The following is Part One of an interview with martial arts instructor Kei Izawa Sensei who is the senior advisor for Castle Rock AIKIDO - a traditional Japanese martial arts school exclusively for adults in Castle Rock.

Sean: Hello everybody! We are sitting here todaywith Kei Izawa Sensei of Aikikai Tanshinjuku. Izawa Sensei oversees all of our testing events and he is our connection back to thefounding family's Aikido school in Tokyo, Japan.

Izawa Sensei recently translated the biography of the Founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, from its origin Japanese text to English, so that us non-Japanese speaking martial artists can enjoy the telling of the life of this great man we refer to as O Sensei or Great Teacher. The book is called: A Life in Aikido, The Biography of Founder Morihei Ueshiba and its published by Kodansha International.

Hello Izawa Sensei. Thank you for sitting down with me today to chat for a while. Before we talk about the book you've translated, let me ask you about your own introduction to Aikido. What was it about Aikido that attracted you to the art and what personal values does Aikido serve to you?

Izawa: Hello, Sean. I was raised as a child in South America and, for various reasons, I was never attracted to aggressive martial arts. When I entered college in Japan, one person from the Japanese Self-Defense Force came to visit my father and he said, "Kei, now that you are in college, all Japanese men should get to know at least one martial art. I can introduce you to Aikido. It is a fantastic martial art." I was hesitant. Until then, I was heavily involved in swimming. I also liked other sports that were competitive, but not aggressive to each other. But when I accompanied this gentleman to see Aikido, I was smitten. Immediately, I saw the beauty of Aikido in a way that I felt maybe there is something much deeper in this that I would like to try. That is how I started in Aikido.

Sean: This year marks your 40 th year in Aikido now. My understanding is that you began training Aikido at the Hombu dojo just one week after the passing of O Sensei. What was the tone of the dojo like at that time and do you think starting Aikido at this time had any particular impact on your training?

Izawa: When I visited Aikikai Hombu dojo (the founding school in Japan), I knew that it was a time of mourning for the people there. But strangely enough, because I didn't seek to go there, and since I was introduced by some who simply said, "You should come," I couldn't see the pain and the loss of the Founder in the eyes of everybody. I was probably too innocent at that time. I couldn't grasp the great loss that the Aikido society had gone through. Now, in retrospect, I can see that many people were struggling and didn't know what to do at that time. But, for me, I couldn't even do the proper stance. I didn't know which hand or foot to put forward or backwards. I was struggling and so I had no concept whatsoever about what was happening around me at that time. So, if you ask did beginning Aikido at that time have any special impact on me? No. I didn't realize about that until a few years later when I gradually began to talk to people who would say, "O Sensei used to say this," or "O Sensei used to do that." Of course, we were bowing to his picture before each class, but over time I started to generate a great sense of interest and curiosity as to who this Founder was and what was so special about him.

Sean: As you know there are many different styles and expressions of Aikido. Some maintain that Aikido should always maintain a strong martial purpose while others seem to be leaning toward teaching Aikido in other, non-martial contexts. What qualities or elements of Aikido are most important to you, and why? How would you describe your own person style of Aikido?

Izawa: I understand that O Sensei started with a very strong martial sentiment and I think the effectiveness of his Aikido was demonstrated in that he became a martial arts instructor for many arms of the Japanese military, including the Secret Police, Navy, Army, and so forth. So there is no doubt that people in the military services acknowledge the great benefit of studying Aikido for martial purposes. But at the same time, O Sensei himself was not interested in defeating the opponent. His philosophy had become much more than just a matter of winning and losing. If you read the biography of O Sensei it clearly talks about this, but O Sensei gradually came to realize that Aikido is not a tool for fighting. Having said that, I consider that doing Aikido only for the purpose of friendship and/or health benefits, I think, misses the point. I think there should always be a connection to the martial-ness, and in that tension I think you can find the need for more mutual conciliation or friendship. You cannot practice without an objective. If the other person, if the opponent, does not strike with clear intentions to harm you and you try to deflect that, you cannot do the training. It's like making a sword with a peaceful intention. You don't have the heart in that. You cannot generate a Japanese sword like that.

Sean: That is a great metaphor. I've never thought of it that way. Recently, you represented Aikikai in China for an event over there. What was that experience like?

Izawa: There is an international organization called SportAccord. SportAccord is the mother federation of other sports federations to which many of the Olympic and non-Olympic participating sports belong. SportAccord and the City of Beijing signed a contract in 2009 to organize an event to be held in Beijing in August 2010. This event will bring together 13 different combat martial arts for an international competition. Naturally, Aikido does not host or conduct competitions, so we have become an exception to the rule. For this event, Aikido will act as an exhibition martial art. Aikido will be represented along with other fantastic international organizations that surround martial arts like Judo, Karate, Sumo, Kendo, Sambo, Muay Thai, Tae kwon do, kickboxing, wrestling, and so forth. Aikido will be on the world stage and the city of Beijing will be hosting this event using the Olympic facilities. It will be broadcasted throughout the world as the first Combat Games 2010. The city of Beijing is sponsoring the whole event and inviting all the athletes. Beijing gets the broadcasting rights, ticket sales, and things like that. It is going to be a phenomenal event of Olympic proportions, not only for China, but for Aikido and all the other martial arts, as well.

Sean: That does sound like a great opportunity for all.

To be continued...