So, as part of my 10-day family vacation to San Francisco, I woke up early to take the J-Church from our apartment in Noe Valley to my old dojo, Suginami Aikikai. Got there, after a little detour, before the Clarice (the current uchideshi) had opened the place for 7:30 am class, so I got some coffee and came back. Jimmy Sensei recognized me immediately and greeted me with a big hug, an immediate inquiry about Linda (my wife), and an apology for the fact that the plant we'd left him with hadn't survived. Not a bad memory, I'd say -- it's been 11-12 years, after all.
I dressed out and trained. There were six of us, total. Two of which I knew.
We started class with loose warmups, complete with one of those kinds of conversations I remember so well. Jimmy was in rare form -- expounding, with a twinkle in his eye, upon his rich knowledge of the "deep south" (in my honor, of course), based on a book he'd recently read called "Better off Without Them," a book about what the US would have been, had the south seceded. I figured he might have been making it up, but no, it's a real book. He also drifted into a conversation about creationism and darwinism, which in turn drifted into his "theory" that we really evolved form bears, not monkeys -- a theme which reappeared throughout class -- especially because I, personally, look more like a bear than a monkey (a good thing, I suppose).
Jimmy Sensei was not big on mat-talk. He often told people (including me) to "shut up and train" (in Japanese -- which I don't remember). He said "if you're going to talk on the mat, talk about something besides Aikido." He was walking that walk, as it were.
If you met Jimmy Sensei on the street, you wouldn't notice him. He's small (maybe 5'4" ?) and slight of build. He used to color his hair differently every month, but he seems to have grown out of that. His arms are covered with tattoos, but a) so what? it's San Francisco, and b) he doesn't show them off. You wouldn't know he was a 6th degree black belt with training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo. You also wouldn't know he used to be the lead singer (maybe still is?) of El Destroyo, a band that toured with the Violent Femmes.
OK. Back to Aikido.
After warmups and jokes, we did Tai No Henko -- Omote and Ura. See my blog entry about Omote and Ura, because this is a good example of the difference in terminology and how it's applied. Perhaps I'll demonstrate at the Kai some day.
The bulk of class, however, focused on one of the students' upcoming 5th Kyu test. Weapons, in particular. We did five awasio movements, done as paired practices (Ikkyo through Gokyu). These came back to me, but only in the roughest sense. Then we did Ikkyo and Nikkyo Jo-Waza forms (omote and ura, again), which came back to me, but only barely.
I got to work with Ace (real name "Edsio") for weapons, which was a real treat. (Tradition at this dojo, BTW, is that, for weapons practice, you stick with the same partner the whole time). I was privileged to see Ace's San-Dan test many years ago. Ace is easily in his 60's. He has always trained very slowly and VERY gently. But his Randori was spectacular. He moved like the wind and got a standing ovation from everyone including Kato Sensei (Jimmy's teacher, who was visiting from Japan).
What did I take with me? Less about Aikido technique, and more about Aikido community. Jimmy ended class with a short speech, thanking me for returning, and saying that, while it's his job on the mat to see to it that we're doing it "right" (whatever that is -- his words) and taking it seriously, that, in the end, the technique itself is often somewhat arbitrary. We settle on something because it works at the time, and because we need to settle on SOMEthing so that we can train together. And THAT, is what it's all about -- training together.
Here are some other fun links to give you a feel for the dojo.
Kato Sensei, Jimmy's teacher, still visits fro Japan twice a year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joC2IF96lsQ&list=FLUpoBSaQTt-lML4SUVuTFqg&index=21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIwdxVyx2Vg&list=FLUpoBSaQTt-lML4SUVuTFqg&index=20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL9kIqPvxDI&list=PL6BBE4A018298C4CA
Here's some interesting stuff that Jimmy wasn't doing when I was there. The Jiu Jitsu, Judo, and boxing stuff is new.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urbBUR5SSn4&list=FLUpoBSaQTt-lML4SUVuTFqg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nP69uPrpqk&list=FLUpoBSaQTt-lML4SUVuTFqg&index=25
Some Jo Kata -- this is a form that Jimmy Learned from Kato Sensei, who learned it from O'Sensei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tftd3rBYOBk
...and this one just for fun (not Aikido in the traditional sense)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lODS2PVw7dI&list=FLUpoBSaQTt-lML4SUVuTFqg
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