A Short Story From Yoshimitsu Yamada: Training in a Storm

The following short story was told to Aikido Journal by the late Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei as a follow up to our Spring 2022 interview with him. During the interview, we asked him if he had any short stories about Kisshomaru Ueshiba he could share. He said he would think about it, and after returning to New York, contacted us to share the following story. 

Yoshimitsu Yamada: I don’t know if this is an interesting story, but I learned a lot from this incident. It was a memory from when I was uchi deshi.

One morning, there was a hurricane that hit Tokyo. It was very windy and rainy. It was raining so hard, and the wind was so strong. As uchi deshi, we thought, “Oh, thank God! There will be no morning class. Tokyo will be closed.” Even though we thought that, we opened the gate to the dojo anyway, just in case.

Sure enough, one student shows up. He was a college kid, and I knew him very well. Of course, Kisshomaru Doshu gave a class for him – for just one person. Because of that, one of us uchi deshi had to attend the class to be a partner for this guy. Since I was the youngest, I was chosen.

During the class, I was taking ukemi for this guy. I was so mad at him. “Why did he come on this crummy day? Why doesn’t he stay home? I could have slept in.” Although I’m taking nice ukemi for him during the class, in my mind I’m thinking, “Boy, next time I see you on the mat, I’m going to kick your ass!” (Laughs). I was joking, but when Doshu teaches, somebody needs to be his partner.

However, after the class, I realized that I learned a lot from Doshu in how he handled this. Doshu is the teacher, and he is the leader. He cared for and is responsible for the students. He cared about all his students – that was his attitude. I really respected him. All he would have had to do was ask one of the old uchi deshi to teach just one student, but he didn’t do that. He was so generous, caring about the practitioner. Just by teaching one student, he taught us, and I learned a lot. That’s the way it should be. If you want to be a leader or teacher, you need that sincerity.

After the class, I also came to respect the college student because of his commitment. He came through the crummy weather and took the couple hour train ride. As a teacher, you have to know how to pay respect to the members who support the school – this serious student who practiced the art. I learned from Doshu with his sincerity and how he cared about that one student.

A couple weeks ago, I was home one morning, and it was raining so hard in New York City. I was supposed to teach my class in the morning, so I thought, “Oh, thank God. I can sleep this morning.” However, once the time came for the class, there were five or six students waiting to train in my class. I joked with them. “Boy, I’ll remember your guys’ faces, because I thought I could have extra sleep this morning. However, I’ll remember your faces, not only because I am upset, but because I really appreciate your commitment. I respect your commitment.” If I hadn’t had that incident in the past, I never would have felt this way toward my students. But I was still mad at them because they showed up. (Laughs)