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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training Service

A Lesson to Learn
by Maureen Browne
Autumn 1996

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your help and support over the past difficult months. My life has been a blur since last February when I learned my brother, Pat, had AIDS. Because of our shared interest in jujitsu and his role as my jujitsu sensei, our relationship was a very close one. I cannot even begin to articulate how his death has impacted my life. Instead, I would like to share with you how Pat first got me interested in the study of jujitsu, which eventually led to my study of aikido.

Pat had always been interested in judo. He had all kinds of books and magazines about martial arts when we were kids, and I read a lot of them. In 1967, when my brother was a student at North Central College, he met his jujitsu sensei, Steve Paulding, who was teaching at the Naperville YMCA. Because Pat had prior experience in judo, he was able to progress rather quickly in jujitsu and was promoted to shodan (1st degree black belt) in 1969. (My mother and I used to make fun of the black culottes he wore to judo class.) He took over the jujitsu club at the YMCA when Paulding Sensei returned to California in September of that year. Pat was 21 at the time.

My family lived in Brookfield and I was starting my junior year of high school. I was not exactly an athlete. I was actually a klutz. The only sports I really enjoyed were swimming and tackle football, but I was at an age when not many girls were still playing football. I was very active in Girl Scouts, and I asked Pat if he would give a jujitsu demonstration for my troop. He agreed. Then I asked him if I could be in the demo, as a joke, to impress my friends. He told me I could be in the demo if I came to class and learned some throws. He didn't tell me I would have to learn to fall first.

The idea of coming to class didn't thrill me because I didn't think I could really learn jujitsu. I had not had much success in high school PE classes. Then, over Christmas vacation that year, my brother handed me a book to read called The Fighting Spirit of Japan, by E. J. Harrison. The chapters on the esoteric aspects of bujitsu and kiai fascinated me. I was convinced. I went to watch one of Pat's classes.

I thought it was strange the way everyone hit the mat with their hands. I especially enjoyed watching Pat teach the kids' class, which was quite large (25 kids or so). I thought, if those little kids can do it, then so can I.

I started jujitsu in January of 1970. I had to get a ride with some of Pat's friends (Bev and Pat Jones) or take the train out to Naperville.

My whole body ached from learning sutemi on the tatami mats (real tatami) we had at the YMCA. By February I was ready to quit, but I felt guilty because my mother had spent so much money (my gi, an HSK, which was $15 -- they now cost about $200.00 -- and my monthly dues at the YMCA: $8.00) so I felt I had to stick it out for a little while. I remember the day I took my ACT test, my body hurt so much I could hardly color in the dots because my arm was so sore from learning to fall. It took me a year to get my first colored belt (my green belt; there were no such things as blue belts in the olden days), and I was training three times a week.

We never did give that demo for my Girl Scout troop, but over the years we gave many others.

When I went away to college, I wanted to keep doing martial arts. I saw flyers for both the judo club and the aikido club. The first time I saw aikido, in September 1971, I knew I wanted to do it. By that time, I had gained some coordination due to my jujitsu training, and the fluidity of movement greatly attracted me. And, of course, I had read my brother's books about aikido. (There weren't many back then.) I also joined the judo club. It was like jujitsu, and that way I could work out six days a week. Pat and I met on Sundays in Aurora to practice jujitsu. I often wondered what people who didn't do martial arts did in college.

Lately, I have thought about how young Pat was -- both in age and in rank -- when he took over the Naperville Judo Club, and how difficult it was for him to continue to learn Dan Zan Ryu after shodan. The closest Dan Zan Ryu club was in Kansas City. He made frequent trips to California and stayed with Professors Estes, Fisher and Ball to learn the system. His dedication and determination are lessons for all of us.

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