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Kenji Tomiki Shihan's teachings - art and spirit
In March 1970, on the evening before leaving for Osaka, I paid a visit to Tomiki Shihan's home. His wife kindly prepared some food and we drank beer which was unusual. All night long I listened to his far reaching ideas about competitive aikido.
"Nariyama, if the Kansai students participate then the dream of a national tournament will be realised. A good thing will always spread and after some years it will be like an avalanche. All of the students will doing it and then, of course, you will be very busy."
I can't describe the feelings of infinite strength that I felt deep inside while listening to these things and I renewed my determination. On 3rd November in the same year the 1st All Japan Student Competitive Aikido Tournament was held in the Okubo Sports Hall in Tokyo.
The most interesting part of the story is that he suddenly said the following, "When you go to Osaka don't just teach randori to the students, learn Hirokazu Kobayashi Sensei's style of aikido. Like me, he learned his aikido by studying hard with Ueshiba Sensei."
Up until hearing these words I thought that I was simply teaching the randori system to the students in the Kansai area. In the same way that he learned techniques from Ueshiba Sensei, he said that I had to learn directly from Kobayashi Sensei. I didn't think about it at the time and simply replied, "I understand". However, I didn't understand Kobayashi Sensei's practice method or techniques at all and I also didn't really understand Tomiki Shihan's intentions but it made me grow up a little.
Eventually, during the evening we set out some cushions and relaxed. The varied conversation was endless. Anyway, I was full up with the wonderful feast and beer that I'd had and before I knew it I'd fallen asleep. The next thing I noticed was that it was morning. It was a mistake and I remember feeling dreadfully sorry.
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