Yoshinkan Aikido - 養神館合気道
The History of Aikido
Present day aikido has its origins in Daito Aikijutsu, which is said to have been founded by Prince Teijun, the sixth son of the Emperor Seiwa (850 - 880 AD). Through the prince’s son, Tsunemoto, it was passed on to succeeding generations of the Minamoto family. By the time the art reached Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu, the younger brother of Yoshiie Minamoto, it would appear that the foundations of the present aikido had already been laid.Yoshimitsu was apparently a man of exceptional skill and learning. Yoshimitsu’s second son Yoshikiyo lived in Takeda in the province of Kai where he eventually became known by this name. Subsequently, the techniques were passed on to successive generations as a secret art of the Takeda House and made known only to members and retainers of the family. In 1574, Takeda Kunitsugu moved to Aizu; the techniques continued to be passed on to his descendants only, and came to be known as the aizu han omote waza.
Thereafter, the art remained an exclusively samurai practice and was handed down within the family until Japan emerged from isolation into the Meiji period in1868. At that time Sokaku Takeda, then head of the family, began to teach the art outside the Takeda household traveling widely throughout the recently unified Japan and finally settling in Hokkaido. His son Tokimune Takeda opened the Daitokan dojo in Abashiri, Hokkaido and continued to further the development of Taito Ryu Aikijujitsu. The most outstanding of Sokaku Takeda’s pupils was Morihei Ueshiba. Ueshiba Sensei, a man of rare ability, brought to Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu the essentials of other ancient martial art schools and added techniques of his own devising to found modern aikido. For many years Ueshiba Sensei taught and guided from his dojo in Wakamatsucho, Tokyo.
Gozo Shioda, born in Tokyo in 1915, spent his youth studying various martial arts and sports such as kendo, judo and gymnastics. He excelled in these, especially judo, reaching the level of sandan, or third degree black belt in his teens. At the age of eighteen, Shioda visited Kobukan Dojo, founded by Morihei Ueshiba, and was amazed by the skills of O Sensei. So impressed was he that on May 24, 1932, he joined the dojo and devoted himself to the study of aikido. For eight years, Shioda lived at the dojo and trained under Ueshiba Sensei as an uchideshi, or a ”special disciple or apprentice” to the master.
After World War II, Shioda Sensei spent a brief period at the Iwama dojo where he resumed his formal training under O Sensei. In 1954, after the lifting of the ban on martial arts training imposed by General Macarthur, the Nippon Sogo Budo Yaitai (Life Extension Association) sponsored the first post-war martial arts demonstration. Shioda Sensei displayed his exceptional aikido skills in front of an audience of over 15,000 people and was awarded the Grand Prize for best demonstration. Soon after in 1955, he founded his own style of aikido and organization, Aikido Yoshinkai, and established his dojo, Yoshinkan, or “the house of the cultivating spirit.”
Shioda sensei emphasized 集中力 (Shu Chu Ryoku), the concentration of power, which leads to dynamic and effective technique. Through his impressive demonstrations the Yoshinkan grew in popularity, but the large numbers of students presented a new challenge to the Yoshinkan teachers. In order to effectively teach large groups of people, basic movements and techniques were outlined. These provided the base on which students can build effective aikido and has become the under pinning factor in defining Yoshinkan Aikido.
Techniques are broken down step by step allowing students to fully understand where the power is transferred from and giving them the tools to build their own effective technique. Shioda sensei strongly believed that aikido is a martial art with a practical side, and stressed that attacks be real. As part of aikido training students must therefore learn both sides of the aikido equation, strong attacks as well as strong defense with aikido techniques.
In 1961, his teacher, Ueshiba Sensei, awarded Gozo Shioda Soke the rank of ninth dan. Then in 1984 the International Martial Arts Federation bestowed upon him the honorary award of tenth dan along with the title of Meijin or Grand Master.
Gozo Shioda Soke passed away in 1994, leaving behind an organization which has expanded all over Japan, the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. In aikido there are no boundaries of cultures or peoples.
