Читать книгу Complete Aikido. Aikido Kyohan: The Definitive Guide to the Way of Harmony онлайн

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In late 1960, twenty year-old Suenaka reluctantly gave up his dreams of becoming a pilot, his early fervor quelled by the long years of study necessary to achieve that goal. More significantly, he was realizing that the time necessary to achieve that goal was time he would much rather spend furthering his martial education. More and more, he found himself entertaining thoughts of traveling to Japan, to immerse himself in its rich martial tradition. However, he felt the likelihood of someone as low on the ladder as he receiving such a plum assignment was slim, at best. As luck would have it, however, around the same time Suenaka was beginning to have second thoughts about pilot school, Air Force SAC Commander General Curtis LeMay happened to visit Mather, one of many stops on a tour of North American SAC bases. Suenaka was in one of the base’s flight simulator rooms, inspecting the equipment, when LeMay popped in for an unannounced, informal inspection.

At the time, LeMay, himself an experienced judoka, was actively promoting and encouraging martial arts study for Air Force personnel (the Air Force invitation extended to Tomiki Sensei, mentioned earlier, was the result of this program). He and Suenaka managed a moment or two of conversation, during which Suenaka mentioned LeMay’s infant program, his own aikido study, and how much we was hoping to be transferred to Japan to continue his education: