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

Roadtrip Report:
Training at Aikido Daiwa
by Don Sipes
Spring 1996

On the 29th of November, after braving two hours of the worst rush-hour traffic the Los Angeles area has to offer, I made it to Aikido Daiwa in North Hollywood, where Jack Arnold Sensei is chief instructor. Although Arnold Sensei was not present, Toma Sensei, the lead instructor that day, welcomed me warmly to the dojo. The Aikido Daiwa (which means "great harmony") dojo is laid out pretty much like our dojo, with canvas stretched out over what appeared to be several layers of rubber matting, making a firm yet pliant surface. One thing I did notice that was kind of neat was that on one wall were small wooden plaques (much like the menus in Japanese restaurants) with the dojo menbers' names arranged by rank. From this I noticed that they had 35 members, with seven of them ranked at first dan or above.

After bowing in and the usual warmup and stretching, Toma Sensei led the class (about 10 people that evening) through a series of techniques from hanmi handachi.

Next we performed ikkyo and nikkyo from an attack that comprised both kata dori and shomen uchi combined. Although I had never seen this method of attack, it was fun to try. As in our own dojo, I found everyone I trained with there to be very pleasant, considerate and helpful. Toma Sensei said that Aikido Daiwa did not charge visitor mat fees, so out of appreciation I bought three extra-large t-shirts from him. Anybody want a t-shirt?

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