Surprise Visitors

As I slowed to enter the parking lot next to Tatoian Sensei's dojo this morning I was puzzled to see it empty. The time was 8:50 am, just ten minutes before scheduled class time. I wondered if, during my 7 weeks away from the dojo, class times and days had changed, or if perhaps just today Sensei had other plans or was sick.

My decision to wait a few minutes paid off as I saw Julian rolling into the lot. In Aikido two is critical mass, so I got out of my car, shouldered my gear, and met Julian at the door where he produced a key, unlocked the door, and opened it for me.

I was thinking, "what a perfectly relaxed set up for my first day back, just the two of us," and asked Julian what he wanted to work on. He saw my weapons bag and asked if I had two bokken. I said that I did, and he said, "kumi tachi?" Just then Jor walked in shaking his head that he'd forgotten to bring his gi. He decided to just stay and watch, so Julian and I bowed in with our bokken and got to work with kumi tachi #1, stop/start.

As we got into a rhythm working through the forms I noticed that some people had come into the dojo ante-room and were looking at us and smiling. At first I saw a woman and a man, and then there were more of them, six in all. A few of them were vaguely familiar, and my first impression was that they were students of the karate school we share a mat with. They gestured toward me and I said they were welcome to use the mat.

Suddenly it dawned on me that they had come to train Aikido with us, well, with Tatoian Sensei. They were a group of Aikidoka from Sweden, in Northern California for a few weeks to do some dojo-hopping culminating in the Lake Tahoe Gashuku coming up at the end of the month.

I apologized for not recognizing them and welcomed them to join us. They apologized for being late (a few minutes at most), got into their gis, opened their weapons bags and lined up on the mat with their bokken in front of them. We all bowed in together and proceeded to cycle through the kumi tachi series in the following order, #1, #5, #2, #4, #3.

Their buki waza was breathtakingly snappy and bristling with zanshin. Later I learned that one of them, Lars, had trained with both Tatoian Sensei and Goto Sensei in Iwama in 1973. It appeared that their kumi tachi practice was identical with the forms Tatoian Sensei had been teaching us over the years, and everyone seemed to be completely on the same page, including the conventions for stop/start keiko and how they may differ with awase keiko. I was heartened to see that, regardless of the nearly 10,000 miles separating us, we are all practicing Saito Sensei's buki waza pretty much the same way. There we are lined up in the picture above, with me and Julian sitting in the front right.

After class they asked where they could find good coffee in Santa Rosa. I wasn't at all sure that there would be acceptable coffee anywhere within a parsec, but Jor and Julian drew them maps and my confidence returned. After coffee they wanted to go tour some wineries, and I felt sure they'd at least be satisfied with that local product. Again Jor and Julian produced maps, and they were on their way. Their plan was to go adventuring during the day and then arrive at Goto Sensei's dojo for evening keiko.

I learned how to say "thank you" in Swedish, but am embarrassed to say that I've already forgotten. I'm sure I'll see these great people again though, over the next few weeks, and will be able to expand both my Swedish vocabulary and my understanding of what constitutes good coffee in Sweden.

technorati tag aikido

Comments

[Bryan]

Great! We had a couple swedes here last month -- don't recognize them in the pictures though! :) Glad to hear Julian's still training too -- wasn't sure what he'd be up to after graduation and all that. Busy guy I hear. Tell him (and Jor) hello for me next time...

[David]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks (Mange tak) for the keiko it was wonderful being there, to bad it had to end.

Hope to see you guys in the future.

All the best,
David

[Laila]

Jeff,
Tack så mycket (="thank you very much", go home and practice your swedish), for the nice things you write about us, for treating us so well, and also thanks for great training, especially for the hints you gave me on kokyoho!
I am sure we will train more in the future.
Bryan,
Even if you don´t se Dirk and Kaj in the picture they are friends to all of us!
Best regards,
Laila, surprise visitor

[Lasse Andersson]

Jeff,
Thank you very much, for all the nice things you write about us. All nice pictures with surprise visitors, and for treating us so well, and also thanks for great training.
Also I will thank you for the CD that arrived almost the same day that I did.

Lasse

[Jimmy]

It's really great that people are sharing this informtaion.

[Zanetha]

Have a look at this shiai match around the 7:30 mark.Takeo gets phused out of bounds. No intent to hit just an intent to push.I see nothing wrong with this.Takeo should have known he was near the edge of the court and acted appropriately.What do you think?