Entrevista realizada en Saku Dojo por Raymond Kwok.
Extracto de la entrevista que apareció por primera vez en la edición del año 2000 de la Revista de Kuala Lumpur YMCA Aikido Club:
RK: You have been known for your particular style of not using power. It seems when you were about 30 years old you dislocated your shoulder Can you tell us your style of not using power?
SE: It is important to know how to lose shoulder power ...why do you have strength in the shoulders?
RK: I think it is the most natural thing - most people tend to use upper body strength - it is the easiest to use, the hara however is the most difficult. ... so that’s why I think most people end up using the shoulders more.
SE: The same principle applies in other sports, not only Aikido; Kendo, Karate, golf ...it is important to relax the upper body, keep the power in the hara - you have to practise again and again to develop such power. The more you lose the power, the more you can concentrate.
....
RK: You don’t want to accept any deshi - for what reason?
SE: The deshi should do things - what I expect.
RK: But if you don’t have any deshi, you wouldn’t know ... what would
that be?
SE: The relationship between deshi and Shihan is strict. I belong to Hombu Dojo. That is one of the reasons. The students who come to Hombu Dojo belong to Hombu Dojo - they are not my deshi. But if some people want to learn more from me – and want to follow and stay with Endo Sensei, that is o.k. if they decide to get better and stronger ...
RK: But he still cannot be uchi-deshi?
SE: The Sensei can choose the deshi; the deshi can choose to shihan too. This time you are here, last time I heard you were in France - other teacher, but if you decide that Endo Shihan is to be your teacher, then you can only learn from 1 teacher -you can’t go from place to place to learn from other teachers -You have to have that relationship - shihan and deshi.
....
RK: So was it Tohei Sensei or Yamaguchi Sensei that caused you to change your mind about using power?
SE: Now I think that no particular Shihan influenced me. When I was 25 years old, Tohei Sensei was in his 50s. Tohei Sensei was then 8th or 9th Dan. I was young. I used a lot of power. After 5 years, I broke my shoulder. So I was like this - only my left arm - that was after I had been training at Hombu Dojo for 10 years.
So Yamaguchi Sensei asked me how I would get by with 1 arm. Strange question. Why? Why did he say that? Until then I did not attend Yamaguchi sensei’s class very often. After that, I tried to attend every one of his classes. Monday - only 1 class. He told me a lot - but I didn’t understand. He would correct me and tell me to keep trying.
I took ukemi - not only from Yamaguchi Sensei but also from the Founder, Doshu and Tohei Sensei. Each time I tried to feel - same feeling. Some Senseis are old - 50 and 60 years old – yet they are still very stiff because they use a lot of force. So I chose ...I learned from Tohei Sensei, Osawa Sensei, Yamaguchi Sensei. Not just from 1 person, I learned from several teachers – it was a gradual process.
....
RK: You have talked about the concept of Kamnagara in Aikido. Is it like when you are doing 1 technique ... but you find you cannot do it - for some reason - so, you switch to another technique automatically without thinking ... if you cannot you just switch to another, if you still cannot you keep changing and switching until you get it right?
SE: Exactly. It’s like water flowing into a river. The river will meander
but the water never stops flowing. If there is a rock, the water will flow over it. "Kami” is God. The image of God is different for everybody. Every religion has a concept of what God is. But there is only 1 God and he is everywhere. I now think Taoism includes everything.