Tamura Sensei came along to our dojo to conduct a seminar. Tamura sensei is a slightly built, 5'5" 70+ year old aikido shihan (very senior teacher) who's 8th dan (8th grade black belt). He has enormous power despite his size and it's one of the big reasons why I picked aikido as a martial art, that there were all these little old Japanese guys able to floor guys less than half their age and twice their size. Tamura Sensei is one of those little old Japanese senseis who can do that. He was sent out to France many years ago to start aikido in France and much to his credit, aikido is now flourishing in France.
I spent much of my time during the seminar trying to figure out his techniques which were slightly different variations from the ones usually taught. Naturally the easier he made a technique look, the harder it was in practice. He came with a small contingent from France and visitors appeared from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Thailand, such is his fame and pull in the aikido world.
I am still waiting for the photographs of the seminar to turn out and will post at least one on this spot. However for those of you who might be curious as to what aikido might look like, do visit www.ueshibaaikido.org which is the website of the dojo I normally practice at.
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