Yukiyoshi Sagawas Aiki Transparent Power - Part 2

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Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrates

Tai-no-Aiki ( / Body Aiki)

Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrates

Aiki-age

Yukiyoshi Sagawa's Aiki, Transparent Power - Part 2 aikidosangenkai.or

Yukiyoshi Sagawa demonstrates Aiki-age on Tatsuo Kimura

while on a train in 1987

Yukiyoshi Sagawa was a contemporary of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba

and a fellow student under Daito-ryu Chuku-no-so Sokaku Takeda. He ofte

accompanied Takeda Sensei in his travels around Japan, and received his

Kyoju Dairi (assistant instructors license) from Sokaku Takeda in 1932 (thi

is the same license that Morihei Ueshiba received from Sokaku Takeda in

1922).

In Sagawa Dojo the techniques that Sagawa Sensei learned from Sokaku

Takeda were organized into ten levels (Gen / ). Only a few of Yukiyoshi

Sagawas students received the Kyoju Dairi certification from Sagawa

Sensei, and among those only three have completed the 10th Gen.

One of the three student to have completed 10th Gen with direct instructionfrom Yukiyoshi Sagawa is Tatsuo Kimura (), a long time student of Sagawa Sensei. Born in Tokyo Japan

in 1947, Kimura Sensei is a well known mathematician and professor at . He publishedTsukuba University

two books about Sagawa Sohan () that have been translated into English (the latter one only partially)

() and (). He alsoTransparent Power Discovering Aiki My 20 Years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei

holds a third-dan in kendo and a fifth-dan in Aikido, which he studied under Seigo Yamaguchi ().

This is the second part of a two part interview that appeared in Japanese in the book Daito-ryu Aiki

Bujutsu Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Divine Techniques of Aiki Signposts to Aiki, a miraculous technical method

that surpasses strength ( ), which was published in March 2015 by BAB Japan publishing company (

), which also publishes the popular martial arts magazine Gekkan Hiden ( / Secret TeachingsBABMonthly).

You may wish to read of the interview before reading this section.Part 1

Yukiyoshi Sagawas Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power Part 2

Interview with Tatsuo Kimura

Sagawa Sohans Aiki

Q: In the end, Aiki is the heart and soul of Daito-ryu, isnt it?

A: Thats right. Those who came from the outside included many high ranking

practitioners of other forms of budo, and it was my responsibility to pair up with

that kind of person in the beginning. I thought that it would be unforgivable to

lose to these people, so I repeated the conditioning exercises that I had been

taught by Sensei almost twenty-thousand times every day.

But Sensei told me one day Whatever conditioning you do, once a new person
http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/kimura-tatsuo-aiki-transparent-power-part-2/http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/english/http://amzn.to/1I74xb1http://amzn.to/1Sqp4IYhttp://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%A4%A7%E6%9D%B1%E6%B5%81%E5%90%88%E6%B0%97%E6%AD%A6%E8%A1%93-%E4%BD%90%E5%B7%9D%E5%B9%B8%E7%BE%A9-%E7%A5%9E%E6%A5%AD%E3%81%AE%E5%90%88%E6%B0%97-%E5%8A%9B%E3%82%92%E8%B6%85%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B%E5%A5%87%E8%B7%A1%E3%81%AE%E6%8A%80%E6%B3%95%E2%80%9C%E5%90%88%E6%B0%97-%E3%81%B8%E3%81%AE%E9%81%93%E6%A8%99/dp/4862208959http://www.bab.co.jp/http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/kimura-tatsuo-aiki-transparent-power-part-1http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/kimura-tatsuo-aiki-transparent-power-part-1http://www.bab.co.jp/http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%A4%A7%E6%9D%B1%E6%B5%81%E5%90%88%E6%B0%97%E6%AD%A6%E8%A1%93-%E4%BD%90%E5%B7%9D%E5%B9%B8%E7%BE%A9-%E7%A5%9E%E6%A5%AD%E3%81%AE%E5%90%88%E6%B0%97-%E5%8A%9B%E3%82%92%E8%B6%85%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B%E5%A5%87%E8%B7%A1%E3%81%AE%E6%8A%80%E6%B3%95%E2%80%9C%E5%90%88%E6%B0%97-%E3%81%B8%E3%81%AE%E9%81%93%E6%A8%99/dp/4862208959http://amzn.to/1Sqp4IYhttp://amzn.to/1I74xb1http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/english/http://www.aikidosangenkai.org/blog/kimura-tatsuo-aiki-transparent-power-part-2/


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Sagawa Dojo Opening

masters Aiki its all over! Thats the way that Aiki is., and from that time I thought that I must grasp Aiki no

matter what. That is to say, even though I could not be defeated by other people after heavy training in the

conditioning exercises that I spoke of before, when I got caught by Sensei there was nothing that I could

do. And then Sensei told me that it was because he understood that one could be defeated through Aiki no

matter how much they were conditioned that he taught me the conditioning methods, and I thought that I

understood.

(*Translators Note: the language here is as in the original, and is somewhat awkward. The sense is that

Sagawa Sensei would teach the conditioning exercises, but without explanation. The exercises are

necessary for developing Aiki, but are not themselves Aiki, so he would watch to see if people could

grasp the connection. If they did then they were worth teaching, if not then)

Sagawa Sensei would never teach anything about Aiki straight out. There was a heart and soul called Aik

and he would teach the technical methods on the periphery of it, until he got quite close to the components

of the heart and soul. In other words, he would teach that much, and then watch to see if one could grasp

the components of the heart and soul. He thought that if someone could not grasp that then there was no

point in teaching them. Originally, Sagawa Sensei himself expended considerable effort until he mastered

at last, so he thought that it natural that the person learning should invest that kind of effort.

For that reason, it was inevitable that he would concentrate the people that he needed to teach and bringthem up intensively. He set up the steps of 1st Gen and 2nd Gen so that people who established their

capabilities and zeal could progress ahead of the others.

Yukiyoshi Sagawa (front center), around the

time that Sagawa Dojo

was opened in Nakano-ku, Tokyo

Q: Among those people are some who dont speak

well of Sagawa Sensei, giving as the reason thatthey were never able to take his hand, even once.

A: I know that there are some people like that.

However, in the majority of those cases those types

of people have some points of their own that they

ought to consider. Just as the student chooses the

teacher, the teacher also has the right to chose the

student, and I think that it is those who do not

understand this point who are in the wrong.

For that reason, if one cannot be taught directly by the teacher then one must change themselves into astudent that the teacher desires to teach. I myself was refused admission at first, and was only admitted o

the condition that I would not be taught. Basically, it was thought that I had come to steal techniques to use

in Aikido. For that reason I was not taught, even slightly, by Sensei in the beginning. But I changed that

through my own efforts. In my case, I thought that at least I would try to become, even a little bit, a good

student for Sensei. That sincerity gradually got through, and Sensei began to teach me. That is the effort o

the student. In other words, it is really that, more than learning, one must stand in Senseis shoes and

become the kind of person that Sensei would think to teach. Expecting to be taught as a matter of course

without doing that is a mistaken understanding.

Besides, if one did not adopt a teaching method like Sagawa Senseis then I think that a technical method
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Thanks,

Chris

Q: Reading the words of Sagawa Sensei that were recorded in that book one senses that he always

kept a positive attitude towards budo. More than anything else he believed in the possibilities of Daito-ry

to the end, his immersion in that is wonderful. Each time that I read it I always think that this is what a

budoka must be like.

A: At one point Sensei and I developed the habit of talking before training in the kitchen and from the many

things that we discussed I selected those parts that were not related to technical methods. If you can gain

some appreciation of him from that then I think that there was some value to writing that book. For the mos

part, it is only those that give up on becoming strong at some point that try to rationalize the matter by

saying trying to become strong is superficial. But Sensei was different. Right down to the very end he

never abandoned his aspirations. I would really like the world to know of the life and the spirit of a Sensei

like that.

Q: I feel the same way. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule today.

(Interview conducted on April 19th 1999 at Tsukuba University)

You may also enjoy:

Yukiyoshi Sagawas Aiki, a true portrait of Transparent Power Interview with Tatsuo

What is Aiki? Introduction to a method of analyzing Aiki. (Part 1)

Aiki no Rentai: The Conditioned Body of Yukiyoshi Sagawa, Part 1

Strange, Odd and False Theories of "Aiki"

What is Aiki? Introduction to a method of analyzing Aiki. (Part 3)

Yukiyoshi Sagawa on Bujutsu and Ki-Ryoku, Part 2
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Yukiyoshi Sagawas Aiki Transparent Power - Part 2