This story, as I heard it, concerns a student of Aikido named Terry who had been studying in Japan for three years. One day taking the train from the dojo to his home he happened to witness a very drunk man pushing his way onto the train. The drunk was hostile and belligerent -  even pushing a pregnant woman out of her seat so that he could sit down. He shouted insults to a number of passengers. The drunk even stood up to curse at others and tried to grab a rusted pole fastened to the floor of the train making his hands bleed as he did so.

Terry began thinking that this man could, and probably would, do some harm so he decided to distract them and get his attention. Terry whistled at the man with what is called a "wolf whistle." When he heard the whistling, the drunk look to the back of the train where he saw Terry standing. He shouted in Japanese that people like him should stay in their own country. In response, Terry then blew him a kiss. With that the drunk man began to make his way to the back of the train toward Terry.

As he approached Terry, Terry wondered what he would do in order to stop a belligerent drunk man without hurting anyone. The train was approaching Terry stop as well. However, it looked like the man would reach Terry before Terry reached his stop. And when, according to Terry, the drunk was only a step away he thought to himself, “in just a heartbeat this is going to be over.” He wondered if his three years of training would really work successfully outside of the dojo.

But at just that moment a little old man in a kimono seated near the front of the train shouted out to the drunk. He said in Japanese, "Hey you!"  The drunk turned around and shouted, "Are you talking to me?" The little old man in the kimono said, "Yes, I'm talking to you, come here." The drunk then staggered his way back to the little old man and the little old man suddenly asked the drunk, "Do you like sake?"  The drunk reply, "What's it to you?!"  

The little old man answered, "I like sake. My wife and I sit on the porch every night and drink sake and we watch our persimmon tree grow. She says we can't see it grow but I think we can." And then he added, "Do you have a wife?"  With that question the drunk burst into tears saying, "I did but…she died last week."

Now, the train started to pull into Terry's station. Terry grabbed for his bags.  And as Terry turned around before he walked down the steps of the train he saw the little old man holding the head of the drunk in his lap and stroking his hair softly as the drunk sobbed. Terry said, as he walked down the steps of the train, he had never felt more embarrassed in his life - because what he just witnessed was the true Aikido.