27/09/2026
C’est la voie que nous avons choisi
“I always say that if a teacher of Aikido takes up the ken, he can re-apply his knowledge to the ken. And the same is the case for the jo. (When I was a beginner) I asked how they applied the body techniques to the ken, but no one showed me…
Nobody taught me! O-Sensei did sword techniques at lightning speed and would say, ‘That’s how you do it,’ and then disappeared from the dojo. I tried in vain to understand what he was doing and the next moment he was gone. (Laughter) When I was asked, ‘Do you understand?’ I would answer, ‘Yes,’ but I really didn’t understand at all. (Laughter) When I asked other senseis to explain how he did it they would merely reply, ‘That’s how he did it.’ They didn’t show me anything.
So I thought there was nothing else I could do but study by myself ...
Then I thought I should start at the beginning if I was to do it. After I began studying the ken I started to appreciate how to handle it properly. When I combined it with the Aikido way of thinking I began to understand many things…”
Excerpt from Interview with
Shoji Nishio Sensei, 8th dan.
Aikido Journal May 1983.
