O-Sensei’s ideas ran much deeper than just achieving harmony with someone then?

Yes, because to know love and affection is a different thing to having harmony with someone. Harmony and unity always involve conditions, negotiations, agreements or something like that to achieve the harmony, but with love and affection, there are no conditions, and that’s why he chose to call his ideas Aikido.

I’m left wondering: How did the kanji used today become established then?

Because O-Sensei was using the phonetic sound, as in kotodama training. Here the sound is the same, “Ai” [eye] for both harmony and for love.

You spoke also about the choice people can make when they come to Aikido, and whether or not they see it as a martial art or as something else, beyond that. What exactly did you mean?

O-Sensei did not just teach Aikido as a martial art. In fact he departed from the traditional so-called martial arts to create Aikido. So, Aikido “is” Aikido. Generally, it is easier for people to approach the idea of Aikido through the idea of martial arts or self-defence, but in truth, O-Sensei’s idea was that Aikido is just that: Aikido! It doesn’t matter, in a way, what you put your efforts into when you train; Aikido can be practiced on many levels, but in the end it is still O-Sensei’s idea, and that idea was: boundless. The problem with understanding Aikido only as a martial art is that it has limits and once you see Aikido as just a martial art, you can never get past them. Practice becomes just another way of attacking and defending, and people fighting, but this was not O-Sensei’s idea at all.

So how is it possible for someone to move beyond the martial arts aspect of the training?

The teaching of Aikido itself should be enough to get someone out [of the mindset]. But, if people are brought into Aikido and taught it only as a martial art, then they can never get out.

Is it possible to understand the essence of Aikido through solo practice?

No! Aikido has two main aspects to its study. First, there is the physical form that allows you to “feel” something and understand that way. If you don’t have the experience of training with someone, you never get to develop these “feelings” and so you can’t learn. It is like trying to understand something just from reading a book. It’s not the same as understanding the “feeling” of something from experience. Also things like timing and irimi [entering] cannot be learned by yourself, so you need someone to help you study both aspects.

Within Aikido there are the concepts of Kan [intuition] and Kami [divine consciousness]. Can you please talk a little about the connection between the two?

These ideas you can think of as similar to a religion. In that case, if you have devoted yourself to one path, you don’t need to apply reason to everything. You have faith in what you are doing; you are devoted to it through your practices and don’t need an intellectual understanding of it. You feel, intuitively, that you are doing the right thing. Normally speaking, we are always reasoning over things, investigating and judging, but with intuition, things tend to be a looser and you don’t always need to have proof for everything. These things are about that.

How do you feel about all the books one can now buy on the techniques of Aikido? Are they of any value to someone trying to learn?

Well, many people feel they have already mastered or understood everything, so they want to explain themselves, and that’s fine. Books are not the only way to do this now, as we have so many different ways to spread information available to us, but then again, if you want to study what O-Sensei’s idea was, and you want to get something from that idea, it’s okay but so many people, so-called Aikido, is really just nonsense because they have moved so far away from the idea of Aikido, and there is a lot of “junk” information.

Also, some people cannot tell if the things they are reading are good or not, or the person who wrote the book is qualified to be writing it. If the author is qualified, than it’s okay, but even the bad information, once in print, becomes accepted by people. It’s on the record, and later, people don’t know if the information is true or not, and that is the danger. Every teacher of Aikido has a responsibility to try to pass on O-Sensei’s idea, and in our days, there are many teachers but they are not all necessarily teaching correctly. Lots of them are teaching within the frame of “martial arts” and if that’s the way they are teaching then their ideas are a bit out [of line with O-Sensei’s].

These ideas of harmony, peace and love among the population of the world might seem unreachable, but it is the process [of working toward these things] that is the important part. That [process] is what we are doing with Aikido. This is why, if we keep Aikido in the frame of martial arts, we are only fighting to kill someone, and with that idea we limit each other. So, even though the techniques could be used to kill, the real challenge [of Aikido] is the fight against ourselves to become better people. When we continue with our training and try to evolve our technique, this is the fascinating part of training. Within the limits of “martial arts” Aikido, there are five or six ideas, and it is possible to achieve them. In our days, I think most people come to Aikido for recreational purposes maybe, because they don’t feel they “need” to train.

When you first arrived in Australia, 40 years ago, what did you hope to achieve?

To establish Aikido here and to see it grow, and this I did day-by-day, one at a time. When I look back, I’m not sure Australia was ready to accept it though. Even today, the interest in Aikido is very small compared with the interest found in other countries, and I don’t think this has anything to do with the size of the population, but perhaps it is a cultural thing? Take Singapore for example. It is such a small place but they have 12 or 13 different dojo, so the interest level is far higher.

I have often wondered: Why there are no kata in Aikido?

Because there are no kata in Aikido, it’s as simple as that. O-Sensei taught that the techniques of Aikido are not fixed. When I’m teaching I try to show something of how I’m evolving, not just demonstrate a technique and then tell people to do it. To me, that is not teaching. So, if you don’t have the notion of teaching to develop something, you can just throw people around on the mat. Again, this is not Aikido. Unfortunately, in the evolution of the martial arts there is a now a new kind of instructor coming along: the martial arts entertainer!

Yoshimitsu Yamada Shihan

Why have you spent 50 years doing Aikido?

Well, to begin with, I guess I must like what I’m doing, and secondly, Aikido is a big part of my life. I owe a lot to Aikido and to my teacher, who was the founder. I also owe a lot to others and feel I have a responsibility to share what little bit of knowledge I have with the next generation.

You begin your classes with breathing exercises and you also use humor as a teaching tool. How did you develop this style of teaching?

I think the humor just came from my own personality. Every instructor has a way of teaching or demonstrating. Of course, what we are doing is budo and so this is serious and we need to be straight about that, but you know you have to relax also. Some people need to be “woken-up” when you demonstrate too, but basically, the humor is part of my nature. The importance of the breathing exercises is to help people relax. I know they help to relax me both physically and mentally and calm me down.

When you engage in training with four or five people attacking you at the same time, do you employ any special kind of breathing to help you?

Not really. The breathing you use at such times comes from the way you have developed your breathing during your daily practice. Always, your breathing and your movement go together, one with the other. You cannot extend your energy out while you are inhaling, right! So we have got to get used to breathing properly with the body movement we are doing.

Can you talk a little about the use of “anticipation” in Aikido?

Ah, you mean when you receive the other person’s intention. Well, once again, this is why we train. I don’t think I have approached that stage yet, but maybe if I keep doing this [training] I might. Of course, we have to be attacked in order to practice dealing with an attack, otherwise we cannot practice, but always in our mind we are trying to be ahead of the opponent. Not in a spiritual sense, but mentally. This is the reason we train with some structure, as we can’t just walk up to people and start punching each other.

Why is Shiho-nage so important?

Well, that is because it requires a lot of balance, which is very important in Aikido movement, and it also covers a lot of the basic movements in Aikido, too. Because it introduces throwing in four directions, it is good for expanding your movements and things like that. I think shiho-nage is a very common technique but, as far as I am concerned, still very difficult. I still have some problems with it.

Sensei, can you please speak a little bit about the concept of “kotodama” [a Shinto based belief that sounds have an intrinsic value capable of effecting physical reality] and its importance?

Well, you know, I’m not too knowledgeable about kotodama. Of course, I know what it is, but this comes from the founder’s way and he was, as you may know, a very religious person. While I don’t deny kotodama, I don’t think you have to understand it in order to study Aikido. It is a very deep subject, with a very deep meaning.

What is required, of a person, who wants to succeed in Aikido?

Firstly, aikido can be practiced in its physical form by all kinds of people, different ages, sexes, and people with some disabilities. But more than just the physical training, Aikido helps people to be relaxed. Also, to understand Aikido, your mind has to be uncomplicated and accepting. In English, you might say you have to have an open or flexible mind. Though there is, of course, some level of focus and concentration on what you are doing, too.

Doshu Moriteru Ueshiba

Doshu, I was wondering what role, if any, “introspection” plays in the study of Aikido?

Aikido has come from the background of traditional Japanese martial arts, and the spiritual training within it was created by the founder. By doing the physical training, you also improve your spirituality, because, as you train in the same technique repeatedly you improve your spirit as well as your body. Also, you always have to consider the other person. This is called, spirit of harmony. In the physical training, we always train on the left and the right, and we move from nage to uke, so this gives us a sense of balance and respect for our training partner and helps us to understand the Aikido spirit.

Is sumi-kiri the same idea as zanshin?

Not exactly. In Aikido, zanshin has more to do with the way things are at the end of a technique; each person [training partner] has their own awareness. But with sumi-kiri, it is like both people are still connected, as one, in their minds and when this happens the spirit of it is really clear between them. It is a very deep level of connection between the spirits of the people involved. Zanshin addresses the ending of a particular technique, so these two ideas are not the same thing.

And what do you think: Can the idea of aikido be found in solo practice?

When you begin learning Aikido you always need a partner. Aikido is about harmony and so you need to have someone to work with to understand about caring for another person and respecting them.

Are the techniques of Aikido fixed? That is to say, is there a correct way to do every technique?

Well, it [a technique] depends a lot on how the other person is moving toward you.

Do you think the internationalization of Aikido has changed the art in any way?

I don’t think there is any change. Aikido is still what it is. Of course now the world and the environment is very different from the way it was when the founder started, but the idea if Aikido is still the same.

Is Aikido the same the world over then?

Well, it should be. But, of course, it also depends on who took Aikido to a particular country, as the personality of that person will find its way into the teaching, and so how people will come to know Aikido.

Can you please explain about the concept of Ki-shin-tai?

This looks at not separating the spirit, the mind and body during training, but rather containing all three as one within you. If we can achieve this, we will establish [inside us] the state of sumi-kiri. So, it is the unity of these three things: ki, shin, and tai [spirit, heart and body] that allows us to achieve sumi-kiri. If we can achieve this, we will have made an important connection.

Sometimes karatedo is referred to as “moving Zen,” and I have heard Aikido spoken of as “dynamic Zen.” Have you any idea why some people link budo training with Zen?

I don’t think that such a comparison comes from people who are doing Aikido, but perhaps by people who are training in Zen practice. We never say such things. The fonder never said these things, nor did the second Doshu, or me. So maybe this has come from someone who was researching Zen or something like that?