I first met Sensei Stevan at one of the late Kato Sensei’s workshops at the Sofia University dojo in Palo Alto. I was impressed with Stevan’s skills on the mat—especially his willingness to share his Aikido and have my training with him feel like it was a real give and take (even though I recognized he was superior to me in rank, in experience and in the number of years he had trained). And he was fun to train with too.
Here are my questions for Stevan Sensei and his responses that I think you’ll find most interesting.
Q: Tell us about your background in Aikido? How did you find Aikido? Who were your first teachers?
A: “I took Judo in college at USF. I discovered Aikido when my Sensei, an older gentleman and a longtime Judoka, came to class one day and said to us all that we should study Aikido. He had just witnessed an Aikido demonstration and had us all then doing tai-no-henko. He later brought in a middle-aged woman, an Aikido black belt, for a demo at USF with the Judo club. He invited any judoka to come forth to attack her. An energetic young black belt did. He soon had her down to the mat when he suddenly stood up in agonizing pain as she applied sankyo to his toe. Impressive! Later, I saw a flyer for a demonstration at the War Memorial Auditorium with Toichi Kohei Sensei. A dozen or more black belts chased him around the mat as he threw each in turn. I was sure then that I wanted to learn Aikido. Finally, I wandered into David O’Neill’s dojo on Sacramento Street and took up the art. That was 37 years ago. When I began my masters degree program at Duquesne University, I didn’t want to discontinue my training. On my move to Pittsburgh, I studied with Matsutami Sensei, a very good teacher. Though I only became a blue belt with her, she encouraged me, saying that someday I, too, would be an Aikido teacher. When I moved back to California to study at Zen Center, to learn Gestalt Therapy at the original institute of San Francisco, and to finish my doctorate in clinical psychology, I continued my study of Aikido with Sensei’s Bill Will, Bob Nadeau, and Frank Doran at the old Aikido of San Francisco dojo. I became uchi deshi there, training daily, sometimes 7 hours a day. For seven years I was a live-in student. Along the way, I’ve had other positive influences. Many wonderful teachers came through that old dojo: Nishio Sensei, Saito Sensei, Yamada Sensei, Terry Dobson Sensei, et al. I also really enjoyed training with Koichi Barrish Sensei in Washington State. I traveled with him to Hawaii, Mexico, the former Soviet Union, and all around California to participate in seminars. I had learned to become a fairly competent uke training with all of these great teachers, and it was fun being thrown. To this day, I believe it’s the best way to learn— by osmosis.”
Q: If you could pick out a few important moments during these years, what would these be?
A: “If I told you, you’d have to kill me! Look, there’s been some weird stuff that I’ve seen and experienced over the years in practice that I can’t explain. In short, a strange force seems to have knocked me down, others have been knocked down, and lights seem to have flashed that I have no way of accounting for adequately. There’s the suspicious language of energy, ki, orgone, or whatever framework you choose to import. I felt enough sure effects through Aikido, acupuncture, and other healing arts that I don’t doubt the presence of some kind of electromagnetic and/or electrochemical influence that we have on each other. The moments that I have seen or been effected by these inexplicable occurrences has lent me to have an interest in and to explore these nebulous areas. Kept me going, really, with questions about what’s out there and how can we tap it. That being said, I acknowledge now that something else is present, too--perhaps even more crucial. It’s a little like getting fascinated with Christ’s miracles and leaving behind the importance of how he was – or we are – in the world and with each other. I used to be enthralled watching Kato Sensei bow. I’d watch him from the side since I was honored to sit among the row of teachers. The utter fullness of his bow as he humbled himself to something higher that he knew O’Sensei had reached – and was even beyond O’Sensei, in my view – touched me deeply. What was that reverence and why am I so effected by it? I loved his bow: complete, total, and empty.”
Q: What books have influenced you, Aikido or otherwise?
A: “That’s easy! Being and Time by Martin Heidegger. There are many good books related to Aikido, obviously. In Aikido, I think Terry Dobson’s Giving In To Get Your Own Way effectively makes the Aikido metaphor applicable to everyday life. For the spiritual dimensions of Aikido, I like Zen stories (Zen Bones, Zen Flesh compiled by Paul Reps and all of D.T. Suzuki), though O’Sensei was more a Shinto guy. I don’t think it matters, frankly. The Founder understood that we each have our own path, and from my reading of it, the esoteric portion of all religions starts to sound uncannily the same. Regarding Heidegger, I’m a phenomenologist by approach. This means that I’m interested both as a therapist and as an Aikidoist, in letting the data of experience appear while seeking its essential meaning. In Aikido, if you practice forms, you discover there are many ways to skin cats (poor kitties!). So if I’m doing shihonage this way or that (letting the data appear), I’m soon interested in what can I remove from the technique and still call it shihonage. I love this process! I love discovering the essence of a form. Amazing aspects of the practice begin to show. I won’t tell you what. Better that you strip them down yourself. (Hint: Watch O’Sensei!)”
Part II will appear later this week.
Stevan Gengo Sensei, 6th dan, is Shiodin at Aikido of Noe Valley. Class information and more information about Sensei Gengo and the dojo can be found here. He is also one of the founding instructors of the Western Aikido Group.
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