The Kingdom of Dust

The following is an excerpt from The Kingdom of Dust, a book written by Piotr Masztalerz (6th Dan Aikikai). Piotr began his Aikido journey in 1988 and is a professional Aikido instructor. He studied as a uchideshi under Kazuo Chiba Sensei in San Diego and is the founder and head instructor at Wrocław Aikikai Dojo in Wrocław, Poland. Piotr has had thousands of students across Poland, including at the Wrocław University of Technology, the University of Wrocław, and the Grotowski Institute. He has also taught outside Poland in countries such as USA, Russia,France, the UK, Kenya and Chile. Piotr holds a degree in medieval history. 

The Kingdom of Dust was published in Polish in 2018. It is a book about being an uchideshi- a full time student – about building a dojo, and about the nature of teacher-student relationships. Aikido Journal highly recommends this book and hopes you’ll enjoy this short excerpt from the work.

Piotr Masztalerz, center.

Chiba

To understand who Chiba was, there is only one thing you need to know: he belonged to the group of those rare people who fall in love with one thing and dedicate their whole life to it. Their whole time, their whole attention. He was a soldier, one who served Aikido – he believed in his mission and sacrificed his whole self for it. For it he abandoned Japan. Under the command of O’Sensei he spent 10 years in barbarous Britain where they overcook fish and it always rained. Under the same orders, there he spent years building the foundations for the international organisation in Tokyo, and following another command he then went away to spend the rest of his life in the United States. All because, when he was a teenager, in a small book shop in Tokyo he came across a book about Aikido and first laid eyes upon a portrait of Ueshiba. Apparently, this is the exact moment when he understood that he wanted to follow Ueshiba as his master. He packed his bags, and for three days he sat in front of the dojo waiting for approval to enter. Regular, composed people are terrified of such characters. They should be. For him, the training or studying wasn’t a hobby but a sense and centre of life. The rest was just a side effect – a marriage arranged by Ueshiba, a house close to the dojo. There were no holidays, only summer schools, sleep was only a rest from the training. He hosted the first generation of uchideshi, so he even had to give up his privacy. Home and dojo intertwined – he gave his whole self to people. 

It is these kinds of people you must be afraid of because with each gesture, each word, they show you that you don’t do enough. 

He was an apostle and a madman, and we were playing with that which he had sacrificed his life for.

For most of us Aikido was a nice hobby, an interesting way of spending one’s time. He was an apostle and a madman, and we were playing with that which he had sacrificed his life for. Like a child who plays with his insurgent father’s gun. In another time and place he would, most likely, have stood with an axe on the front line of the army, or have been a kamikaze pilot or a suicide bomber. Or maybe I am mistaken, and he would be a monk? Aikido is what made him. He was wrenched away from Japan, but he took her everywhere around the world with him. In this way after thousands of years he had more of the old Japan inside him than what was left in his native land. Wrenched from the field of battle 300 years ago, that is how we used to talk about him. The art which he sacrificed his life to was not his mask, it was just him. This was why he was not able to play the role of peaceful master. Aikido was his life: complete, natural, honest, and organic. He lived with fascination and anger. With great patience and fits of rage. For us he was the god of Aikido. A concerned god who accepted hard work in silence without praise and punished faults in a divine rage. He broke bones, screamed, and beat. 

He was a living man, not a mask. A legend, one of few living students of Ueshiba. After years spent with the founder of Aikido, he knew what he was doing – and no one could challenge that. Inside him he held an ultimate truth which everyone had to agree with. What he was doing was beautiful, terrifying, and true. Around this core, like around the eye of a cyclone, circled broken hands, knee surgeries, bruises, pain, stress, fear, and a sea of sweat. Chiba was honest and open for everyone. Anyone could enter inside if they managed to confront what was happening outside.

From The Kingdom of Dust, by Piotr Masztalerz  

  • Read The Kingdom of Dust here (free PDF)
  • Buy Portrait of a Master: T.K. Chiba here

6 comments

  • Hello I thank you for you article about Chiba Sensei but he was not the only student of Osensei who dedicated their life to aikido there is Saotome Sensei and many others like your teacher Matsuoka Sensei.

    • Hi Charles! Nice to hear from you. I don’t think anyone said that Chiba was the only direct student of O-Sensei who dedicated his life to aikido. This piece is an excerpt from a fantastic book that contains highlights from the author’s experience with Chiba Sensei. And while my teacher, Matsuoka Sensei has indeed dedicated his life to aikido, he was never a direct student of O-Sensei (like Chiba Sensei and Saotome Sensei who you mention 🙂

  • Thank you for Publishing this article. It is very essential to share the complexities of such a great teacher. Bernie Lau Sensei always laughs, when asked about Chiba Sensei, “He was born too late, about 400 years too late”.
    As stated above, his mindset was from the ancient times of fuedal Japan. He had so much to share. The new series by Aikido Journal gives great insight into his contributions to Aikido and is a very valuable treasure in sharing his teachings. He gave us many wonderful treasures, if we can just see beyond our own judgements and listen to the teacher who is in front of us.
    With Gassho…

  • I see this a bit differently. I heard a story that Nishio Shoji sensei was asked is his son training Aikido. He replied something like ”oh no, he does not have problems, he plays tennis!”. This is my point too. People practising martial arts have problems. I do too and I know it. I think that everyone who is willing and capaple to walk this difficult path more than few steps has. So a shihan is no exception.
    I would put more like this: ”this person dedicated his life to martial arts and was able to transform his troubles into the art and he was able to contribute greatly in passing the tradition for future generations.”

    So I think that we should glorify a bit less. Thank you.

  • Piotr beautifully captures the Chiba experience – exciting, captivating, terrifying, and painful. Kazuo Chiba was the personification of struggle – between our demons and better selves. Sometimes succeeding, often failing, but a noble and sacred struggle. Captured by our need for harsh authenticity, with our best moments tempered by compassion.

    After the Hombu Dojo years and six months with him at Chogen-Ji Temple, I chose to end my time with Chiba. Yet he has remained a part of me. Supporting me during critical encounters, and helping to fuel my lifetime Search for O-Sensei. Thank you Josh for sharing Piotr’s compelling words.

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