Transparent Power

Transparent Power ( Tomei na Chikara ) became a Japanese language non-fiction bestseller in Japan, yet for over a decade no full English translation ever saw the light of day. One reason is the unusual content a private record of the travels and esoteric teachings of one of the greatest modern martial arts legends in Japan (in fact, the true heir to the tradition that also gave rise to the art known as Aikido). This book is not about learning physical techniques to overpower opponents. Instead, the true story of Transparent Power is about a mysterious force that one man discovered over a century ago, how it was transmitted to one of his disciples, and how the latter sensei (teacher) learned to develop it and use it at will. Although these men happened to be martial artists, they could just as easily have been dentists or lawyers or mathematicians. In fact, the author of Transparent Power is a math teacher a respected professor at a major university whose life is firmly grounded in logic, rational thought and empirical study. But when he happened to meet one of the men who had mastered this force they called Aiki, he discovered something beyond his wildest imagination: that logic and reason come up empty-handed when faced with the blunt reality of a controllable force that can totally negate the strength of a large man and then send him flying across the room. Not a martial arts throw or a technique using muscles, but a genuine, experiential POWER that allows a 95 year-old man to toss 30 year-old bodybuilders, judo and karate masters around like beanbags. The author, Dr. Kimura, is still teaching mathematics. But his life changed completely through daily encounters with this mysterious force and with Sagawa Sensei, the only teacher alive who could command it. Transparent Power is Kimura s record of both Sagawa s life and teachings and what little is known about Sagawa s own teacher, the man who discovered Aiki.