Positive Aikido - Part One
Positive Aikido
Interview with Henry Ellis by Arthur Lockyear - Fighting Arts International - Issue 93
Where and when were you born, Henry?
I was born in Yorkshire, in May 1936 in a little coal mining village called Brampton, near Rotherham. A place where you had to fight your way to and from school each day.
When did you begin your study of Aikido?
It was in 1957, I was studying Judo and Karate at the 'Abbe School of Budo' at the 'Hut' in Hillingdon, Middlesex. My direct teacher was Mr Ken Williams, who was 3rd Dan (3rd degree black belt) Judo, and we were all students of Kenshiro Abbe Sensei, 8th Dan Judo, 6th Dan Aikido, 5th Dan Karate, and 5th Dan Kendo. At this time no-one in the United Kingdom had heard of Aikido. Abbe Sensei told Mr Williams that he had received a letter from O'Sensei Morehei Ueshiba, stating that all instructors outside of Japan now had permission to teach Aikido to anyone who wished to learn. Mr Williams was his first student and he then selected a hard core group of Judo students to study Aikido - this was when I started.
Abbe Sensei made Mr. Williams National Coach for Aikido and I became Mr Williams' assistant, a post which I held for approximately 15 years.
Abbe Sensei and Williams Sensei then brought eight of us special students up to 1st Dan, the only Aikido Dan grades in Great Britain at that time, and all in one dojo (place of training)!
All the Dan grades were hard training and strong with no 'bandage men' amongst them.
Sunday morning practice was for Dan grades only and Williams Sensei would lock the doors to the dojo - it was then that the serious practice started, with real fighting. He would allow the younger black belt grades to try and prove themselves against him - without success, I might add. It was at that time that Williams Sensei started to visit other dojos to introduce Aikido.
I have heard that Aikido training was harder back then...
In the early days the training was extremely difficult, with the emphasis on very strenuous exercise. My students and I used to train four or five nights a week as well as on Sunday mornings.
Immediately after taking the students running for several miles, we would return to the mat and perform 200 press-ups on the backs of the wrists, which was then followed be general practice and a further two hours of hard practice. Abbe Sensei's Aikido was the pre-war style of Aiki Jutsu, which was very physical. Both Abbe and Williams were excellent teachers - they worked very hard to train us, whilst promoting Aikido to a rather unreceptive public.
When I was graded 1st Dan by Abbe Sensei, Williams Sensei instructed me to take a good student as an assistant. The assistant I chose was a 17-year-old by the name of Derek Eastman, who is now 3rd Dan and technical Director of our Basingstoke Headquarters. Mr Eastman is now 48 years of age and still a loyal friend. It proves one old adage: that you cannot buy or demand respect, you earn it.
At what point did you go 'on the road' to spread the 'Aikido gospel'?
When Mr Eastman reached 1st Dan, I was 2nd Dan and Williams Sensei advised us to spread the word of Aikido.
We both gave up our jobs and travelled all around the U.K. It was so difficult trying to introduce Aikido, because most people had never heard of it. Mr Eastman and I left home and headed for the Midlands, without money and with little hope. In some areas where Sensei Williams had already introduced Aikido, we would find accommodation with the students and receive a small fee for teaching. We would visit Judo and Karate clubs, sports centres, etc.
In the areas where there was no Aikido at all, we would take a job for a few days to feed ourselves. We had many jobs and in one area we worked as assistants to a funeral director. We had to collect the bodies from the mortuary and take them back to the chapel of rest.
The boss caught me in the chapel of rest with a young maiden who had no right being there.. she being
Interview with Henry Ellis by Arthur Lockyear - Fighting Arts International - Issue 93
Where and when were you born, Henry?
I was born in Yorkshire, in May 1936 in a little coal mining village called Brampton, near Rotherham. A place where you had to fight your way to and from school each day.
When did you begin your study of Aikido?
It was in 1957, I was studying Judo and Karate at the 'Abbe School of Budo' at the 'Hut' in Hillingdon, Middlesex. My direct teacher was Mr Ken Williams, who was 3rd Dan (3rd degree black belt) Judo, and we were all students of Kenshiro Abbe Sensei, 8th Dan Judo, 6th Dan Aikido, 5th Dan Karate, and 5th Dan Kendo. At this time no-one in the United Kingdom had heard of Aikido. Abbe Sensei told Mr Williams that he had received a letter from O'Sensei Morehei Ueshiba, stating that all instructors outside of Japan now had permission to teach Aikido to anyone who wished to learn. Mr Williams was his first student and he then selected a hard core group of Judo students to study Aikido - this was when I started.
Abbe Sensei made Mr. Williams National Coach for Aikido and I became Mr Williams' assistant, a post which I held for approximately 15 years.
Abbe Sensei and Williams Sensei then brought eight of us special students up to 1st Dan, the only Aikido Dan grades in Great Britain at that time, and all in one dojo (place of training)!
All the Dan grades were hard training and strong with no 'bandage men' amongst them.
Sunday morning practice was for Dan grades only and Williams Sensei would lock the doors to the dojo - it was then that the serious practice started, with real fighting. He would allow the younger black belt grades to try and prove themselves against him - without success, I might add. It was at that time that Williams Sensei started to visit other dojos to introduce Aikido.
I have heard that Aikido training was harder back then...
In the early days the training was extremely difficult, with the emphasis on very strenuous exercise. My students and I used to train four or five nights a week as well as on Sunday mornings.
Immediately after taking the students running for several miles, we would return to the mat and perform 200 press-ups on the backs of the wrists, which was then followed be general practice and a further two hours of hard practice. Abbe Sensei's Aikido was the pre-war style of Aiki Jutsu, which was very physical. Both Abbe and Williams were excellent teachers - they worked very hard to train us, whilst promoting Aikido to a rather unreceptive public.
When I was graded 1st Dan by Abbe Sensei, Williams Sensei instructed me to take a good student as an assistant. The assistant I chose was a 17-year-old by the name of Derek Eastman, who is now 3rd Dan and technical Director of our Basingstoke Headquarters. Mr Eastman is now 48 years of age and still a loyal friend. It proves one old adage: that you cannot buy or demand respect, you earn it.
At what point did you go 'on the road' to spread the 'Aikido gospel'?
When Mr Eastman reached 1st Dan, I was 2nd Dan and Williams Sensei advised us to spread the word of Aikido.
We both gave up our jobs and travelled all around the U.K. It was so difficult trying to introduce Aikido, because most people had never heard of it. Mr Eastman and I left home and headed for the Midlands, without money and with little hope. In some areas where Sensei Williams had already introduced Aikido, we would find accommodation with the students and receive a small fee for teaching. We would visit Judo and Karate clubs, sports centres, etc.
In the areas where there was no Aikido at all, we would take a job for a few days to feed ourselves. We had many jobs and in one area we worked as assistants to a funeral director. We had to collect the bodies from the mortuary and take them back to the chapel of rest.
The boss caught me in the chapel of rest with a young maiden who had no right being there.. she being
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