When I left Michigan to come to open a martial arts school in Los Angeles five years ago, I knew I’d be busy. It might be a long time until I could travel for an extended period. So, I decided to complete a martial arts pilgrimage. I had already visited Shaolin temple in China, but I had wanted to visit the Hombu Dojo in Japan where Ueshiba Sensei taught Aikido for years. Ever since hearing about Sifu Brown’s experience there, I knew I would travel there myself.
I had never been to Japan, and I didn’t speak Japanese, but I wouldn’t let something as trivial as that stop me. Luckily, an old student of Sifu Brown’s and good friend of mine was living in Tokyo, fairly close to the Hombu Dojo. Michael was actually the person who introduced me to Sifu Brown, and he spoke fluent Japanese, so I jumped on a flight. A 15 hour flight.
When I arrived, I was struck by the energy of Tokyo. I felt like at any one time I was within shouting distance of millions of people, though throughout most of the day I hardly heard them. Tokyo is an interesting juxtaposition of bustling populace crowding the streets and getting shoved into subway cars against hidden pockets of Zen. Walk a few blocks in any direction past thousands of people glued to their cellphones and you come to a small Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple.
My daily trip from Michael’s apartment to Hombu dojo took me from Shibuya station (famously the world’s busiest intersection/crosswalk) for my subway ride of about 30 minutes. When I first arrived, I was taken aback by the sterile, industrial concrete building. I remembered that the original wooden building had been replaced in the 60’s just before Ueshiba Sensei’s death. What I found within didn’t disappoint.
Aikido’s world-famous Hombu Dojo is one of those pockets of tradition and serenity in Tokyo, though it’s not particularly hidden. After walking into the sparse lobby and speaking to the front desk staff about the class I was about to take, I made my way to the staircase (the building is 5 floors tall and all they do there is practice Aikido). By the staircase is a shoe rack which is at all times of day overflowing with shoes. I counted them once while I was there: over 200 pairs of shoes. That’s only the 200 students who came that day, and they were all practicing at the same time.
I went up the stairs to the top floor. I was allowed to practice in the black belt class since I had martial arts experience, though if I return for another visit I’ll definitely attend at least a few beginner classes. I put on my white gi and entered the mats. I use the term mats very loosely. The floor at the Hombu Dojo is stiff tatami (rice mats) that are about as forgiving as plywood, covered by a thin layer of white cloth. I practiced a few falls and realized that this was going to be a painful class. Other students began to line up, so I took my place at the back of class. We did a similar opening ceremony to the one we use, followed by a light stretch and warm-up. Then we began class.
