The Iaido Journal  Feb 2012
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One-on-One with Dennis Wiens (3)
(1st dan, Katori Shinto Ryu - Sugino Branch)


copyright © 2012 Douglas Tong, all rights reserved.

The following article is the third part of an interview with Dennis Wiens (1st dan, Katori Shinto Ryu- Sugino Branch), who took his shodan test in 2008 and successfully passed. In this article, Mr. Wiens talks about the momentous third day of his shodan grading.


Part 3: The Third Day (Sunday)


Question: How did this day start?

Wiens: I met up with Sugino Sensei and the two French hosts were there. He had me do san-kajo and yon-kajo*, both with them and with himself. And then he and I did the bojutsu katas and the naginata katas.
* katas 3 & 4 respectively of the basic sword set


Question: And you hadn’t done these previously?

Wiens: No. There were a lot of things he wanted to see in those kata and corrections that I had to make.


Question: What do you mean “corrections that I had to make”?

Wiens: I mean adjustments to the techniques that I was doing incorrectly. He would demonstrate them and I needed to get them right pretty quick.


Question: So he wanted you to demonstrate that you could correctly do the new adjustments immediately?

Wiens: Yes, it felt that way. Actually, all the corrections he gave me that weekend had a sense of urgency that they had to be done immediately; that there wasn’t the luxury of a hundred repetitions to get it right. They had to be done right now, correctly, and immediately. So I guess that seminar, it felt like he was not only seeing what I could do but also how did I learn or how fast I could learn. And there was no translator so I either had to understand what he wanted done with the techniques from his physical demonstration or from my extremely limited Japanese. Luckily, Sensei is a good demonstrator.


Question: I see.

Wiens: And he told me that he would see my iaijutsu in the afternoon when everyone else did it.


Question: Please tell us about how the iaijutsu went.

Wiens: Well, everyone was doing it together. Sensei would demonstrate the kata once or twice then everyone would do the kata 3-4 times. In between repetitions, he would make different teaching points. He also made sure he was standing in front of me for at least one of the repetitions! And again, corrections had to be made immediately.
When we got to the last three of the sitting iai (suwatte iai), no one else knew them. So everyone had to sit and watch as I went through them.


Question: And…?

Wiens: And of course, I received corrections and had to implement them on the next repetition while everyone watched. So it was a little nerve-wracking.


Question: What happened next?

Wiens: Then we did our final closing etiquette and most unexpectedly Sensei called me up to the front and presented me with my shodan certificate.


Question: How did he tell you that you had successfully passed?

Wiens: He called me up out of the line and had me sit in front of him, held out the certificate and read it out loud in Japanese. And then, through the translator, he explained to everyone what had just happened because no one knew that I was being tested that weekend.


Question: No one?

Wiens: Well, except for the French hosts.


Question: Was there a ceremony?

Wiens: It was a formal presentation of the certificate. The reading aloud, holding it out to me, my receiving it and thanking him.


Question: What was unique about this ceremony?

Wiens: I think just receiving the certificate alone was pretty special because it wasn’t something I ever expected would happen.


Question: Do you remember anything memorable he said to you that day?

Wiens: No. That day was spent mostly on technical things, technical points.


Question: How did you feel doing the various kata with Sugino Sensei directly?

Wiens: He’s a really imposing figure to do kata with, despite his smaller stature.


Question: Why?

Wiens: He has a serious… what’s the right word? Maybe aura? He can be scary! (Laughing) And I know he’s not even giving me a fraction of what he’s able to and it’s like, as soon as you are standing in front of him, you know he could take you apart at will.

But he’s also always very gentle. He never uses force, and he doesn’t try to dominate you psychologically with kiai. He really holds back. Which I guess goes along with what he said about not putting people down or building yourself up. There’s a powerful humbleness in it.


Question: Did you feel you were doing well during the testing?

Wiens: Well, I thought I was understanding the corrections well enough most of the time. And I wasn’t getting flustered at all. So I wasn’t really worried, like worried about failing. I was just focused on doing the best I could in each moment, whether it was performing a technique or learning a technique. So I guess when I look back at the grading, afterwards…


Question: When afterwards?

Wiens: Even a couple of days afterwards, and thinking of it really having started on that Friday night, and taking up the whole weekend including the conversations at dinner, I guess I felt okay about it because I felt I put in the best effort I could have.


Question: What happened after the ceremony, when the rest of the congregation realized that you had just been ranked?

Wiens: Everyone was really supportive and excited for me. They were great.



Mr. Wiens with Yukihiro Sugino Sensei after having received his shodan


Author’s post-script:

If we look at some of the observations that Dennis made upon a reflection of his grading, we can see very clearly what this testing was all about: the methodology, the rationale, the criteria being examined, and the desired outcomes sought.

Actually, all the corrections he gave me that weekend had a sense of urgency that they had to be done immediately; that there wasn’t the luxury of a hundred repetitions to get it right. They had to be done right now, correctly, and immediately. So I guess that seminar, it felt like he was not only seeing what I could do but also how did I learn or how fast I could learn.”
I would even venture to say that it was a test of how willing Dennis was to take instruction, how willing he was to make corrections or change technique, how willing he was to follow directions given. Obedience is the attribute being examined. Is this person willing to follow orders, no matter how radical, without complaint or question?

Which I guess goes along with what he said about not putting people down or building yourself up.”
This is old budo thinking on respect, one of the seven tenets of Bushido. Here Dennis is getting lectured on what the expected mentality of teachers in the Sugino Line is. Call it indoctrination, socialization, character education, or the teaching of core values.

“… and thinking of it really having started on that Friday night, and taking up the whole weekend including the conversations at dinner,”
The testing had begun as soon as he got there. Was it a purely technical test? No. It was also a test of character…

I wrote an article about character and skills, or what the late Yoshio Sugino termed “heart and technique”. He said, “Make sure heart and technique match without fail.”
That’s exactly what this test was about.


Mr. Tong can be contacted via email at: doug@dragonfencing.com
Mr. Tong also writes many articles on teaching martial arts. You can read them at: Physical Training: Fitness for Combatives Electronic Journal

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