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

Summer Camp Adventures
Part 3
by Peter Zalinski
Spring 1998

Just in time for us to start thinking about this year's camp, here's the last part of Peter Zalinski's diary from the 1997 USAF Western Region Summer Camp, held at California State University, Hayward.

Tuesday: Three for Three

Solomon Sensei taught the early morning class. It was like learning aikido from a Kodiak bear. His movements are small compared to his size, but when you bring it into perspective, he was making some fairly large movements. Thankfully, it was all gentle, slow techniques as I was feeling the aftereffects of our post-test celebration the night before.

Yokota Sensei had the first midmorning class, which was fun to do. His aikido is clean and crisp, and he makes the fine points obvious.

Next, Chiba Sensei taught an inspiring jo class out on the grass, in the shade of some huge trees. After lunch, Shibata Sensei taught more jo techniques in the park. A few new twists appeared in Sancho One, parts one and two, which I hoped we understood well enough to transmit to everyone else back home.

Iseri Sensei, from the Moving Center Aikikai in Ventura, California, taught the last class of the day and two kyu-rank weapons classes the following morning. His teachings showed me connections between the movements being taught and other techniques.

After dinner came the dan tests, which we didn't expect to take as long as they did: three hours. But the caliber of aikido was incredible.

Roger ran up to be uke for Dulcey, the only person testing for shodan. She slowed down the execution of each technique to demonstrate control and mastery over the proper forms. Each technique was performed strongly and cleanly. Nothing fancy, no weird variations, just good, strong, basic Western Region aikido.

More than one person was testing for each of the other dan ranks, so they went up in groups. We saw nidan, sandan, fukushidoin, and shidoin tests, plus two demonstrations. The parts I remember best are:

• Dulcey running up to take ukemi for Roger's fukushidoin test and hip-checking someone out of the way.

• One of the kenshusei searching around the kamiza for a tanto that wasn't there. An uke with a tanto showed up just behind him.

• The different interpretations given to Sancho, depending on when the testee last received direct instruction from Chiba Sensei.

• The amount of pain we all shared in sitting on the mat for so long.

And of course, Sensei's sandan test. Aaron was prepared to run up and take ukemi while I kept track of her weapons. On the first call for an uke, he was beat out by one of the kenshusei, who spread her arms like wings to hold back anyone who tried to pass. By the second call for an uke, Sensei had relocated to the far right side of the mat, so Aaron had to run diagonally across to reach her; that was the closest he was able to get.

Despite her bad shoulder, Sensei displayed excellent and powerful aikido. She left an lasting impression with a kiai that momentarily stopped her four attackers in their tracks.

She passed, of course, with excellent comments from the committee. Eric, Roger, and Dulcey also received promotions.

After the test, Sensei, Aaron, and I went back to the dorm, rubbed life back into our legs, and partied with Okuyama Sensei and the Great Lakes Aikikai members. A kenshusei came by and, much to our relief, announced that the 6:30 a.m. class had been canceled.

Wednesday: Japantown and the Farewell Party

Iseri Sensei's first class was very subtle and confusing. It took me a while to catch on to what he was trying to accomplish. He used basic jo movements to focus movement around a center point. The movements were never named. It was, "See this? Now you try it." Iseri Sensei said that all of the exercises were things that Chiba Sensei had been doing 10 years ago, but now he's moved on.

The next class was on basic jo figure eight exercises, building toward movement exercises. Iseri Sensei again stressed the importance of moving the jo with your center, and moving your center with the path of the jo. Never muscle it with your arms and shoulders, but use your hips and footwork. We also did some basic jo passing and jo waza exercises to show the connections between jo movements and open-hand techniques.

At lunch we made plans for the rest of the day. Sensei had arranged with a kenshusei to work on weapons exercises, so Aaron and I hooked up with Dennis Diokno of GLA to go into San Francisco for the afternoon.

The cultural center in San Francisco's Japantown is a linked series of buildings running for three city blocks, with the Peace pagoda in the center. We started off in a bonsai store, where I picked up some knick-knacks for my treelets back home. Then we wandered into a large book store that had titles on aikido and other martial arts among the Japanese editions of GQ and Life magazine.

Back on the street, we came across a brushwork artist who made sketches on demand in ink and watercolor: a narrow panel for $10, a larger square panel for $40. When we asked him if he drew foxes, he showed us a picture in a book that looked really neat. So we split the cost of a narrow panel and had him draw a fox and a bear (for Maureen and John). The kanji on the back says, "Congratulations on reaching your sandan."

While he was working, the artist told us that he is a yondan in kendo and also a 12th generation sword maker, with family in Japan still making swords. He showed us a wakizashi that he kept in his desk, a 300-year-old family heirloom. He told us about his kendo sensei, an 81-year-old rokudan still strong enough to do proper kata with a wakizashi.

A lot of other neat shops sold all kinds of things from Japan: antique tea ceremony and ikebana equipment, water hammers, futon covers, silk goods, dinnerware, and figurines. A Japanese hardware store displayed traditional woodworking tools. In one shop, I learned that the cat statues bring happiness if the left paw is raised, and prosperity if the right paw is raised. Aaron and I found a lucky fox figurine, which I bought as a gift for the dojo. (You can see it on the tokonoma.) I think its paw is raised for prosperity. We'll have to wait and see.

We ate dinner at a kaiten-sushi restaurant. The sushi chefs stand in the middle, surrounded by a raised, water-filled moat which in turn is surrounded by a counter where the patrons sit. Wooden boats float around in the moat, pushed on their way by the current or by the coaxing of the sushi chefs, who constantly add to and rearrange the four trays of sushi on each boat. Each tray is color coded by price and contains two pieces of sushi. You take your selections right off the boats as they float by, and pay at the end by counting up the various kinds of empty plates.

After our meal, we headed toward Fisherman's Wharf in the car. We went up and up and up until we crested a hill. Then we went down and down and down. It was like a roller coaster. One moment we were looking at the sky, the next we were pointed down at the bay. When we reached the waterfront, we headed south along the bay, past Fisherman's Wharf and the piers, beneath the Bay Bridge, and back along Highway 101 to the airport. After dropping off Dennis to catch his flight home, we headed back to camp.

Aaron and I changed into warmer clothes and headed to the top of the hill overlooking campus. From the top, you could see Hayward and across the bay to South San Francisco. The San Mateo bridge was a long string of diamonds crossing the bay. In the far distance, muted by clouds, we could see the glimmer of lights marking the Bay Bridge.

We went right from the hill to the farewell party, held in the cafeteria. Illumination was provided by bamboo torches and a few street lights. Up on the stage sat a huge cask of sake, unopened. Aikidoka were slowly filling up the chairs facing the stage.

This year's summer camp organizer, from Berkeley, and the organizer for next year, from San Diego, ceremonially broke in the top of the sake cask to celebrate the passing of responsibility and to celebrate another great year at camp. Then they passed out glasses of sake to everyone for a toast.

Next came home-grown skits. The two most memorable were "An Interview with Chiba Sensei by Shibata Sensei," which mocked the occasionally hard-to-understand shihans by making them totally unintelligible and exaggerating their facial expressions. For "The Aikidoka Tango," two yudansha faced each other on the stage. As the music started, one approached the other with a yokomen attack, which was countered with shihonage. They spun and changed position, reversing the techniques and moving back and forth, dancing to the beat of music from Pulp Fiction. One of the dancers threw the other out of the spotlight and stepped back, raising an eloquent arm above his head. I thought it was over, but the thrown guy came back a moment later, returning the attack but this time with a rose in his teeth! They reversed and spun and threw, passing the rose back and forth between them. I was laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair.

Sensei left before the end of the skits and the raffle drawings to ice her knee before going to sleep. Aaron and I remained to the end, on the off-chance that one of us would win the grand prize: tuition for next year's camp. But it was Sensei who won! Aaron and I rushed up to accept it for her, then ran all the way back to the dorm to present it to her. Boy, was she surprised.

Thursday: Last Class, with Chiba Sensei and Kids

The last class of camp was taught by Chiba Sensei, and his first five ukes were children. He would demonstrate a technique four times, then the child would demonstrate four times on Chiba Sensei. He taught an entire class of kokyuho variations, some of which were obviously new to many of the yudansha there. It was a great way to end camp.

Sensei was staying in California for another day, but Aaron and I headed for the airport immediately following the class. I was already looking forward to next June's summer camp, in San Diego, with even more Fox Valley members in attendance.

Previous issue: Kyu Test Day
First issue: Band-Aid Please

 

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