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Re: Tadashi Abe
Two more anecdotes about Tadashi Abe (follow-up from post #53 in this thread). My source is still Georges Rousseau’s “kuden”, during, before and after training in our dojo. (BTW: I apparently got the dates and places right, in my previous post)
(6) Suwari-waza Shomen-uchi Ikkyo
The first year or so, Abe didn’t teach anything else but Suwari-waza Shomen-uchi Ikkyo. Pierre Chassang used to say: “We used to think that aikido WAS Suwari-waza Shomen-uchi Ikkyo”.
(7) Tadashi Abe addressing the Aikikai establishment at the first IAF congress in Tokyo (1976)
At some point during the congress Abe took the floor, unannounced and without asking for permission. He started some kind of sermon, in Japanese with his own French translation (isn’t that remarkable?), singling out a number of the Japanese big shots:
• “You! Why doshu? Before waka-sensei.”
• “Saito. Pupil of Tadashi Abe.”
• “Tamura, good little boy”.
• “Yamada, dirty little boy. Pissed on my pants” [As pointed out above, Yamada was related to Abe, and known to Abe since Yamada was a baby]
• etc.
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