Marianne Ostermayer
Aikikai Basel, Switzerland
I came to San Diego to work at the University of California San Diego as a researcher. I was a shodan then and it took me maybe a year, and support from Julian Frost who was teaching Aikido at the UCSD dojo, to overcome my fears and go to San Diego Aikikai in 1993. Chiba Sensei’s reputation in Continental Europe was a rough one. Eventually, I dared to attend a seminar at San Diego Aikikai. Of course, I hardly knew anybody, so I just tried to find a way to train with whoever was there. This was also the case when we did some jyo exercises. After a while, somebody came over to show me something, so I tried to do what he showed me. Then all of a sudden, I realized that it was HIM, and WITH A JYO! I instantly disintegrated like a dried sand sculpture in the wind. I do not remember what Chiba Sensei did after that, but it felt as if he got some water, sprinkled it over the dry sand and had me set myself up again.
Shortly after I joined San Diego Aikikai Chiba Sensei passed me during class and said, “You cannot fall like that, you will hit your head.” Still on my back on the mats I looked at him with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. Then, not yet fully on my feet, I hear, “May I try?” There was no time to think about whether he wanted to try to make me hit my head on the mat, as his hand rushed towards my face. I had to grab it, and after a ride through the universe, I scattered on the mats of San Diego Aikikai. I did not hit my head, but somehow the body below was missing. Chiba Sensei walked away saying, “See, you don’t want to fall like that!” I fully agreed, sought my bones, put them back in place, and started working on my ukemi.
I realized quickly, that Chiba Sensei had not much tolerance for arrogance. It took me longer to realize that he had an enormous patience for everybody, as long as people tried to improve.
In February 1995 after Dan exams, we went to a pub with Chiba Sensei. There he told us that he woke up one morning (maybe during the Hillcrest dojo period) with no back pain anymore, and that he was so happy about that, that he went to clean the mats of the dojo with a rag, all alone. I asked him, whether there was an explanation for the disappearance of his pain, and he said that something in his head changed. The way I understood it back then was that the way he dealt with his pain had changed.
At the opening of Albuquerque Aikikai in 1994 there was a party in the dojo and the notion was that students were to sleep in the dojo. Chiba Sensei asked me if I would sleep in the dojo. Of course I confirmed, “Yes Sensei, I will sleep in the dojo.” He remarked that I did not have to drive and asked me to sit at his table. Then he got a glass for red wine for me and filled it all the way to the rim. Kampai!
