Hombu Dojo Keiko: Yasuno Shihan
by Daniel Nishina*

The first thing I notice as I arrive early for the 8 o'clock practice is that there is no place to put my shoes. I nudge a pair of sandals over to make room for my own pair before I head up the two flights of stairs. I don't pay attention to the dojo room as I pass by it and go through the curtains into the changing room. The second thing I notice is that there seem to be a lot of bags on top of the lockers. By now I'm thinking, "Are there really that many people today?" I check my usual locker, the one with no lock, and am relieved to find it empty. I look and see that there are still plenty of available lockers, with keys still in the locks. The class ends as I finishing changing, and among the first people to hurry through, out of the dojo room, are the uchideshi. I say good morning to Namba-san before I proceed into the dojo.

Ah, yes. There did seem to be that IAF thing a couple of days ago. Apparently a number of the participants decided to stay a bit longer and attend practice at Hombu. From what I see, most of the people are from Singapore/Malaysia and Mexico. Since there isn't any room due to all the people milling around, basking in the afterglow, etc., I go over to the front right corner to do my stretching. The touristy photo-taking annoys me a bit, but I try not to be too concerned as visitors who attend asa-geiko (Doshu's early morning class) almost never stay for the second class, (so there won't be too many people in the way, er, I mean, it won't be too crowded).

As the hands near the 8 and the 12, I notice that there are about seven or so visitors who are staying for their second class. Overall, the class today is moderately full. The last minute stragglers filter into the room one by one. The last one happens to be Tamura sensei, of France. Hmm. Yasuno sensei's usual first audible footstep (/stomp) on the wooden mat border isn't as loud as usual when he bows in at the entrance. As we move forward for warm-ups, I make sure to keep track of my proximity to Tamura sensei.

Suwari-waza shomen-uchi ikkyo comes first. My partner and I, in our search for our own practice space, end up right in front of the shomen. It is my first time practicing with this particular partner, but he seems like nothing to get either wary or exasperated about. However, I have to focus more than usual to familiarize myself with his body and character of movement. Yasuno sensei seems a bit reserved today. He doesn't talk much, and doesn't stop the class to emphasize things as he often does. The only person receiving a lot of vigorous ukemi is one of the uchideshi, Ito-san.

Yasuno sensei doesn't throw people four times, 2 omote/2 ura, as most of the other teachers do. You never know whether he's going to throw you once, ten times, or not at all. I'm sure there is some kind of rationale behind it, but I have a feeling I'd be a little off labeling it a decision. He seems to get a feeling he wants to capture or express, and simply goes through ukes accordingly i.e. based on whether the uke is conducive to that feeling. Usually, he emphasizes operating in a straight line, using a straight, shomen-uchi cutting motion and changing to a yokomen/kesa motion if appropriate. Whether it is a theme for today or specifically for my partner and me, I don't know, but his ikkyo is more flowing and elongating - at first I think he is about to do iriminage.

My partner seems to be controlling the pace of the practice. Maybe he wants to take it easy and not get tired. Maybe it's because it's our first time. In any case, it is a sufficiently sincere and pleasant pace, so I'm comfortable. After some forward ryote-dori kokyunage, made difficult because of the crowded conditions, we go to tenchinage. Before we start, I run to the back of the room to fetch my towel. Although it's not a scorcher just yet, it is already pretty hot and sunny, a big difference from last Sunday when there were heavy, heavy rains.

I feel a bit subdued myself. Even seeing Ito-san being tossed around for several minutes doesn't stir things up too much. Maybe this calm is why I notice that Yasuno sensei is walking toward me, about to call me up, before he actually says my name. Katate-dori shihonage. It's far from fast, though he still takes me into a breakfall every time except the last. Then he proceeds to throw most everyone on this side of the room once or twice before sending us off on our own explorations. All of his techniques can look brutal and violent when he does go fast. However, as I've had the fortune to experience them softly and slowly, (still ending in breakfalls even), I'm left even more impressed than the very first time he threw me, when I found myself flying into the air behind me but without anything I could attribute this to.

He demonstrates seated kokyuho twice. By this point I've completely forgotten about Tamura-sensei. I think the atmosphere is definitely more peaceful and subtle than yesterday afternoon (also Yasuno sensei's class), at least for me, with the overall mood lending to it. If I had to come up with a possible reason for today's mood, it might be that the techniques weren't characterized by guiding the energy back the way it came, almost to the point of conflict, or throwing the uke strongly, the projection of energy very deep and assertive. Or it might just be that Yasuno sensei managed to make everything look especially easy today.

*Dan Nishina is a student at Aikikai Honbu Dojo in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where he has trained for the past two years following graduation from UC Berkeley. An eight year aikido student, he occupies a tiny (but not the tiniest) room about five minutes from Honbu and devotes most of his time to training, content at keeping his head just above the poverty line with teaching and translation projects. Since moving to Japan, he has picked up a number of new habits, one of which is stopping in at the many local Starbucks. From time to time, he will be sharing his first-hand experiences with us, permitting a personal glimpse into training at Aikikai Headquarters.