1

Two months in the “faraway land”
FÜLEKY, András (Andy)
37 years old
Hungary
Hungarian Kobayashi Dojos' Organisation
Honshin Dojo (instructor: SZABÓ Balázs 5. dan)Practising:
aikido, iaido (ZNKR, Tosa Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu)
uchideshi period: 28.02.2010 - 03.05.2010

The title was created by my five years old daughter because this is how she calls Japan.
“Daddy is in the faraway land” she told everybody when I was away.
Before I start talking about my experiences I would like to express my deepest gratitude
to Kobayashi sensei and Hiroaki sensei for the opportunity they provided for me. Many
thanks for the knowledge they gave me and for all those free time activities they provided
for me. Similarly, those two days spent with Masuda sensei and the three days in the“uchideshi sanatorium” with Yamawaki sensei will rest deep in my heart. And I would
also like to thank Kobayashi sensei and Hiroaki sensei for their help in getting over myinitial inexperience where their sense of humour was a great asset. I need to mention here
how nice Yasuko sama and Miyoko sama were who helped me a lot from the backgroundand they did a great deal of work for the Kobayashi Dojo to run it smoothly. And as weknow, the respect of Yasuko sama is worth 5 dan.
It is natural that without exception I am very grateful to all the instructors sand membersof Kobayashi Dojo who, during trainings and in other times, treated me with truefriendship and accepted me immediately.
Since the relationship of Hungarians with Kobayashi Dojo is quite old, I met a lot of
instructors and aikidokas whom I greeted as old acquaintances. Kobayashi sensei,
Hiroaki sensei, Masuda sensei and Koyanagi sensei have long time ties with my country.
During conversation it was a pleasure to hear that many of them plan to visit Hungary on
occasions of training sessions. It was wonderful to experience unselfishness, the strong
attitude that is characteristic of the many of instructors and practitioners in Kobayashi
Dojo. If there is any task outside the training, then the necessary number of participants isthere and then immediately and it does not matter if the work lasts until midnight. The
most important thing is that for the common aim everybody works in good spirit. It is
obvious that this kind of attitude is the one that creates the very well organized andsmoothly running world in the atmosphere where everybody helps the other. The main

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point is that the task is performed immediately, since they appear not as an obligation but
for the training to be as problem-free and happy spirited as possible and that everybody
can concentrate only on the aikido practice.
Koyanagi sensei once told me the following: "Andy, do not be too elaborate and too
polite when you have a question to a sensei. Kobayashi Dojo is characterized by shortand concise questions and answers. It is a little bit different from what is usual in Japan."And yes, it really works this way, it works at Kobayashi Dojo, I have tried it, with proper
carefulness, of course.
It is almost an impossible task to tell about the 2-month-long experiences in such a shortlength, that is why I am going to describe a couple of thoughts or episodes that influenced
me most during my stay in Japan.
***

One day Kobayashi sensei told Henrik (Henrik Agertz, Sweden) and me to get readybecause in the afternoon we were going to the Meiji University, for the usual annual
seminar. My friend Henrik who took part in this event 10 years ago, advised me not to be
surprised at anything that afternoon. It was already a great experience that we travelled
together with Kobayashi sensei. That was a bit stressful for a beginner uchideshi but I
was prepared. (I will speak about it later). We arrived to the meeting place where wewere met by Meiji students, elegantly dressed in black, with boards in their hands.
We proceeded to the University. This is great – that was what I thought – it was that easy
to get to the Meiji University... at least for two hours. When we entered the huge building
our two escorts stayed with us ready for any of our requests. After we changed clothes wewent to the big dojo which was really huge. There were three wrestling rings next to eachother. When we appeared at the entrance of dojo the first surprise came. About 45-50
shodan-nidan-rank-aikidoka practiced on the tatami and as by magic, with a loud yamefinished their practice, turned to us and bowed deeply. I even looked back because I wassure that Kobayashi sensei had arrived, but I was just standing in front of him... but itturned out that was done for us. Then they greeted us, they wanted to carry our bags So it
was a bit embarrassing. Then the situation became clear. Kobayashi sensei is twice the3sensei here since he is the alumni of Meiji as well as aikido shihan and we are hisuchideshi. Having realized this I felt great responsibility for each of my actions. We also
started to practice, and I do not need to mention that everybody wanted to practice withus, they made us work very hard. It was followed by the loud command and the bow
again because Kobayashi sensei entered the room. A lot of people ran to him, with lots ofbows and bustling about. The training continued in the spirit of Kobayashi sensei, in a
happy mood and with great dynamism.

At the end of the training I got my second surprise when I started to fold my hakama, or
to say more accurately, I was going to, since many of them wanted to prevent me fromdoing that, they wanted to fold it themselves. I tried t conceal my embarrassment and I
thanked them many times, saying that this was my responsibility… I tried to do my best
to prevent the attack, but then another fellow arrived who offered his help with taking theshower. I had to decline the offer this time very strongly.

4After the practice we went to the most important event that follows training, i.e. to have acouple of beers, with some students from Meiji who usually come over for the training toKodaira. It was a really pleasant time.
***

Kobayashi sensei unexpectedly appeared at the door of Tokorozawa dojo and told us to
be at the Kodaira station at 9 o’clock the next day because he is going to take us to
Kudansha. My friend Kalle (Karl Linde, Sweden) and I were so anxious not to be latethat we were there at 8.30 already. It was a good decision because Kobayashi sensei
arrived there at 8.45.
We got on the train and after a couple of changes we arrived to the Kudansha station.
Following Kobayashi sensei we stopped in front of a shop and we learned that he lived inthat house in his childhood and now his brother was the owner of the shop.

Next to the house there is an Indian restaurant where Kobayashi sensei treated us to allsorts of delicacies. I have to say that during the 2 months in JapanI
ate everything I was offered and I never had any problems. But
after the Indian food I had a terrible stomach-ache for days.
After lunch Kobayashi sensei suggested visiting the park opposite
the restaurant. He said goodbye ant went to see his brother.
So we went to explore. As a matter of fact, I had no idea where
we were. Only when I looked around in the park, I realized that
Yasukuni Jinja can be found there. I read a lot about the place.
After I visited the Yasukuni Jinja with great respect, I went to the5
Budokan building and I managed to get home for the evening training. It was amarvellous day.
***

There is one thing that developed to the skill level for me in Japan - if not the aikido
techniques :-) - but the quick reaction to the unexpected. When Kobayashi sensei decided
it was time to leave, he did so without any consideration, immediately, and we, theuchideshi, had to do so. We felt, however, that he was a little more patient with us, but
only in the beginning and there were a lot of funny stories due to it.
In other times when we went somewhere by public transport we experienced that
Kobayashi sensei is simply a genius about how to shorten the way. He found the gaps inthe crowd of people and no matter that you were behind him you could not get through.
In a big crowd you have no chance to keep the pace with him, especially when there weredifficulties like buying tickets for another train or taking pictures. You had no chance todo that. Probably he got this gift from Osensei...
So I learned how to start from any situation and to follow him no matter how big thecrowd was, even to buy a ticket from some sophisticated machine in no more than 10
seconds.
***

The fact of the amount of respect Kobayashi sensei has in Japan, in his neighbourhood orin the aikido community could not be experienced until we were in the narrow dojo
community. He is a real “head of the family” there who enjoys every moment spent in thecommunity established by him. With all respect for him, but because of his friendliness I
often forgot who he is in reality during some of our talks. But when we travelled to
Iwama, as an old rule, we went to a “breakfast station” next to the motorway, and sittingat the table, I understood much more. Plenty of aikidoka arriving from all parts of thecountry, when they saw Kobayashi sensei, greeted him with great respect.
The trip to Iwama was on the 29th of April, which is a significant event every year in the
aikido calendar. The Aiki Shrine Festival is arranged at that time. From all over the world
and from the entire country people have a pilgrimage to this lovely little place toremember together the Founder and to experience the wonderful feeling of what aikido
means to them and to all people throughout the world.

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My first great experience was when I could have a look inside the old dojo and when I
saw that Doshu and his family with their escorts were getting ready I also hurried to theshrine. On the side of the open shrine and on the tatami, the great old ones were alreadysitting and among them Kobayashi shihan, of course. I was very proud that I belonged tohim! After the long ceremony finished, embu began. Of course everybody was interested
in Doshu. And he was doing what he always did: he did the show clearly and smoothly. It
was over soon.

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After that we went to the park in front of the old dojo and we sat on big canvases spreadon the ground, everybody grouping around their own shihan. We ate our lunch and soon I
noticed that Doshu walked around the small groups and he sat down a bit everywhere fora little chat, taking pictures. It was very honourable.

Since it was good to have a little exercise after lunch, the best thing to do was to climb
the nearby mountain to visit jinja on the top of it. It is important to know that the roadfrom the dojo to the shrine was done by Osensei and when Kobayashi sensei was in
Iwama he escorted Osensei on the mountain.

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There are steep steps leading up to
the shrine where Kobayashi sensei
told us that he had to push Osensei
up the hill by his backside. Of
course, taking into consideration thegeneration change, it was my task topush Kobayashi sensei up the hill.
The lunch must have been a bit
heavy because the pushing was a bit
bumpy, especially when the sensei
leaned back jokingly :-)The shrine itself was amazing as wellas the landscape, which was the prize
for all hardship.
I am very grateful to Kobayashi dojo
for taking me to this event.
***

We could hardly wait for all Wednesdays. The program was very busy that day, but after
the Tokorozawa morning training the uchideshi were invited upstairs where Miyoko san
was waiting for us with delicious breakfast.
During breakfast Hiroaki sensei sometimes shows his great natto test. Kasahara sensei
sometimes mixed together the fermented soya beans with onions and something else in a
big dish. He did it very accurately since he wanted to leave some time for the gaijin to getused to that sticky squelchy liquid that the Japanese love so much and which is also very
healthy food. When talking about natto the Hungarian saying is true that if something ishealthy, it is either ugly or immoral :-)9

The main point of the morning is Hiroaki
sensei’s lecture in front of a carton sheet.
On this Kaho chan drew the offer of thecoffee machine, with the corresponding
prices. I chose Cafe Latte Macchiato and I
took the price of 280 ¥ seriously, and I took
the money with me for the next time. I do
not need to describe in detail the laughter.

I asked for some honey with my coffee and they remarked
that these Hungarians over sweeten everything… Next
Wednesday morning the honey was on the table; Myoko san
is a very polite host.

After breakfast we had to run to get to Kodaira for Komine sensei training. She is a cutesmall Japanese lady with 5 dan. It was not easy to intensively participate in her training
with full stomach. It was always a real effort for us, the uchideshi.
***

On one of the instructor days I was talking to Masuda sensei and I remarked that I missed
excursions and being in the forest. Masuda sensei replied that he will take me to Nikko
and we will have a trip in the forest. Although I had already been in Nikko with
Kobayashi sensei, Masuda sensei planned to show me the Kegon waterfall and not the
church complex. I was really pleased because I am really fond of mountain excursions
the sight of mountains.

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So the day of the mountain excursion arrived, we met atthe railway station and started off to Nikko. We reached
our destination quickly because we travelled by a superfast direct train. We changed to a bus at the alreadyfamiliar station and we got to the waterfall and the lake.
I have to mention that the weather that day was very
cold and foggy, it was raining and the wind blew too. It
is obvious that Japanese people do not make excursions
in weather like this. It must have been so because there
were only three people on the bus; Masuda sensei. me
and the bus driver. As the bus was climbing higher, thefog and the clouds became more and more dense. I
could hardly see the driver :-) and this situation was so
funny that eventually I could not take photos because oflaughing.

So the bus arrived and next to the bus station there were some snow piles. Our first trip
was to the waterfall. From the observation terrace we ”listened” to the sound of the
Kegon waterfall (because of the fog).

Then we went to the local history museum where the main thing to see was a 7.2 shakulong sword. Masuda sensei told us that these swords were handled by three people and in
the battle they were used against horses so that the legs of the running horses were cut
off. It must have been terrible.
After visiting the museum we walked briskly, because of the cold, on the bank of thelake. As a matter of fact, I was almost running and I was very cold. Masuda sensei was areal gentleman in this situation, too and he amazed me with his question whether I
wanted a boat excursion on the lake. I have to apologize even in retrospect for thatdefinite, Prussian style "no" I answered the question with, which is very unusual in Japan.
Actually, I wanted to swim in the lake :-)11

Naturally, it was easy to refuse, because the next stop of our journey was the famous
onsen nearby the lake. I spent incredible amount of time soaking in the hot water andonly then I could look through the window of the bath and think about the mountain tops
hidden in clouds. I have to admit frankly: these were the best moments of mountainexcursions, to observe the mountains sitting in hot water up to my neck. Well, I had to be
in Japan to figure that out.
Later we observed the Kegon waterfall, although I was already familiar with its sound,and the mountains with Masuda sensei again…on the internet, sitting in a dry, warmroom.
At the end of the day we went to an authentic Japanese toriyaki dinner where the owner
who was from Bangladesh and who was also the cook and the waiter, told us the story of
his life.

It was really nice of Masuda sensei that he took my “desire to make excursions” so
seriously. That day was one of my best experiences in Japan. I had a really good time,
truthfully.
*
*
*

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On Sundays Yamawaki sensei usually had his training in the Tokorozawa dojo. At theteatime after the training the sensei said the following: “Andy, you will visit me for threedays, I arrange the rest with Hiroaki sensei”. I did not know then how lucky I was. In theevening Henrik (Henrik Agertz, Sweden) told me about Tsumagoi, so I was really
impatient. I really admired Yamawaki’s indirectness and the fact that there were no
problems - only solutions.
Even the journey from Tokorozawa to Tsumagoi was very interesting. The landscape is
exceptionally beautiful, especially when we reached the mountains and there werebeautiful pine trees along the road. There was the music of Beatles all along the way
which was accompanied by Yamawaki sensei’s singing quite well. On top of everything,
we were travelling by my favourite car type, Subaru. Eventually we arrived. The wooden
house, the family, the dog called Yuki. The dojo… I was amazed.

In the evening Ukai san asked me to teach him iaido, and to show him somethinginteresting. I agreed and asked him if we could start at 7 in the morning. Ukai san wasvery surprised and told me that there was no morning training there. I smiled with
understanding because I knew that Ukai had just finished a two- year period of uchideshi.
Those two days gave me a great deal of experience, the training the dojo community,
cooking goulash, visiting the onsen.

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And last, but not least, I had a chance to see the everyday life of a not typical Japanesefamily.

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I thanked Yamawaki sensei and his family again for their caring and being so nice to me.
***

Koyanagi sensei asked me one day about my plans for the 10 th and 11th of April. I alreadyhad some experience and I knew that a question like this is actually a polite invitation forwhat I was going to do, so I was listening with interest. According to the calendar, it wastime for the Fuji Area Camp. The name of the camp somehow reminded Fuji and I wasespecially interested because it was my long time dream to meet Fuji san.
In the morning we were in a hurry to be on the arranged place and we continued by carfrom there. Soon we reached the pension. The weather was cloudy. It was raining a bit.
Then I could not even think of what the clouds were hiding when I looked out of thewindow of my room.
The others told me that dinner was at 6, we must be there on time. Of course, it could not
be a problem, the restaurant was on the ground floor. But when I looked through thewindow I saw the shape of an enormous mountain. And only then I realized how close I
was to Fuji san!

The sun appeared and as the wind blew the clouds, I realized why it is said that the Fuji
san has at least 100 faces. I think there may be even a thousand. I did not stop taking
pictures. Suddenly I looked at my watch and I got a shock. My God, the dinner had
already been going on for 4 minutes… and I ran downstairs. Well, I hoped to slide inunnoticed, they ate anyway. I entered the room and I saw that everybody sat around thetable with Koyanagi at the head of it. He looked at me and the only thing he said was”
Andy! We are waiting for you! “

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At that time there was no sense to explain anything, that the dream of my life came truein the past half an hour, the fact that I saw Fuji and I fell in love with it… I think
Japanese people use the following expression in cases like this:“ moshi wake arimasen”***

On March 16th my big dream came true because I could participate a dan examination in
Hombu. Henrik asked me to be his uke on his 2 nd dan exam. Henrik has routine because
10 years ago he passed his shodan exam also in Hombu. 2 or 3 weeks before the exam westarted to prepare with the other uke, Izumi san. The big day soon arrived when the entire
Hombu dojo was occupied by the Kobayashi Dojos. Since I was there for the first time I
walked on all floors and admired the building. The building is more functional thanJapanese but the fact is that this place is considered to be the 1 st milestone of aikido
nowadays.
Before the exam preparation took place in a big room upstairs and was supervised by ahigh ranking sensei. I was amazed by the silence that was a must of training. Only those
could enter the room who wanted to train. Soon the exam took place and we passed it
without being nervous and with no problems and it was followed by the celebration.

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At the end of the day of the exam there was another party where a lot of people had very
good time. It is obvious that after a day like this people need to cool down…

*

*

*

For a uchideshi beginner, especially if the person is from Europe, selective rubbish
collecting seems a nightmare and chaos in the first weeks. The method of collection are
totally different from the ones at home, not to mention the fact that every day they cometo take different packages, and there is also rubbish that cannot be categorized. I realized
quite soon that I cannot be wrong if I go outside and see what the others put under thenet. For that sometimes you had to fish around in the rubbish but it was worth because in17a weeks’ time you became a perfect rubbish selector. I
tried to do my best in this task, I even made a noticeboard where I wrote Hiroaki sensei’s loudly said “Andydame, dame!” and the following exceptions. Then there
were surprises and misunderstandings. The main thingis that the question of selective rubbish collection isdealt with on a very high level in Kobayashi Dojo, as
the picture illustrates it too.

***
I was really surprised that during my stay in Japan that even in Tokyo cold weather wasso persistent. In Tokorozawa dojo the night temperature went under ten degrees until thelast days of my stay (end of April!). Not to mention Kodaira dojo, which, as it was
mentioned by Kobayashi sensei, was especially cold. By the time I started to believe that
this is the normal weather, I was informed, that there was no such cold spring in the past
50 years. I was very “happy” about that. And then there was a surprise, in the form ofsnowfall, and not once but twice: on the 9th of March and on the 17th of April. Of course agood uchideshi always clears everything, even the snow.

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After the snowfall at night we did not even think of clearing
the snow from outside the dojo because at daytime thetemperature reached 20 degrees and even the sun was shining.
But for the order coming from “above” we had to clear thesnow, so there were two piles collected. So in the morning thestreet in front of the dojo was the best.

Then in the afternoon when Hiroaki sensei saw that there wasno trace of snow in the street and there were two big snow
piles at his place, he told us to take the snow in front of thehouse on the surface so that it can melt. So we saved the snow
and we were laughing while watching that the pedestrians
walked amazed in front of the snowy entrance. It looked as if
a freezer exploded.
Koyanagi sensei reflected about this event so simple, withsmile: "Andy, this is uchideshi life... he-he-he!"***At the end of my report definitely want to thank Koyanagi sensei, Kasahara sensei andShinozaki san for their indirect and practical advice and that they provided me with thespirit: "necessary for uchideshi life”

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I will never forget my uchideshi comrades and friends: Mikhaela. Henrik, Kalle from
Sweden.

They were always excellent and helpful partners. Thank you very much for all the
support and our mutual experiences. Tack så mycket!
This two months strengthened my future intentions in connection with budo, as I saw thelifestyle and the commitment towards aikido which is represented by the Aikido
Kobayashi Dojo in Japan and all over the world.
Sensei gata to minna sama ni makoto ni arigato gozai mashita!
Andy yori

20...and a special gift for my Japanese friends:

グヤーシュ・スープ （12人分）
材料：
牛肉 （1.5 キロ、出来ればうちもも）赤ワイン（１本、Villanyi種類、辛味。増田先生も大好きなワインです。彼は料理を作るとき近くにいないほうがいいかも・・・（笑） たまねぎ（二つ） にんにく （一つ） ベーコン （200 グラッム） 油 （こさじ6杯） にんじん （五つ） トマト （三つ） じゃがいも（サイズによって六つ・八つ） パセリ （１袋） 調味料： 塩、ペパー （コショー）、辛いハンガリーのパプリカ、辛いpaprikakrem,
Komenymaｇ[ひめういきょう] Baberlevel[ベイリーフ(ローリエの葉)]作り方
たまねぎ、にんにく、ベーコンを細かく切ります。なべを油でいためます。 たまねぎ、にんにく、ベーコンを入れて、すこし混ぜます。
塩、ペパー、Komenymaｇ[ひめういきょう]、Baberlevel[ベイリーフ(ローリエの葉)] も入れます。
たまねぎの色はちょっと茶色になったら、辛いハンガリーのパプリカ、パセリ、トマト、２００ｃｃのワインを入れます。
（Pirospaprikaは焼きすぎすと苦くなりますので、じゅうぶんに気をつけて下さい。）
料理を作りながら、ちょっとワインを飲んでもいいです。 （笑） 四角の形に切った牛肉も、辛いpaprikakremも入れます。
もう少しいためてから、水を入れます。 （なべの中身の上まで） 火を真ん中に調整して（小さくないし、大きくないし）
４０分ぐらい煮込みます。 あと、丸い形で切ったにんじんを入れます。
２０分ぐらい待っていて、四角の形に切ったじゃがいもを入れます。 残っているワインをもう少し入れてもいいです。
３０分後試してみましょう。（どんな味か、肉は柔らかくなったか、など）
グヤーシュ・スープを食べたら、おいしいハンガリーのパンもあったらいいです・・・出来上がると小林先生に電話をかけて誘いましょう。
そして、美味しいスープを召し上がってください。