How does a Canadian from North Bay, Ontario, end up in Japan studying one of the most unique martial arts known to man?
The roots of that answer go back some thirty-seven years to when Stephen Ohlman was six weeks old and diagnosed with meningitis. Stephen's mother was presented with two impossible options: allow the doctors to give her newborn a numbing amount of morphine and watch him slowly leave the earth, or perform a Lumbar puncture that was guaranteed to leave her son 70% retarded. Mrs. Ohlman chose the puncture – Stephen was her son, in any form he came.
The procedure was a success. Stephen survived. He did not suffer any retardation. The only negative aspect of this procedure was that it upset his equilibrium. A simple somersault could cause Stephen to convulse and be rushed to the hospital. He spent many years watching his older brothers play hockey, while he was forced to live like a boy in a glass house.
By the age of twelve Stephen had become fascinated with the martial arts, partly due to the on-screen charisma of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Jackie Chan. North Bay, however, was not the melting pot of martial arts masters and Stephen was both too young and fragile to study Karate.
He settled for Judo. But how does a boy with an equilibrium problem study a martial art designed to throw the body in all directions? The secret, Stephen would learn from a cane-assisted middle-aged master, rested in how one rolled and fell. Imagine twelve years of concern and trepidation disappearing with one simple lesson.
In the years that followed, Stephen learned many more ways to counter his childhood condition, finally overcoming the ordeal altogether. He would become a 2nd degree black belt in Karate and a brown belt in Judo. He would open his own dojo and continue to pass on his knowledge.
Then, one day, fate intervened. Stephen was a spectator at an Aikido exhibition. The fluid, almost effortless movements of the Aikido masters fascinated and mystified the young martial artist. He had to learn more.
Aikido's origin dates back to the days of the samurai. It was a valuable study that taught an unarmed man how to face an armored, sword-wielding opponent and defeat him. For hundreds of years it remained a system imparted to a select few.
In 1927, one man would change all that. Morihei Ueshiba, a deeply spiritual human being and highly skilled martial artist, began to refine these methods, combining jujutsu, fencing, and spear fighting. It was Morihei Ueshiba who would name these methods Aikido and transform this martial art into spiritual lifestyle that would be embraced by men, women and children around the world. At its core, Aikido is about harmony. It is primarily a defensive art that utilizes your opponent's own anger and energy against him. The idea, when possible, is never to truly harm your attacker, but subdue him – in essence, creating harmony between you and him.
Stephen studied Aikido in Canada, achieving the rank of 2nd dan, before pursuing his dream of moving to Japan to immerse himself in Aikido, the Japanese language, and their culture. Arriving in Japan and determined to discover the essence of Aikido, Stephen enrolled in the Yoshinkan 11 month International Instructor's Course. It was a grueling, character-building, six-hours-a-day, five-days-a-week schedule designed to break you down and build you back up.
When students were not training, they were cleaning toilets or the dojo floors. Their black belts surrendered to the instructors. Their ranks ignored. All trainees were ordered to wear a white belt.
There was no air conditioning in the summer and the windows were sealed shut. The sweat would lash off each student, flowing down the inside arm of their dogi like water rushing through an eaves trough. Stephen recounts that after an hour of continuous forward rolling, followed by a half hour of continuous knee walking, blood had run down and soaked his pant leg. The first week alone saw three students drop out due to the physical demands.
In the winter there was no heat. Steam would rise from their bodies like fog obscuring their forms. The tatamis were sometimes like blocks of ice. The was no rest for the weary. Suffering from a cold, or running a high fever, was no excuse not to train. Only the most determined stayed the course.
On the very same day that Stephen received his Instructor's Certificate he was awarded his 3rd degree black belt. This was an unprecedented accomplishment. No one in the history of the Instructor's Course had ever graduated and been promoted to such a rank. Yet Stephen's journey was just beginning.
We must remember that Stephen was on a quest to find the essence of Aikido. The Instructor's Course had put him on the right path; he knew that his spirit could not be broken, but that many questions still remained – questions that would soon be answered by Tsuneo Ando Shihan, one of the greatest apprentices of the late Gozo Shioda Sensei and one of the most skilled masters of Yoshikan Aikido.
Stephen had met Ando Sensei while in the Instructor's Course. He was taken with Ando Sensei's skill and compassion, and was honoured to be accepted as one of Ando Sensei's students. In six short months Stephen became Ando Sensei's senior apprentice and main demonstration partner. Within a year he was appointed to the title of teacher by Ando Sensei, and became Chief Instructor of Maihama Dojo in Chiba, Japan (1997-2001). For five consecutive years he served as Ando Sensei's main uke. Their relationship transcended words to become two hearts working as one.
Stephen had found a new country to call home. His son, Keita, was born there and his lovely wife, Tina, achieved 2nd dan. He became a respected member of the Aikido community, was the Keynote Demonstrator at the Meikai University Cultural Festival in Urasasu, Chiba, Japan in 2000, and appeared several times as a technical model in the Japanese martial arts magazine Hi-Den (1998-2000).
Yet with growth there is often change, and Canada once again beckoned the Ohlman family to her soil. Stephen is now a 5th dan, and an international authority on Yoshinkan Aikido. He teaches six days a week from his dojo, Aikido Hiryukan, in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
Bringing Aikido to the west has been a challenge, and he has had to counter various misconceptions about the discipline. Many westerners believe that it is not a martial art, but a choreographed form of entertainment, restricted to exhibition, and therefore an ineffective form of self defense. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, when Aikido's founder, Morihei Ueshiba, was asked by the Emperor of Japan to give a true demonstration of the art, it is believed that Ueshiba Sensei responded, "Does that mean that you are giving me permission to kill someone, because real Aikido is to the death".
While it is true that Aikido is practiced in a non-competitive environment, and its various movements are performed and monitored in the dojo, one should not draw the wrong conclusion. For it is this very methodical practice that prepares the Aikido practitioner for battle in an urban setting. True Aikido is applied without thought or hesitation. It is a natural reaction to your attacker's intensity, allowing you maximum effect with minimum effort. When Aikido is applied properly to a situation the fight is over before it can begin. Stephen himself experienced this early in his Aikido training while he was supporting himself as a waiter. He was attacked, without cause, by an angry drunk patron. A simple technique was applied, and the man was easily escorted out of the restaurant.
It should be understood that Aikido is not a sport, thus has no rules, and therein lies one of it's greatest strengths – the ability to adapt to any real-life situation. It is so effective that it has been required study for the Tokyo Riot Police for over 40 years.
Aikido is a martial art that can be practiced by people of all ages and used as a form of physical fitness. It is also beneficial for people with physical conditions, particularly certain kinds of arthritis. It can provide a path to discipline and self confidence. It can benefit children with mild attention disorders. It is an effective form of self defense, ideal for women since it requires finesse, not brute strength. Yet the personal, intangible benefits that one receives when studying Aikido over many years are its true gift – a gift that Stephen Ohlman Sensei shares with his students through his own ongoing experience in discovering the essence of Aikido.
