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CHAPTER FIVE

Okinawa And Elsewhere

As it turned out, Suenaka Sensei’s fear that moving to Okinawa would seriously curtail his study at the Hombu was unrealized. The air force was still actively encouraging servicemen and women to pursue the martial arts, as part of fitness and survival training for air crews and related personnel. When Suenaka arrived at Kadena in May of 1961, he found more sympathy than resistance from his command when it came to furthering his martial education. Again, because of the nature of his duties, Suenaka was able to take what is known as “permissive TDY” (temporary duty), meaning he was given permission by his CO to take occasional personal leave; granted, not as frequently as when he was stationed in Tokyo, but still, he managed to visit and study with O’Sensei four or five times a year, for several weeks at a time, serving as an uchi deshi and, later, a personal deshi to Tohei Sensei. Suenaka recalls one of his more humorous experiences with O’Sensei from this time, involving Tendokan aikido founder Kenji Shimizu: