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I didn't know Bob in the way most of you all did. I knew him best as a house guest as he stayed with me on three different occasions here in
Kamakura. Of course we would go to the dojo and train together and then go out for
substance to a place or two with the dojo diehards, but then we would return home and stay up into the wee hours and Bob would share his ideas
and feelings about aikido, zen, aikido, relationships, aikido, life, and of course aikido. It is
surprising how many stories I have about Bob considering how little time we actually spent together. The last couple of
weeks, however, I have not been able to share too many of them. It seems everyone has too many to share. Since we have heard of his passing there
have been several gatherings in which all expressed their feeling for Bob and shared their memories. Of course after keiko at Takeda Dojo we got
together with Yamamoto-san, and Chris Guthrie, Berin Mackenzie, and Tasha and everyone shared their stories of Bob. On Sunday, Seino Sensei,
Takahashi, Sensei, Yasu Sensei, Kirisawa-san and a number of others got together to remember Bob. Yasu Sensei brought pictures of Bob from some
twenty years ago. Now everyone here will only drink Kirin beer because it was Bob's
favourite. Then again this evening, after keiko at Takahashi Sensei's dojo in Kanazawa Hakkei, one of Bob's favorite places to practice
when he was here, Shriaki-san brought along his photos of Bob, Ashizawa-san, a student of O-sensei, shared her memories of Bob. He was a fellow that
truly cut a wide swath; he touched so many lives.
I remember one of the times he stayed with me, he went up to Tokyo on one of his
mysterious outings, I don't remember if it was for zen or kyudo or what, anyway. He met a European woman on the train who just happened to be an
aikido teacher in Europe. Of course Bob wanted to dive to the bottom of the matter
immediately and posed to her a number of questions of philosophical and spiritual import to all of which she could only reply, "I don't know, it
is just a job." The response dumbfounded Bob. I believe he challenged her for
the rest of the hour of their train ride together with the same question he asked me for the next three days in exasperation and pique "How can
anyone think that teaching aikido is 'just a job'?" To this day I feel sorry
for that poor woman. Bob could put one on the spot and there was no escape. Although he is gone he will remain an inspiration, and a
challenge. He could inspire the complex, disparate emotions of compassion and annoyance.
Bob, god damn it!
Ken Schultz [Kamakura, Japan]
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I first met Bob close to 20 years ago at Turner PCYC Dojo in Canberra, and
thinking back now, to a stranger his concentration on the mat and his serious
dedication to practice was a bit daunting. But, once you got to know him, his
smile, his belly laugh and gregarious nature quickly dissolved any apprehension.
Even then he had a depth of training experience he was willing to share.
Having spent several years training in Sydney with Australian Aikikai while also
fostering an Aikido club at Newcastle University later joining with Stewart
Letford, Ralph Pettman and Stephen Seymour to support the formation of what is
now known as Aikido Kenkyukai under Takeda Sensei. Not long after I met him he
established the Erindale PCYC Dojo in Canberra. The training was first conducted
on acro mats in Richardson Primary School for months while the current club was
built.
Bob pursued his training with a passion, often spending weekends driving to
Sydney, Newcastle and later Gold Coast or Melbourne to conduct general training
and support all the Summer or Winter School events. I remember his trademark
silver Mazda 323 he carefully drove for so many years, he always had a dogi and
a couple of bokkens in the back along with a container of oil to top the motor
up. In those days there was a bunch of us who got together for adhoc lunch time
training, there were backyard dojo's and the occasional Sunday afternoon
training in the forest. Bob was always had a big part in those.
At his own personal expense in time and money Bob visited Japan on many
occasions to attend training events and maintain our link with senior teachers.
When Japanese Aikido visitors came to Australia, Bob extended selfless
hospitality to teachers or students alike. He liked to entertain and socialise,
always keen for a coffee or drink after training with a desire to chat with his
students to know them personally rather than just relating to them as training
partners.
His search for inner development also led him to pursue other 'dos': shin
taido, iaido, karatedo, kyudo and zen. Bob was always prepared to expand the
boundaries of his practice by mixing his training with other arts and attending
training schools by visiting masters. However, this search was not just a
selfish pursuit, Bob was always keen to share his insights and discoveries and
apply these back to Aikido. His classes were famous for the unexpected. He
influenced and cultivated many new students and those that were inspired by his
practice have continued to train and in turn take on the responsibility of
teaching themselves. There are a surprising number of 'new generation' Dan
grades that first started training with Bob.
Bob's dedication was demonstrated in his practice, he trained with a solid
harmonious feeling ever mindful of his movement and despite his tendency to the
unpredictable always careful with his partner. I always had complete trust
training with him knowing that he would never exploit a fully committed attack.
I expect I'll never train again without him coming to mind.
Bob often worked on bringing his practice out of the dojo, which he did in so
many ways. Not just by the outdoor classes or training in a pine forest but into
his spiritual life, into his workplace and into the community. Bob gave more
than he received. Many people have benefited from his spirit and although he may
now have left a hole in many peoples heart, through his generosity he has left
behind a depth of lasting feeling.
The last time I spoke to Bob he rang me a few weeks ago to invite me up to
his house in Brisbane for a few days, it was something I had always intended to
do for years. Now with sad regret I wish I had made more effort to do so. I can
still clearly remember his farewell party when he left Canberra, but counting
back that must have been at least 7 years ago. How could those years have just
slipped away?
I would like to believe (perhaps naively) that there must be something
positive to come out of death. For me this has been another hard reminder of how
easy it is take our lives for granted. The everyday things we tend to loose
sight of like our health, food on the table and those who care for us.
Bob, you were a loved and trusted friend, you were an advanced teacher yet
you treated me like a peer. I'll surely miss you and never forget you, may your
spirit now be totally free.
Bruce Lowes, 19 June 2002 [Canberra ACT, Australia]
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I am saddened to the core, and can not write anything that is satisfactory. Attached is some history about the Newcastle dojo, which I
wrote 2 years ago but never completed. I want to share it now to show the absolute importance he is and the fact that without him, there would have
not been such a group. This aside from all the other aspects he brought to our lives which I cannot express here. My apologies for any inaccuracies
or omissions. He was my mentor and good friend.
Chris Rodgers
The History of Aikido in Newcastle
Aikido began in Newcastle in 1977. My first experience of this then obscure
martial art was in March 1977 when somebody had a poster at the University of
Newcastle inviting people to attend Aikido classes at the Teachers College
gymnasium. Myself and a friend Dave, walked into the gymnasium one afternoon
where we saw two people engaged in a fluid exercise which appeared to have no
purpose except to cause a lot of heavy breathing. I later realised (about ten
years later), that this was a form of ikkyo. After a few minutes, one of them
came over and said " Hi, I'm Bob. Would you like to join in?" So for
the next two full sessions my friend Dave and I rocked back and forth doing
something called backwards ukemi.
The rest of the seventies was spent attending weekend training sessions with
Brian and Roger from Aiki-kai in Sydney by squeezing five people into Bob's
beetle and driving down to Sydney at the breakneak speed of about 45mph. The
Sydney dojo also visited us on a few occasions. Also, we had a visit from a
stout bearded man known as Sugano Sensei- I don't remember much about that
visit. We did other things in the seventies as well, like wearing body shirts
and flares.
In about 1980, Bob Gibbon, our teacher from Newcastle sat for his First Dan
grading, and I sat for my fifth kyu grading. It was at this time that Yasuyuki
Suzuki Sensei, was in Australia for study and began teaching Aikido in Canberra.
Stewart Letford, who was training in Canberra with Aikikai, was so impressed
with Yasu Sensei, that he invited his Master, Yoshinobu Takeda to Australia. In
1981 Yoshinobu Takeda, and his wife visited Australia for the first time,
conducting a summer camp at Canberra, followed by recreation at Batemans Bay.
Stewart, Bob and their few students took the decision to train under Takeda
Sensei.
Each year after that, Takeda Sensei would visit often to help us train. His
training was so unique and admirable that his visits shortly became very
popular. These early visits were well organised and supported with the devotion
of Ralph, Bob, Steve, Mike, Bruce, Barry and others. Alcohol was consumed only
in moderation of course. Many of Takeda Sensei's top students also came out with
him. There were such notable characters, such as Seino Sensei, Yamamoto Sensei,
Shiraki Sensei, Numada Sensei, Yasu Sensei, Hirano Sensei, Kadoya Sensei and
Satoshi Sensei.
It was at about this time that Bob moved to Canberra for work. This left the
Newcastle dojo with only three students, myself, John Foster, and Paul Kalore,
(who really did think that he was Musashi.). Fortunately I outranked them all at
being 5th Kyu. We started classes at the Toronto YMCA and struggled on for a
number of years this way, attending summer camps and winter camps trying to
improve ourselves and looking for the path. It was very hard to find new
students at this stage. It was around this time that Neil Kelson joined us.
Without the regular visits from Bob on weekends, who would drive from
Canberra, we would have folded. He would come up and train with us, anytime,
anywhere. In long grass, in dust, on the beach, and sometimes in the dojo. At
the end it was always a relief to finish training, but it left you with an
unfulfilled need to do more, and the enthusiasm to keep practicing, passed on
from Bob.
John had become so keen on Aikido, that he was taking most of the classes. It
was at about this time that I left training for 6 months to try other things
such as Judo, Tae Kwon-do and Kung Fu. Well, I couldn't get into them. When I
rejoined, the group had expanded and they were training at the Mayfield Police
Boys Club. There were some new key students. These were Bob Jones, Meryl
Harding, and Ken Lee.
We then moved into the Tighes Hill YMCA venue in Elizabeth St. There we were
joined by such famous names as Gabrielle den Hollander, Peter Allsop, Roger
Wakefield and Mark Malmberg, and were treated to six months training with Noriko
Tanaka from Kumamoto in 1984.
Peter had been training in Sydney with Ken Maclean who had his own unique,
admirable style. We then developed a long relationship with Ken's Dojo, visiting
and training with each other, as well as the regular visits from Stewart Letford
and Steve Seymour.
Around 1987 we moved our Dojo to the Windale branch of the Police &
Citizens Youth Club where we all tried our hand at taking classes and were
joined by Rica with her teaching input. This was in addition to regular visits
from senior students such as Mike Macgregor and those involved in training
camps.
In about 1988 Yamamoto Sensei, came to stay with myself and Mark Malmberg.
During this time we were treated to many training sessions from Yamamoto, with a
big influence on our style. This was in addition to the regular visits from
Japan by Takeda Sensei.
In 1991 I started a class at Maitland Police Club with great support from
Gabrielle, Fiona and the other students such as our visitor from France,
Philippe. Again Bob would travel up from Canberra to train with us. Such was the
enthusiasm that Neil continued training after tearing a toe -nail out on the
mat.
After this Dojo flooded several times I stopped classes there. Peter and
Gabrielle have continued on ever since at various venues and that is their story
to tell.
Chris Rodgers
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