Celine began. “He has not been very happy when we have gone off on holiday by ourselves. Of course, now he says he has to worry about our escorts – you seem too young and handsome for him – but I told him that I trained with you for a year and you have always been gentlemen.”
There were some surreptitious glances passed between several of those present, glances I chose to ignore, and she continued. “He wants to show you that he is wealthy and powerful and then he thinks you will be certain to do the thing right.” She frowned. “Do the right thing.”
“ Behave ourselves.”
I glared at Chris. He looked steadily at me and I understood how he was feeling, but we were guests.
“ Please tell your father we will take good care of you and we will always be very respectful of both him and his daughters.”
She seemed relieved. “Thank you, Sensei.”
“ Although I really haven’t got a clue what I could do unless someone walks up and grabs my wrist.”
She laughed and bumped my knee which caused me to spill a small spot of tea. She jumped up and made a show of getting a napkin. Suddenly there was a maid with a cloth to dab the tea away. I wondered where the camera or microphones were hidden. I had known that we were under surveillance; strange men in a wealthy Turk’s house with his daughter? I was sure that all meetings between his daughters and suitors happened here.
“ Sensei, what would you do? I mean if someone wanted to grab one of the girls… um, I mean, ladies. Women! Darn, I …”
“ Christian that is the biggest problem in aikido. How do we defend someone else? I believe that an experienced aikidoka could probably defend himself against most untrained fighters. But O’Sensei specifically said that we are to ‘protect and defend all living things.’ Those are his words. What are you supposed to do, stick your arm out and say “Grab my wrist?”
They all shook their heads. I knew I was now lecturing not only for them, but for an unseen audience. I believe that Curtis had probably made that leap as well because he hitched forward and said, “Sensei, what is the most effective way to engage someone who might be attacking someone else. We’ve never trained for that.”
“ No. That’s not true. Sensei taught classes for a whole month on engaging an attacker who was going after a third person.” Chris turned to me and asked, “Was that last winter?”
I turned to Curtis. “I think you were out in Houston doing something on a space shuttle.”
“ It was a control issue for the command module…”
“ Great. Still, good question. The answer is hanging in the corner of the Dojo; in each corner as a matter of fact.”
Christian said, “The punching bags, that’s how you engage someone who is hurting somebody. Punch them in the head.”
“ We don’t have punching bags in our dojos here in Turkey. I’ve never seen a punching bag in any aikido dojo except yours.” Celine raised her eyebrows and looked at me.
“ I have spoken with many senseis who believe that practicing yokomen-uchi or tsuki is the same as training to strike. All I can say is that they are idiots. The only way to train at striking is to hit something heavy as hard as you can, over and over. Pretend striking just doesn’t get it done. It’s a joke. Ask anyone who has ever broken or sprained a wrist by hitting a bag or board wrong. It is something that absolutely must be trained if it is going to be used to save a life.” I grimaced, but then continued.
“ Okay, here is a lesson I was taught by one of my old senseis. He told me that he and his wife, who is a sixth dan, were leaving the dojo one night and found three street punks sitting on their car. His wife is a very feisty woman and told the punks to get off, and one of them said something and the next thing that happened was the guy punched Sensei’s wife in the head.”
“ Wow!”
“ Yeah, well, the next thing that happened after that was Sensei
There were some surreptitious glances passed between several of those present, glances I chose to ignore, and she continued. “He wants to show you that he is wealthy and powerful and then he thinks you will be certain to do the thing right.” She frowned. “Do the right thing.”
“ Behave ourselves.”
I glared at Chris. He looked steadily at me and I understood how he was feeling, but we were guests.
“ Please tell your father we will take good care of you and we will always be very respectful of both him and his daughters.”
She seemed relieved. “Thank you, Sensei.”
“ Although I really haven’t got a clue what I could do unless someone walks up and grabs my wrist.”
She laughed and bumped my knee which caused me to spill a small spot of tea. She jumped up and made a show of getting a napkin. Suddenly there was a maid with a cloth to dab the tea away. I wondered where the camera or microphones were hidden. I had known that we were under surveillance; strange men in a wealthy Turk’s house with his daughter? I was sure that all meetings between his daughters and suitors happened here.
“ Sensei, what would you do? I mean if someone wanted to grab one of the girls… um, I mean, ladies. Women! Darn, I …”
“ Christian that is the biggest problem in aikido. How do we defend someone else? I believe that an experienced aikidoka could probably defend himself against most untrained fighters. But O’Sensei specifically said that we are to ‘protect and defend all living things.’ Those are his words. What are you supposed to do, stick your arm out and say “Grab my wrist?”
They all shook their heads. I knew I was now lecturing not only for them, but for an unseen audience. I believe that Curtis had probably made that leap as well because he hitched forward and said, “Sensei, what is the most effective way to engage someone who might be attacking someone else. We’ve never trained for that.”
“ No. That’s not true. Sensei taught classes for a whole month on engaging an attacker who was going after a third person.” Chris turned to me and asked, “Was that last winter?”
I turned to Curtis. “I think you were out in Houston doing something on a space shuttle.”
“ It was a control issue for the command module…”
“ Great. Still, good question. The answer is hanging in the corner of the Dojo; in each corner as a matter of fact.”
Christian said, “The punching bags, that’s how you engage someone who is hurting somebody. Punch them in the head.”
“ We don’t have punching bags in our dojos here in Turkey. I’ve never seen a punching bag in any aikido dojo except yours.” Celine raised her eyebrows and looked at me.
“ I have spoken with many senseis who believe that practicing yokomen-uchi or tsuki is the same as training to strike. All I can say is that they are idiots. The only way to train at striking is to hit something heavy as hard as you can, over and over. Pretend striking just doesn’t get it done. It’s a joke. Ask anyone who has ever broken or sprained a wrist by hitting a bag or board wrong. It is something that absolutely must be trained if it is going to be used to save a life.” I grimaced, but then continued.
“ Okay, here is a lesson I was taught by one of my old senseis. He told me that he and his wife, who is a sixth dan, were leaving the dojo one night and found three street punks sitting on their car. His wife is a very feisty woman and told the punks to get off, and one of them said something and the next thing that happened was the guy punched Sensei’s wife in the head.”
“ Wow!”
“ Yeah, well, the next thing that happened after that was Sensei
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