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  • Interview with Aikido Shihan Nobuyuki Watanabe, Part 2

    Interview with Aikido Shihan Nobuyuki Watanabe, Part 2

     Nobuyuki Watanabe SenseiNobuyuki Watanabe sensei (渡辺信之) at Aikikai Hombu Dojo

    Nobuyuki Watanabe is a senior instructor at Aikikai Hombu Dojo and a Japanese bonesetter (接骨 / Sekkotsu – a form of joint manipulation similar to chiropractics). He was instrumental in making Isogai Dynamic Therapy (a chiropractic method of treatment to compensate for functional leg length differences) known in Germany, where he frequently travels to instruct in Aikido.

    His famous “no touch” Aikido demonstrations at the annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration (全日本合氣道演武大会) are highly controversial, but always elicit an enthusiastic response from the crowd. The late Sadateru Arikawa used to watch those demonstrations each year with a scowl on his face!

    This is the second part of a two part translation of an interview with Nobuyuki Watanabe sensei. You may wish to read Part 1 of this interview before reading this section.

    This interview originally appeared in the August 2007 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan. It was also published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 (“Profiles of the Founder”) in 2009.

    There was a short introduction to this work in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“. I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2) and Shigenobu Okumura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).  (more…)

  • Interview with Aikido Shihan Nobuyuki Watanabe, Part 1

    Interview with Aikido Shihan Nobuyuki Watanabe, Part 1

     Nobuyuki WatanabeNobuyuki Watanabe sensei at the 42nd annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration

    Nobuyuki Watanabe was born in Miyazaki Prefecture on July 25th, in Showa year 5 (1930). He began Aikido in 1952, at the age of 22, and is a senior instructor at Aikikai Hombu Dojo. He is famous for his controversial “no touch” Aikido demonstrations at the annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration (全日本合氣道演武大会), which some people love – and some people hate, shown here at the 44th All Japan Aikido Demonstration in 2003:

    You may also be interested to read Ellis Amdur’s thoughts on training with Watanabe sensei in “It Had To Be Felt #9: Watanabe Nobuyuki: How the Mighty Have Fallen“.

    This interview was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 (“Profiles of the Founder”) in 2009. It originally appeared in the August 2007 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.

    There was a short introduction to this work in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“. I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2) and Shigenobu Okumura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2). (more…)

  • Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 3

    Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 3

    佐々木の将人先生

    The two faces of Masando Sasaki Sensei

    “Aikido is the manifestation of the principles of the universe – connection and the union of opposites.”

    “Your belly won’t get full reading a cookbook; you have to eat!”

    -Masando Sasaki Sensei

    Aikido movement is a spiral. Not a circle, a spiral.

    Masando Sasaki (佐々木の将人), 8th Dan, passed away on February 15th 2013 at the age of 84. Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1929, he was a graduate in economics and law of Chuo University. Sasaki began aikido in 1954 while employed by the Self-Defense Agency, and was also was a member of the Tempukai and Ichikukai, and a priest of the Yamakage San’in Shinto sect.

    This is the third part of a three part English translation of an interview with Masando Sasaki that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as “Profiles of the Founder” (開祖の横顔) in 2009. You may wish to read Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview before reading this section.

    There was a short introduction to “Profiles of the Founder” in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“.

    Previous postings have featured English translations of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).  (more…)

  • Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 2

    Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 2

    Masando Sasaki Funeral

    Funeral for Masando Sasaki Sensei, February 20th 2013
    Tojo Ceremony Hall in Tsurugaoka, Saitama – attended by more than 700 people
    The plaque to the right of center reads “Aikido Doshu Ueshiba Moriteru”

    合氣は宇宙法則の陰陽結びの道で
    美しく投げ美しく受身を取る稽古から
    切磋琢磨の和の武道である

    Aiki is the Way of the universal principle of In-Yo connection
    Throwing beautifully in training, falling beautifully in training
    Assiduous cultivation of the Budo of Peace

    -Masando Sasaki Sensei

    Hiding in the mountains while chased by the CIA

    Masando Sasaki (佐々木の将人), 8th Dan, passed away on February 15th 2013 at the age of 84. He was one of the early post-war students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, entering Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 1954.

    He was a colorful character, and often controversial. Concerned with the course of Japanese political affairs, he set up a spy school together with some former members the of the Nakano spy school (Morihei Ueshiba was an instructor at the Nakano spy school until 1942). Exposed in the United States through an article in Time Magazine, he was forced to resign from the Japanese Defense Agency.

    This is the second part of a three part English translation of an interview with Masando Sasaki that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as “Profiles of the Founder” (開祖の横顔) in 2009. You may wish to read Part 1 of the interview before reading this section.

    There was a short introduction to “Profiles of the Founder” in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“.

    Previous postings have featured English translations of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).  (more…)

  • Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 1

    Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 1

    佐々木の将人

    Masando Sasaki Shihan at Aikikai Hombu Dojo

    Falling in love with O-Sensei’s face

    Masando Sasaki (佐々木の将人), 8th Dan, passed away on February 15th 2013 at the age of 84.

    Born in 1929, he began training with Morihei Ueshiba in 1954. He could be outspoken and controversial, but almost always entertaining.

    He was a graduate in economics and law from Chuo University, and published a dozen or more books in Japanese. He gave lectures throughout Japan on his particular method of viewing the human condition (佐々木説法).

    This is the first part of a three part English translation of an interview with Masando Sasaki that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as “Profiles of the Founder” (開祖の横顔) in 2009.

    There was a short introduction to “Profiles of the Founder” in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“.

    Previous postings have featured English translations of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2).  (more…)