About Yuishinkai Aikido
What are your earliest recollections of Aikido? What was the most important lesson your learnt from O-Sensei?
I learned many martial arts, especially Judo. These arts involved a lot of throwing and fighting. I practiced Judo to become strong. I took many classes at the Kodokan but felt the limits of Judo. Back then, the heaviest person was the Judo champion but I only weighed about 60 kg. After one Judo class, I went to a bookshop where I read a book on Aikido by Kisshomaru Ueshiba. When I read it, I was struck by the clearness of O-Sensei’s eyes. I was also attracted by the fact that there were no competitions in Aikido. Although it seemed like playing, I decided to practice Aikido.
In Japan, studying at a university takes four years, so it was in my third year of study that I went to Hombu dojo. The date was 26 November. When I reached there, I found a lot of young people who were from Keio University! Back then there was no dojo at the university so they had to go to Aikikai’s dojo to practice. It was quite a coincidence since the university’s training slot was 3-4 pm and I reached Aikikai around 4-5 pm! I didn’t know them but they knew who I was. The reason for this was that I had established a cartoon club at the university a year before and had made a television appearance due to it. Tohei Sensei was the instructor of Keio University Aikido Club but he left the position to go to Hawaii.
After I became a full-time instructor in 1967, Ueshiba Sensei used me as his uke. As a deshi (student), it was important to take ukemi. One deshi didn’t know how to take ukemi from O-Sensei and went down with a bang. I already knew that Ueshiba Sensei used ki. I wondered, “How to take ukemi from O-Sensei?” So I decided to extend ki to him. He said, “Come, Maruyama!”, and I attacked him. After taking ukemi from him, Ueshiba Sensei looked at me, and said, “Good ukemi!” He then asked what rank I held and I told him I was a 5th dan. He gave me a 6th dan and told me to go to the office to get the certificate! I thanked him but I never picked up my certificate. However, I had learnt an important lesson, “Extend ki to your opponent!”