BAF Newsletter no 23 - The British Aikido Federation

British Aikido Federation
Technical Director: Minoru Kanetsuka 7th Dan Aikikai Foundation, Tokyo
Newsletter
March 1996
No. 23
KANETSUKA SENSEI: 20 YEARS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
OF THE BRITISH AIKIDO FEDERATION
Setting out from Japan after completing his university studies in
1964, the young Minoru Kanetsuka can hardly have imagined
that he would never return, except for an occasional visit, to his
native land. As one of a group of students making a sponsored
tour of South-Asian countries with the object of introducing
Japanese martial arts, he arrived in India to find that financial
difficulties were going to interfere seriously with the project. He
decided to make his way to Nepal, where he was hospitably
received by a member of the royal family. He was to spend six
happy years in that mountainous kingdom, where, among various
activities, he taught Aikido to the royal bodyguards and managed
a Japanese restaurant.
In 1972 he came to Britain and introduced himself to Chiba
Sensei, who was at that time Technical Director of the Aikikai of
Great Britain (later to be renamed the British Aikido Federation).
In the years that followed he trained under Chiba Sensei at his
dojo in Hammersmith and eventually became his chief assistant.
When Chiba Sensei left Britain in early 1976, Kanetsuka Sensei
became the Technical Director of the B.A.F.
Things looked very black for Kanetsuka Sensei in 1987 when
he fell ill with cancer and his chances of survival seemed bleak
in the extreme. Happily, thanks to successful treatment at
hospitals in Oxford combined with his indomitable will and
determination, he survived to continue his life’s passion: Aikido.
Kanetsuka Sensei’s effortless Aikido demonstrated at a course in
Cardiff in December 1995.
His commitment to developing Aikido in the B.A.F. has never been
anything but 100 per cent. His talents as a teacher with a burning
desire to communicate and his genial personality, patience and
engaging sense of humour have endeared him to countless Aikido
students both inside and outside the British Aikido Federation.
Kanetsuka Sensei’s busy schedule involves lunchtime and
evening classes at the two Ryushinkan dojos in London near Euston
Station: in the Bloomsbury Theatre (Gordon Street) and in the
dance studios of The Place (Flaxman Terrace). At weekends he is
conducting courses throughout the United Kingdom or in one of a
number of European countries which this year will include Ireland,
France, Spain, Norway, Holland, Russia and the Ukraine.
On behalf of all the students of the British Aikido Federation we
express immense gratitude for twenty years of unstinted effort,
inculcating in us the principles of correct attitude and behaviour in
the traditional Japanese martial art we are engaged in and directing
the development of our Aikido upon a sound foundation of basic
movements and techniques. We look forward to many more years of
inspiring guidance and tuition from our remarkable Technical
Director.
B.A.F. SUMMER SCHOOL
1996
Celebrating 20 years with Kanetsuka Sensei as B.A.F. Technical Director
Special Guest Instructor: Shihan Hayato Osawa from Aikikai Hombu Dojo
Osawa Sensei is the son of the late Kisaburo Osawa, Director of the Hombu Dojo until his death in 1991
27 July − 3 August at Chester
For details contact Stephen Parr: Tel. 0192 872 5013
or fax the B.A.F. Head Office: 01865 343500
The B.A.F. has Full Recognition from the Aikikai Foundation (Aikido World Headquarters, Tokyo), President: Kisshomaru Ueshiba;
and it is a member of the International Aikido Federation and of the British Aikido Board.
Head Office: Yew Tree Cottage, Toot Baldon, Oxford, OX44 9NE. Tel. & Fax: 01865 343500.
WHAT AIKIDO HAS DONE FOR ME
by Andrew Penman
In March of 1989 I was involved in a road traffic accident
and sustained serious head injuries with swelling on the brain.
My chances of survival were slim. I was to spend five months
in hospital. In the Intensive Care Infirmary at Llandough I was
given an emergency tracheotomy and was in a coma for four
weeks on a ventilator. My memory and speech were nonexistent and I was paralysed down my left side. Later I was
transferred to the Rockwood Hospital in Llandaff for
rehabilitation and extensive radiotherapy. In August I was
discharged from hospital; but went to the Cardiff Royal
Infirmary daily in a wheelchair for speech therapy and
physiotherapy.
All this had been organised for me, of course; but in 1991 I
decided to start doing things for myself. I started very slowly
with crutches, taking short walks, each day going a bit further.
The doctors at the hospital were very pleased with my progress,
since - as is often the case - I did not reach a plateau; and I
progressed to using two sticks for six months, then one stick,
and finally in 1993 no sticks.
At the very beginning of my physiotherapy treatment I was
told that there was only so much my instructors could do: the
rest was up to me. This made me determined to succeed in
learning to walk. I tried many sports but at the beginning I
found training with other people too hard, so I tried a different
though exacting approach. For two years I trained with light
weights, then changed to sit-ups, slow press-ups, squat thrusts,
pull-ups, finishing with a rowing machine and a bike to have a
good sweat.
All this gave me a firm body and a degree of fitness, but I
still hadn’t really found what I needed. Besides training my
body I knew I had to train my mind, as I was suffering from
short term memory lapses and my speech was impaired. I
decided to take some evening courses, which included French
lessons, word processing and speech therapy. Not only did this
help my concentration; I learnt to converse with people and
regained some self-confidence. But I still wasn’t satisfied.
In March 1995 I was introduced to Aikido and I realised that
this was what I had been looking for. I have been very much
inspired by the experience of Kanetsuka Sensei, who through
his determination overcame his cancer and fought his way back
to health and fitness. Since practising Aikido my memory,
concentration, balance and general fitness have all improved
significantly; and this improvement has been noticed not only
by me but by others too. I have also tried Tai Chi and found
that the movements helped my concentration and balance; but
I’ve found Aikido much more beneficial to my needs.
To keep myself occupied I do some training every day.
Since joining the Aikido group in Cardiff I find myself more
confident in going to practices at night - something I have not
felt with other kinds of training. I feel I’m improving all the
time, and in August 1995 I went to the B.A.F. Summer School
in Chester. I had a great time and I’ll certainly be going again.
I’ve come a long way from exercising alone in the house
with dumbells and squeezing soft balls; walking up and down
the stairs, walking sideways, crossing one leg over the other, in
the hall! I have been very lucky: everything I’ve done in my
recovery has come at the right time, and discovering Aikido
seems of all things to have helped me most. The exercise helps
my body (even though sometimes I don’t feel up to it, Im
always glad afterwards). Its like advanced physiotherapy. My
balance, concentration and memory have all benefited; and it
has boosted my confidence a great deal. I look forward to
continuing my practice for many years to come.
(Andrew Penman is a member of the Sho Bu Kan Dojo,
Cardiff)
B
THE IDEALS OF JAPANESE BUDO
(Extract from the Hombu Dojo Aikido Training text)
Japanese Budo (Martial Ways), although
developed from techniques of bloodshed
(bujutsu), have taken as their main purpose and
ideal the qualities of harmony and love, or the
path to self-realisation. This is the essence of
Japanese Budo and it is especially apparent in Aikido, which
includes techniques from the traditions of ju-jutsu, where one
faces an adversary empty handed.
One old precept of the martial arts of ancient Japan is
called Shin-bu fu-satsu, meaning literally ‘divine bu, no
killing’. It means that the way of killing or causing injury to
another is a cause of shame. Many of the bujutsu (martial
arts) rather than emphasising the aim of getting a head-start
in battle by attacking first, trained the warrior to learn to
adjust his movements in accordance to those of the enemy
and then to find ways of attacking his weak points. To
achieve this, to be able to have the enemy’s life in the palm
of your hand, requires that you build up a massive store of
shugo (austere training) and sufficient confidence.
Sports, on the other hand, use artificially constructed
rules which are designed to give victory to the person who
excels in relative terms of more speed, more strength or more
size.
The ideals of budo are not to be simply inscribed on
some tablet inside your own head; rather they are to be
concretely and solidly grasped, through relationships with
other people, by making your entire spirit, mind and body
your target.
D
2k
NIKYO
Demonstrated and explained by
Kanetsuka Sensei
(2) Suwari-waza Shomen-uchi Nikyo: Ura
Nikyo (Second study) is sometimes called Kote-mawashi
(wrist turning), but the elbow and shoulder joints are also
involved. It can be a painful technique to experience, but
with constant practice, as we relax and accept the pain, the
wrist joints become more supple and strong. And if its any
encouragement, Nikyo is believed to have a stimulating
effect on the body as a whole and to be good for our
health!
1
The first stage of the technique (Photos 1 − 4) is identical with
that of Shomen-uchi Ikkyo: ura.
Photo 1: As Uke attacks with shomen-uchi, Tori comes up onto
his toes (kiza) to meet the attack and at the moment of contact he
opens his body (ie. makes tenkan). His right hand (te-gatana)
makes contact with the upper part of Uke’s attacking arm, while
he controls Uke’s elbow with his left hand in a U-shaped
formation.
Photo 2: Continuing to open his body, Tori cuts down Uke’s
attacking arm with his hand-blade. At the same time his left hand
slides down Uke’s arm take his wrist.
Photo 3: Tori rotates his wrist inwards, keeping his hand open
and alive, to take Uke’s hand in the typical Nikyo grip, trapping
the base of Uke’s thumb between his own thumb and index finger.
2
3
4
5
Photo 4: As he raises Uke’s wrist Tori shifts his centre of gravity a
little to his rear and the movement of his gripping hands is circular,
his weight coming more at this moment onto his right knee.
Photo 5: Now Tori shifts his centre of gravity back onto his
front knee and aligns his body towards Uke’s centre around
the gripping point. Keeping his shoulders quite relaxed he
attacks Uke’s centre through Uke’s wrist. His energy is flowing
up from his toes and knees (note that he is still essentially in
hanmi posture).
6
7
Photo 6: Once Uke’s resistance is broken, Tori moves his left
knee to near Uke’s right knee, and pivoting on his left knee, he
brings his left hand to just above Uke’s elbow. The movement
now is very similar to this stage in Ikkyo ura (see Newsletter,
Issue no.19).
Photo 7: As he makes tenkan, Tori brings Uke’s body to the
ground in an arc to pin Uke’s shoulder on the tatami. Do not
drag your partner round in this movement. Roll Uke’s arm
over.
For the sake of clarity the rest of this text is based on photographs taken from the opposite side with Tori operating on Uke’s left arm.
8
9
Photos 8 & 9: Controlling Uke’s elbow with the heel of his right hand so as to keep Uke’s shoulder as near to the tatami as possible (but
don’t force this), Tori pivots on his right knee to finish with his knees on each side of Uke’s shoulder. Tori moves around Uke’s elbow
without applying force: simply controlling. Be careful to keep unbroken control of Uke’s arm during this manoeuvre.
10
11
Photos 10 & 11: Folding his right arm firmly around Uke’s forearm, Tori relinquishes his contact with Uke’s left hand only when he has
Uke’s arm securely clamped in his closed elbow. Now he folds his right arm across his chest. Keeping his shoulders and arms relaxed Tori
pins Uke’s arm against his abdomen and upper body. With his armpits closed but without squeezing Uke’s arm into his body, Tori completes
the immobilisation by taking Uke’s arm in a circular movement around Uke’s left shoulder. It is important that Tori is sitting up on his toes
in kiza and energy is flowing from his toes through his body towards Uke’s head. Apply pressure in a controlled way (never jerk) and stop
applying pressure as soon as your partner taps.
AN AIKIDO YEAR
by Professor Peter Goldsbury
IV: Winter (January to March)
The Aikido year in Hiroshima is rounded off with three events at
the university club. The first is event is misogi and takes place at
the coldest time of the year, in late January or early February. I
do not know whether our misogi training bears any resemblance
to that given by O-Sensei, but it is certainly dramatic. We all
assemble and travel to Iwakuni in the neighbouring Yamaguchi
Prefecture. We spend the night at an inn and rise the following
morning at about 5 am. We go down to the river bank near the
Kintaikyo bridge and strip. Wearing only fundoshi (Japanese
undergarments like loin cloths), we plunge into the freezing
water and stay there for about 5 or 10 minutes. After which we
recover our body heat and our sanity around a large fire on the
river bank and then stagger back to Hiroshima.
The second event is another rite of passage. The fourth year
students will graduate and so the other members of the club must
bid farewell to them in a proper fashion. The special farewell
practice is similar to the kambu-kotai practice in the spring and
many past members of the club try to attend it. The fourth-year
students have to undergo 60 minutes of kakari-geiko at the hands
of their seniors and juniors and are then thrown into the pond
outside the dojo. But there is another added twist. The departing
students are invited to a party, during which they are each
presented with a wooden sword and a picture of themselves
executing their favourite Aikido technique. They then have to
stand up and drink from a large bowl (a traditional bowl used to
serve sushi or sashimi) filled with a mixture of beer, Japanese
sake, a petrol-like substance called shochu: anything which their
juniors deem desirable. This type of drinking is known is iki-iki
nomu and invariably results in momentary or prolonged collapse.
However, the fourth-year students usually have to attend second
or third parties as well, so they rarely remember the later period
of their oidashi kompa (farewell party). They graduate and then
reappear as O.B. or O.G. club members, sometimes with their
children, and treasure the memories of their student Aikido days.
For a number of them, these student days are the beginning of a
lifelong activity in Aikido.
The final event is a very appropriate way to end the year. The
entire university club spends a week practising at the Hombu
Dojo in Tokyo. The club travels up to Tokyo together and stays
in a large room at the top of the Hombu Dojo. Unlike some
university clubs, the Hiroshima University students do not have
special classes but participate in the normal daily practice. The
Hombu Dojo Aikido schedule is quite rigorous and very few
people beyond the special students who are employed at the
Hombu can cope with all the five hours of daily practice. The
students, of course, take time off for the mundane matters of
meals and washing keikogi etc. This special training, the haru
gasshuku as it is called, is an important opportunity to experience
the Hombu and see the whole range of practice. I travel to Tokyo
relatively often and usually try to make one visit at this time, so
Hiroshima University Aikido club students having a good time
that I can practise with my own students but at the Hombu, the
main shrine, so to speak.
As I stated earlier, I have described a typical Aikido year as a
professor at a large national university. Aikido practitioners in
Hiroshima are either students, and practise at the university club,
or are not, in which case they practise at the city dojo or one in
the suburbs. Students go to the main dojo only for the special
courses or for their grading tests and non-students never set foot
inside a university dojo. This is one example of a factionalism
(habatsu-shugi) which is very common in Japan and pervades all
types of society, not just that of the martial arts. I have the
advantage of being able to practise in both the city and the
university dojo and so I am in a position to look at both worlds.
In a normal situation, university practice and non-university
should complement each other.
I hardly need to add that members of the B.A.F. visiting this
part of the world are always welcome to practise here in
Hiroshima. I live in a traditional Japanese house, a bit like the
ryokan where my students go for their summer gasshuku, about
15 minutes by bus from the headquarters dojo. The cost of living
is very high in Japan and this includes travel. The value of the
Japanese yen is also high in relation to the pound and the dollar.
(£1 is about ¥160.) To give you some idea of yen equivalents: an
English-language newspaper costs £1. A cup of coffee costs
about £2.50. The journey by bus from my house to the dojo costs
£1.20. However, I have to pay £6.25 if I travel from my house to
Hiroshima University by public transport. So, I usually commute
on my motorcycle and whenever I buy petrol, it costs about £4
for 15 litres. The monthly mat fee at the headquarters dojo is
£25. A litre of milk costs £1.80. Last night I ate some tempura in
a typical local Japanese restaurant. The bill, for a set meal with
two bottles of local beer, came to nearly £59. However, lunch in
the university dining room is much cheaper, though you cannot
eat tempura (except as ten-don). I have never paid more than
about £4.50 for an ample meal. Hiroshima is about 560 miles
south-west of Tokyo and all the shinkansen bullet trains stop
here. However, a one-way ticket costs about ¥21,000 (£130).
Anyone thinking of coming to Japan and travelling around the
country should buy a Japan Rail Pass, one of the very few
bargains available to tourists in Japan. But everybody is welcome
in Hiroshima.
25th Anniversary Celebrations of the
HONG KONG AIKIDO ASSOCIATION
23rd−27th August
with Dojo-cho, Moriteru Ueshiba, and several high grade
instructors from the Hombu Dojo.
A warm welcome is assured for all B.A.F. members. No training
fees for overseas visitors, who will be guests of the H.K.A.A. at the
celebratory dinner. For help in finding moderately priced
accommodation contact as soon as possible:
Ken Cottier, Flat 4, 8/F, Block E, Kong Fu Court, Aberdeen,
Hong Kong (Tel. 25801461)
B.A.F. SPRING COURSE 1996
Hosokawa Sensei
13th−14th April
at Newtown, Powys
with Shihans
HIDEKI HOSOKAWA
(7th Dan) Italian Aikido Federation
MINORU KANETSUKA
(7th Dan) British Aikido Federation
YAMAGUCHI SEIGO SHIHAN
(1924-1996)
A PERSONAL MEMOIR
The facts of Yamaguchi Shihan’s early experience of Aikido
are very sparse and to my knowledge he never gave
interviews to Aikido or martial arts magazines. After a
wartime career in Japanese naval submarines, Yamaguchi
Sensei joined the Hombu Dojo in 1951. This must have been a
very exciting, not to say challenging, time to be practising
Aikido. The Founder was in Iwama and the Tokyo dojo was
short of money, instructors and students. Yamaguchi Sensei
quickly rose up through the ranks and became one of the
regular instructors, spending time as an Aikido instructor in
Burma from around 1958. Yamaguchi Sensei’s regular
teaching time was Monday evenings and it was during his
Monday evening practice that he felt unwell and left the class
early. Yamaguchi Sensei died early on Wednesday morning,
January 24, aged 71.
I first met Yamaguchi Sensei around 1980, not long after I
arrived in Japan. I was on one of my visits to the Hombu Dojo
and I had been told by Chiba Kazuo Shihan to practise in his
classes. I went up at the appointed time and prepared for the
class. I have to say that the class was quite unlike anything I
had ever experienced before. The practice seemed to follow
no particular teaching plan and everything was very fluid.
Yamaguchi Sensei would wander around the dojo and
approach someone. There would be a flurry of blurred
movements and the approached someone would be writhing
on the mat. There might be a brief conversation between
Yamaguchi Sensei and the person doing the writhing and then
he would wander off to the next someone. His uke were nearly
all yudansha and they clearly put an awful lot into receiving
his techniques, for they always seemed exhausted afterwards.
As someone used to the ‘Wham-bang’ style of practice (you
know, short, sweet, basic and very effective) current in the
B.A.F. at the time I left in 1980, I found it very hard to avoid
the impression that all his uke were putting on a big show.
Later I met Chiba Sensei and told him that I had attended
Yamaguchi Sensei’s class. (I did not dare tell him what I
thought about the practice!) He expressed surprise, for he had
told Yamaguchi Sensei that I would be in his class and
afterwards Yamaguchi Sensei had asked him where I was.
Very soon after that, I was formally introduced to him and
from then on was always recognised - and
greeted - whenever I took his classes.
Not long after I had settled down to
practise in Hiroshima, I discovered that
Yamaguchi Sensei often gave special training
courses here. In addition, I was delighted to
find that after he got to know me, I was
invariably one of his regular uke. Over the past
16 years, right up until Yamaguchi Sensei’s last
visit, in November last year, I was always
given the chance to experience his techniques
at first hand. This was a great opportunity to
work out for myself the answer to the great
question posed above: did Yamaguchi Senseis
techniques really work? I never realised that
this question was so controversial; but it was
also posed in a recent interview given by
Christian Tissier Shihan, one of his most
devoted disciples. Tissier Shihan alluded to the fact that many
people felt that you had to believe in Yamaguchi Sensei’s style
of practice for the techniques to work. Tissier Shihan himself,
of course, does not share this opinion. However, it is a fact
that Yamaguchi Sensei’s way of Aikido demands that the uke
makes a determined attack and persists with the attack right to
the end. It is also a fact that Yamaguchi Sensei’s classes were
attended by a hard core of believers; agnostics and atheists
tended to stay away. However, attendance is not always a
reliable indication of the effectiveness of Aikido technique.
There is another eminent Hombu shihan whose classes are
always rather sparsely attended. The fact that his techniques
always work, without a shadow of a doubt, is the main reason
for this.
Having the benefit of personal experience, I am certain
that Yamaguchi Sensei’s techniques really worked. After the
warm-up, we would begin practice and eventually I would see
Yamaguchi Sensei approaching, with a slight smile. He would
extend a hand and I would go for it. Of course, he knew my
intention beforehand and I found myself either enveloped in
the inevitable swirling movement, or suddenly flat out on the
mat. If it was a swirling movement, I had to continue the
attack and keep contact. If I was suddenly on the mat, I had to
do the same, but I was always allowed an escape route,
provided I found it and took it - which of course led right into
the next technique. It is virtually impossible to describe the
essence of his technique in one sentence, but Yamaguchi
Sensei had a genius for accepting his partner’s movements,
intentions, soul - whatever, and then subjecting it to gentle
control. These swirlings around the mat, or sudden landings,
would invariably be accompanied by a conversation (of
course in Japanese). “How are you today, Peter-San? How is
your university life? You must be very busy, now that you are
a professor. However, you must take care not to become too
stressed. Perhaps you should try to relax a bit more and lose
your strength. Forget about your upper body and search for
your centre. Then you would find all those university
meetings more relaxing. This is the real philosophy of
Aikido.” All this when both arms and legs were immobilised
and I was being sat on! In fact, trying to keep or regain my
balance after being thrown or pinned, whilst still attempting to
carry on a normal, relaxed conversation with him, is one of
the memories of Yamaguchi Sensei that I will treasure most.
Yamaguchi Sensei loved to talk, so much so that
sometimes other people found it difficult to get a word in edge
ways. In Hiroshima, after the final practice of the course we
would always go to a Chinese restaurant. Food would appear
and after the initial kampai (toast), Yamaguchi Sensei would
begin to talk. Topics ranged very widely, from fighting in
Japanese submarines to Aikido’s relation with western
philosophy. No subject was taboo and at the most recent
course, he talked much about the use of ken in Aikido. It was
obvious that he disagreed both with the idea that Aikido had
no connection whatever with the sword and also with the view
that Aikido and sword-work were two sides of the same coin.
Yamaguchi Sensei believed that each shihan took his own
interpretation of Aikido, his own personal package so to
speak, from O Sensei and that students did the same from
their own teachers. This flexible relationship between the
student and his teacher, or teachers, was one of the crucial
aspects of Aikido’s creativity and value. It was also clear to
me that Yamaguchi Sensei found it very difficult to explain his
own vision of Aikido in words. Talking was never a substitute
for working things out on the tatami.
The last time I met Yamaguchi Sensei was in November
last year. He came to Hiroshima to take a two-day course. As
ususal, as soon as I had warmed up and appeared on the mat,
Sensei walked towards me. He held out his hand for an attack
and the inevitable happened. On this occasion, however, the
conversation was a little different and it is possible that he had
a premonition that something was going to happen. He asked
me if I understood what he had been trying to teach over the
past few years. When a sensei of Yamaguchi’s stature asks a
question like this, it is very difficult to answer. To say “Yes”
seems arrogant; to say “No” seems culpably stupid. When I
answered: “My brain understands, but my body is stiff”, he
laughed and said that physical condition was not a factor in
NEW B.U.A.F. DOJO
An Aikido group at Aberyswyth University, organised by
Professor Stephen Wulfstan, has recently become affiliated to
the British Universities Aikido Federation. Don Morgan, Senior
B.A.F. Instructor in South Wales, will take classes there.
understanding his Aikido. Flexibility of mind came
first. However, I and his other students had a duty to
remember what he had been trying to teach and pass
it on, for there would come a time when he would
no longer be around to teach it.
Yamaguchi Sensei’s funeral took place on
January 28 and 29 at the Daisoji Temple in
Shinjuku, Tokyo. The otsuya ceremony (watching
the body) was held from 6 pm onwards and the
burial service began at 1 pm the following day. I
was privileged to attend both functions. I had never
been to a Buddhist funeral before and I found the
ceremony very simple and intensely moving. On the
dais were arranged the coffin, Yamaguchi Sensei’s
picture, and many, many flowers, sent from all over
the world. As sutras were being chanted, all the
mourners lined up to burn incense in front of the
coffin, and, as about 700 people attended the otsuya
ceremony, this took some time. At the funeral
service the following day, the burning of incense was
supplemented by eulogies given by Doshu, representatives
from the Yamaguchi family and his Aikido students at Meijo
University. The coffin was taken from the dais and put on
trestles. it was opened and Yamaguchi Sensei’s face was
visible, displaying the familiar, slight smile. Everybody,
family, Doshu, friends, students, gathered handfuls of the
flowers which had been displayed earlier and spread them
over the body. Someone even included a pack of his favourite
brand of cigarettes! Then the coffin lid was suspended over
the coffin and everyone took hold of it and gently lowered it
in place. Many willing hands then took over the coffin and
carried it down the steps to the hearse. As the final eulogy was
made, which laid stress on Yamaguchi Sensei’s openness, his
approachability, his fondness for travel (the courses he gave at
Oxford were mentioned) and for conversation, there was not a
single dry eye in the place. He will be remembered by many
people as a great Aikido technician and a great human being.
Peter A. Goldsbury
MARTIAL ARTS BOOKS
BOOKS ON JAPAN IN ENGLISH
BOOKSHOP
212 PICADILLY, LONDON W1V 9LD
TEL: 0171-439 8035 FAX: 0171-287 1082
ETON COLLEGE AIKIDO CLUB JOINS B.A.F
The Aikido Club at Eton College, Windsor, run by housemaster Mike Town, has recently become affiliated to the B.A.F. The
club has in fact quite a long history, being founded in 1970 by Bryan Samuel, who like so many of those early pioneers in
Britain hailed from South Wales. A group of a dozen or so of the school’s pupils hold practices in what has been named the
Hopgarden Dojo. Why this unusual name? Well, it is housed in a building that some centuries ago was a farm house, and the
land adjoining it, as well as being used for growing vegetables, was also used for cultivating hops to make beer in the days when
Thames water was so bad that the boys were required to drink beer rather than water at meals! The dojo has recently acquired a
new set of Shogun supermats to give a practice area of 7 x 5 metres on which the boys train twice weekly after school hours.
Anyone who would like to drop in for practice on a Tuesday or Thursday between 6.30 and 7.30 pm would be very welcome.