My Uchideshi Experience
Christine Dyer
I currently have the honour of being the oldest
Kobayashi Dojo uchideshi, having been accepted for a monthof live-in training at the age of 60. Why do something thatsounds insane? Well, I've spent half my life doing aikido, andI felt that I could do more. I retired from work four years ago,and perhaps I also wanted to wake myself up from a life that
had become too comfortable. I also simply wondered
whether I could do it. When fellow Utah aikidoka Jeremy
Neff said he was going, I decided to join him.
I knew that the training involved 19 hours of aikido class per week, plus
extra visits to other dojos. At home I do 5 hours of aikido per week and I'm theinstructor, so I haven't exactly been training hard. I was concerned about
whether I'd be able to keep up. To prepare I did a lot of walking in the mountains
near my home, while listening to Japanese lessons.
The first few days in Japan with jet lag were hard, and I was in survival
mode. Lots of aikido, little free time or sleep, learning how the chores should bedone, finding my way around, and the aikido style was also different for me.
Week two was still very tiring but I was enjoying the training more. By week
three I was not so tired, more comfortable with the techniques, and having fun
with my new training partners. Week four was feeling good, and then I caught acold. I had to miss two days of classes, and instead of being happy that I could
finally rest I felt impatient that I couldn't train.
Dojo members were friendly and pleasant to work out with and I wasable to train at an agreeable pace. The Kobayashi Dojo techniques and weapons
provided new perspectives on the aikido I'm used to. Soshihan was in Finland
for part of my stay, so I attended a lot of classes taught by Hiroaki Sensei andother instructors and senior students. I appreciated the times when Hiroaki
Sensei would work out with me in class and I could experience his techniques.
Soshihan's classes were definitely something special. His enormous
enjoyment of aikido and life in general actually made the dojo feel different.
There was always laughter in hisclasses - his and everyone else's. Evenin the first few days when I was very
tired, I was always surprised by how
quickly the time went by when hetaught. On my last day I told him that I
feel like an 18-year-old inside. He said
he felt about 15. I believe him!
Keeping the dojos clean andlearning to make everything runsmoothly is of the utmost importance.
Therefore uchideshi life involves a lot ofchores, especially when the glorious
40-year-old flowering cherry tree outside theKodaira dojo is constantly snowing petals
that must be swept up every day. The dojo
newsletter was also published during myvisit. This required a massive folding andmailing operation. And there was always
daily dojo cleaning. A minimum of two hours of chores per day and sometimes alot more. I expected this, and once I'd accepted that cleaning up after the tree isan endless job I appreciated the quiet time of early morning sweeping. I also
admired the grace with which the Japanese students naturally get chores done
efficiently and unobtrusively.
Classes are split between the Tokorozawa and Kodaira dojos and I was
grateful to be allowed to stay in the room at Kodaira and use a dojo bicycle for
my daily trips to the railway station. Kodaira is Soshihan's dojo, and his wife
Okusama kindly brought me an occasional meal and invited me upstairs to herhome for a Sunday breakfast while Soshihan was away. At Tokorozawa, Hiroaki
Sensei invited the uchideshi to his home for a breakfast cooked by his wife
Miyoko San every Wednesday. We felt very welcome, and we ate well.
In addition to training we had some Japanese cultural experiences. At theTuesday Japanese classes we met Morita Sensei, a sado (tea ceremony) master.
She invited Jeremy and me to join her group for a tea ceremony. We spent theday having tea with several master-level sado practitioners. Sado was beautiful,
but for me it would be more demanding than aikido training. Barbara Sensei
invited me to teach her class one night, where we met Honma Toyotaka, a very
precise aikido kyu ranked student who is a shakuhachi master. He was playing ata concert the following weekend and Barbara Sensei gave us free tickets. We
were also able to try shodo, see famous sumo wrestlers at a festival, attend ahanami party, and participate in a dojo visit to the Aiki Shrine Festival on thelast day of our trip. During the return drive,
Soshihan shared some memories of his uchideshi
years with Osensei.
The busy uchideshi life, late night/earlymorning schedule, and all the new duties wereabsolutely exhausting at first. I always felt willing,
but overcoming physical and mental fatigue was mygreatest challenge. I dozed on the train and on acouple of occasions I found myself walking down
the street with my eyes closed. Being so tired, I
made a lot of mistakes in my uchideshi duties. If
there was a wrong way to do things, a wrong rag orbrush to use, a wrong order to do things in, I'd be guaranteed to find it. Recep,
the Turkish resident uchideshi, was in charge of our work. His patience,
unfailing good humour, and excellent example made all the difference for me. A
great leader is one who encourages you and inspires you to try harder, and as far
as I'm concerned Recep has that quality.
My one regret from this trip, apart from catching a cold, is that I washoping to improve my suwariwaza with daily practice. But my knees, whichhave never given me problems before, refused to cooperate after the first few
days. I wish I had known in advance that a lot of people wear knee pads in class.
At the beginning of the trip a month felt like a long time. At the end, itfeels as though it went by very quickly. I'm leaving just as I'm getting
comfortable, but I have to go home. I'll miss the people here, the training, andSoshihan's enthusiasm. My uchideshi certificate means as much to me as any
dan certificate, possibly more. A big thank you to all for a very positive
experience and teaching me the meaning of "Gambatte kudasai!"