We have had some quite interesting developments among our membership this year.
New students have arrived, some students have left us for a variety of reasons.
Nothing unusual about this, however we have had some quite unusual events take place too.


      Noah has followed up on his threat of last year.
Noah and Rajini became engaged during the summer of 2007

Noah and Rajini were married in August in a most inspiring and very spiritual ceremony before members of both families, friends and dojo members. Many had traveled from far and wide, to witness and take part in this wonderful marriage.

 

 

 

 

                                                                     Noah & Rajini's marriage August 2008

 

With each partner coming from quite diverse cultural backgrounds, it was quite amazing to see the ceremony the couple had designed incorporating important aspects of one anothers cultural heritage. A wonderful event which I am sure will be remembered for many years to come.

For me this was a very special occasion. Noah has been a member of Ryurei Aikido for more than 10 years and has grown into one of the most senior and experienced Aikidoka not only in Ryurei's organization, but within the local Aikido scene.

He has always been a special student to me and has been such a reliable and loyal member of the dojo. His experiences as a representative of the dojo has never given me anything other than respect for his intense understanding of Aikido and Budo. He has always made me feel proud of him as a dojo member.

This has occurred when he opened a branch dojo while away in South Western Ontario at University. It was again the case when Noah and Rajini traveled to Zambia a few years ago and Noah gave Aikido and Shinkido classes to disadvantaged children there.

A little prior to Noah's marriage we announced that Noah will become the next Chief Instructor and leader of Ryurei Aikido within the next few years. Please see the special announcement in the Meet Our Instructors section to read more about this.

We are all delighted that Noah and Rajini are now married and wish them both all the best in their future together.
We also congratulate Noah's Mum and Dad, Dodie and Bram Potechin who have been great supporters of Noah's Aikido studies and of Ryurei Aikido over many years.

Congratulations too, to Rajini's Mum and Dad, Sriyani and Ranjit Perera who have given up a daughter, but also gained a son.

 

 

  Another of our students has also had quite an adventurous year.

John, a student at Carleton University here in Ottawa was recommended by one of his professors to apply for an International study Scholarship being offered by a Japanese University located in Kobe. John was successful and left for Japan in September to study for the first semester. We expected he would be back in early January.

However, shortly after he arrived in Japan and had got established, we learned he had been offered an extension of the scholarship and so now John is not expected back in Ottawa until July.

John's Japanese language skills have had a rapid progression since his arrival in Japan.
We learned that this has included his written Kanji as well as the spoken skills.

John has taken up two forms of Budo while in Kobe. He joined the University Aikido club.
A Ki Society dojo. He takes classes 2 days per week. On one of those days he is able to take instruction from a senior instructor with the Akashi Ki Society dojo. Akashi is a city located in southern Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, on the Inland Sea west of Kobe. Adjacent to the Akashi -Kaikyo Bridge which joins Honshu with Shikoku across the Akashi straits.

John has also started to study Kendo and so has now found a way to satisfy his exercise needs and his "need" for Aikido.

John has been invited to take part in an Aikido demonstration with this senior instructor in January. Quite a feather in his cap I believe.

Congratulations John, we all look forward to seeing you back in the dojo in July

 

  

                                                              Year End Dinner       

For Photos of the year end dinner click and then click on the link to Ryurei Aikido 2008 Year End Dinner

As we approach the end of 2008, the familiar annual events begin to take place.

These may be social events or events associated with the more day to day business of the dojo such as gradings etc.
It is usual for Ryurei Aikido to hold a special social event near the end of November each year.
Simply because we often have members in the dojo from quite different religious beliefs to one another, we do not hold a Christmas party, nor do we hold any other religiously significant events at any time of the year. We don't close the dojo down for any extended period of time due to religious practices or celebrations.

So the dinner held around the end of November is always referred to as our. "Year End Dinner." We have for many years held this dinner at a different ethnic restaurant.
Over the years we have included: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Spanish, some of these ethnicity's several different times.

Last year we changed it a little, in that we ventured to an All you can Eat Sushi restaurant, which was a popular choice. (I think it was the all you can eat part that was so popular among many, we won't mention names but, T..y, N..h, D.n, Y..s, J..n do come to mind. Pretty readily.

This year we held the Year End Dinner on Saturday the 22nd of November at an all you can eat Chinese restaurant. I believe everyone enjoyed themselves and definitely everybody availed themselves of the more than adequate supplies of nourishment.
At this year's dinner we invited John's Mum and Dad, Shirley and Len to join us.
Since John is in Japan. - see above

We took the opportunity to have Troy read a letter John had sent to us, especially for the year end dinner. It gave a message to everyone about a particular aspect of the Japanese culture which had affected him quite deeply. The message was significant in that he said he had never experienced this type of thing anywhere else except at Ryurei Aikido.

We were delighted that Dan was able to be back in Ottawa after spending the summer in Alberta. Dan is our oldest member of Ryurei Aikido and always manages to be present for an all you can eat dinner. Wait, we should clarify what we mean by oldest member. We really mean he has been with Ryurei Aikido longer than anyone else among our current membership, having joined us in 1996. It is great to see Dan back and in practice on the tatami again.

Dan also presented a wonderful philosophical discourse to us all about the why's and wherefore's of grading.

Noah had made a special trip from Toronto to be with us for the event.
Noah is a very senior student in Ryurei Aikido and is the designated next Chief Instructor who will take over the school sometime in the relatively near future.
Noah, joined me as the lead in presenting the results, certificates and new Obi to members who had completed a recent grading. Noah also was asked to present this years recipient of the annual "George and Norma Simcox Pink Hakama Award" (click here Pink Hakama to read about this award.)

This years recipient of "The George and Norma Simcox Pink Hakama Award" is Oanh Nguyen.
It was a very big surprise to Oanh as she really did not know very much about the award and certainly did not expect to be the recipient of it. She still believes we made a mistake and confused her with someone else.

 

 

However Oanh does indeed meet the desired characteristics and has made astounding progress in her study and understanding of Ki as taught in our Shinkido classes.

The grading results announced by Noah are as follows.

Name:                                    Grade:

Yves Sabourin                                        Yonkyu
Charlie Crocker                                    Yonkyu
Shayne Robichaud                                 Gokyu
Olivia Tran                                             Gokyu
May Nguyen                                           Gokyu
Ninh Nguyen                                          Gokyu
Oahn Nguyen                                         Gokyu

Congratulation to you all.

                 Change in our grading procedures:

After many years of conducting this school's grading process based on what is apparently the traditional Japanese Aikido schools methodology, I have after discussion with senior instructors of the dojo, decided to change this school's way of conducting our Mudansha grading and Yudansha ranking tests.

Above I say, "apparently the traditional Japanese Aikido Schools methodology" because, if we take a look at the historical evidence, we find that the present methods are a more recent development, and are, in fact, not the way O'Sensei conducted the testing for grades for the first many years after the establishment of the Aikido school he founded.
It is certainly a post WW2 phenomena, the manner in which grading is done today.

Here is why Ryurei Aikido has chosen to change the way in which we intend to perform the grading tests from now on.

     1. Ryurei Aikido will now test candidates for a Mudansha grade without informing any member that there is a grading taking place. The Chief Instructor in conjunction with other chosen instructors will test the candidates either by informal testing or by observation combined with practicing as an Uke with the candidate for a period of time measured in weeks rather than hours.

     2. We think it is more accurate in determining a candidates ability, to "examine" a student in "secret" and make the determination of grade over a longer period of time, 1 or 2 weeks, as opposed to over a 20 - 60 minute period of time.

     3. If the test is announced say one month ahead of the testing, then, we are measuring the rehearsed versions of the technique, as opposed to what the candidate really knows. Very often the candidate practices for the examination for perhaps the month or more before the test. Often practicing techniques that they personally have not "done" very often before.
The technique may be technically correct for their test, however it may still not be "really correct." It is being done by rote not by ingrained learned skill.

     4 . By testing in secret we see and observe what the student not only really knows but also how they usually perform the technique, thereby seeing the candidates "real" Shinkido/Aikido ability.

     5. Historically O'Sensei did just what we are proposing, he simply announced that so'n so is now ranked what he had decided and this was followed with a certificate and Obi when necessary.

     6. When we see a test performed after several weeks of practice with the same Uke. We have other problems. Nage and Uke are very comfortable together.

     7. Thereby often producing less that full attacks and so diminishing the need for a more correct technique. This is sometimes difficult to determine accurately.

     8. All candidates for Shodan and Nidan ranking will be subjected to a formal test.

 

This will follow the procedure that Ryurei Aikido has followed since the early 1980's.
That is, the test does not follow a preset pattern of techniques that can simply be rehearsed. Nor does it rely on simply one or two Ukes. Instead the candidate knows which large selection of techniques that may be chosen from for the test.

Techniques may be chosen from Aikido Tachi waza, Shinkido and Buki waza.

It is conducted in several ways;

a) Nage is told what technique they are to utilize, Uke will be given a selection of up to 8 different attacks. There will be two Ukes simply to speed up the rate at which Nage must perform the techniques. Uke makes the attacks with a random choice of attacks which may or may not be different to the previous attack.
However each technique will be chosen by the examiner and the length of time or number of attacks will be chosen by the examiner.

b) In the next phase any Shinkido technique can be asked for out of the repertoire of more than 1000 available, even some the candidate has never seen or heard of before may be asked for.

c) Nage will be asked to perform any technique they deem appropriate, for the unknown attack that Uke decides to use. Again there will be two Ukes to keep the speed of the test at a high level. The examiner will call for Ukes to change ensuring the Ukes do not tire too much.

d) Buki waza will be called for with a selection of techniques being asked for by the examiner. Nage may also be asked to explain the pertinent points needed to show their understanding of the technique and the weapon. Also some weapon against weapon will be asked for.

e) The weapons used are Bokken, Jo and Tanto.

10. It is possible and highly likely that Nage will be asked to perform some obscure and little practiced techniques or skills.

11. The grading for Shodan can be expected to take 1.5 to 2.0 hours, While Nidan can expect to take 2.0 hours.

12. We will not be holding a formal test for the rank of Sandan and above.

 

                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                 
                                                                                                                                                    

This past year at Ryurei Aikido, we have had some very festive celebrations. Our latest was our Year End Dinner at the Buffet Yang-Ming.

During that special gathering there were many laughs during our time at the restaurant.
I thought this was just a fun celebration for the amazing food, but little did I know there was more in store for me.

The night progressed with much laughter and joy as each of the guests came to the buffet during the night. We were chatting with everybody and anybody. That night was something special, that everyone will remember. Hours went by until my mother informed me that we were receiving our rankings.

Man, was I scared. I have never been comfortable in front of any public situation, so I decided to let it slide. Half an hour later, Sensei made a special announcement. After that, he asked Troy to read a letter from John, who is in Japan at this time.
Everyone found that the letter was very touching.

Then Dan stood up and told about the gradings.
After Dan, Sensei and Noah stood up and gave us our gradings. Yves and Charlie got the grade of Yonkyu. -  Oanh, Ninh, Olivia, Shayne, and I, all got the grade of …… Gokyu.

But they still had something else to award, THE PINK HAKAMA AWARD.
This year's recipient was my mother, Oanh. She was so shocked about this.
As she got up to accept the award I instantly knew she was thinking that she was dreaming.  She never would have guessed that she would accept an award as special as this one. But this was real and she had received the award.

When our family left, about an hour afterwards, my mom was blushing in the car. She kept thinking this was a dream, a wonderful, wonderful dream. This award had meant so much to her, she was blown away.
She had mixed emotions about everything that happened that night. But after a week or so, she finally adapted to the idea of accepting this award. As I said before, this night was something special for everyone to remember. I think that my mom will never forget this, especially because she had never experienced this before.

 

 

                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                        Noah Potechin - Nidan

 

       Aikido began not long ago, and already the founders', Morihei Ueshiba's, teachings have divided. Various factions or groups all claim to know the true essence of Aikido, often rebuking the other societies as being foolish. This severing of the identity does not in any way seem ironic to these members of the Aikido world - that a martial art based on harmony should have infighting. It is impossible now to truly know what O'Sensei meant to teach. It is unlikely he could foresee his teachings being so substantially dilapidated. And indeed, regardless of which group you might be a member, it is important to remember that you, theoretically, must feel that the other groups are perverting the true teachings of O'Sensei, which, of course, you know intimately - note, though, that others must then be thinking the same negative thoughts about you.

        It is in the fundamental nature of Aikido to be harmonious. The first character, Ai, loosely translated, even means harmony. Keeping all of the above information in mind - that is, Aikido's ability to resist labels and its unofficial official division among various uchideshi of O'Sensei - it seems that what Aikido truly is, is a deeply personal Martial art. It does not matter anymore, to argue about who is right and who is wrong. Not only does this create a feeling of disorderliness and disorganization, but it is a fractured, unharmonious front to the world - without proper harmony, this art becomes Kido.
Aikido should be realigned within the individual Aikidoka. Certainly each student requires the guidance and direction of a Sensei, in order for the student to grow and develop skills and techniques, but what each student does with the gained knowledge of Aikido is fundamentally internal. Especially considering a Sensei has no real way of discerning the absolute nature of knowledge.

        To identify the legitimate degree of ascertained comprehension of Aikido is to reify that which substantially resists such reification. A student may exude the façade of knowledge whereby they execute a technique flawlessly, while the internal dialogue of that same student may betray the frail nature of their true knowledge. Consequently it is essential for the student to internalize Aikido technique for their own knowledge, considering a Sensei has no real means of determining the extent of learning that has occurred. Simply put, Sensei cannot tell if you legitimately know, or if you have managed to superficially imitate, a technique. The responsibility of self-knowledge is placed squarely upon the student. If an Aikidoka does not understand, it is important to seek the absent knowledge - to harmonize your Sensei's knowledge with oneself. Certainly it is possible to rise through the ranks of Aikido without ever truly submerging oneself into the world of Aikido, but, in the end, an inability to wear the obi you have will become embarrassingly apparent. There is no purpose in faking ones way through the levels of Aikido, because it has no actualized benefit. If someone is simply in the mood to wear a black obi, they may purchase one direct through a store, rather than waiting ten years or more for a sensei to present them with one.

        A lack of the proper use of Ki in harmony with techniques, theoretically changes the art into Aido. The middle character of Aikido, or, preferentially, the central character, and thereby perhaps the most important, is Ki. Loosely translated, this character refers to the energy Aikidoka must utilize in order to properly execute techniques. Emphasis must be situated upon the word properly. The esoteric nature of Ki is what creates the binary construction between real and superficial knowledge - of course valuing the former rather than the latter. Because Ki is so mysterious, it is difficult for Sensei to differentiate true from imitated knowledge, especially because of the dictum that Ki is the universal energy to which everyone has access. The universality of Ki makes it possible for Aikidoka to be unknowingly extending Ki. As a result, the Sensei is faced with the difficult task of determining to what degree a student is utilizing Ki, and to what extent a student is going through the motions and Ki is merely coincidentally flowing. The elusiveness of Ki, combined with the internal nature of Aikido as a personal art, makes it quite impossible for Sensei to truly know what is going on inside of an Aikidoka. Certainly stories may be related, feelings interpreted, and movements demonstrated, but the essentialist core, the truth, the art and the knowledge are all buried quite deep, and for all external purposes, quite inaccessible to the external Sensei.

        There are several methodologies that may be harnessed by Sensei in order to ascertain the extent of an Aikidoka's Ki development.. One such method is a Ki test. These imitations of something that once resembled a laudable test of the understanding of Ki seem to have degenerated into a laughable demonstration of the Aikidoka's skill as a dramatic artist. Recalling one such test, Uke stood, hunched over, hands upon his or her knees. Nage, stood with his or her back to Uke, and leaned backward so that his or her weight was resting upon Uke. Without any indication, Uke suddenly dropped flat and retreated from what should be the full weight of Nage as he or she tumbles to the tatami. By some stroke of incredible power, however, Nage remains unmoved, seemingly suspended in a hyper-extended position, which must be wreaking havoc upon his or her vertebral column. In theory, this demonstration of Ki is quite potent - until you notice that Nage is not really leaning back all that much, and, in fact, it is quite easy to obtain a similar position with little difficulty. That exercise of Ki was part of a Shodan test. It was both absurd and pitiable, at once.

         The problem of unreliable Ki testing should be striking fear and sadness into the bodies, minds and spirits of the Aikido world. Somehow, though, one would be hard pressed to locate a Sensei who admits there is even a problem - at least not with their own dojo. Each Sensei will quickly rebuke others as not paying more than lip-service to Ki, while they teach the true essence of Ki, Budo and Aikido, just as O'Sensei would have wanted. The truth of the matter is that very few Sensei's are able to teach, test and train using Ki.
The unwritten, unspoken belief of many instructors is that Ki simply appears one day, so it is unnecessary to rigourously teach Ki development. Another, similarly covert idea of many Senseis' is that there is no way to successfully teach Ki, because of its elusive nature. The result is that such Sensei's teach the art of Aido.

         Do is the final character in Aikido, loosely translated to mean the way. Realizing that there was a distinct divergence from the teaching of true Ki use, our Sensei endeavoured to develop a way to surmount this problem. The result: Shinkido - developed by our Sensei.
Using Shinkido, Sensei was able to overcome the seemingly insurmountable difficulty of the idiosyncratic inability to measure Ki.
By teaching Shinkido, which is the study of Ki - how to strengthen it within oneself, how to utilize it for both internal and external uses, and how to quickly achieve co-ordination of mind, body and spirit - Sensei has been able to solve the problem of unreliable Ki tests, and diminish the issue that Ki is internally stationed and therefore inaccessible to the external spectator.

Using Shinkido exercises and tests, Sensei is able to legitimately discern the skill level being practiced by the Aikidoka. The students are placed in situations in which even the strongest person would have great difficulty achieving success against the smallest person.

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                 Noah receives Assistant Instructor Certificate                                           

 

 

         Recalling an example, an Uke is given a Jo to hold, horizontally in front of them, with both hands, legs braced to resist movement. Nage is then invited to use only their thumb or any other single digit to move Uke back in the direction of their braced legs. This type of test can easily identify those students who have the ability to harness Ki from those who cannot. The test is created in such a way that it is not Uke who is responsible for preventing the movement, but rather, it is regulated by Nage's own thumb or finger being weaker than the whole body of Uke. The result is the self-indentification of muscular use, or the successful harnessing of Ki.
The other means by which Shinkido is useful is in judging the knowledge of Aikido techniques in Aikidoka. Sensei, or more senior students, can use Shinkido as a resistance to the Aikido technique being attempted. If the student is properly utilizing Ki, the technique is successful. Without the use of Ki, Sensei may remain resolute and steadfastly prevent the execution of the technique until the proper use of Ki is obtained. Although Sensei cannot literally gain insight into the internal workings of the mind, body and spirit of the Aikidoka, it is possible to judge whether or not legitimate use of actual Ki has been achieved. It is impossible to counterfeit Ki usage using muscle because of the discrepancy between the power from muscle and from Ki.

        Ryurei Aikido aspires to constantly reconstitute itself in light of new developments, and will never shirk from new, beneficial experiences. The dojo is continually pushing the edges of Ki development, believing that the most powerful knowledge contained within Ki is yet to be discovered. There is, it is believed, a vast Ocean of power and knowledge beneath the Ki surface upon which we tread. While other dojo's may feel that imitation of O'Sensei is the key to attaining the truth about Ki, Ryurei Aikido couples such mimesis with its own quest for that knowledge - never sitting upon its haunches to declare that the truth is only achievable using one mode, or worse yet, that the truth is unachievable, or even more catastrophic, that the truth has already been discovered.  

         Continuously developing, progressing and learning, Ryurei Aikido has shown its ability to overcome the obstacles and surmount the problems that most dojo's will scarcely acknowledge. The way that Aikido has divided itself, so incongruently with the way of harmonizing energy, there is little wonder as to why our Sensei has further marginalized the dojo from the mainstream, commercial factions. It is not the position of Ryurei Aikido to rebuke those who are within the official world of Aikido, for a lack of Ki development.
Since Aikido is deeply personal, other societies of Aikido may legitimate themselves with the rationale that, for them, Ki is different - a completely valid assertion.
The consequence is that until the mainstream comes to terms with itself, and can coalesce into a single organization, Ryurei Aikido will remain as the retreat, a voluntarily independent dojo, that has embraced a Ki centric ideology.

         While Aikido will likely always remain enigmatic, Shinkido is one tool that can be utilized to help understand, develop and improve this wonderful marital art. And there is certainly no danger in the reification of aspects of Aikido. Moving them from esoteric into the world of probability and reality simply makes them more incredible, and undeniable. Systematically creating a binary between what is plausible and what is impossible - of course valuing plausibility. Rather than being mysteriously delicate and powerful, perhaps a theoretical explanation is offered: that Ki is an equalizing power, resulting from our studies of Shinkido. The traditional weakness of one Aikidoka, the lack of muscular girth, is amplified to create a mighty, effortless technique. While the weakness of another Aikidoka, that is, the overabundance of muscular strength, is softened into a fluid, effortless movement, with a soft and delicate whisper.

Editor's note: In the above article Noah suggests that Aikido is a personal self development.

He also comments about one organization or individual believing their aikido is better than another's.
I would like to relate a conversation that took part some 14 years ago between myself and two departed but highly respected Aikidoka, both of whom were members of the Ki Society.

This took place at a Ki Society Chief Instructors Conference in the USA. The three of us were practicing some techniques together along with about another 105 Yudansha.
The others involved were Bill Bickford Sensei of the Kingston Ki Society in Ontario, Canada and George Simcox Sensei, Chief Instructor of the Virginia Ki Society.

George turned to me and he said, "you know Peter, Bill's aikido is much better than yours, - pause - then he turned to Bill and said, "you know Bill, my aikido is much better than yours, - pause - then he said, and Peter's aikido is much better than mine."

Then he waited for reaction, none came. He then said, "Isn't it amazing we are here with about 110 of the very best Aikidoka in the world. Everyone here is the very best that there is at their Aikido, no-one can compare with their own style."

This, I believe, is what Noah perhaps is saying - at least in part. - Peter Bussell

 

 

  An Article originally written for Japanese Wushu Magazine
We have copied it from a reprint in Aikido Journal.
We include it because Shioda Gozo is the founder of
Yoshinkai Aikido, one of the foundations
under Ryurei Aikido.

This article was written several years ago, during the time when both Shioda Gozo Sensei and
Kishomaru Ueshiba Sensei - Aikikai Doshu were still alive.

About Shioda Gozo, Yoshinkan - Kancho 1915 - 1994 an early student of Ueshiba Sensei.

This writer has attended literally hundreds of aikido demonstrations over the years.

When it comes to showing aikido to the general public in an easily understood and attractive manner, Gozo Shioda stands alone.
He combines a lucid analysis of aikido theory with crisp technique and a liberal dash of humor. The observer of a Shioda aikido demonstration is almost invariably caught up in the mood of the experience and ready to join an aikido dojo without the least bit of coaxing.
Moreover, Shioda never fails to give credit where due and always mentions his teacher Morihei Ueshiba and the fact that aikido evolved from the techniques of Daito-ryu aikijujutsu.

Let us trace the highlights of the career of this colorful personality who heads the worldwide Yoshinkan Aikido organization and to whom the aikido world owes a tremendous debt.

Gozo Shioda (1915-1994)                         

                                                                                                                                      

                                                                               Gozo Shioda Kancho - Founder of the Yoshinkai                             

Fortunately, in writing about Gozo Shioda we have the advantage of being able to consult his recently-published autobiography entitled “Aikido Jinsei” (Takeuchi Shoten Shinsha). That coupled with his accessibility, allows us to achieve a much more accurate portrayal of his career than would otherwise be possible.

The second son of a well-known pediatrician, Seiichi Shioda, Gozo was born in Tokyo on September 9, 1915. A small, sickly child, Shioda credits his very survival through childhood to the medical skills of his physician-father. Young Gozo enjoyed a privileged upbringing while being subject to the directives of his strong-willed father.

His fateful meeting with Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido, came about as follows.

A Mr. Munetaka Abe, the headmaster of the middle school Gozo attended, was impressed by the outstanding mental attitude of a young woman, a Miss Takako Kunigoshi, who cleaned a nearby shrine every morning. When asked about her exemplary bearing, she gave credit to her teacher of “aikijujutsu” and suggested the schoolmaster observe a training session. Thoroughly impressed by what he saw at the nearby Ueshiba Dojo, Mr. Abe urged Gozo’s father to enroll his son there.

On May 23, 1932, the 17-year-old Gozo appeared at the Ueshiba dojo to witness a demonstration. Having had a strong background in both kendo and judo, the confident young Shioda was skeptical of the clean, controlled techniques he saw performed. Sensing the lad’s unimpressed attitude, Ueshiba then invited him to attack and, in the blink of an eye, the young man found himself on his back rubbing his head after an unsuccessful kick attempt. In aikido, “feeling is believing,” and Shioda immediately decided to join the dojo.

Since two guarantors were required to enter, his father and Mr. Abe provided introductions.

At that time, there were about twenty uchideshi in the Ueshiba Dojo and they followed a rigorous schedule with classes starting in the morning at five and ending at nine in the evening. It must have been most stimulating for young Shioda to become part of this dojo in which so many skilled young martial artists were training and where numerous persons of high-social standing appeared routinely.

Morihei Ueshiba was extremely active at this point of his career and taught not only at his Kobukan Dojo in Shinjuku but also the Nakano military institute, the Military Police School, and the Army Toyama School among other locations. For this reason, it was not necessary to solicit students from among the general public and the emphasis at the Kobukan was on the training and development of the uchideshi.

Technically speaking, the “Aiki Budo” of Ueshiba at this stage was in a transition phase and was somewhere between Daito-ryu aikijujutsu and modern aikido. As a result, the techniques were much more numerous, linear in appearance and applied with great vigor. Also, many complex pinning techniques (osaewaza) were still used. Young Gozo was still a middle school student at the time and, in the beginning, attended only morning sessions having to arise at four am.

Later, at his father’s urging in mapping out his future, Gozo set his sights on an adventure-filled life participating in the “reconstruction” of Mongolia. As part of his preparations for the strenuous years ahead, he resolved to withdraw from school for a two-year period to devote himself full-time to aikido training.

Thereafter, he continued practicing aikido while a student at Takushoku University until his departure for military service in March 1941. Shioda spent most of the war years in China starting as a secretary of General Shunroku Hata in Beijing and had more than one close brush with death. Shioda’s autobiography covers this period and makes for exciting reading.

                                                                                                                     

In around September of 1946 a few months after his discharge from the imperial army, Shioda spent several weeks of intensive training and farming at the home of Ueshiba who had withdrawn to Iwama in Ibaragi Prefecture during the early days of the war.
Still a young man and with his master apparently in retirement, Shioda then returned to Tokyo and like most others struggled to make ends meet in poverty-stricken Japan.

In 1950, as luck would have it, Shioda was asked to guard the Tsurumi facility of the Nihon Kokan steel company in the wake of the “Red Purge” and gathered together some 55 of the strongest members of the kendo, judo and sumo clubs of his alma mater Takushoku University. This led to him being asked to teach aikido on a regular basis at various plant locations starting in 1952.

He also gave demonstrations at numerous police departments in the early 1950s.
A significant event proved to be a large aikido demonstration held in Tokyo in 1954 sponsored by the Life Extension Association which was attended by some 15,000 persons. Shioda’s performance received the best reception from the huge audience and little by little the nascent Yoshinkan Aikido organization began to achieve prominence.

Also, around this time Shioda’s activities became known to various members of the business world. In particular, a Mr. Kudo who headed the Tomin Bank came to the aid of the Yoshinkan and backed the construction of a dojo.

The Tsukudo Hachiman facility was opened to the general public in 1955. From that modest beginning, Yoshinkan Aikido gradually spread all over Japan and to foreign countries, mainly in the U.S. and Europe.
It is presently the second largest aikido organization with hundreds of members dojos in its world-wide network. At this point it would be useful to make a clarification.

The subject of how Yoshinkan Aikido became separate from the Aikikai is little understood. When Shioda started his aikido activities in earnest after the war, Morihei Ueshiba was still in retirement in Iwama and classes at the Aikikai dojo (formerly the Kobukan) were irregular and sparsely attended. In fact, several families left homeless due to the bombing of Tokyo lived in the dojo. At one point, it was even used as a dance hall! It was against this backdrop that Shioda achieved several early successes as the Yoshinkan grew steadily. Somewhat later, the Aikikai gradually began to regain momentum under the direction of Ueshiba’s son Kisshomaru and the founder himself spent increasingly more time in Tokyo.

Thus, there never occurred a formal split between the two organizations despite their rather different approaches to aikido. The two groups simply evolved independently while maintaining more or less cordial ties. Even today Shioda and Kisshomaru make regular appearances on formal occasions at each other activities. Shioda trained under Ueshiba when the latter was at his peak while in his vigorous 50s. Therefore, the techniques he learned from the founder of aikido were rather different from those taught by Ueshiba during the postwar years.

Not surprisingly, Yoshinkan Aikido is clearly distinguishable from that practiced in the Aikikai system under the leadership of Ueshiba’s son, the present Aikido Doshu. The discussion of when the technique of Morihei Ueshiba was at its peak—before or after the war—continues unabated and in the end, any conclusion reached must be a subjective one.

Regardless of where one stands on this issue, many will certainly agree with the opinion voiced by Shioda in an interview appearing in “Aiki News” several years ago: “Today’s aikido is so dimensionless. It’s hollow, empty on the inside. People try to reach the highest levels without even paying their dues. That’s why it seems so much like a dance these days. You have to master the very basics solidly, with your body, and then proceed to develop to the higher levels…. Now we see nothing but copying or imitation without any grasp of the real thing….”

 

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