Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

Hello everybody,

Being the creator of the martial art we all love, and being so skilled as a martial artist overall (not to mention the philosophy side), we all understand the reverence that O-Sensei deserves. But, as a person, did he have a sense of humor? Not many here knew him personally, but would there be some kind of written tale from his students?

On a related note, would there also be a record of a funny mistake that he could have commited either on or off the mat? I know this would somehow take away some of the aura that there's to him, but he was still human. :)

Cheers,

U.

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

Anyone who has ever taught Yonkyo knows that Osensei must have had a sense of humor. It's fun to teach. Oh yes, it is... *grins evilly*

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

i've read in the history of nature and aikido or whatever it was called (apoligies) that he often joked with his closer students like his son. but, on the other hand, i've also heard numerous accounts that he had a horrible temper until he was elderly. a few accounts have mentioned that you could hear him screaming at his students in the next district!

anyone have any O Sensei gets angry stories or any humor stories that they have heard?

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

:D :D
Absolutely!

I reckon O Sensei must have had a sense of humour, as that comes through in most people's Aikido (not just Yonkyo ;) ), making it a lot of fun to train in Aikido.

At a recent seminar I was chatting to the nice Red Cross ladies (who kindly provided ice for my swollen foot), and they told me that they'd run the First Aid station at a number of MA events, and that of all of them, the Aikido ones seem to have the greatest number of students smiling, laughing and really enjoying themselves. :D

Ruth

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

I once read a story about a student accompanying O'sensei to Tokyo. When the student wasn't paying attention, O'sensei ducked away and blended into the crowd. The student had his teacher's ID and money, and was responsible for looking out for him! :blush: I'm sure that O'sensei was trying to teach his student a lesson about awareness, but I think he also was feeling a bit mischievous that day. :D

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

One story I once read - always make me giggle inside -
I can´t recall the story completely but it was about a person challenging O´sensei ,
when he attacked - O´sensei made a deep irimi and was behind him ,
the challenger couldn´t see O´sensei anywhere as he looked for him and thought he may have applied some "magical" technique - instead O´sensei was moving in complete sync behind him ,staying outside his field of vision , finally he tapped the challenger on the shoulder -
the challenger turned to see O´sensei standing there with a big grin on his face -
how about that ?

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

If you head over to AikidoJournal.com (sorry Aikiweb) you can listen to a short clip from a radio interview that Osensei gave. In it you get to see what a sense of humor he really had. Enjoy.

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

No need to be sorry! Stanley has amassed a wealth of aikido-related information that should be commended. I'm happy he has such a good web presence these days which allows aikido folks from all over the world to benefit from his years of dedicated research.

Now, back to the discussion on the founder's sense of humor.

-- Jun

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

If you ever see that video footage of him taking ukemi for a young child you can see that he has a big smile on his face and he is definitely enjoying himself. He has to know the sight of that has to be humorous to a lot of people.

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

Hello Jim,

Would you know where in the web I could get such videos? I have only seen pictures of O-Sensei. I would be a blast if my first video was that particular one. :D

U.

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

There is a story in Terry Dobson`s great book, A Lot Like Dancing. At public demonstations, O`Sensei would use Terry as uke. At one, O`Sensei signalled that Terry should grab O`s front lapel. O` then stepped back and said, "Why did you grab my beard? I am an old man, you know, and don`t have many hairs in my beard. If you grab my beard, I won`t have any hairs left." Everyone laughed, and Terry writes that he was extremely embarrassed. At the next demo, O`Sensei again signalled for Terry to grab his lapel. Terry very carefully made sure not to grab any beard. O` the stepped back and said, "Why did you grab my beard...." Terry realized that the whole thing was a set-up to make the audience laugh.

Terry Dobson`s book is full of such stories, highly recommended.
Charles

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

Sorry, the video clip I saw was an excerpt from another video I'm sure; which in turn was likely an excerpt from some original film footage. So I don't know what the source video is, but I believe it may have been from the seminar that was held in Hawaii when O-sensei visited there. I'm sure if you contact Aikido Journal or some othe source of aikido videos they could give you a lead on which of their videos contain this footage of O-sensei taking ukemi for the child.

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

That is at the very end of "The founder of Aikido" - Aikido Journal

Re: Did O-Sensei have a sense of humor?
 

I remember seeing a video where O'Sensei took on four uke. Of course he effortlessly stacked each of them one atop the next. When he had pinned the last one on top of the others, he playfully placed one foot on top, stuck out his chest with his hands on his hips, smiling from ear to ear.