Sensei Haigh Taking Ukemi For Sensei Riley

How long have you studied Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

About 20 years. I started in early 1983, got the bug and trained like mad for about 2 years, also training for a year or so with Sensei Keith Rose who had started a small club practising Kenjutsu, Iaido, Kendo Kata and some Aikido.

Suddenly commitments at work, renovating a house and starting a family took priority and I ended up stopping training completely for about a year or more. Then one night I decided to go back down to Huddersfield Sports Centre and it felt like I'd never been away (well except for the fact that some of the lads who were similar kyu grade to me when I left were now Shodan - Oh yes, and I wondered why I was getting strange looks all night, then Shane mentioned afterwards that the club was now with a different Association and kyu grades were not allowed to wear hakama any more).

Sensei Haigh (Right).

How did you first get into Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

I'd done a bit of Taekwondo at College when I was about 18 and although when I moved to another College I didn't carry it on, martial arts still held some fascination. I had a little paperback book called Zen Combat by Jay Gluck, which was a sort brief history of Japanese martial arts, and Aikido got a small but intriguing write up in it, but seemed to suggest that Aikido teaching wasn't really available much outside Japan.

When I asked my wife to have a look what martial arts were available at the Sports Centre while she was down there at Keep-fit, I was very surprised to be told there was Aikido. I dug out the little book to look up Aikido and then I noticed it was first published in 1962! I started the next week under the instruction of Sensei Riley (Shodan).

Why did you decide to stick with the White Rose?

Sensei Haigh:

We were too scared to leave!

No, that's not fair on Shane, he was always strict on discipline and etiquette but really that was exactly what you expected. There are quite a few good martial arts clubs in the area, but I just felt that Aikido, or at least the White Rose approach to Aikido, suited me personally, so there's never been any great temptation to drift elsewhere.

What effect has Sensei Riley had on your Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

It's difficult to be specific really, mainly because Shane has been my main instructor since day one, so you could say he's had an almost total effect on my Aikido. Having said that, Sensei Riley has always emphasised that although in a class you should always attempt to do a technique in the way that the Sensei has demonstrated, there are often other variations that may suite your particular stature, so always keep an open mind to how other Sensei teach.

Would you like to teach on a more permanent basis?

Sensei Haigh:

I've never taken on teaching a regular class because my work was unpredictable, having to do overtime at short notice. Sometimes when Shane has asked me to take a class for him, I've been doing the warm-up, looking at the range of students in front of me and thinking 'what shall we do tonight?', then I start off with something straight forward, somebody asks a question, that triggers a sort of theme for the evening, then suddenly about two hours has passed and somebody politely mentions they've got a bus to catch. Then I realise that I enjoy teaching in a different way to training and perhaps in the future I may try to make time to teach more.

How do you rate theWhite Rose style to others you have trained with?

Sensei Haigh:

I think we strike a good balance between traditional Japanese martial art and contemporary self defence. Some schools of Aikido, along with some other martial arts, have perhaps over the years become more 'art' than 'martial', and whilst it's good as an exercise and I can appreciate the beauty of the movements as a sort of mobile meditation, I still find myself thinking 'this all very enjoyable but can I deck somebody with it?'

What do you get from your Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

Relaxation, fitness, confidence, a good laugh with a bunch of like minded friends, and an extensive collection of T-shirts.

What was it like training with Sensei Riley at the start of your path through Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

As I mentioned earlier, Shane always ran the club with tight etiquette so nobody would let the club down on a course under other Sensei. You'd kneel in Seiza until your feet went blue rather than sit cross legged without being asked to.

If his uke didn't show enough commitment he was likely to get a verbal shredding (I think he's mellowed a bit with age!) Although at the same time he always had a down-to-earth philosophy - I remember his final briefing a few minutes before I took my Shodan grading: "Just get up and blather 'em".

Have you ever needed your knowledge of Aikido in a real situation?

Sensei Haigh:

Not exactly in what I would call a critical situation, although I have tweaked a wrist on an odd occasion to get rid of some overbearing drunkard in the local pub. Many years ago, after doing Taekwondo, a solid punch stood me in good stead on a couple of occasions. Two friends and I once got followed down a quiet footpath by a group of 4 or 5 lads looking for trouble one winter night, one jumped at my mate so I spun and punched him once in the head, but slipped on the ice in the process. I got up expecting all hell to break loose, but they were keeping their distance and just mouthing-off, then I realised why; I'd knocked him unconscious. (Turned out our crime was that my mate had been chatting to his girlfriend in the disco.)

More recently, about 4 years ago, I was at the Company Christmas 'Do' at a golf club when one young bloke from our department who'd had a few too many free pints of Stella decided he was going to show everybody what a tough guy he was and suddenly started shouting in my face "Come on then .. hit me!" (I was tempted, but the words 'instant sack' were nagging in the back of my mind). I was trying to talk some sense into him but I remember with a strange clarity (considering I'd had a few myself) thinking 'one twitch in my direction and he's going down', but instead he took a couple of steps back, grabbed an empty wine bottle and tried to smash it on the table. It was a flimsy folding table and the bottle just bounced in his hand like something in a cartoon. I started smiling at the sight of us in the middle of a wide circle of horror struck guests and he was just beginning to realise what a prat he looked when two other guys grabbed his arms and ejected him. I suppose there are two ways of looking at that incident: Aikido had given me the confidence to keep calm in an awkward situation, but on the other hand if someone hadn't told him I was a black belt he would probably have just picked on the biggest bloke in the room and left me alone! (The epilogue is that he came sheepishly into work the following morning, apologising profusely, with his wife for moral support and their baby in his arms).

Where do you see yourself in another 10 years or so in your Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

In a group photo taken on Sensei Derrick's new holographic camera, with even less hair.
Maybe I'll get round to doing more teaching.

What do you find most difficult in Aikido?

Sensei Haigh:

Probably having to accept that no matter how long you train, you still feel that there's lots of room for improvement in virtually all you r techniques - although that challenge is what motivates you, I suppose.

Do you still struggle with any part of your training?

Sensei Haigh:

Yes, getting out of an armchair in front of a log fire, after tea, at 7.30 and grabbing my kitbag. Knowing how good I'll feel in a couple of hour's time is what keeps me going.

I would like to thank Sensei Haigh for taking the time to answer all your questions and giving us some inside knowledge of his journey through Aikido.

THANKYOU SENSEI.

Interview By A.Scholefield.