M. Sekiya at Shodokan Dojo, Salem, MA

4/29/92

Mark J. Norton

Sekiya sensei has returned to the New England area once again. Shodokan Dojo in Salem dojo is hosting him and his uchi-deshi, Diane Zingale. Sensei's teachings pick up where he left them last year. We started the class with a long series of stretching exercises which included shiko. He stressed that flexibility of shoulders and knees is very important in Aikido. Most Americans are too stiff, he says.

To demonstrate this, he showed us a simple flexibility test where one person bends his knees slightly and bows from the waist, hands near the floor. The partner then tests by pushing on the lower back and spine, downwards. If the person is flexible, a springy feeling is present, like pushing on a stuffed sofa. A stiff person will not move much at all.

Posture exercises then followed using a block of wood placed on the head. The class practiced walking slowly, concentrating on staying erect, with back straight. Sensei indicated that knees should be bent, and weight kept on one foot until time to step. This kind of walking is similar to Tai Chi's 'empty step'. Walking proceeded very slowly around the dojo. We tried kneeling, and standing up, tenkan turns, etc. Most people had trouble with this. I had less trouble. This is probably due to sword practice and personal efforts to keep my back straight over the past year or so.

We then practiced kokyunage and shihonage throws. Sekiya sensei stressed that the throw must come from the center. "Attack with the center," he says. Bob Whelan and Ray Wateikas tried these with me (we were the only yudansha present).

Overall, the class (two hours long) was difficult for me. The prolong low stances are tough on the knees and back. Diane constantly encouraged me to get lower, lower. I was chided for taking a wide stance also. More narrow allows faster reactions.