Glimmerscape

How Goto Sensei's blade stays sharp

Cory, Akiko San, and I had been practicing Ikkyo from the two-handed attack, Morote Dori. The variation we were attempting involved cutting forward with the grabbed hand so that uke steps forward, and then striking back into uke's center with the tegatana, unbalancing uke and setting up the final, spiral cut that brings uke to the mat. This is a complicated sequence, and we were struggling with it.

Goto Sensei sat us down to show how the striking hand must find the space between the attacker's wrist bones and strike through this space, not through the hand or the bones of the wrist, if uke is to be made light. He demonstrated this showing his tegatana striking straight through the hollow space where Cory's hand attaches to his arm.

Goto Sensei continued to explain that it is the same strike, through the empty space of the wrist between the bones that makes Kote Gaishi and Nikkyo work as well. He showed that cutting through the space between the bones requires hardly any effort, and, with proper body position and ki extension, unbalances uke very easily.

Goto Sensei's advice echoed Chuang Tzu's story of the cook who in nineteen years never needed to sharpen his knife.

"Prince Hui's cook was cutting up a bullock. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulders, every tread of his foot. . .every chhk of his chopper, was in perfect harmony. . .

'Well done!' cried the Prince. 'Yours is skill indeed.'

'Sire,' replied the cook. . .'A good cook changes his chopper once a year--because he cuts. An ordinary cook, once a month--because he hacks. But I have had this chopper nineteen years, and although I have cut up many thousand bullocks its edge is as if fresh from the whetstone. for at the joints there are always interstices, and the edge of a chopper being without thickness, it remains only to insert that which is without thickness into such an interstice.

'By these means the interstice will be enlarged, and the blade will find plenty of room. It is thus that I have kept my chopper for nineteen years as though fresh from the whetstone.' . . .

'Bravo!' cried the Prince. 'From the words of this cook I have learnt how to take care of my life'."

Thus, it was that Goto Sensei revealed how his own tegatana has remained so sharp.

Reference Chuang Tzu, Chapter Three

Sword Method; Body Method

Morihiro Saito Sensei made an incalculable contribution to Aikido by synthesizing the chaos of what O-Sensei taught into a systematic curriculum. The orderly progression of students through this organized curriculum is the path of Iwama Style Aikido. Some may complain that the spontaneity and creativity is leeched out of the art by this organized style of practice, but Saito Sensei would tell students that, "in order to go fast you first must go slow," and learn the basic forms, footwork and hip movements, before aspiring to high levels of practice.

Saito Sensei spent a great deal of time organizing O-Sensei's sword forms into basic fundamentals, or suburi, and then he further built on these to create short kata-like forms or awase for partner practice. These flowing paired forms with the bokken, or wooden sword, crystalized into the Kumi Tachi that we still practice today, and they played a role in the development of the Ken Tai Jo, or Ken against Jo awase forms.

During the time that Dennis Tatoian Sensei studied at the Iwama dojo Saito Sensei taught the Kumi Tachi with many variations all ending in different ways. Following the principle of Riai, in which weapons forms and empty-handed Aikido were identical and fully informed by one another, Saito Sensei organized these variations into two categories: sword method and body method.

In the sword method endings, the Kumi Tachi and variations all ended with a killing sword thrust or strike. Conversely, with the body method endings, empty-handed Aikido techniques were used, much like the endings of the Tachi Dori, or sword taking techniques in which an unarmed defender defeats a sword attack.

Today Tatoian Sensei stood out on the mat at the beginning of Sunday class and said, "what do you guys want to do today?" Carmen and I looked at each other thinking, "anything you want to shows us would be perfect." But then I asked out loud, "would you show us the sword method/body method variations of the Kumi Tachi?" I knew that Tatoian Sensei felt an appreciation for Saito Sensei's systematic curriculum, and that Tatoian Sensei would shortly be returning to his new home in the Phillippines. It seemed like a great time to have him guide us through the Kumi Tachi variations.

While there are endings possible at each and every strike or thrust point within the Kumi Tachi, Saito Sensei had taken great care to teach both sword endings and empty-handed endings at the conclusion of the first and second attacker strikes. Tatoian Sensei began us with the first Kumi Tachi and showed us sword method and body method endings at each of these points. His approach was to have Carmen and I do one round of stop-start practice and then a round executing the form in a flowing awase manner. Once we had completed this he would come back on the mat and show us the variations.

Many of the sword method endings involved a simple entry, slicing into the attacker's center as the attacker rose to strike, while some involved stepping off on a safe angle and striking at the head. One of the more interesting sword endings was to mimic shiho nage with a slice across the attacker's mid section and then a 180 degree turn for a final strike.

The body method endings included Kote Gaishi, Koshi Nage, many Kokyu Nages, and a Hiji Waza ending in which you capture the striking right arm with both hands and, with a right hip turn, drive the attacker to the mat while his sword arm is brought straight up.

Over the course of an hour and a half Sensei systematically provided us with a tour of Kumi Tachi variations for all five forms: sword method and body method for first and second strike endings. I'd seen some of these in bits and pieces over the years, but never a coverage of all five forms with variations for first and second strike.

As I left the dojo I felt a surge of appreciation for Saito Sensei's contribution in making Aikido accessible to us mere mortals in a way that resembles a curriculum. The nice thing about a systematic curriculum is that things tend not to get lost or fall through the cracks over time. At the same time I felt a little of the same sadness that I felt in January when Tatoian Sensei went away to the Phillipines. At that time we knew he would be back for a while during the Summer. This time there is no clear expectation that he will be back at all, with the exception of short visits now and then. That means that the responsibility of keeping the curriculum fresh and interesting falls on those of us who are trying to keep the dojo together and move it into the future. Today's tour of the Kumi Tachi variations will contribute greatly to our ability to pull this off.

Dragonfly Sensei

A great deal of significance is laid on the fact that O-Sensei was only 4'11", yet he could effortlessly throw attackers many times his size. The subtle art by which he was easily able to defeat larger, stronger opponents is the Holy Grail, the essence of what we seek in the study of Aikido.

Since O-Sensei was so small yet indomitable, it is no surprise that others of tiny stature could, through long years of excruciating practice, gain great skill in Aikido, and through this skill throw opponents many times their size and weight.

Perhaps the greatest living exemplar of this expertise, now that O-Sensei is gone, is Dragonfly Sensei. She is very small and perhaps weighs no more than an ounce or two, but she is able to capture both the mind and body of any large human. She deftly uses the energy and intentionality of the attack, often in the form of a whistling strike with a bit of rolled up newspaper, absorbing the force and turning it, with prodigious breath power, to her advantage. Here is a picture of Dragonfly Sensei.

Today, as I entered the dojo for a regular morning of practice I saw that class would not be routine at all; there was Dragonfly Sensei zooming around the rafters, diving and swooping down into the dojo space doing her various warm-up katas. All the other students were stretching and loosening up at the far corners of the mat, hoping that they would not get called to take ukemi from her, so formidable is her reputation.

Scott, one of the senior black belts ended up as her chosen uke for demonstrations. Scott is very agile and graceful, and he lands very lightly from breakfalls. This latter ability is a plus when taking ukemi from Dragonfly Sensei, since you may be thrown from any part of the dojo, even from up by the skylights, where she prefers the warmth and light.

The first technique she demonstrated was her famous "nose-pin" technique. This technique involves the simultaneous capture of the mind of uke, as she strikes directly to the center of his face, and a painful joint lock on the nose, which buckles the knees and takes uke to the mat. Here she is shown at the very instant of application of the joint lock. Scott's face still reflects the surprise at her entry, and hasn't had time to adopt the grimace of pain in response to the joint lock. When this technique is inexpertly performed it can cause lasting pain and a strange deformity, which is a source of frustration to ukes, thus the phrase: "got your nose out of joint." Fortunately, Dragonfly Sensei always performs the technique flawlessly, and Scott, once released from the pin, showed no lingering effects.

The next technique was a kokyu nage in which she flys offline avoiding a punch, and then she pivots in, draws uke under her wings, and propels him across the mat. Scott again was chosen to take this fall. Here he is in mid-air as Goto Sensei looks on in wonder. When we tried it uke was very heavy on top of our arms. This was embarrassing since our arms are much sturdier in every way than the fine filaments and membranes of her wings.
Yet, when she demonstrated the technique her wings fairly bristled with ki and snapped Scott so hard that he flew quite far horizontally across the mat.

After class we hoped to talk for a while with Dragonfly Sensei about her many trips across the sea to Japan, where she studies still with her own lofty teachers. But as soon as she clapped her wings to bow out she darted across the dojo, turning in flight at the door to bow once again, and then streaked out into the morning air.

As always there were jokes about the cruel fate of the poor unfortunate oaf who tries to swat Dragonfly Sensei, not knowing she is an 8th degree black belt and quite capable of flicking even the largest, strongest brutes to the very ends of the earth.