Our instructor Georges Rousseau (
http://www.aikidotakemusu.com/article60.html) often mentions Tadashi Abe as one of the earliest and most important influences on his aikido.
For the purposes of this thread, I would like to just briefly summarize a couple of the anecdotes I heard Georges tell several times (leaving out much of the detail and a lot of Georges' story-telling flavor).
(1) "Protection"
In the first years of Abe's stay in Europe (mostly France and Belgium), his French was quite limited. One of the words he knew quite well was "protection": when Abe was demonstrating standard aikido exercises, Uke had to be well aware of openings for atemi, which Abe would definitely exploit, even during basic training (with relative beginners, at that time). As a case in point, Abe broke for instance a couple of Georges' brother's ribs once, during a course, and bruised many more.
(NB that in what I've heard about Abe's rough practice, nothing transpire of any kind of sick abuse that for instance Chiba seems to have displayed regularly.
(2) "Mauvais 6dan"
Once, in the dressing room after training, Georges asked about a scar on Tadashi Abe's belly. "Appendicitis?" "No, 6th dan". Abe then explained that O-Sensei Ueshiba asked him to go pick a fight in the bars of a rough neighborhood (harbor?). Abe apparently survived but got at least one knife-wound. Abe's comment: "Bad 6dan".
(3) The boxing coach
Abe used to regularly teach in a dojo organized by Pierre Chassang in the South of France (Marseille?). At the same venue, there was also a boxing gym. Abe apparently like to go and watch the boxers' training sessions. At somepoint, the boxing coach told Chassang to get rid of that Japanese guy and to keep him away from his boxers. "Didn't you see these eyes of his; he's a killer".
(4) Abe taking care of business in Tokyo
Georges was in Japan for some conference related to aikido-politics (1976 IAF congress, I think). Abe notices that Georges is not quite happy and asks what's wrong. Georges explains that he paid for his stay in advance, but that the travel agency apparently did not transfer the money to their Japanese branch. Abe makes a phone call to the local branch, using his best "samurai" tone of voice, puts Georges in a taxi, giving instructions to the driver in the same tone. When Georges arrives at the travel agency's Tokyo branch, someone is waiting for him with an envelope with the exact amount of money, bowing deeply.
(5) Streetfighting in Marseille
After training (in Marseille?), Abe and a bunch of Aikido students and their wifes went to eat at a Chinese restaurant, at the edge of a ‘hot' quarter of town. When the party left the restaurant, a gang of dangerous-looking people were coming towards them. Abe insisted for the rest of the party to get back into the restaurant (despite the fact that his students --not really wussies either- were eager to participate in any fight). Abe took care of it all. Several ambulances were needed to clean up the mess (lots of broken arms and legs). The local police seemed to be used to this kind of event.
FWIW.
There are plenty more of those, but this is what I can come up with right now, with a reasonable degree of accuracy in retelling what I've heard. I'll try to check the details of these anecdotes next Saturday and chime in again after having my memory refreshed.