Thread: Super O'Sensei
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Old 06-11-2003, 10:23 PM   #13
akiy
 
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I wrote about what Shioda sensei wrote in his book on the Aikido-L mailing list back in January. It's a bit out of context, but here's what I wrote:
Quote:
I just read Shioda sensei's account of this in the Japanese version of "Aikido Shugyo." If I rmember correctly, Shioda sensei's account told that there were six shooters ("Olympic caliber able to shoot a target consistently 100 times out of a 100") in a line facing the founder at a range of 25 meters. They all shot on the count of three (or some such external signal to all shoot at once). When the smoke cleared, the founder was seen to be behind the line of shooters, throwing one of them. This whole thing was then repeated with basically the same results (with the only difference being which shooter was thrown).

The theory I buy into is that the six shooters were told to miss deliberately despite the founder having signed away all "rights." Why humiliate (ie kill) this venerable and respected martial artist? Better to save face and let him think he can dodge bullets.

Heck, I can even buy that he'd dodged the bullets. If the shooters were as good as they said they were, they'd aim and shoot exactly where he was. Since the founder probably heard/knew exactly when they were going to shoot ("OK, gang, we're going to all shoot on the count of three. One, two THREE!"), all he'd have to do is "not be there." Of course, that leaves the question of how he ran 25 meters in a "split second"...
I then wrote a day later in response to someone who had a hard time believing that an Olympic-trained marksman would ever even aim a loaded gun at another human being, except in dire self-defense:
Quote:
To clarify, I hope I said "Olympic level" marksman as that's the term Shioda sensei used in his book. These folks were actually people who tested guns and rifles to determine whether the bullets veered off at all. As Shioda sensei writes (translated from the Japanese by me), "Their skill at shooting was at the Olympic level. When I watched them, they really did hit the target a hundred times out of the hundred so I was totally surprised."

He relays there were six people with pistols at a range of 25 meters (which, he says, was the usual distance to a human sized target). He goes on to write, "At the count of 'one, two, three', all six guns blazed fire. There was a plume of sand and, in the next instant, one of the six shooters had flown into the air." The same thing happens when they try again. The founder supposedly said a golden ball of light flew toward him the instant when the shooters had the intent to pull their triggers; the bullets came afterwards so it was no problem dodging them. Since all six bullets couldn't be fired at once, they came at slightly different times; all he had to do was go to the one that came first. The founder then says the golden light carried with it a very loud sound; he would start running when he heard the sound at a crouch, like a ninja. By the time the bullets came,he'd already be halfway in. He then supposedly said something like, "I'm necessary in this world. The gods have declared that I be kept alive. My misogi hasn't finished yet so I can't die. When the gods are through with me, then I will ascend into the heavens."

The next section details his encounter with the hunter. His words, supposedly, in turning him down were, "You don't have any intention to shoot. Rather, you're shooting with the foregone conviction that [the bullet] will hit. I can't dodge the gun of someone like that."
Hope that gives a more "detailed" account of what Shioda sensei wrote. (Translation from his Japanese is mine, though...)

-- Jun

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