The Misakikai and Me

This afternoon we went to Misakikai Dojo. The main guy, Aoki Sensei is affiliated with Takeda Sensei's group (same as Numata Sensei). They have class every Sunday afternoon for ~$20.00 per month. He explained that if you join his dojo or Numata's then you can visit other dojos in the Takeda family for a mat fee. Aoki Sensei's style was almost identical to the style of my original sensei Michael Pollak. Noriko loved this class because the teacher was so attentive and she got to see another new student in action. There was ample floorspace and not so many students. We will probably sign up for Sundays and then on other nights when I'm free I can just pay a mat fee at participating dojos. Other than that, there's not much to say. The dojo is located in a nice modern community recreational center.

Doumukai or Doumukai Not. There is no "try."

Here is a picture from the Doumukai Dojo. It's mostly just to give a little life to this blog. Some eyecandy. We checked out Iida Sensei's Doumukai Dojo. He teaches at the Ootsu Jr. High and also at the Navy base. A contact (and hopefully new friend) recommended it from http://www.aikiweb.com .

Iida Sensei definitely knows his stuff. He related a story about a terrible accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Finally after seven months in the hospital he was able to move again. He's missing a kidney and part of his stomach (he showed us his scars). He said he's physically very weak and that it's helped his aikido out a lot. In some of the more dynamic demonstrations I could see his power over his own center and the center of his "uke."

In the words of one of his students ("...3 years of training, 5 times a week..."), who seemed to know everything, "Iida Sensei is the best." I asked him if he's trained with any other sensei and he said he's visited Honbu Dojo twice and during travels visited a couple of other dojo. But really, he's only trained with Iida Sensei. Hmmmm... He also explained that Iida used to be part of Aikikai but got tired of the politics and quit the organization and went out on his own. He also said Hattori Sensei (who also uses the gymnasium at the base) used to be Iida's student and then left to train (and pay for rank) at Honbu only to return and badmouth Iida. Like I said, he seemed to know everything and was happy to share.

Sensei came by a couple of times to demonstrate the "unbendable arm" and also let me do a little kokyuho. He would first do a very stiff demonstration and say "American Aikido" and then do it naturally and say, "See? So soft!" I wasn't sure what to say. My original sensei, who has never been to Japan to train, never felt stiff and choppy.

Iida Sensei seemed like jolly old soul. He smiled and laughed a lot and was very amiable. He spent several moments with us to talk. Doing Aikido is definitely part of his being. I think his class is best for someone that starts with him and can finish with him. It seems like it would be difficult to just jump in and start training. Many of his students first meet him on base and then continue during the other nights at the jr. high.

Noriko really liked the pace of his class because it was slow and relaxed. A new person started last night and he was treated very tenderly.

I'll put Doumakai on my list and move on. We still have two or three dojo to check out.

Door Number Two

Tonight, we looked into Numata Sensei's dojo. Someone told us he's Takeda's number one guy. His technique was outstanding. I don't see many roku-dan where I come from. The class was small so there would be a lot of one on one correction by the sensei. That kind of attention is very valuable. It's definitely going to be at the top of my list when this ~two week aikido investigation is over. Numata was very humble. When we told him that somebody on an american webpage recommended him he was in genuine shock that his name made it out of his dojo.

And so it begins.

I began my search for a dojo today. It's going to be very difficult. I'm very bashful and afraid of being prejudiced against as a gaijin. This fear is not founded on any reality or past experience- I'm just paranoid. The aikidoka at the first place on my list were sooo nice. One of them works with my Japanese father and a couple more came by to chat and invite me to join the class. They were all very good (of course) but it was kind of a long drive. I have to keep in mind that I might be riding a bike or driving myself to practice. Today wasn't a total loss. I finally got to see a Japanese dojo and take a step toward finding a new home dojo.