Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on August 29, 2002.
In one of Saito Sensei's last seminars, someone asked him to make some comments and one of the comments he made was, "Practice tai-no-henka (Tenkan Kokyo-ho) everyday." For such a high-level teacher, I think this is a great comment to make and I respect him for it. Yes, we should practice Tenkan everyday, day and night if possible. I see many black belts who have many years of experience but still, their tenkan movement is not yet right. Many things in Aikido, and many other arts, are like this. They require constant practice - within this constant repetition, one can begin to see the finer points of the movement and begin to refine their own technique, little by little. This is the only way - there are no short cuts and no matter how clever or good we think we are, we still need to practice. In Japanese, they say, "Nama hyosha wa oo-kega." Or, "it is the inexperienced warrior who sustains the greatest injury!" We may think we are experienced and we may think we practice hard but most of us are not nearly close to our goals! I am considered an authority on Japanese swords and sword guards in this country and there are not many around who has studied this subject in detail as I have or for as many years. Occasionally, I call my friend in Japan to ask a few questions. He is one of the number one authorities on this subject. I am sitting there listening to him on the phone, hearing him easily and so clearly explain certain points of the sword to me, and all I can think to myself is, "What a stupid beginner I am!” In everything, we always need more practice.