Seikokan Visits Mustard Sensei in British Columbia

After bringing Robert Mustard Sensei to Windsor twice in the last year, Sensei Lemmon led a group of Seikokan students to Vancouver , British Columbia to train with the man himself. Jim Demers, Rick Reaume, Joe Simon, Aaron "Max" Brockmann and myself rounded out the August trip. Mustard Sensei and Vicki Smart put us up and proved to be most gracious hosts.

Training at Mustard Sensei's dojo was quite an experience. The L-shaped training space has mats that are slightly softer than hardwood floors but were excellent for basic movements. As far as I could tell, no one training or teaching in the dojo was from B.C. One of the great highlights was meeting and working with the "Iranian Wonder", Farshad. Farshad (Shodan) is one of Mustard Sensei's senior students, and the most incredible Uke I have ever trained with. Working with Mustard Sensei and Farshad, one can't help but improve.

It would be pretty hard to break down all the technical points that were emphasized during our time at Aikido Yoshinkai Burnaby but certain themes emerged. Throughout all the techniques, we were encouraged to relax, avoid using strength and to shift into a more "West Coast" pace. The theme for Uke was soft and fluid. This approach allowed Sh'te to feel the natural line of the technique. Although we are always told that Sh'te and Uke work together to help Sh'te understand, this experience raised the bar on this understanding. Now that I have had a few months to digest it all, what I learned from Mustard and Farshad about Uke was the valuable part of the training.

The whole of the trip was amazing, and not just for the impact on us. Mustard Sensei and his students commended our spirit and thanked us for what we brought to them.

Rob Bondy (October 2005)