View Single Post
Old 04-12-2002, 11:18 PM   #23
akiy
 
akiy's Avatar
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 6,049
Offline
This is from Ellis Amdur's great book, "Dueling with O-sensei" (reprinted here with permission from the author):

Quote:
There was a period right in the beginning of my time as an uchi-deshi
when Arikawa Sensei decided to take me under his wing -- so to speak.
He would call me out for ukemi, and throw me head-first into the
tokonoma (altar) or hit me in the throart with a knuckle, leaving me
retching on the floor. I'd be diving through the air, trying to
protect my arm from being broken, thinking, no, screaming inside my
head, "This isn't aikido, this isn't waht O-sensei teaches! Boy, is
Arikawa sensei going to get in trouble when O-sensei sees this!" And
one day, O-sensei came bopping across the mat just as Arikawa sensei
slugged me in the throat, knocked me down, and cranked an arm bar on
my elbow, and kept it going even after I frantically tapped out.
O-sensei glanced over, smiled, said something like "Carry on, carry
on" and kept on going right through the dojo and out the door.

I never really figured this out. I ended up regarding Arikawa like a
force of nature, sort of like gout ot the black plague, but I figure
that O-sensei was saying that there's a role in the community for
everyone, even mad dogs and sadists. Hell, I don't know, that's just
what I came up with. I sure learned how to take ukemi with that man,
though...

-- Terry Dobson, from a personal conversation
-- Jun

Please help support AikiWeb -- become an AikiWeb Contributing Member!
  Reply With Quote