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The first time I trained with Scott Sensei was at Diamond State Aikikai in DE. He immediately came over and asked me to train with him; like magnets we were attracted as if a sixth sense took hold. I soon had a taste of his Daito Ryu back round as he twisted me into a pretzel after performing shihonage. My accolades, though well deserved, will surely embarrass him, as he is an incredibly humble person, especially given his martial talents and breadth of knowledge in the arts.
We are shown the path, sometimes it is in the form of a person, other times situations, it is up to us to see it and, it is we who must walk it. This path is uniquely our own. “When the student is ready the teacher appears” it is said. When we encounter others along the way, paths cross,merge, and move on as well. I have been training for close to five years under the tutelage of Peter Tamagni Shihan, Rokudan, with USAF. Tamagni Shihan has been an inspiration to me from day one. I’ll never forget the way he moved, his tai sabaki and techniques were truly masterful! Again, another treasure found! Sensei’s dictums will always remain with me. Borrowing form the US Army Rangers, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast” has been a constant mantra for me in training. “You have nothing until you capture balance” Kuzushi is the quintessential part of training at Vineland Aikikai. While there I trained constantly three-day a week at Vineland, Saturday’s with Pallante Sensei at the Sand Pit Aikido Club, and added Sundays with Harrington Sensei. Recent injuries unfortunately set me back for a year now and still linger and affect what I can do, but am continuing to heal. The injuries were not with the aforementioned teachers. I was always safe under their auspices. Rather a high-ranking uchideshi from a notable organization, either sheer incompetency or on purpose, I believe the latter. But that’s another blog!
We should though be better aware, our peaceful and harmonious art lends itself to being vulnerable to someone’s true intentions. In a bad area, neighborhood, bar , club or myriad of situations, it is in the Dojo that one may need to keep their guard up at all times even more so, sad to say. Accidents do happen, and are by their very nature unintentional, that’s just being in the tussle of things. That’s happened to me too, and it was never an issue, the person felt so bad, but was unavoidable. Likewise I broke someone’s toe during an Irimi, our feet collided, I felt virtually nothing and he broke his toe! He was good about it, I felt terrible of coarse. He was also my Sensei under Osameru’ Aikido Club, where I received my Shodan. The key difference is intention and sorrow after the fact. So, keep your guard up and your ki on. Tough to do in the spirit of surrendering yourself to the technique and trusting Nage to take care of you.
It is all part of the journey, the journey that led me out of that organization to rest and recoup here at home, which naturally lent itself to no more travel, I was traveling almost an hour up and an hour back and trained for a couple of hours or more, it also other than convenience, just made sense to train at home a my son, Julian, who also trains. A good friend and teacher, Frank Spera Sensei, who got me into Aikido in the first place was helping me get back on the mat in addition to my son. Frank Sensei also introduced me to Reiki and has helped in my recovery as well. Opening a home dojo just flowed naturally. It was the three of us initially and we grew rather quickly to just under ten total in a short time via word of mouth. We decided to join another association, AAA, American Aikido Association under Sensei Toyoda. We first met sensei at a seminar in Mill City, everyone was so nice, well-trained and well-mannered. The techniques were slightly different, we made best efforts to emulate them and in good spirit looked silly instead of showing off our style and what we knew. It was recognized and appreciated. We trained together and they got a sense of where we were ability wise and we surely respected their versions of Iriminage, Kokyoho, Shihonage, etc… all very effective to and safe for uke. What was really impressive were the lower ranks, they all did ukemi very well and all gave solid honest attacks! We were impressed. As we did more research, Toyoda Shihan’s legacy was impressive and honorable. We had found a home again. We were recognized and formed our own dojo called Choetsu Aikido, meaning Transcendence Aikido, going beyond the traditional, as O’ Sensei dictated. Today’s Aikido will be different tomorrow. We were not asked to forget our styles when we joined up, rather it was looked upon as valued to the organization. We brought something to the table too. Frank Spera Sensei is Dojo Cho and Chief Instructor, I also instruct and am having fun doing so once again. There is a good spirit in the dojo that is cared for and nurtured. This is the path for now… keep curious and have fun along the way! Peace!
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