In my early twenties, and to the protest of my parents, I flew to Japan with the dream of learning
the martial art of Aikido from the Masters. Aikido was established in 1924, and although the
founder passed away in 1968, there were still a few highly skilful teachers in Japan who
had trained with him in the early days of Aikido. Those teachers, or sensei in Japanese, were
knowledgeable disciples, some of whom very famous and even heading their own Aikido styles.
One of those teachers was Master Gozo Shioda, the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido
Master Shioda was a living legend in Japan and a cultural treasure. Besides being the founder
of Yoshinkan Aikido he also headed the main governing body of Japanese martial arts. Master
Shioda was known to have a magical touch, a man who could cause the largest of opponents
to collapse by the mere touch of his fingers
That for itself was not unique in Aikido and yet the way he presented his abilities was more
than uncommon. Master Gozo Shioda, unlike the founder of Aikido, was not a religious man
and never attributed his abilities to the presence of the gods. He was a methodical man who
insisted, and proved beyond doubt, that careful analytical and surgical study of the art was
the real key to seemingly unnatural capabilities. He could explain the finest details of his
performances, giving thought to every muscle fibre in his body and each and every nerve
ending
His style presented a non spiritual-spiritual angle to the art. Yoshinkan Aikido – the divine art
of the sceptic, a down to earth scientific system to create the super human. It was a new and
innovative way to explore the art
My descriptions of the Master might seem to contradict my earlier statement concerning the
coincidental nature of genuine ideas. It does not. According to the biography of Master Shioda,
there was one incident which inspired in him the deep understanding of the art, the root from
which his future creation emerged. That incident was a fight to the life and death against
multiple opponents. The fight took place in a remote bar in China and was unexpected and
The Trouble With All That Magic
unprovoked by Master Shioda. It was as coincidental as the apple dropping on the head and it
inspired him, for whatever reason, to seek and find his special way
Like Newton with gravity, Shioda was famous for his magic tricks, and exactly like Newton with
math, his true contribution was in the system he created
But I didn’t know anything about him or indeed much about Aikido. I was disciplined in boxing
and Karate but had never trained Aikido. I had read something about it; seen a short clip on TV
and watched one Steven Seagal movie – that was it. Thinking back, it is of no wonder why my
parents were anxious when I first informed them that I would fly to study Aikido in Japan. They
were not the only ones who showed bewilderment when I informed them of my intentions
I must have looked extremely zealous when I finally arrived in Narita airport after a twenty four
hour trip. One Japanese passenger on the train to Tokyo smiled at me and enquired as to the
reasons of my trip. When I said Aikido he first gaped at me then burst out laughing. He couldn’t
see the sense of it
But nothing would deter me from my cause and two days after my arrival I went to the
Yoshinkan Aikido Headquarters and watched Master Shioda perform his miracles. I was ushered
to the training hall, dojo, by one of the instructors. He led me to a chair at the back of the hall
and there I sat within a group of other spectators. It was a special class held for high ranking
students and the mat was crawling with them. Five minutes before the scheduled lesson began,
the black belt students formed a line and sat on their knees facing the front. Their backs were
rigid and their eyes fixed on the small model of a shrine that sat on a shelf in front of them.
The atmosphere was tense with expectation and it took me with it. My heart was thumping in
my ears although I had no idea what to expect
The clock on the wall struck twelve, and as the last chime still echoed in the hall, we heard
the sound of footsteps advancing to the doorway. The black belts straightened their backs
further and all spectators stood to attention. I saw from the corner of my eye a little old man
dressed in training gear kneeling by the mats. He bowed to the front and crossed the hall to
sit with his back to the black belts in the centre of the mats. They bowed to the shrine and he
swiftly turned on his knees and faced the students. He spoke a few words, which I couldn’t
comprehend, and then stood up. He motioned to the front with his hand and one of the black
belts ran towards him. To the Master’s gesture he held his wrist
Compared to the Master, the student looked like a giant bear. The Master pointed to his wrist
and then a surge of energy flowed through his body. The large student groaned and suddenly
seemed like a marionette hanging from the Master’s wrist. The Master smiled and moved
slightly to the left, the large man twisting to the side, the joints of his body locking beneath
the wrist. He seemed pinned to the spot by the weight of a large boulder. Master Shioda smiled
and released his control, the black belt screaming and flying in the air. He fell to the ground
with a large thump but eagerly jumped to his feel and ran back to kneel in front of the Master,
his expression revealing enthusiasm, thirst and devotion
But the Master picked another black belt and now the trick changed. He asked the man to
outstretch his arm, palm facing upward. Again he explained briefly before poking the palm with
his finger. The student’s body rocked and he nearly lost his footing. The Master laughed and hit
it again, this time the man lifted into the air, to collapse in a heap at the Master’s feet. Feat
after feat of magical movements appeared before my eyes and I was most disappointed when
the lesson was over
The Master left but most students stayed and practiced, high ranking black belts chuckling like
children as they tried to mimic the acts of Master Shioda. The place was buzzing with passion
and the drive to learn and excel. I was buzzing as well. I, just like those in front of me, wanted
nothing but to be able to perform as he did. I remained attached to my seat even as the dojo
emptied
I signed up for training that day and for the next few years was completely devoted to the
study of Aikido. It is hard to explain how inspiring it was to be in the company of Master Shioda
and how it drove me to excel. The more time I spent there, the more I learned to appreciate his
brilliance. He was a visionary, a man who showed the world of Japanese martial arts how one
can perform magical feats without the religious devotion that marked all his predecessors. He
was analytical, methodical, almost a scientist in his approach to techniques. I thirstily drank
the knowledge manifested through him and his students. A year after I began my studies I
became an apprentice, and the following year I became one of the head foreign instructors at
the dojo
Gradually, however, the glow of the place began to lose its lustre and I was left with the dim
grey of reality. There were different reasons for that feeling yet they all related to the Master
and the system surrounding him. I realised that in order to become a Master one must have a
unique style and vision. Being a follower, no matter how devoted and no matter how inspiring
the Master was, would only lead to mediocrity rather than mastery. The way of the Master is
the way of the Master. It’s personal, individual, and therefore applies mainly to only one. And I
was gagging for that coincidental moment of genius to appear. If being a Master was my goal,
an individual goal, then it was the wrong place to fulfil it. The teachers in the dojo made sure
of it. They would bark at anyone who would try and do anything innovative
I remember one particular lesson where a high ranking Japanese instructor stopped the class
and began shouting at me in front of all the students – there were at least 100 people on
the mat that day. I couldn’t understand half the words he was uttering but his gestures were
more than sufficient to convey exactly what he meant. Do as the others do – mimic and that’s
all! Even as my responsibilities increased in the dojo and the highly ranked teachers stopped
showing their disapproval of me, they would still scorn the students I taught. “Don’t do it like
this,” they would order. “This is Gadi’s Aikido, not Yoshinkan Aikido
The Trouble With All That Magic
I had also begun to develop serious reservations concerning the concept of a Master and the
way he was treated
The head teachers formed a barrier around the Master. They would serve him with dedication
but at the same time blocked him from the direct and honest experience of the world. He
couldn’t move freely, even in the toilets there would always be a student serving and breathing
down his neck. Some would even go as far as taking fake falls while he performed unsuccessful
Aikido moves. All of them, without exception, exaggerated their reaction to his acts. It created
misconception and the doubt in my mind that perhaps the Master would never have been
considered such a magician if they didn’t react the way they did
It now brings to mind the true story of a famous musician; I think he played the violin. Anyway,
he was a man who filled concert halls and was known as one of the best musicians in the
world. Yet when he once stood at one of the tunnels of New York’s subway and busked for
the pleasure of the passers-by, he hardly received any attention and the money he collected
was barely enough to buy a descent meal for his efforts. Fame and glory, so it seems, needs
a healthy dose of PR in order to exist. It has to, since the masses, the ones who ultimately
maintain that halo of fame, know little to distinguish their heads from their asses
Take Albert Einstein for example, who was one of the first celebrities of the twentieth century.
Mr Einstein’s rise to glory came soon after he published his work on relativity. Newspapers
were filled with his image and he received a hero’s welcome in Britain and America. Thousands
flocked the streets to get a glimpse of the visionary man. Thousands of supporters, despite the
fact there was less than a handful of scientists who could actually understand his complex
theory. Even nowadays there are very few who can truly understand the concept of relativity
and yet Einstein was still elected the most influential figure of the twentieth century by the
readers of Times Magazine. Poor old Albert, he must have felt baffled throughout his life by the
crowd’s reaction
And so I felt sorry for the Aikido Master at first – he looked as lonely as a rare bird locked inside
the golden bars of its cage. The bird is pampered, well fed and treated kindly, and yet caged
just the same. Then I remembered it was the Master who had formed that cage and some of
the compassionate feelings left me. All his life as a master he demanded full control over the
lives and wellbeing of his students. They would dress him, bathe him and wait for him awake
in the dojo at night, sometimes until the early hours of the morning, when he went out for a
drink – just to bow to him when he returned. His students were only reacting in accordance to
the regime of terror and control he demanded. It was his choice
I decided that I should leave as soon as I was able to teach myself and that I would never allow
myself to become a rare bird even if it meant no followers to recognise my mastery – if mastery
would indeed occur. Three years after I arrived at the dojo the Master fell ill and for weeks there
were nasty rumours of cancer but the official version was – “The Master suffers from a bit of
a cold”. It might have been the version they told the Master himself – as even his poor health
was treated as an unpleasant fact they should conceal from the man..