Anita‟s Uchideshi Experience:
Take TwoIt seemed the logical thing to do when I asked to be afull-time uchideshi for the second time. My„Monday–to-Friday-nine-to-five‟ job teaching
English finished in April because I wouldn‟t re-signfor a further two terms, and I wanted to try for myblack belt after taking my first kyu 3 months earlier
in the preceding March. A 3½ month stint asuchideshi would give me the best preparation before
the test, and I didn‟t have much to gain by arriving inthe UK four months before my teacher training
course started in September. The best preparation for being uchideshi is to take along holiday before you start so my boyfriend came over from the UK and wespent three weeks „living it up‟ following the cherry blossom across Japan.
I‟d spent the last 18 months working as an English teacher trying to encourage
dis-interested teenage girls to speak English. Although I was surrounded bypeople all day, I didn‟t have much support from either my employment company
or the school management, so I often felt lonely and isolated. Although I spent alot of time making resources and planning lessons, so the girls could dosomething enjoyable during their conversation class, I couldn‟t judge whether it
was making much of an impact. When I left some of them wrote me somereally lovely “Thank you!” letters which made me realise that I hadn‟t been
doing too bad a job, if only I‟d have understood that whilst I was in post!
Whilst I was working, developing a social life outside of School life became anincentive. I began training at Koshigaya, Kodaira and Tokorozawa Dojo‟sseveral times a week because Dojo members rapidly became friends I could rely
on to share some fun and relieve me from my sense of isolation. Kobayashi
Dojo‟s ethos is to use Aikido as a way for people to interact with one anotherpositively, and build a community based on these values and I wouldn‟t havesurvived as long as I did without it. As time went on and different festivals (aswell as Gasshuku Season!) came and went, I found that I‟d be told aboutJapanese culture and traditions in schooland then I‟d experience it for myself
through the dojo. I think the staff at
school thought I was some sort of FightClub addict, but I think „Born to Party‟
might have been a more appropriate title.

My routine became my source of support
because I didn‟t give myself time to feellonely, or much time to contact home. I‟mvery lucky that my folks in the UK wereso supportive and understanding about
how I managed my time outside of work.
I went home for 6 weeks in August 2008
and it when it was time to return to Japan,
I realised I couldn‟t say goodbye to my folks again so I resolved to leave Japanin 2009. I wanted to help out with the 40th Anniversary Dojo celebrations and try
to get my black belt before I left, so I made that my goal and reason to stayanother 12 months.
I tried to set my routine for survival straight away: I cleaned the kitchen, worked
out what I‟d use and where best to keep it, as well as separate my „incredibly
useful‟ belongings‟ from the „Once in a while‟ pile. That‟s when I realised I had
enough Aikido T-Shirts for every day in the month. I adopted a zero-tolerance
approach to cockroaches; food waste went out after every meal, and starting thewashing machine was the first job on the list once my free time had started.
Uchideshi is a job to try your soul as well as your body; keeping a sense of
perspective is difficult because you are immersed in dojo life 24/7. You live
your life by your watch and your body is begging for rest. Boy, do you prize
every minute of sleep you get. I had stayed in the dojo during the weekends forthe last 18 months and I‟d been a full time uchideshi for 10 weeks two years
before, but that still proved insufficient
preparation. I started after having spent 3
weeks very enjoyable holiday around Japan,
but that became a dim and distant memory inno time at all. Uchideshi dojo life is all about
the present; other members may have time toreminisce but you don‟t and the future isalways changing (if you had any information
about future plans to start with). Your job isto check that everybody else has whatever
they need, that the dojo is clean and working
efficiently and that you‟re as prepared as you
can be. Once you‟re sure of all of the above,
do it again in case something has changed!
Even though I was a fairly long term
gaikokujin dojo member, I felt quite isolated.
It was difficult for me to gauge how I wasdoing and I felt much better when fellow gaikokujin came to stay. I‟m probably
the sort of person who does much better when they‟re sharing, apart from whenit comes to food! I still find that difficult. People who want to become an
uchideshi are a unique bunch: many of them became very close friends and I
know I couldn‟t have got through those two years without them.
I decided to focus heavily on training: I have no idea when I‟ll come back andhave the opportunity to go again. Every time I got an invite, I tried to take it up,
so I saw a large number of Sensei within Kobayashi Dojo‟s as well as Igarashi
Sensei, Arai Sensei and some of the Sensei at Hombu Dojo. That was a really
informative experience, because I got a clearer picture of what Kobayashi
Aikido is about as well as a better context of how it compares with other Aikido
groups. Although going to two morning classes at Hombu meant getting up at
4.40am, I realise that not everybody who wants to experience practising with theSensei there has the opportunity to go, so whenever I had doubts about whether I
should go, I tried to remember that I was very privileged to have the chance.
I don‟t think I‟m very good at analysing from demonstrations by high ranking
Sensei how they make particular techniques work. It‟s a struggle for me todescribe what the differences in styles look like never mind work out whichmovements are responsible. I can‟t see what makes Kobayashi Sensei an 8 th Dan
in Aikido because I don‟t understand Aikido well enough to know what I‟mlooking at, but I understand what makes him an 8th Dan as a person. Sensei has
seen and experienced so much that I find it very difficult to relate to him
personally but I think his example of spontaneous generosity and being open
towards other people has taught me a lot. Although he‟s a very free spirit andseemingly uninhibited, little details about people are very important to him. I
think he values direct communication with all his dojo members, no matter how
old or confident they are, and all those responses are catalogued and/or

actionned as appropriate. The Goddess makes me smile
just by being there. How such a dynamic and powerfulpersonality can be packaged into such a diminutive frame
is a real wonder. Uchideshi no longer have breakfast
upstairs after morning practice in Kodaira, so I missed
having regular weekly contact with her.
This time round I found life in dojo quite male dominated.
The Sempai/Kohai relationship between Dojo staff
members was far more apparent and I found it a very
uncomfortable situation to witness. I think that showing
respect for the Individual is very important but I stillstruggle with how I should express that when other people‟s sensibilities are atstake.
I think I relied heavily on the camaraderie and regular contact with other Dojo
members, and spending timewith some of you outside classis a greatly treasured memory.
It‟s very likely that I‟ll findmyself talking to my future
pupils about you all and thethings we did together. Manyof you became my personal
heroes because you regularly
cometopractice
andcontribute to the Dojo‟s social
life despite doing full-timejobs and having lives elsewhere. I‟m also very grateful to Hiroaki Sensei and his
family for including me so much in what they did, and for taking care of all thearrangements including small details like my egg allergy.
I couldn‟t stay in Japan, I realised that last summer when I came back to the UKfor a holiday. I have my own space over here which suits me very well and sinceI‟ve been back I‟ve realised how much I value that. I‟m going to Aikido practice
twice a week instead of everyday, so I‟m not as active as I was in Japan. That
has been and continues to be frustrating however I hope they‟ll be opportunities
in my forthcoming school placements to address that. My tutors are saying thatthe numbers of disaffected teenagers known as NEET (Not in Education,Employment or Training) is rising in the UK and that‟s apparent in the amountof disruptive and apathetic behaviour seen in classrooms. I‟m just wondering
whether Aikido can help them out.

Sitting here now in my house in the UK, Kobayashi Dojo seems a world awayand very difficult to relate to. It‟s very easy to sink into this rural western
lifestyle and forget how different yet accessible the rest of the world can be. I
hope however that in my new profession as a teacher, I shall have theopportunity to introduce Aikido to others, as well as re-live my experiences withyou to the benefit of the listeners.

Two weeks after I returned to the UK after my first uchideshi ( two and halfmonths in the spring of 2006) I broke my ankle. I was taking ukemi fromsumiotoshi, lost my focus and fell a second too late. A moment before I had a fullrange of movement and could look after myself, I was totally independent andthe next minute I was totally dependent on those around me to keep me fed andwatered for the next 3 months whilst it healed.
I’m not a natural at staying still, I’ve got up and done a few chores whilst
writing this just ‘cause I feel better when I’m moving. It was a deeply frustratingtime but it did give me time to question how I was spending my life. I wondered
if I’d be more content doing something else and build up the required energy todo something about it. I realised that my then profession as a LandscapeArchitect was very office based, involved a lot of sitting down working on tasks
alone. I realised during my first Uchideshi experience that I felt much happierwhen I was active and in direct contact with a large variety of people on a dailybasis. I had a wild thought that maybe I could get back to Japan, fund myself byworking as an English teacher and be able to practise Aikido regularly in
Kobayashi Dojo, and it felt like the right thing to do. It took a bit of persistence
but eventually I found myself an employer with a Mon-Fri 9-5 teaching job in
Toride, Ibaraki-ken and so I let out my house and flew back to Tokyo in August
2007.
I’d had a thought whilst my ankle was repairing itself that I might get more job
satisfaction from being a teacher, so I looked at this opportunity to teach inJapan as a trial experience for a potential new career.