Perspectives Mind and mentality youtu.be/jAJr4ZLSMl0 Koichi Toheis lost coat, an anecdote told by Shoji Nishio* One shouldn’t show off things which people desire to have. You can show off things you can give, but otherwise you shouldn’t [show off]. — Morihei Ueshiba The following excerpt is part of a two-part interview of Shoji Nishio Sensei by Aiki News Editor Stanley Pranin. Before passing away, Nishio Sensei was a well-known 8th dan instructor who was active in the Tokyo area. The original interview, conducted on May 22, 1983 in Tokyo, is reproduced here with gratitude from the paid subscription site of Aikido Journal. Mr. Tohei (1920 — 2011) went to Hawaii in 1953. On his return, he brought back a leather coat which was impossible to obtain at that time in Japan. It had fringes like the ones you see in western movies. He had a leather coat when it was impossible even to obtain leather shoes… I really thought it was amazing. Then, that coat was skillfully stolen. That was what had happened when I turned up for training. I saw that all of the uchideshi had been made to sit in seiza and Mr. Tohei was shouting something. Then I heard that Tohei Sensei’s coat had been stolen. At that time Mr. Noguchi, Mr. Genta Okumura and Mr. Sunadomari were some of the uchideshi. Then O-Sensei appeared asking, “What’s up?” When Mr. Sunadomari explained what had happened O-Sensei responded: “Oh, it was stolen, was it?” (Laughter) Then he came into the dojo. Tohei Sensei also sat in seiza because O-Sensei entered. O-Sensei started to walk around them. We were really wondering what he was going to say. What he said was: “You’re the one to blame, Tohei.” Then, he disappeared. Tohei sat silently for a while. Then he, too, disappeared. Everybody was relieved and started training. (Laughter) After practice, I was leaving for home and ran into O-Sensei who was on his way to the bathroom. I went up to him and said, “O-Sensei!”. He said, “Ooh!” I asked, “A few minutes ago when Tohei Sensei had his coat stolen, you said he was the one at fault. Why did you say that?” He answered, “Don’t you understand why? Those who practice budo shouldn’t have that kind of spirit (kokoro). One shouldn’t show off things which people desire to have. You can show off things you can give, but otherwise you shouldn’t. Poor man, he took the coat because he wanted it. However, by taking it, he became a thief. It’s all right to have the coat stolen, but he was made a thief. Stealing is a bad thing, but the man whose coat was stolen committed the original sin. He created the occasion for an opening (suki) in the man. As a budoka (martial artist), that’s bad.” *Shoji Nishio (西尾 昭二, Nishio Shōji, December 5, 1927 – March 15, 2005), eighth dan, Aikikai
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 08:45:00 +0000
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