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CHAPTER TWO

Shinbashi

By 1953, Suenaka’s training reached a turning point. Henry Okazaki was now gone, having passed away a year earlier, while James Mitose had relocated to Los Angeles not long after. Both events strongly affected Suenaka: “Both my great teachers were gone.” Somewhat disillusioned, and without the constant impetus of his accustomed teachers, twelve year-old Suenaka cut back on his jujutsu and kempo training, although his judo study continued as usual. Still, there existed a void—more emotional than physical—created by the absence of the two men who, other than his father, exerted the greatest influence in shaping him physically and spiritually. In retrospect, however, it appears that the departure of Okazaki and Mitose merely signaled the end of the first stage of Suenaka’s martial evolution; it could be said these two teachers were made a part of his life in order to lay the foundation for his first meeting with a man who would later become more important to him than either of his former mentors.

In February of 1961, aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba O’Sensei was invited to Hawaii to preside over opening ceremonies of the first aikido dojo established there. At a farewell party held in his honor just before his departure, O’Sensei briefly addressed the assembled well-wishers, summarizing his feelings thusly:

“The reason I am going to Hawaii is to build a “silver bridge” of understanding. I have been building a ‘golden bridge’ within Japan, but I also wanted to build bridges overseas and, through aikido, to cultivate mutual understanding between East and West. I want to build bridges everywhere and connect all people through harmony and love. This I believe to be the task of aikido.” (The Spirit of Aikido, Kisshomaru Ueshiba)

Although O’Sensei’s first and only visit to Hawaii did not occur until 1961, construction of his “silver bridge,” or shinbashi, began with another man’s earlier visit. Katsuzo Nishi, a wealthy local businessman and owner of the Nishi Kai health club in Honolulu, extended to O’Sensei a formal invitation to send a representative to Hawaii to demonstrate the art that had impressed him so much during an earlier visit to Japan. In response, in February of 1953, O’Sensei dispatched Koichi Tohei Sensei to Oahu as his ambassador.

Born January 17, 1920, Koichi Tohei had just turned thirty-three years old at the time of this historic first visit. Having begun his study of what was then known as aiki-budo in 1939, by 1953 Tohei was ranked hachidan (eighth degree black belt) and was shihan bucho (chief instructor) at the Aikikai Hombu headquarters dojo in Tokyo. This, understandably, made him a natural choice to introduce this relatively new martial art to the Western world. Not surprisingly, the Hawaiian martial arts community was buzzing with anticipation of Tohei Sensei’s visit. As Suenaka recalls, “Everybody got all excited and said, ‘Hey, this is a new martial art, they say it’s better than anything around.’” Also not surprisingly, Warren Suenaka learned early on through Nishi-san of the impending visit and made a point of attending Tohei’s first Hawaiian demonstration. Naturally, he took his sons with him.

Suenaka Sensei with Shin-Shin Toitsu Aikido founder Koichi Tohei at a party in Punaluu honoring O’Senseis Hawaiian visit; March, 1961.

Tohei Sensei’s first Hawaiian aikido demonstration took place at the Nishi Kai and was attended by the Nishi Kai membership and invited guests, which included many of the area’s prominent martial artists, among them Yukiso Yamamoto; karateka “Koa” Kimura (who would later shift his study to aikido and ally himself with Tohei’s Ki no Kenkyukai before breaking away to found his own organization): judoka Kazuto Sugimoto; noted kendoka and respected local business-man Isao Takahashi; and judoka and Okinawan Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Oki Shikina. Suenaka has vivid memories of this important event:

“[The demonstration observers] took part in the demonstration and, naturally, they resisted, they tried to really, really overthrow [Tohei Sensei], and they couldn’t do it; he threw those guys around like nothing. Tohei Sensei was a bear. He was about five-feet three-inches tall, and at that time probably weighed about 180 pounds, so he was a bear—a big, little man—extremely powerful, and these guys could not hold him down. Even . . . Oki Shikina... he was thrown around, and said, ‘My, this guy is phenomenal.’ His demonstration was very impressive. But, at the same time, everyone who stepped onto the mat with him was very respectful of who he was, and why he was there. They tried hard to throw him, but they didn’t come at him full-force, as in a street-fighting situation. It was a very controlled situation.”

Suenaka and his father followed Tohei to several of the demonstrations he gave on Oahu, with the exception of a private demonstration given for the benefit of the local police. Tohei even gave a demonstration in the auditorium of Suenaka’s school, McKinley High, before traveling to the other islands in the Hawaiian chain to stage further demonstrations and establish schools. By this time, though, Warren Suenaka had no doubts. He immediately made aikido the new focus of his studies, and Roy Suenaka, though he needed no persuasion, was told to do likewise.

Warren Suenaka wasn’t the only man impressed by aikido’s uncommon power and efficacy. Tohei Sensei’s first visit to Hawaii lasted one year—long enough to establish a firm foothold, during which time many of the island’s ranking martial artists rushed to study under him. Among these early U.S. aikido pupils were many who attended the first demonstration at the Nishi-kai, including Yukiso Yamamoto, at the time fifty years old, Kazuto Sugimoto, “Koa” Kimura, and Isao Takahashi. For lack of a private dojo, aikido classes were conducted at the YBA hall in Honolulu on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at the Kompira-san—a Buddhist temple which already doubled as a dojo for numerous martial arts, including judo, jujutsu, kendo, sumo, and kyudo—on all other days except Sunday. Suenaka studied every chance he could, alternating between classes at the YBA and the Kompira-san, training in aikido five days a week, almost to the exclusion of his judo training. As Yamamoto was also studying aikido, this potential conflict of focus caused no problems. Indeed, upon his departure a year later, Koichi Tohei appointed Yamamoto chief instructor of the brand-new Hawaii Aikikai, the parent organization for aikido in the Hawaiian islands, the headquarters of which was, naturally, at the YBA. Tohei awarded the judo godan (fifth degree black belt) the aikido rank of sandan (third degree black belt) and did the same for Takahashi and Sugimoto, naming them assistant chief instructors to Yamamoto. All three rotated among the YBA, Kompira-san, and other area schools, teaching aikido, though at the time Yamamoto had not totally forsaken his judo study and instruction.

Warren Suenaka throwing Roy Suenaka sayu-nage in their back yard in Honolulu, Hawaii, just before Suenaka Sensei’s departure for Japan; March, 1961.

Although Suenaka would later develop a close and lasting personal relationship with Koichi Tohei, he had little contact with his future mentor during these early days of study, other than the normal contact one of many students has with his sensei (of course, Tohei remained in Hawaii but a year during this first visit, and Suenaka had left Honolulu by the time of Tohei’s subsequent visits). Suenaka studied hard and learned quickly, in large part because of his prior experience in other martial arts. His skills in ukemi (falling and tumbling techniques) were already honed through his judo study, while aikido’s similarities to jujutsu enabled Suenaka to readily assimilate aikido technique. “I just sort of melded or fell right into aikido,” he says. “It was almost natural for me. (These other arts) were building a foundation for me, so when I went into aikido it was second nature.”

Honolulu’s Kompira-San Training Hall today.

It should be noted that even though aikido was now the primary focus of Suenaka’s study, in 1955 he somehow managed to find time to begin the study of kendo under Shuji Mikami, at the time the highest-ranking kendo master in the Western world. Suenaka studied under him for just short of three years. And a year earlier, in 1954, Suenaka also became involved in amateur boxing, and fought competitively until 1958.

By the age of eighteen, Suenaka Sensei had already received dan (black belt) ranking in three arts. His high school graduation, though, as it does with anyone, marked yet another turning point in his life. While he could have found a job and remained at home in Hawaii, continuing his martial studies as before, Suenaka opted instead to see the world. Accordingly, on September 26, 1958, Roy Suenaka enlisted in the United States Air Force.