Issue 40 – Southern Aikido Connection

Nearly Spring Seminar

Details:

  • 25th – 26th August
  • Shirley Boys High Gym, Christchurch.

Guest Instructors:

  • Hiroshi Fujimaki Shihan [World Aikido HQ, Tokyo],
  • Nobuo Takase Shihan [Aikido Shinryukan].

Following on from the success of last year’s Spring Seminar we again will hold a major seminar in Christchurch at nearly spring time. We hope you will join us for great training with superb guest instructors!

For details go here

A Few Thoughts

I’m passionate about aikido. That is why I train and train and train; why I attend gasshuku; why I spend so much time thinking about and trying to improve how we train. That is why I still want to improve my aikido.

I know many students who hold a similar passion. They are or will become the leaders in aikido. That is what I look for in students when I’m teaching and very much so when preparing them for grading. Grading and grade levels in themselves mean little; passion is everything. The people with passion stand out and develop aikido. I want to help those people.

The people with passion are the ones always at training; they complete far more than the minimum times for grading. They volunteer for uke at Proficiency Test and grading time, however tired they are. They are the ones on the end of the broom after training, they help clean up, organise seminars, go to gasshuku and do all those little things that help the dojo run better. They don’t talk or try to teach others during the class or stand around swapping stories. They are the first across the mat to claim a partner and begin training after the teacher has shown a technique; they are the person that always chases higher grades for a partner, that is willing to attempt difficult techniques and ukemi. They are the the ones who train before and after class; they practice with weapons. They are the students who carefully listen to instruction and try hard to perform the techniques/ideas on show.

Do you have that passion?

Andrew Williamson

Building Bridges – Aussie Connection Part One

Last March I was fortunate enough to be able to attend another excellent Shinryukan Gashuku [this time in Auckland] . I find these seminars to epitomise what Aikido is all about: People coming together from all over the region, from all walks of life, ages and experience, from 6th Dans to Kyu grades, and even whole families training hard together under the expert tuition of Japanese Shihan to better themselves and each other. As a result, old friendships are strengthened and new ones created.

As a visitor of Shinryukan, I have always been made to feel completely welcome and part of the family. In the hope that we can return the same hospitality that has been enjoyed by our members when in New Zealand if any of you travel to Australia, let me please offer a brief introduction to our organisation.

The Australasian Aikikai has approximately 100 adult and 50 kid members and is a branch of the United Kingdom Aikikai. I train under Sensei Colin Hackett on the Central Coast of NSW. We also have a dojo under Darius Wingate-Pearse Sensei in Newcastle and William Haynes Sensei in Castle Hill (Sydney).

Of interest, the A.A. is hosting a seminar with Horii Shihan on 5-6th May in Newcastle and one with Gordon Jones Shihan in early November, but all are of course welcome to train anytime. All information and contact details are on the websites. It would be great to see you over on the west island sometime.

I would also like to extend a special ‘Thank You’ to Sawada Shihan, and Takase Shihan for their inspiring Aikido and tuition. Also to Takase Shihan, Barbara and all those involved with organising another great seminar.

Andrew Cronin

CAIRNS – A year in the life of creating a dojo – Aussie Connection Part Two

About one year ago I admitted to myself that I’d been missing Aikido, and that no one would help me unless I did something about it myself.

I arrived in Cairns, Australia, in July 2009 with only the few belongings I was towing behind my bicycle. My original goal had been to cycle from Brisbane in an anti-clockwise direction around this sunburnt country. I don’t like to think of this as unfinished business, but I only got as far as Cape York (the most Northerly tip of Australia) then returned to Cairns.

I’d left Christchurch after 8 years of training with ASC in 2007, and had arrived in Brisbane to set up working for myself as a massage therapist in my younger brothers’ gym. The two years I spent in Brisbane weren’t very productive for my Aikido, I found myself doing massage in a smalldog box of a room without any windows or air and due to the hours I was working, I found it difficult to get to training.

After the vibrancy of training at ASC, this was hard to take, and I found I was still searching for something, perhaps the same thing that I left Christchurch to find.I realised that the tool I needed in my search for this elusive ‘thing’ was adventure, and in remembering an old fantasy, I sold my mountain bike and bought a touring bicycle with a trailer. This would carry me on my journey! At least to Cairns. After a few months of riding and camping I arrived in ‘Far North Queensland’, I was thinking regularly about Aikido and often practice it through my profession of remedial massage, but still, I wasn’t training. I got to a point where the only training I was doing was when I went back to visit my friends in Christchurch, which was always inspiring. During these times I began to recognise the central roll Aikido plays in my life, it’s always been there.

There were only two Aikido groups in Cairns, both of which I watched classes and felt they weren’t for me, so I told a few friends I wanted to start training again, and asked if would they be happy to learn some Aikido on the grass in the local park just down the road from my place. Really just an excuse to throw them about! One or two of them had done a little Aikido already, having an accepting Uke helped no end. Keep in mind I’d been in Cairns for about one and a half years by now without regular training and was getting itchy, not just from training on the grass! The classes were very informal, often just bowing to each other before some basic footwork and ukemi practice (after clearing away the sticks, leaves and occasional dog mess), but they were well received and lead me to think of making them more formal and to find an indoor venue. As it was, the classes had to finish before it got dark due to there being no lights, and having no roof, I’d cancel training if it rained. I needed to find out if there was a genuine enough interest from people to allow me to commit to starting a dojo.

Quickly I realised I needed authorisation, so I asked Andrew Williamson to contact Takase Shihan about starting a Shinryukan dojo in Cairns. Word came back that I’d have to go through Aiki Kai (Australia), so I contacted Tony Smibert Shihan in Tasmania, who was very supportive of the idea, and spoke to various state representatives. I had permission. During the weeks between making the decision to start a dojo and then asking and receiving permission to do so, I’d begun looking for somewhere to train. I tried schools, community halls and clubs, but nothing really suited until I asked a friend (It’s who you know, no matter where you are!). He said that a friend of his, Julie, used to do Aikido and possibly had some space behind her health center Awakening Therapies. To cut a long story short, Julie has donated the shed to use until we can afford some rent, and done lots around the place to really transform the ‘shed’ into a dojo including putting up lights; backing the Kamiza; a fantastic timber totem pole with Aikido scribed onto it and a hand painted weapons rack. It’s really beginning to get the atmosphere of a dojo.

The original temporary mat consisted of two layers of second hand carpet, one I scored from a carpet shop and the other I pilfered from a carpet skip outside the cinema ( I had the upper layer professionally cleaned). These I lay underneath 25 blue one meter square jigsaw mats which another friend had loaned me. It was small but much better than the grass, and just a stepping stone to the more professional look.

As the blue mats were only on loan for a month, I kept looking, until I stumbled onto some green ‘tatami’ mats that had been used only once for the National Judo championships, good mats. The Melbourne store had about two hundred they were wanting to get rid of. I couldn’t believe my luck, I’d been looking around for a few months for specifically this type of mat, but being so expensive it was hard to commit and I knew the freight would be a killer. The martial arts store in Melbourne had discounted these by $100 each, so I called the Aiki Kai National representative who had mentioned there were a few other dojos who were also looking at buying mats. Aiki Kai (Australia) bought almost all the mats and supplied Cairns with the twenty one I’d requested through an interest free loan for $3150, I paid the freight myself $900. They arrived one week before Xmas, giving the now four members two days of training before I headed down to Melbourne for the National Summer School (Gasshuku).

The Summer School was exactly the right thing at the right time. I was able to reconnect with the people I’d been speaking to regarding the new dojo as well as catching up with many familiar faces having being with Aiki Kai (Australia) pre 1999. It also gave me the inspiration and a shove in the right direction knowing I was part of a large group of people who enjoy Aikido.

Before going to Melbourne, I’d been concerned that having only had the Cairns dojo open for four weeks and me being away over Xmas for three weeks, that the momentum would fade and the small group would suffer. However, I had three people contact me from Cairns and ask when they could come and watch and have since signed up! Things were very positive, in fact it seems there’s a new person dropping by each week. This I’m certain is due to the website. www.aikikaicairns.org (this address may be changing soon).

I’m really enjoying training and teaching again. Every class is different, some work and others don’t work so well, but I usually get home with a real buzz even after a long day standing over the massage table. It’s great to see people enjoying themselves and I especially like seeing the ‘penny drop’.

We’ll have our first Weekend Seminar on May 5th – 6th with Graham Morris sensei from the Gold Coast. We are all looking forward to this, and most of the Cairns members having never participated in an Aikido seminar are very inquisitive as to what to expect. I’ll send an invite to NZ next time…we’ll need a larger venue for such training days in the future.

I’m finding this roll I’ve thrown myself into isn’t just about training (which was my original desire) but about guiding fellow Aikidoka through all aspects of Aikido training, and then only the ones I know something about!! And it’s also about receiving guidance from those I have come to respect through training and friendships which have been built over the years. It’s a new adventure and one that I’m really enjoying.

Alex Frederiksen
[Alex Freddo is an ex ASC student who moved back to Aussie some years ago]

March 2012 Gasshuku – Aussie Connection Part Three

In early March four members of the Brisbane Aikikai Dojo left the shores of Australia to learn and participate in the 2012 National Gasshuku in Auckland, New Zealand.

After we abandoned plans to “recover” the Rugby World Cup, Chris Seto-Payne Sensei, Kit Barker, Adam Crompvoets and I flew to NZ to pick up our hire car to drive to our accommodation. Many lessons were learnt on this trip, the first of which was that we should have hired a GPS device for our car. Map reading is not a strong point for our crew so as a result we got to see a lot of the beautiful city of Auckland, we even got lost going up the “Khyber Pass” much to the amusement of some of our less mature passengers.

We attended the Hombu dojo on Thursday morning and were warmly welcomed by Takase Shihan as well the other attendees from New Zealand and New Caledonia. We saw Andrew Sensei there as well and were very pleased to refresh our acquaintance with him.

The class was led by Toshiharu Sawada Shihan who demonstrated fundamentals of Bokken and Jo and showed the clear connection between his weapons practice and empty hands techniques. Some of the movements were new for us and we felt a bit clumsy and awkward (speaking for myself!),however our appetite was whet for some more teaching and possibilities. On the Thursday evening we were shown great hospitality from Andrew Sensei, Alan Wade and Bryan Bell who supported us in a cultural historical building tour of Auckland. During this tour we were able to fulfill Chris Sensei’s deep interest in all things Craft Beer. All of us are still depressed that we can not get our hands on some of those very nice beverages across the ditch.

We attended the Friday morning class which continued to open our experience to the clear and precise teaching of Sawada Shihan.

After training on Friday also were shown great hospitality by Takase Shihan and Barbara who looked after us after helping lay the mats for the weekend. This also gave us an opportunity to met with Sawada Shihan and his students in a more informal setting.

At the Gasshuku we met some familiar faces and felt welcomed by the locals and other visitors. Training was excellent with Sawada Shihan developing his teaching and continuing to show clear links between weapons and empty hand concepts. Issues of posture and body movement are core to this practice and we were very excited to be learning these concepts.

That afternoon we experienced an excellent class from Takase Shihan. The dynamic and precise style was more familiar to us and we enjoyed these classes very much.

That evening we enjoyed the communal dinner and had a great time making new friends and reconnecting. Once again Andrew Sensei made us very welcome. At the end of the night it took all my negotiation skills to convince the guys that going next door to “Bollywood Nights” would be a bad idea. Luckily Papu appeared and offered to give us a lift to the motel…Thanks Papu!

Sunday included more interesting and energetic training from Takase Shihan and Sawada Shihan. Junichi Nishimura Sensei also taught a class where he showed three timings for techniques before Takase Shihan taught the final class.

The Gasshuku was over! We wished we could have stayed and continued this excellent training.

That evening we were invited to Takase Shihan’s house and were once again shown great hospitality from Sensei and Barbara. It was another great opportunity to meet with Sawada Shihan, his students from Japan, and catch up with new friends from New Zealand and New Caledonia.

All of us would like to thank Takase Shihan, Andrew Sensei and all the organisers of the Gasshuku for putting on such an excellent program and for making us feel so welcome.

Paddy O’Regan

Aikido Shinryukan Dumfriesshire – A Scottish Connection

I thought I might give you a quick update on what we are up to at the moment.

We currently have 6 members and train once a week at the local village hall here in Eaglesfield in the very South of Scotland. It is a beautiful part of the world with lots of green grass and loads of drystane dykes (That’s a wall made of stone with no cement)

I can already hear all of you back in Christchurch saying “they only train once week, how do they get any better, surely they just stand still or go backwards”. And yes, I generally agree with you.

I remember a long discussion after training in probably about 1999 with a few of the lads and lassies. We decided that training 2 times a week you stay still, 3 times a week you move slowly forward and more than that you make some real progress. I still think this pretty close to the mark but I have found it is just not really practical for me anymore.

It is all about individuals priorities and their ability to get to training and commit. For me, I have a 5 year old daughter, a very loving wife (who doesn’t want to do Aikido), curling in the winter, a large vegetable garden in need of attention, work on my in-laws farm, sheep shearing in the summer, Aikido on a Tuesday and a job. So I train one day a week.

The other guys in the class train a bit more. They sometimes train in Penrith with another group and sometimes train on a Thursday. We have also trained in the past with a group further north in Wishaw. This is great. They get to put in more time if they want and I only commit what I know I can deliver on.

All that said, I still think if you can, you should train everyday. It’s obvious really!

Anyway, enough of that. The class is going well and the guys train and what I think is a fairly high level. Currently we have:

  • Mark, who is about 6 foot 4, started around Christmas and is coming on well. He is very strong but doesn’t use it which is great;
  • David, who is not 6 foot 4 but has a lot of experience in karate. He has been training for about 18 months and has made some really big strides lately. He has excellent balance and quite scary speed when he uses it.
  • Erik who is a Swedish Scotsman – gokkyu. He is very strong and also has a background in karate. He has cracking speed for a big fella.
  • Ross, who is an ex-policeman who speaks Japanese and does loads of other martial arts. He is nikkyu and has lots of those tricks that Aaron Cutbush used to do to me. He also has a big variety of techniques and options on techniques to bring to the class.
  • Martin, who has trained with me for about 6 years. You will all have the chance to meet Martin in November as he is coming over to do his Shodan in Christchurch. Martin has a low centre of gravity, very good balance and has developed some excellent speed of the last few years. Don’t take it easy on him. He won’t take it easy on you.

We have been working a lot lately on trying to improve footwork and minimising unnecessary complexity in techniques. This has been a bit of a passion of mine over the last few years. I have really tried to focus on doing techniques in the simplest way possible. For example I have altered my Sankyo recently as a variation to not let nage up at all in the middle of the technique. I just keep them heading to the floor at all times. It feels safer to me and we have developed a lot of power in this technique. It is not necessarily right for all occasions but makes a nifty variation if you get it spot on.

Anyway, once again if any of you are heading this way, you have a place stay and my wife makes a mean venison ragout – so come and give it a go. Oh yeah, there is aikido as well.

Finally, have fun with Martin and if you need a translator just give me a call. He is from Glasgow.

Kia Kaha
Nick Burnett
[Nick is an ex ASC student who now lives in Scotland. He is married and has one child.]

Interview with Sugawara Sensei – A Japanese Connection

Sugawara Sensei is one of the most fascinating teachers that I have had the privilege to train under. His story is amazing – from his youth in Hokkaido to his introduction to Aikido; Katori Shinto ryu, sword making, Okinawan Karate do and Chinese Martial arts. Sugawara Sensei travels extensively to more than 20 Dojos worldwide. He has also written and published extensively. Talking with Sugawara Sensei, I am strongly aware of his intellect, his excellent English and his humor. On the mat, his strength, speed and deep, deep focus are challenging and awe inspiring – his teaching style is easy to understand yet subtle. I truly hope you have the opportunity to meet Sugawara Sensei in the not too distant future.

When and why did you begin Aikido?

I was 20 when I was first introduced to Aikido. A year before that I came from Hokkaido, where I was born and grew up, to live in Tokyo with my sisters, in Shibuya [central Tokyo]. My sisters and I had very little money, so for about a year and a half I practiced as a Shinto-Buddhist mixed-style monk. It was called Ten no Do [tr. the Emperor’s Way]. I don’t know why it had that name (laughs). I wore white robes and hakama and every day I would go from house to house asking for alms. I would visit about 250 houses every day, and I would earn about 1000 yen – not so much (laughs), and I gave this money to the religion. Actually, I did not have a strong interest in being a monk; but the experience was good for me. Some people, especially from Soka Gakkai (a different religious group), would get very angry towards me – but I never got angry in return – I just received everything (good and bad) that was handed to me.

This was when I encountered Aikido. The Aikido Hombu dojo was quite close to where I practiced, and Aikido’s founder, Morihei Ueshiba (O-Sensei), sent his uchi-deshi to show Aikido to me and the other practicing monks. After a while, I was the only one in our group who continued Aikido. Although the others stopped, I practiced continually. Then, a while later, the founder of our religious order called me to see him, and he told me three things. First of all, he advised me to stop practicing as a monk and to start Aikido. He told me that O-Sensei was a great teacher – the kind of teacher who comes along only once every 700 years. Therefore, it was important for me to study under him. I was 19 or 20 years old at the time, and I never doubted him – I said, ‘Yes sir, I’ll go’. The next advice my teacher gave me was to study Chinese Yin Yang theory, and finally he advised me to study English, because he said that I would travel and so would need English. So, he told me these 3 things – I wanted to do as he told me, so it was easy for me to do this.

Who were the other uchi-deshi at the time?

So, from Hombu dojo Chiba Sensei, Tamura Sensei and Kanai Sensei, who were uchi-deshi [tr. live-in students] of Hombu Dojo, taught me aikido basic theory at the religious dojo. About one year later I moved to Iwama in Ibaraki prefecture as Morihei Ueshiba Sensei’s uchi-deshi.

When visitors came to Iwama dojo to watch we always did hard style, but when they left, we would do rather soft style, not only hard style – I enjoyed my time at Iwama (laughs). My sempai (senior) while I was at Iwama was Hideo Hirosawa. Hirosawa Sempai graduated an agricultural high school, so he was a professional farmer – he taught me how to farm. Every day we would farm. He taught me about planting rice, farming and taking off grass. About 50 years later, he’s still living in Iwama and he teaches Aikido at Shogakkan Publishers in central Tokyo.

At Iwama dojo I studied kaeshiwaza too – not so many forms, but I decided to never forget this technique – so then 45 years later, I created the Kaeshiwaza 42 forms in 1 – 4 groups.

Did you ever take ukemi from O-Sensei?

I took ukemi with O-Sensei. He was about 70 years old at that time, and his style was very soft. If somebody used very hard style against another student, he would exhort him to use soft style. Also he said that student is delicate like me.

O-Sensei always taught one beat attack – to concentrate everything together and to move and attack with one beat. Also, his idea was not watching eye to eye. He would say, ‘don’t watch eye! Use your concentration!’ In the dojo, O-Sensei would not explain about this – what is hard, what is soft – he would only say, ‘Just watch me. Just watch!’

After practicing many years, finally I understood to concentrate on everything he did – when Morihei Ueshiba Sensei was eating, he concentrated on his chopstick, on his food at the table, etc.

O-Sensei also showed us how to stand, so that if one student pushed his head, the founder never been fell down to the behind. O-Sensei would often be sitting, and then he couldn’t be pushed over. Even with two attackers, he couldn’t be moved. These were his teaching ideas, and at that time, I was so young and I never understood about concentration – but later, after studying Katori Shintoryu, the ideas began to come into me little by little. I came to understand everything – it takes time (laughs). I thought that many students had trouble understanding his teachings, his ideas, because they were not explained in detail. We could only get an idea of what he was teaching, but by practicing, we can come to understand in time.
Why did you begin Katori Shinto ryu?

Katori and Aikido are very similar. Maybe both founders have the same ideas or spirit. The founder of Katori, Iizasa Choisai Ienao (1387 – c.1488) and the founder of Aikido lived 600 years apart, but their ideas are the almost the same. My religious teacher had said that a great teacher appears every 700 years – and the founders of Katori and Aikido are very similar.

The Kumi-Jo, I created, combined Aiki-Jo and Katori Shinto-ryu sword techniques. Kumijo 1 – 8 (and the newer variation) is based on the 31-count kata, and Jo-Ai is based on the 13-count kata. Katori Shinto-ryu influenced both of these.

I always have questions about martial arts, and I always increase my study – every year it’s increasing. The first time was judo in high school, then Aikido started, and then I published 5 volumes of Saito Sensei’s Traditional Aikido series.

Then, when these volumes were published I started searching for the next book, so I went to the National Library, and I researched about the origins and foundations of Japanese martial arts. I found that there were many different styles and schools – one for sword fighting; another for spear fighting, etc., but only Katori Shinto-ryu contained all these. That’s why I decided to start publishing the Katori Shinto-ryu series. I went to Shinbukan Risuke Otake Sensei’s dojo in Narita, Chiba prefecture, and he agreed to open Katori to publication [until now, Katori Shinto-ryu had been very secret in its techniques – very closed to outsiders]. When the first volume was published, his old elementary school teacher cried because he brought his book to her as a gift– also Otake Sensei was very thankful to me, and he was very pleased. I will never forget that. Then I started the second, third books, and little by little I published about Katori Shinto-ryu.

Then, I entered the school and started training in Katori to study the techniques (Sugawara Sensei gained his instructor’s license in 1986). Katori Shinto-ryu style was very hard – the founder was a retainer who had 50 soldiers under the Chiba family (in current Chiba prefecture) who fought with the Mongol invaders (Kublai Khan) in Kyushu. After that he meditated and practiced himself in front of the old Katori Shrine, Oku no Miya. Then he developed Katori Shinto-ryu sword technique with the help of a small deity.

Also Donn Draeger, an American military who came to Japan after WW2 with MacArthur. Donn Draeger later quit the military before retirement without the pension so that he could study Japanese martial arts. He was quite poor, but he studied – not only Katori – at first he studied Mosou Shinden-ryu Judo. I practiced with him in Otake Risuke Sensei’s dojo. Donn Draeger wrote many books, and he became famous in Japan. He studied Judo and became a very high rank, but his knee was broken many times by the sweeping kick. Donn Draeger greatly publicized Katori to the west. He helped my publication book entitled “The Deity and the Sword – Katori Shinto Ryu” with his friend, an English translator.

Then the next book was “Traditional Karate-do – Okinawa Go-Ju Ryu.” I studied the traditional ways – no only the tournament styles. So, while I was editing and publishing these works, I could study and learn the innermost secrets of these different styles and martial arts. So I was very happy.

That’s why I practiced not only Aikido – I went to the Katori Shinto Ryu, Okinawan Goju Ryu, then Taijiquan [tr. traditional Tai Chi] and Chinese martial arts. In 1989 I went to China with 4 people to research the connection between Chinese Martial Arts and Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-do. We compared many Sanchin styles of Chinese martial arts school in Fuzhow city to Okinawan Goju Ryu Sanchin kata. Very soon after that one another researcher announced who found a root of Okinawan karate-do. So I quit researching any more.

At that time I found a good instructor who teaching Baguazhang at Fuzhow City Martial Arts Association, she is now current my dojo’s Tai Chi instructor because she moved to Japan as a student of Japanese language school and later Tokyo Gakugei University, but stayed at my dojo while studying. I practiced Chen style Taijiquan under her and Chinese martial arts. All these different styles make good human relations, ideas and techniques for Katori Shinto Ryu and Aikido. Worldwide communication is very important for me.

Has modern Aikido changed from what you experienced and saw at Hombu?

Aikido today is very popularized. O-Sensei ordered his uchi-deshi to go abroad – Chiba Sensei went to England and later to USA; Tamura Sensei went to France, Kanai Sensei to USA, Tohei Sensei went to Chicago area. I think that these teachers need to always keep studying and learning and increasing their level, which is very difficult if you do not have access to high level teachers who can keep you focused and show you ways to improve.

From 30 years ago I started teaching Aikido and Katori Shinto Ryu in California, and then Chicago area and Washington D.C. etc. That is why my students who are now Katori and Aikido instructors were improved very much. I could visit Chicago area and Kansas City in Missouri after Kanai and Tohei Sensei died. Last year Tohei Sensei’s wife presented me a T-shirt, because she came and watched my seminar.

How practical is Aikido in an actual combat situation?

Combat is for a very short time, but training is for one and a half hour. Jujitsu style is street fighting style – my soft style is also effective for street fighting. Before I was afraid of street fighting, but now not so much (laughs). Mental strength is the most important – if you are afraid, no technique will be effective. I created the Kumijo variation so that you don’t become too stuck in one style. In an attack, and in training, if someone varies their style you have to quickly vary your style to counter. This is more similar to real fighting style. I am always looking for ways to teach easily. This is very important.

Geoff Sinha
Yokohama
[Geoff is an ex ASC student who moved to Japan over 10 years ago. He now lives in Yokohama is married with 2 children and teaches English. He has his own dojo as well as training under Sugawara Shihan.]