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His voice carries out across the tatami-mat covered floor of the spotless training hall. Fumio Tenzan Toyoda, a master instructor (shihan) of aikido, is a commanding presence on the tatami mats. And he is also a complex mix of cultures and character traits. He has a booming voice, which demands your utmost in practice. Yet he can lower the decibel level and tell a struggling white belt, "Yes, you got it, good!"; short brief words that make them try even harder.
Toyoda sensei demands that non-Japanese students have no cultural handicap in learning aikido, but also notes that nowadays, even young Japanese students are so alienated from traditional culture that they may not necessarily be the best practitioners in the coming generation just because they're Japanese. He believes that to understand aikido, one must study other aspects of traditional Japanese culture, yet he has embraced an open-minded international attitude, even marrying an American national and becoming acclimated to living in Chicago, the site of his main training center.
Toyoda sensei is a study of contrasts.
Born in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, in 1947, Toyoda sensei began training as a youngster at the Chyushinkan Dojo, in Tochigi, under Tohei Koichi. Tohei sensei would later leave the Aikikai organization and form his own group, the Ki No Kenkyukai. Before he left, Tohei sensei was the chief instructor for Aikikai under Ueshiba Morihei, and the first official teacher to formally teach aikido outside of Japan.
[Editor's note: most Japanese names are last name-first, with the exception of Toyoda sensei, since he has lived in the United States for so long and most Americans who associate with him speak colloquially with first-name-first. Tohei sensei's name, therefore, is in the Japanese order.].
It was Toyoda's brother who introduced him and took him to his first sessions, Toyoda says, and as a youngster, he thought that people really respected the sensei. "So I thought, that's pretty good!" he recollects.
Later, as a law student at Senshu University, he decided to further commit himself to aikido and became a jyoyu (live-in trainee) at the Tokyo Ichikukai Dojo. He trained there for three years, embracing aikido, Zen and misogi meditation training. Misogi is a set of meditation exercises blending Japanese yoga, Shinto and Buddhist ritualized meditations.
After that, Toyoda sensei became an uchideshi (live-in trainee) at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo (Aikido World Headquarters), the first under the late Ueshiba Kisshomaru (Doshu; who died recently in January, 1999). Kisshomaru was the son of the founder of aikido, Ueshiba Morihei.
Fumio Toyoda, aikido shihan, (right) gives instruction on the aikiken at the Daihonzan Chozen-ji temple in Honolulu, Hawai'i. Facing page: Toyoda sensei at Chozen-ji temple. All photographs for this article by Wayne Muromoto, courtesy of Chozen-ji temple. It was the elder Morihei who blended all his martial arts experiences, especially in the Daito-ryu aikijujutsu, to formulate the new art called aikido. Ueshiba wanted to create a budo (martial Way) of Universal Love. His techniques were meant to control hostilities by redirecting an attacker's energy, not by confronting an opponent head-on.
Toyoda also served as the Doshu's assistant (otomo) and also worked with the founder, Morihei, shortly before the elder Ueshiba's death.
"Doshu would say everyone should have a good relationship, wa; or peaceful resolution. First you try it that way [to solve conflict]. He would say, 'Don't say bad things, make a bad face, even when you're drinking," Toyoda remembers. "Doshu didn't act or look much like a budoka [martial arts practitioner]. He looked and acted more like a college professor," he says, admiringly.
Toyoda sensei came to America, hoping to spread aikido. One of the places he first came to was Hawai'i. He recollects training with Aoyagi sensei at the Waialae Dojo (Hawaii Aiki Kwai), when an "aikido boom" was taking hold of the islands. It was quite a culture shock for him, he admits.
"Everyone in Hawai'i were all good people, and they would all say, 'Aloha!' 'Welcome!'" Toyoda says. He was taken aback, at first, at how Hawai'i people would drape him with leis and give him a hug and a kiss. But he grew to enjoy that physical warmth and hospitality, which was so unusual for Japanese society. "But when I went to Chicago, it was very different again!"
When Toyoda arrived in Chicago, Illinois, the Mainland USA was going through the martial arts movie craze. Everyone knew who Bruce Lee was. But aikido? What was that?
"They thought it was some kind of karate," Toyoda says. But he got over the culture shock and misunderstandings soon enough and spurred the development of aikido in the Midwest. His efforts became so fruitful that he opened the Japanese Culture Center of Chicago in 1977. The Center offers studies in aikido and various Japanese traditional arts, flower arrangement, tea ceremony, and Zen meditation (zazen). Because of a long relationship with Omori Sogen rotaishi, a Zen master, Toyoda sensei has also established the International Zen Dojo of Illinois/Chozen-ji Betsuin, a branch of the Chozen-ji temple of Honolulu, Hawai'i.
Toyoda sensei has made several trips to Hawai'i since his first visit in, primarily to hold workshops in aikido. His most recent one was held in January, 1999, at the Chozen-ji temple's Kalihi Valley site. In 1996, Toyoda's long involvement in aikido and Zen studies culminated in having an inka, a Zen name given to him in recognition of being a rokoji, or lay Zen master. His Zen name is Tenzan.
The Japanese Culture Center has some 350 students enrolled in aikido and Japanese cultural classes, and an additional 600 students in about 17 affiliated branches of the Aikido Association of America. The international version of this organization is the Aikido Association International, which has a membership spread out through 11 countries, even in such places as Saudi Arabia and Croatia. Toyoda has given seminars in Greece and Russia, many Bulgarians came to attend those workshops, and as a result, the country with the most AAI-affiliated dojo happens to be Bulgaria, of all places. Toyoda notes that for whatever reasons, Bulgarian students are very serious about their aikido."Last year, some Bulgarian students even came to Hawai'i for the zazen and aikido seminar," he says. Considering the average annual income of Bulgarians compared to the cost of air transportation and room and board in Hawai'i, that was quite a monetary and time commitment, Toyoda notes, and he has quite a lot of respect for the Bulgarian aikido students' perseverance.
At present and for the future, Toyoda believes that aikido offers many possibilities for different people and situations. He has worked in developing tactical capture and control techniques for law enforcement officers. He is also developing children's classes, which has a different emphasis than his adults classes. "It's not so much for self-defense, but more for developing their self-discipline. We have to save the from playing only with Nintendo [game machines] every day," Toyoda says. "Aikido principals can also be used in conflict resolution."
There are aspects of aikido that can be studied as a form of "moving Zen," there are psychological and academic subjects that can be studied. Women can take up aikido for a wonderful form of self-defense that doesn't rely overly on brute power and strength.
"Even if you don't come to an aikido dojo, you can still learn aikido-like things; you can learn to use the words, the breathing techniques, the peacefulness. Anybody can use these. They are practical points."
A stern taskmaster on the mats, Toyoda is quite a jocular person when he's relaxed and "talking story." Upon reflection, he says that "My goal is to teach Americans the aikido principles. . . Whether you're Japanese or Americans, practicing hard (shugyo) is the same thing. That feeling [of shugyo] isn't different. Anybody can learn it, and if you understand it, that's the point, it's okay.
"It is important to learn something about Japanese culture, the ways of doing things," he adds. But he also notes that it's always a two-way street that he's learned to accept. While his American students learn about Japanese culture and aikido, he's grown used to the expressive and very verbal style of American culture. However, the one thing he misses in Chicago is having enough restaurants that serve decent home-style Japanese food.
And whereas he used to cringe when there was bodily contact, now he says he likes the idea of hugging someone to show your affection, and giving leis and saying "Aloha!"
Fumio Tenzan Toyoda can be contacted at the Nihon Bunka Center (Japanese Culture Center), 1016 West Belmont, Chicago, Illinois 60657. The phone number is (773) 525-3141. Email is AikidoAmer@AOL.Com.
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