Complete Aikido. Christopher Watson G.

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      Sueneka Sensei with Shorin-ryu Kenshinkan karate founder Fusei Kise in Jacksoneille, N.C., July, 1997.

      Though unforgiving, such a test is undeniably fair. The first aikido practicioner, a yondan (fourth degree black belt) in both aikido and karate who had traveled from Japan specifically to introduce aikido to Okinawa, was unable to weather the trial, nor was the second, an even more celebrated aikidoka. In their defense, it should be noted that both men, though skilled and sincere, boasted little experience outside the controlled strictures of the. dojo, and so were perhaps as much mentally ill-prepared as they were physically to meet Kise’s blunt challenge. Consequently, its not surprising that, at the time of Suenaka’s arrival in Okinawa, the local opinion of aikido was poor, at best. This, however, would soon change.

      Fusei Kise was what the air force termed a “third country national,” or indigenous worker, and was employed as an electrician on the air base. Given that Suenaka was an electrician as well, it was inevitable that the two would eventually meet. In fact, Suenaka found himself assigned to the same shop in which Kise worked. Suenaka remembers Kise as “a sort of real stand-offish guy, almost arrogant, at least during our first meeting.” The two exchanged little beyond the usual pleasantries during their first meeting. Neither knew that they would soon become friends, brought together by the very disparity in martial styles that had thus far made Kise the bane of aikido on Okinawa.

      Suenaka Sensei taught aikido in Zemke Gymnasium, one of two gyms on Kadena. Zemke Gym had two levels, and he taught on the upper floor. Not long after he first met Kise Sensei, Suenaka was in the middle of teaching a class when he heard a disturbance on the lower floor:

      “I heard some shouting downstairs, and I went to look,’ recalls Suenaka. There was a big group of karate students, about fifty people in the class. I had my students continue training and I walked downstairs; it was Kise Sensei. I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?,’ and he said, ‘This is my karate class—what are you doing up there?’ And I said, “That’s my aikido class.’ He said, Aikido, eh? Hmmmm.’ He didn’t say very much then. So I went back upstairs and continued.”

      Perhaps it was because Suenaka was a fellow employee in the electrical shop that Kise opted not to challenge him that very night. Perhaps it was because he liked Suenaka personally, brief though their acquaintance was at that point, more than he had the previous aikidoka. Later, it may have been because both found they shared common experiences in their study of the martial arts; beginning study in a variety of styles at an early age, a preference for deeds over words, and a sincere (and no doubt purely professional) love of a good street fight. Whatever the reasons, Kise Sensei never formally challenged Suenaka to physically defend his art. Indeed, after their meeting in the gym, they found themselves spending more and more time together, both on the job and socially, becoming fast friends. Still, there were implied challenges, as Suenaka recalls:

      “There were a lot of times that he commented negatively about aikido. There were many times that he indirectly challenged me, and of course, I took the challenge and said, ‘Let’s do it!’ And he would say, ‘No, we’re friends.’ We never got into a real fight. We got into verbal confrontations many times, but never a physical confrontation. We were really just teasing each other.”

      Let it not be said, though, that Fusei Kise wasn’t prepared to fight when pressed—or insulted:

      “We were in the squadron day room. There was a pool table there, snack bar, people were playing cards. We were sitting down, watching television. I was in uniform, but of course Kise Sensei was a third country national, so he was in street clothes. This great big guy walked in the room—he recognized that I was a GI, from the uniform, even though I looked Japanese, but he saw Kise, and he said ‘You goddamn gook! What the hell are you doing in here?’ Kise Sensei heard him, but he didn’t understand a lot of English, he just looked up and said, ‘Huh?’ And the guy said ‘You deaf? I said what are you doing in here?’ So I said to the guy, ‘Hey, what’s your problem? He’s the night electrician. He belongs in here, he works here!’ And the guy says, ‘What the hell they got a gook doing that job for?’ By that time Kise Sensei knew something was up, and he asks me, ‘What did he say?’ I said, ‘He called you a gook. I think he wants to kick your butt.’ And Kise said ‘What?!’ Then he got up, his eyes got small and he turned red as a beet, and I thought, ‘Uh-oh.’ So I turned to the guy and I said, ‘You better get out of here, now. He may be small, but he can kill you and me right now, just like that.’ And then the guy’s eyes got real big, and he said ‘No shit?’ And voom!, he was out the door. Later on I saw the guy again, and he asked me, ‘Who was that guy?’ So I told him. I said, ‘If that man had gotten ahold of you, you would have been lying in little pieces. And by the way, I’m Oriental, and I don’t like the word gook either.’ And he said, ‘Oh, man! I’m sorry!’ And he went back and apologized to Kise Sensei, and Kise accepted. He was pretty good about stuff like that. He could be pretty mean when he wanted to, but he knew his limits as to what he could and couldn’t do on the air base. Now, had it happened in town, the outcome would have been very different!”

      By this time, Kise was familiar with Suenaka’s aikido, as Suenaka was familiar with Kise’s karate, both men having observed the other’s classes and technique with an educated, critical eye. Though neither man’s machismo would allow them to openly admit it, both were impressed with the other’s prowess and technique. Of the aikido Suenaka taught at the time, he notes: “It wasn’t like the aikido we have today; fairly similar, but probably a lot harder, a little more violent, so it impressed him.”

      As the months passed, Suenaka’s student body outgrew the space available in Zemke Gym, forcing him to begin another class at Kadena’s second gym, McConnell Gym. At the same time Suenaka began entertaining thoughts of opening a dojo off-base, in town. For this, he would need O’Sensei’s blessing, which he secured upon his first return trip to the Hombu, less than a month after his move to Okinawa (“I didn’t waste any time. . . . I think then maybe I had more guts than brains.”). Again, the Founder was eager to introduce aikido to Okinawa, more so after the previous failed ventures. Ironically, it was a karateka, Shorinji-ryu karate founder Zenryo Shimabukuro, who guided Suenaka in this pursuit.