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Following the Martial Path

Following the Martial Path: Lessons and Stories from a Lifetime of Training in Budo and Zen WALTHER G. VON KRENNER WITH KEN JEREMIAH Foreword by JOHN STEVENS www.TambuliMedia.com Spring House, PA USA

DISCLAIMER The author and publisher of this book DISCLAIM ANY RESPONSIBILITY over any injury as a result of the techniques taught in this book. Readers are advised to consult a physician about their physical condition before undergoing any strenuous training or dangerous physical activity. This is a martial arts book and details dangerous techniques that can cause serious physical injury and even death. Practice and training require a fit and healthy student and a qualified instructor. First Published on December 06, 2016 by Tambuli Media 2016 Walther G. von Krenner All photographs are Walther G. von Krenner with the exception of the following: 11.5 and 28.1 are Ken Jeremiah; 6.2-6.12, 8.2, 9.1, 25.1 and 26.1 are all public domain, made available by the Wikimedia Creative Commons License. ISBN-10: 1-943155-22-4 ISBN-13: 978-1-943155-22-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016961537 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the Publisher or Author. Edited by: Cindy Baldhoff Cover and Interior by: Summer Bonne

TABLE OF CONTENTS Publisher’s Foreword. vii Foreword by John Stevens . ix Introduction . 1 Chapter 1: From Ancient to Modern Martial Arts . 11 Chapter 2: Shugyo . 19 Chapter 3: A Lesson in Humility. 25 Chapter 4: Budo: A Mind and Body Changing Method . 33 Chapter 5: A Lesson from Takahashi Isao . 39 Chapter 6: Zen in the Martial Arts . 49 Chapter 7: Zen Calligraphy and Its Connection to Martial Arts . 65 Chapter 8: Sumi-e Painting . 73 Chapter 9: Martial Art Training Uniforms. 83 Chapter 10: Tohei Koichi and the Study of Ki. 91 Chapter 11: Meeting O-Sensei . 103 Chapter 12: A Typical Class Taught by O-Sensei . 115 Chapter 13: The Triangle, Circle and Square . 119 Chapter 14: Centering . 131 Chapter 15: Takemusu Aiki . 135 Chapter 16: AI-KI-DO . 141 Chapter 17: Some Japanese Gangsters . 149 Chapter 18: Budo as a Spiritual Pursuit . 153

Chapter 19: The Power of Humility . 159 Chapter 20: Another Lecture by the Founder . 167 Chapter 21: The Importance of Effective Techniques . 173 Chapter 22: Kotodama . 181 Chapter 23: My Final Meeting with O-Sensei . 189 Chapter 24: Underlying Principles . 199 Chapter 25: The Tea Ceremony and Its Martial Connection . 207 Chapter 26: Sen no Rikyu . 217 Chapter 27: Devoting One’s Life to Training . 225 Chapter 28: The Mountain Path. 231 Glossary of Terms . 235 Notes . 243 Bibliography. 247 vi Following the Martial Path

PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD believe that one of the greatest endeavors one can pursue is the journey of self-knowledge. And for me, and millions of others, the martial path is the journey of choice. The irony is that many martial artists who stay on their martial path for decades, even lifetimes, do not gain true self-knowledge; instead, they merely feed the ego. I have personally traveled the world many times in search of masters of martial, healing and spiritual practices, in the hope of becoming their apprentice and deepening my own self-understanding. But what I often encountered were masters and life-long students caught in the martial trap. That is, being so engrossed in the techniques of martial arts that all else is lost, ignored or underdeveloped. And so, it seems as if their path was not vertical but horizontal. I I find this not to be the case with Mr. Walther von Krenner, a man who began his martial journey a half-century ago in Germany, then traveled to the United States and then sold his house and moved to Japan to deepen his study and lengthen his journey. Von Krenner and I share many similarities on our paths of self-discovery, although he is much senior to me in the arts, having begun his journey before my birth. And while my journey led me to study indigenous practices of several countries, von Krenner’s pursuits are wholly (and fully) within the arts of Japan. Having lived in Japan, and having met some of the people von Krenner writes about in this book, it was a pleasure to read his moving accounts of living in Japan and, as an outsider, studying in martial and cultural arts. His accounts of what a class was like with Aikido founder Ueshiba and learning Ki development under Tohei sensei are remarkable. Not many were able to do this. I, for one, was refused an audience with Koichi Tohei when I wished to interview him at length about Ki development in Budo for a paper I was writing while at University. Walther von Krenner has spent a lifetime in pursuit of self-knowledge through the practice and study of Budo, Zen, flower arranging, calligraphy, and more. A martial artist must be an artist in the broadest sense, he says, even including tea ceremony and sword appreciation and spiritual practices. I agree, especially when one wants to master the esoteric arts of an Asian country. One must Publisher’s Foreword vii

immerse himself or herself in those studies, the country and its people and culture, and not merely show up twice a week at a local strip-mall dojo. Von Krenner is unique today in that his time and place was such that he was able to be among the first Westerners to study under many of the 20th Century’s greatest Japanese masters, including: Mori Terao (Kendo), Hideteka Nishiyama (Shotokan), Koichi Tohei (Ki), and Morihei Ueshiba, the founder and O-sensei of Aikido. Some of my favorite books are those wherein we experience, as if directly, the teachings of masters we may never meet through the eyes of men who met and trained with them. Robert Smith’s Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods, Nigel Sutton’s Searching for the Way, and Garry Parker’s Chanpuru: Lessons and Reflections from the Dojo, are a few such books. And now we have Walther von Krenner’s Following the Martial Path, wherein the reader is treated to his personal tales, vignettes, insights and reflections on all things relating to Budo and the Japanese classical traditions. I am honored to publish this book. Circling back to my opening statement that many who follow the martial path do not gain depth of self-knowledge begs the question of why this may be the case. Well, von Krenner’s opening paragraphs of this book’s Introduction gives rhyme and reason in its analogy of colors and their many shades. So please read on, immerse yourself in this wonderful book. Experience the vast, almost endless “shades of gray” that present on the path of martial arts and personal excellence. Let Walther von Krenner show you a way forward by allowing you a rare keyhole into what it is like to learn at the hands of so many of the world’s most famous Japanese masters; many of whom are no longer with us. Dr. Mark Wiley Publisher, Tambuli Media viii Following the Martial Path

FOREWORD BY JOHN STEVENS ollowing the Martial Path: Lessons and Stories from a Lifetime of Training in Budo and Zen is Walther von Krenner’s rollercoaster account of his fifty years of training in Budo. He had the good fortune to train and learn from many of the outstanding martial art masters of the 20th century. For example, he studied kendo with Mori Terao, grappled with “Judo Gene LaBelle,” trained in Shotokan karate with Nishiyama Hidetaka, and explored the mysteries of ki with Tohei Koichi. However, Walther’s primary teacher and guiding light was Ueshiba Morihei, the founder of Aikido. He is one of the last remaining non-Japanese students who actually trained with Morihei in Japan. F Walther’s quest for the true meaning of Budo is presented in many tales throughout the book. Some are classical, others personal. Such tales are both entertaining and enlightening. Walther makes the key point that a martial artist should be an artist in the broadest sense: a student of literature and poetry, and (in his case) a practitioner of such disciplines as calligraphy, painting, shakuhachi playing, sword connoisseurship, and tea ceremony. Many of the illustrations in this book are creations by Walther. Walther’s spiritual grounding is in Zen meditation, esoteric cosmology, and Aikido philosophy. All three aspects are discussed in detail. Walther is opinionated, gruff, and not one to tolerate foolishness or pusillanimity. From his unique perspective, he tells and shows us “how it is,” through the use of text and illustrations. Following the Martial Path is altogether a stimulating and challenging book. Foreword by John Stevens ix

the martial trap. at is, being so engrossed in the techniques of martial arts that all else is lost, ignored or underdeveloped. And so, it seems as if their path was not vertical but horizontal. I nd this not to be the case with Mr. Walther von Krenner, a man who began his martial journey a half-century ago in Germany, then traveled to the Unit-