An interview with Steve Sensei
Following Aiki Kai Australia’s Summer School 24, upon his return to New York, Steve Pimsler Shihan generously agreed to answer a couple of questions for their newsletter, Musubi. They were generous enough to share with us. Enjoy reading!
In a video recorded at the 2023 USAF Summer Camp you say “There is this indefinable energy that takes over”. What do you think are the important elements for cultivating the essence of a dojo that has that ‘indefinable energy’?
You reminded me that I used “indefinable energy” to describe my first visit to the New York Aikikai. I watched class and was mesmerized by the excitement; people were just so energized, throwing, falling, making unbelievable noise as they slapped and bounced off the mat. And all the time smiling and looking like there was nowhere else they’d rather be and no other people they’d rather be with. And that was all I needed to sign up on the spot. And after 50 years, I still feel that electric something when I walk up our steep, dilapidated stairs and enter the dojo. Maybe it’s “ki” waiting to be unleashed. And as soon as our students begin arriving, the pot begins to simmer. And after we’ve finished tori fune (rowing exercise) we’re on the boil. You can see it and you can feel it. It’s passing through everyone in a continual flow.
A professor of Japanese culture who visited the NYA many years ago tried to explain the concept of ki. The professor said you don’t say “that person’s ki is strong; you say “that person has strong ki”. Because ki doesn’t belong to anyone. It’s there for us to experience when we open ourselves up to receive it and let it flow through us. I suppose it’s similar to the way Eastern medicine works. Acupuncture and shiatsu work to unblock whatever it is that is blocking ki from flowing through. So, that was a long-winded way of trying to articulate “indefinable energy” and I’m sure that doesn’t really do it. Which is why I take the shortcut and call it “indefinable.” But I truly believe that we can create the conditions for that energy to explode wherever we do our aikido training, whether we have two people on the mat or two hundred. There is nothing more luxurious to me than basking in that energy wherever I am, seeing bodies moving, faces smiling; to me, that’s fun, that’s being alive.
So, to get back to your question, the key element for creating an atmosphere where that “indefinable energy” can flourish is the person leading the dojo, the person leading the class. That person must cultivate that feeling and give the students the opportunity to discover it on their own. It is not about showing the fine points of a technique or about having to do a technique this way or that way. It’s giving the students permission to learn and discover aikido on their own and with the help of their training partners. Much like an orchestra conductor or theatrical director, an instructor must bring the individual gifts of each member of the group into harmony with each other to create this unique entity, this indefinable energy.
When you were demonstrating techniques at Summer School, you used many women as uke - can you explain your thinking behind this?
Well, before we get into gender stuff, please let me explain my thinking on demonstration ukemi. The importance of ukemi in aikido is probably self-evident to most of us students. This part of our training is where we develop flexibility, responsiveness, commitment, adaptability, the ability to follow and self-protection. At a minimum! But being called up in front of class to take ukemi for the instructor raises the bar. It means uke goes on a heightened sense of all those things I just mentioned because of the added factor that you don’t know what nage is going to do. So hopefully the more a person gets called up for demonstration ukemi, the more self-confident they feel doing it. It also has the benefit of recognition. No two ways about it, being called up to take ukemi is special. At least it always has been for me. It meant that an instructor noticed me and felt I was ready to learn a different skill; and that I was valued and noticed. So, that’s a pretty nice feeling. Now, as an instructor, or leader of class, if you will, I have an obligation to give everyone a chance to learn demonstration ukemi, not just those students who have developed enviable ukemi chops. So I will always try to bring up the level of those students approaching their shodan level. Granted that using dan level ukes might make me look more skilled than I am, I want to be able to call up anyone in my class.
Now, why do I make it a point to call up women ukes? I know that it can be an uphill struggle for women in aikido. They get subject to “mansplaining” often on the mat and can be overlooked when it comes to demonstration ukemi. So I think it’s important that the aikido community recognizes the value and contributions of our women students and that they get to show their skills and commitment as much as possible. When women are in teaching roles, they inspire other women and show what can be accomplished. The same goes for taking demonstration ukemi. We are inspired and encouraged by what we see more than what we say. It’s a complicated world and the same is true for the aikido world. So if we promote aikido as a martial way for all, women and men, young and old, let’s show we mean it.