Women In The Martial Arts

By Anita Wilson

Women In The Martial Arts

by Anita Wilson

1st Lady Assistant to Sensei Henry Ellis Ellis Schools ofTraditional Aikido

I was born in West London in 1963, my father was very involvedin the martial arts and a dan grade in Karate he was also adealer in ancient Japanese arms and armour, although my fatherhas an antiques shop in London's Bond Street, my home was morelike a samurai warriors dressing room, with original suits ofJapanese armour complete with very frighting face masks thatwould frighten the life out of my friends when ever they came tovisit, there were also very many valuable swords yari andnaginata spears.

The Masters

My father would travel around the world searching for the bestquality weapons, what intrigued me the most as a child was allthese strange visitors that would come to my home, the famousOtani family were regular visitors with Sensei Matsuro Otani 7thdan Judo the UK National Coach, Kenshiro Abbe Sensei, TomioOtani Sensei the UK National Coach for Kendo, his visitors werelike the who's who of martial arts, as recently as two weeks agoI was pleased to meet with Sensei Kazuo Chiba 8th dan when hecame to see my father.

Introduction to Aikido

As a child I did a little Karate with my father but nothingserious until 1992 when I went to the local Aikido dojo inBracknell, Berkshire, UK. All those years with my father and hisJapanese weapons must have had a latent but profound effect onme, as I watched Sensei Ellis teaching his Positive Style ofTraditional Aikido I knew there and then that this was themartial art for me.

The Hard Training Begins

When I started Aikido I made a point of training with the menand they treated me as one of them. With regular practice Iprogressed. I had now developed the hard training bug andstarted courses in physical training and amateur weight lifting,after a few years of hard work I became a fully qualifiedfitness instructor-personal trainer and amateur weight liftingcoach, the high light of all this effort was when Sensei Ellispromoted me to assistant coach of the Ellis Schools ofTraditional Aikido (ESTA) two years later he promoted me tofirst lady assistant to himself, there had never ever been alady assistant in all the long history of the ESTA, Sensei putme on a three month trial and 8 year on I am still here.

In 1994 I received my coaching certificate from the BritishAikido Board (BAB) which is the governing body for Aikido in theUK. Once I became assistant to Sensei Ellis I became involved inassisting in teaching both men and women and also helping withthe children's classes.

The First Seminar

Sensei Ellis asked if I would like to take part in a very largeand important seminar in Liverpool in the North of England,Sensei Ellis is not one of those teachers who has a pet ukefollow him around to fly all over the mat



at a touch or aglance, he prefers to try to involve all the students who attendhis seminars if possible, knowing this I felt very privilegedbut nervous when Sensei told me there would be about 700students from various martial arts, I think the phrase "Beingthrown in at the deep end" is applicable here.

On arrival at the venue I was amazed to see so many studentsfrom so many countries, UK-France-Germany-Italy-India-Austriaare just some that I can recall. Sensei Ellis was asked to takethe first class of approximately 50 dan grades from variousmartial arts. Sensei had me demonstrate 100 press-ups on thebacks of my wrists with fingers pointing both inwards andoutwards. When I had finished and was in the raised positionSensei sat on my back (he did not warn me of this) and carriedon with his lecture. Sensei suggested that those who wanted toshould try this exercise. It was amazing to see all these blackbelts struggling. Later I had a little crowd around me wantingto inspect my wrists, I explained that this exercise is standardfor both seniors and juniors in our schools.

I was now feeling a little more confident when Sensei pointedout that there were six young dan grades who had arrived lateand were respectfully waiting for permission to come onto themat. Sensei asked me to show them what we had been teaching sofar, they were all wearing black gi's and when I approached andinvited them on the mat, they scowled as if to say "hey, we havenot traveled all the way from London to be taught by a women" asI showed the first technique "nikkyo" a wrist locking action,the first guy tried to resist me, I applied the technique asshown to me so many times by Sensei and almost put him throughthe mat. I thought he would be upset with me, but as he got uphe asked "How did you do that?". He then wanted me to do thetechnique on all the others, now I had their attention and theywere a great bunch of guy's. I really enjoyed teaching them. Atthe end of the seminar, as we were leaving the hall to head forthe car park, these six guy's were waiting in a line and bowedto me simultaneously with a smile and said to Sensei Ellis " Youhave a strong lady assistant there ,sensei" Sensei replied "That is why she is my assistant". That was my first seminar andone that I will never forget.

I have been involved in many other seminars with my Sensei andthey were always good, but I was never so overawed as I was atmy first one, or so I thought. Then Sensei Ellis asked if Iwould like to visit New Mexico in the USA for a seminar. Theseminar was to be held in Alamogordo NM, where Sensei's USArepresentative in the US lives and works at the Space Museum.Sensei visits New Mexico every year and we have another Ellisdan grade in Texas, Al Montemar. I had always wanted to visitthe US and jumped at the opportunity. We made the trip into avacation for friends and family. We taught members of the USAFand German Air Force at Holloman AFB, which included a guidedtour of the base and various fighter aircraft, including theStealth bomber. Sensei Rogers is an instructor who teachesstudents from the USAF, Highway Patrol, police and some membersof the United States Marshals.

While in the US, I also visited the Grand Canyon and Phoenix. Iintend to move to Phoenix to live within the next two to threeyears. Sensei Ellis has a book on aikido coming out next springin the US titled "Positive Aikido" which I am pleased to befeatured in, Sensei Rogers is a journalist by profession and hasworked on this book for the past two years and it will bepublished in the US. There are several publishers interested inthe book so we are all very excited about this latest project. Ihope to be visiting the US again next year and I hope to bethere for the launch of the book.which was released in December2004 by www.Trafford.com

For the martial artists out there I would like to add one morecomment about the book. Where as most Aikido books spend a greatdeal of time harmonizing with the planets and the universe,there will be none of that in this book, Sensei always tellsstudents to come out of the clouds and get back on the tatamibecause "This is where it all happens" and he also often says "leave the dancing to Fred Astair" (who is Fred Astair?).

Anita Wilson Assistant to Sensei Ellis

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About the author:Anita Wilson a student of Henry Ellis for the past 15 years.grew up involved in the Martial Arts meeting many of the greatteachers as a child through her fathers dealing in ancientJapanese arts and armour.