Two Months Down, Nine to go...

On Saturday we didn't have class, but instead went on a 10k run through the streets of Tokyo.  Our destination was a park whose name I've forgotten.  I've run 10k before, so I wasn't particularly concerned about it, but as a matter of fact I found it very difficult and exhausting.  I caught a cold more than a week ago, but when I get sick, it always takes me about a month to recover fully.  I get over the cold symptoms quickly, but then I'm blowing my nose endlessly and my overall energy is down for a long time.  Anyway, long-legged Bryn had no problem at all and looked like a gazelle trotting along with all the skinny cops.  We ate lunch at the park, and then we were given about an hour to relax, during which time I accompanied Tsugada, Matsuzaki, Sakurai, and Tamai (four of the cops) while they went for a stroll and got themselves some beers.  For the most part I didn't say much, because my Japanese is still awful, but we did enjoy a few exchanges which were aided in large part by the decent English skills of Tamai and Sakurai.  I told them about the "Angry White Pyjamas" book, which they didn't know about.  I had to explain the meaning of the title, and they thought this was funny. 


When we returned to the dojo, James and his wife were waiting for us, and had cooked a delicious dinner.  (James was only a temporary Senshusei, and his training ended a few days ago because he is starting a new job soon.)  So we had a bit of a celebration of James' accomplishment and of our completion of the second month.  This party was similar to the welcome party that was held about 5 weeks ago, except it was smaller.  In terms of senior instructors, only Kancho, Sonada Shihan, and Umemura Shihan-Dai were there, and of course our two Sewanin, Yanagihara Shidoin and Uchikawa Shidoin were there, along with some of the office staff.  Just like last time, the affair started out somewhat formally, with all the beer-pouring, etc., and then began to loosen up as people became tipsy.  I enjoyed pleasant conversations with all of my instructors and then the cops began to give impromptu performances such as magic tricks and telling jokes, etc.  At one point someone brought out a monitor and we watched a documentary show that had been made about the dojo recently.  It was really fun to see the reaction of the two young fellows who came to investigate the dojo in the program.  They were duly impressed with a demonstration of Aikido's principles which was provided by Umemura Shihan-Dai, and then Kancho came out and really blew them away with his abilities.


After the TV show, the pink-cheeked Teramoto and Fujishima, the two delightful female cops, invited some of us to cook deep-fried squid puffs with them, which we did in a mock-serious way that was meant to lampoon all the ceremonial behavior that we are now accustomed to at the dojo.  (I discreetly turned my squid puffs over to Tsugada because I've had them before and they're awful!  It's all fried batter with a tiny piece of squid in the center, and then they drown it in mayonnaise and other distasteful condiments.)


Next, it was time for the watermelon pinata game, in which a participant is blindfolded, spun around 10 times, and then armed with a bokken, or wooden sword, and asked to find and smash a watermelon which is laid out upon a tarp on the mats.  The drunken crowd shouts out directions of varying degrees of usefulness in an attempt to guide the swordsman.  I had a turn and missed the damn thing just like everyone else.  The only person who hit it was Sonoda Shihan.  Sonoda Shihan is the oldest of the senior instructors, and the way he wielded the weapon was different from everyone else.  He really looked like a samurai the way he had the sword held next to his head as he gracefully advanced toward his target.  I don't know how he did it, given all the contradictory screaming, but sure enough he did damage the watermelon, although it was still intact after the blow.  Now it was Kancho's turn.  Again, he was blindfolded and spun around, but he was tipsy and was just going for laughs.  He headed away from the watermelon and refused to be guided anywhere near it, so his dutiful students brought it to where he was and kept moving it so that it was always in his line of fire.  Now, I have surmised that Kancho is something of a nationalist, so when he finally swung the sword, I couldn't resist dropping to the floor and playing dead so that when he removed the blindfold, it would appear that he had just brained me.  I didn't stir for at least 30 seconds so I couldn't see his reaction, but people told me later that he thought it was funny.  It is my hope that it warmed his heart momentarily to imagine slaying the clumsy American intruder with his trusty bokken.  Later on he beckoned me over to where he was sitting and we shared an amusing exchange.  After we were talking about all the travelling he did I asked him about his favorite country to visit, and he replied, "places in Asia".


I spent the rest of the weekend teaching a couple of English pupils and resting.


Here's a picture of me at the Takadanobaba Train Station with the "Big Box" shopping mall in the background.