Shihan
Terry Ezra represents the
Komyokan Aikido Association,
and teaches in the Wirral,
Merseyside
To
fuel his obsession for
Aikido as a young adult,
Terry Ezra sold his
possessions and travelled
the country in pursuit of
knowledge.
Thanks to that early
dedication to his martial
art Ezra was awarded the
title of Shihan, meaning
‘Master Teacher’, by the
Aikikai Headquarters in
Japan. Shihan is the highest
level of instructorship that
it is possible to achieve in
Aikido, and Ezra says he
feels privileged to have
been awarded the title.
Yet despite this accolade,
the down to earth Ezra
comments on how he views his
training in Aikido: “I
always regard my own
training from the point of
view that I haven’t quite
got it yet; I’m always
trying to improve my
technique. So on a day to
day basis in my training
it’s an ongoing quest to
achieve the unachievable; to
try and gain some level of
perfection in my Aikido.”
His journey started in 1963,
when the 18 year old Ezra
was invited by a friend to
his local Aikido club. He
watched a class and decided
it looked interesting enough
to try. At the level of
sixth Dan 43 years on, he
finds it more than just
interesting. “At high levels
of training in Aikido, you
don’t need strength; Aikido
is a way of taking the
attacker’s strength and
energy and redirecting
that,” Ezra states.
Chiba
Sensai introduced Ezra to
the heart of his art over
the first 11 years of his
relationship with Aikido.
This talented man was a
direct uchi-deshi, or
live-in student, of the
founder of Aikido,
Morihei Ueshiba.
“I felt very privileged to
learn from Chiba Sensai,”
says Ezra. “I was travelling
the country at weekends to
the courses he held around
the UK. I sold a lot of my
possessions so I could keep
following him around.”
Chiba Sensai has been the
most influential person in
Ezra’s career. He
reminisces: “Chiba Senai had
the most incredible spirit;
he was unstoppable. He just
looked at you and it was all
over.”
Another inspiring Aikido
practitioner in Ezra’s
career was Yamaguchi Sensai,
from the Aikido World
Headquarters in Japan. “He
had a unique style,” says
Ezra. “It was incredibly
soft, but incredibly
powerful and when I
practiced with him, I
thought this is the kind of
style I want.”
In the
1970s, Ezra met a monk named
Hogen, the Abbott of
Shizuoka Temple in Japan who
was a good friend of Chiba
Sensai. When Ezra was
finally able to open his own
dojo
he started teaching not only
Aikido, but the
Zen
chanting that Hogen taught
him. “I look at every day as
a highlight of my teaching
career,” he explains. “For
each day that I am able to
do what I do, even though
there’s no money in it and
I’m living like a monk most
of the time, I look at each
day as special.”
The atmosphere of the
Komyokan Aikido dojo is
austere, in keeping with the
traditional Japanese
hierarchical system. Yet
that code of conduct is
anything but constricting,
Ezra explains: “Within that
code is a beautiful freedom,
so between myself and my
students is a good respect.”
Ezra says it is hard to pin
down exactly what it is that
attracts him most to the
role of teaching. “I enjoy
being able to practice
Aikido, quite simply. I
particularly like it when
people that seem quite inept
slowly and surely take on
coordination and become much
more competent as human
beings. I take a deep
interest in the development
of my students. I like to
watch them grow.”
Teaching abroad is one
luxurious aspect of Aikido
that Ezra is able to take
advantage of. In October he
taught in Costa Rica, South
America. This month he is
travelling to India and
Holland to instruct, with a
further course at his own
Dojo in the UK on 11 and 12
November that anyone is
welcome to attend.
Ezra adds a few words of
wisdom that he has learnt as
an instructor of Aikido:
“You must not rest on your
laurels while teaching. If
one is constantly training
and improving and trying to
perfect one’s technique on a
day to day basis, you are
better able to teach your
students.”
He adds: “When teaching,
it’s important to take what
you’re doing very seriously,
but not to take yourself too
seriously; you have to keep
a sense of humour.” |