The God's Mysterious VIP
I met Ichihashi Shihan at a seminar in 1996 and fixed his thumb for him. Before we said goodbye, he made me promise that the next time we go to Tokyo, we had to inform him so he could play host. Several months later, the opportunity arose.
The plan of Mike and I was to spend a few days in Tokyo together, and then Mike would return to Hong Kong. I would stay a couple more days in Tokyo before heading to Osaka to visit some friends. As soon as Sensei learnt about that, he volunteered to take care of me at Mike's absence until I leave for Osaka.
"Are you free tomorrow? Come to my morning class," Sensei said,"I have a private class after that, but wait for me." That sounded more like an instruction than anything else. I was not sure what it meant, but all there was for me to say was, "Yes, Sensei."
The next day, just as I arrived at Hombu Dojo, I saw four college students -- one young lady and three young men -- dressed in crisply pressed school uniforms. They lined up perfectly facing the office. They made a full 90-degree bow to the reception staff, shouting heartily "Ohayo gozaimasu!!!" I was quite amused. I thought that only existed in movies. It was interesting to witness it for real. As it turned out, these were the chairman and board members of the Aikido Club at Musashi University. They came specially to attend Ichihashi Sensei's class.
At the end of class, before moving on to the private class, Sensei introduced to me the college students and had them escort me to my hotel to drop off my training uniform and then take me to a coffee shop where I would wait for him. The four of them got into an impressive rectangular formation, enveloping me right in the middle. The chairman of the club, Kei, asked where I was staying. I told him I was staying at a minshuku on Shin Okubo-dori. They looked noticeably surprised, and they all frowned. I guess this must be not the best hotel in the best neighborhood by their standard.
They soon got into a busy discussion in Japanese in a lowered voice. Finally, they picked out a spokesperson among them to ask me, "So, where do you come from?" "Hong Kong." "Mmm . . . . So, nan dan desu ka?" What degree blackbelt do I have? "Sankyu desu," I replied politely. They all stopped and turned to me at once, "Sandan???" "No, no, no. Sankyu. Third kyu, NOT third dan." They looked at each other in disbelief. After a long awkward pause, the spokesperson asked again, "So, you mean you don't have a black belt?" I was a bit embarrassed. "You are right. I don't have a black belt. I am a third kyu, a green belt. What about you?" They told me three of them were third degree black belts, and one was a second degree black belt. Great! And these young blackbelts were playing bodyguards for a lowly sankyu! "You know, Sensei is our shihan. He is like god for us. He told us to take good care of you . . . " These kids were very eager to find out why I deserve such special reception from Ichihashi Sensei. So, I told them how I met Sensei and our trip to Macau with him.
When we got to my dingy minshuku, they did not even want to go inside. I dropped my training uniform off and we headed to the coffee shop right away. My bodyguards continued to tell me how much they admired Sensei and what a great man he was. Just as I was comfortably chatting away with them at the coffee shop, they suddenly jumped out of their chairs and got into a 90-degree bow towards the door. It took me a while to figure out it was Sensei approaching from afar. It was amazing how these kids could detect Sensei's presence at such distance as if they had a Sensei radar! I got up and waved at Sensei happily. Sensei gave me a big smile and waved back.
As he got close, Sensei, in a stern voice, asked the students a few questions and apparently was met with some not so satisfactory answers. With a displeased face, he shooed them away. My bodyguards disappeared in seconds like ninjas. Sensei turned back at me with a loving, fatherly smile, and said in a gentle voice, "I am sorry they did not even get you breakfast. What do you like to eat? Come with me." He picked out some sandwich and a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice for me. He carried my tray the entire time and paid for everything. Sensei watched me eat while he was sipping his coffee -- just like a sweet daddy would do.
That afternoon, Sensei drove me around Tokyo to various tourist attractions. My favorite part was touring Senso-ji and strolling through the souvenir gallery. The moment I looked at anything behind the store windows, Sensei would ask me, "Do you want? I buy for you. How many?" After a while, I learnt not to look at anything for more than 3 seconds. Looking back, I really regret not having bought one thing. We came across a samurai toupee. Sensei pointed at it and asked if I wanted to get one for Mike. "I am sure your husband looks good with this." He smiled with naughty twinkles in his eyes.
Despite my lousy Japanese and Sensei's mildly fluent English, we managed to chat quite a bit. He told me about his daughter and his son. "My son came home after graduating university. He brings home a cat. I am very upset. I don't want him to bring cat. I want him to bring girlfriend, but he only brings cat!" Seems like even an Aikido god is not immune from worrying about his children's love lives.
Before he dropped me off at my minshuku, Sensei told me he would not be able to take me sightseeing again the next day because he had an appointment at the hospital. "I need to take tests for my heart. I am quite worried . . . " That got me quite worried, too. I could tell from his face that it was serious. I did not know Aikido god could get heart problems.
For the rest of that trip and every single trip to Japan after that, every time I visited a temple, I would put in a donation and make a wish for Ichihashi Sensei. I asked the temple gods to bless my Aikido god and give him good health.
I remember reading Ichihashi Sensei's palm: He had the longest "Life Line" ever. It ran all the way from his palm to the back of his hand! According to palmistry, he was supposed to live for a long, long, long time. Now I know these things are not reliable. Sensei died of heart problems in 2001 at age of 60. I will forever miss him. He was the sweetest Aikido god.
The plan of Mike and I was to spend a few days in Tokyo together, and then Mike would return to Hong Kong. I would stay a couple more days in Tokyo before heading to Osaka to visit some friends. As soon as Sensei learnt about that, he volunteered to take care of me at Mike's absence until I leave for Osaka.
"Are you free tomorrow? Come to my morning class," Sensei said,"I have a private class after that, but wait for me." That sounded more like an instruction than anything else. I was not sure what it meant, but all there was for me to say was, "Yes, Sensei."
The next day, just as I arrived at Hombu Dojo, I saw four college students -- one young lady and three young men -- dressed in crisply pressed school uniforms. They lined up perfectly facing the office. They made a full 90-degree bow to the reception staff, shouting heartily "Ohayo gozaimasu!!!" I was quite amused. I thought that only existed in movies. It was interesting to witness it for real. As it turned out, these were the chairman and board members of the Aikido Club at Musashi University. They came specially to attend Ichihashi Sensei's class.
At the end of class, before moving on to the private class, Sensei introduced to me the college students and had them escort me to my hotel to drop off my training uniform and then take me to a coffee shop where I would wait for him. The four of them got into an impressive rectangular formation, enveloping me right in the middle. The chairman of the club, Kei, asked where I was staying. I told him I was staying at a minshuku on Shin Okubo-dori. They looked noticeably surprised, and they all frowned. I guess this must be not the best hotel in the best neighborhood by their standard.
They soon got into a busy discussion in Japanese in a lowered voice. Finally, they picked out a spokesperson among them to ask me, "So, where do you come from?" "Hong Kong." "Mmm . . . . So, nan dan desu ka?" What degree blackbelt do I have? "Sankyu desu," I replied politely. They all stopped and turned to me at once, "Sandan???" "No, no, no. Sankyu. Third kyu, NOT third dan." They looked at each other in disbelief. After a long awkward pause, the spokesperson asked again, "So, you mean you don't have a black belt?" I was a bit embarrassed. "You are right. I don't have a black belt. I am a third kyu, a green belt. What about you?" They told me three of them were third degree black belts, and one was a second degree black belt. Great! And these young blackbelts were playing bodyguards for a lowly sankyu! "You know, Sensei is our shihan. He is like god for us. He told us to take good care of you . . . " These kids were very eager to find out why I deserve such special reception from Ichihashi Sensei. So, I told them how I met Sensei and our trip to Macau with him.
When we got to my dingy minshuku, they did not even want to go inside. I dropped my training uniform off and we headed to the coffee shop right away. My bodyguards continued to tell me how much they admired Sensei and what a great man he was. Just as I was comfortably chatting away with them at the coffee shop, they suddenly jumped out of their chairs and got into a 90-degree bow towards the door. It took me a while to figure out it was Sensei approaching from afar. It was amazing how these kids could detect Sensei's presence at such distance as if they had a Sensei radar! I got up and waved at Sensei happily. Sensei gave me a big smile and waved back.
As he got close, Sensei, in a stern voice, asked the students a few questions and apparently was met with some not so satisfactory answers. With a displeased face, he shooed them away. My bodyguards disappeared in seconds like ninjas. Sensei turned back at me with a loving, fatherly smile, and said in a gentle voice, "I am sorry they did not even get you breakfast. What do you like to eat? Come with me." He picked out some sandwich and a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice for me. He carried my tray the entire time and paid for everything. Sensei watched me eat while he was sipping his coffee -- just like a sweet daddy would do.
That afternoon, Sensei drove me around Tokyo to various tourist attractions. My favorite part was touring Senso-ji and strolling through the souvenir gallery. The moment I looked at anything behind the store windows, Sensei would ask me, "Do you want? I buy for you. How many?" After a while, I learnt not to look at anything for more than 3 seconds. Looking back, I really regret not having bought one thing. We came across a samurai toupee. Sensei pointed at it and asked if I wanted to get one for Mike. "I am sure your husband looks good with this." He smiled with naughty twinkles in his eyes.
Despite my lousy Japanese and Sensei's mildly fluent English, we managed to chat quite a bit. He told me about his daughter and his son. "My son came home after graduating university. He brings home a cat. I am very upset. I don't want him to bring cat. I want him to bring girlfriend, but he only brings cat!" Seems like even an Aikido god is not immune from worrying about his children's love lives.
Before he dropped me off at my minshuku, Sensei told me he would not be able to take me sightseeing again the next day because he had an appointment at the hospital. "I need to take tests for my heart. I am quite worried . . . " That got me quite worried, too. I could tell from his face that it was serious. I did not know Aikido god could get heart problems.
For the rest of that trip and every single trip to Japan after that, every time I visited a temple, I would put in a donation and make a wish for Ichihashi Sensei. I asked the temple gods to bless my Aikido god and give him good health.
I remember reading Ichihashi Sensei's palm: He had the longest "Life Line" ever. It ran all the way from his palm to the back of his hand! According to palmistry, he was supposed to live for a long, long, long time. Now I know these things are not reliable. Sensei died of heart problems in 2001 at age of 60. I will forever miss him. He was the sweetest Aikido god.
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