Japan Trip Day 2 - Sharaishi Sensei

Monday, June 4th

Woke up at 0600 hours, feeling the effects of jetlag. I felt like it was the afternoon, not six in the morning! I walked out the front of the lobby into their little courtyard and found they had put out a pot of fresh coffee, cups and such. The coffee tasted very good. It was so quiet around there! I saw people walking around and picked up “ohio gozaimasu” (good morning). Everybody was very pleasant and calm, always quick to smile. The old man of the inn was out sweeping the front patio and his wife was busy doing her morning duties. There was a son, probably in his early 20’s, who was also doing various duties. He was short and small in frame, with long straight hair. He was very nice, with a great smile, and he kept checking the coffee pot to make sure there was plenty in it.

By 0800, I had showered, got on my dogi training uniform and was ready to hit the dojo for my first day of Japan training. I hopped on my bike and Alex showed me the way.

Sharaishi Sensei

After stopping at a convenience store for some breakfast, which consisted of cold chicken nuggets, cinnamon bread and vitamin water, Alex showed me where the Hombu (main) dojo was. He had other plans, so I waited outside the dojo while he rode off. It was only 0830 hours and I knew I was early. So, I finished my breakfast and admired the surroundings, which was simply a back road by the railroad tracks. It was nothing fancy, not what you would think the home dojo of such a revered grandmaster would be. This morning would be Sharaishi Sensei, a long time student of my Soke (grandmaster). I was very excited to meet him.

Not long after I arrived, the door to the dojo opened and a small Japanese man came out. He looked at me, smiled and, in broken English, invited me to come inside. I walked in and was amazed at the inside of the dojo. It was exactly how all those photographs depicted - small, with dark wood walls covered in a multitude of training weapons, artifacts, pictures and such. The sea foam green tatami mats covered the entire training area. The room had the smell of old school martial arts training. It wasn’t the sanitized, air conditioned, brightly lit dojo environment commonly found in so many schools back home. It just felt good to be standing in that room.

The Japanese man introduced himself as Sharaishi and warmly welcomed me to come in and sit with him. He was in his dogi uniform and had several pieces of Japanese armor laying out on the wood floor in front of the tatami covered training area. He was making repairs to the pieces and lacing them onto a helmet. He commented that “sensei asked Sharaishi to fix armor, so Sharaishi fix armor.” I found his use of English to be interesting. He spoke in a kind of manner that reminded me of the character Yoda from the Star Wars movies.

We sat and talked about our lives. He told me about his two children, who are now grown. He said he was over sixty years old, which stunned me when compared to how youthful and healthy he appeared. He said he retired as an engineer, but now does consulting work for the same firm.
He asked many questions about me, my background, how long I had been training and so on. He was very interested in my law enforcement and military background and inquired as to why I didn’t stay in those occupations. When I told him how I gave up that life to be more involved in raising my family, he complimented me and said that was a very important decision.

People started arriving a little before 0900 hours. They filtered in, removed their shoes, and began changing into their dogi and tabi. Then, they scattered around to different parts of the training area to stretch, roll about, and have quiet conversations.

Sharaishi sensei stopped working on the armor, putting the pieces in a back room. He put on his black obi belt, welcomed everybody and jumped right into some techniques. There was no warm up, no usual rolling around beforehand.

He used me as uke quite often. I really enjoyed being his “attacker” and feeling the grace and power of his technique.

At about 0930 hours, he stopped us and had us do the standard Bujinkan bowing in. We all lined up facing the front wall, which was adorned with training weapons, pictures and artifacts. Atop this wall was a long shelf which displayed many different symbolic relics. This was the shamiza, the shrine, of the dojo. Sharaishi sensei led the bow in and hand clap ritual. Then, he turned and bowed to us. We bowed in return and the class formally began.

This year, the Bujinkan theme was from the Kukishinden school of jutaijutsu, or grappling. The emphasis was moving as if you and your attacker were in armor. Shariaishi sensei showed us his version of the first technique, called Seion, which involved you and your partner in a mutual lapel and arm grab called Kumi Uchi. What he emphasized was the raising of the uke’s elbows to bring his balance up, then a right kick to their left knee. As they react to the kick to their knee, you step out with your right foot and step in behind their knee with your left foot. Then, you step out with the right again and place your left foot in front of their right foot. Finally, you drop on your right knee and throw them. In a sense, you are walking around the base of your uke, while breaking their support balance so that, in the end, they topple over you with little effort.
Sharaishi sensei said some wonder things. Some quotes were, “not hit - shock with touch” and “best balance, best opportunity”. He also spoke at great length about the power of smiling. He said a smile relaxes you and gives your opponent nothing. Then, when you attack, they are shocked. But, even then, still smile.

He taught us his version of the basic technique called Omote Gyaku from our Kihon Happo. He showed a version I had never seen before, but perfectly illustrated the many things he had been teaching us. It involved more use of the space around the uke, instead of focusing on the body of the uke. In the end, the balance in the uke was completely taken and they fell or were thrown very easily.

Overall, this first class was a great introduction to what was going to come in the days ahead. I left there feeling I was in the right place at the right time. I had not met Soke or any of the other shihan yet, but I felt their presence already.

I had no idea how much more the experience of being there was going to impact me.