Tag Archives: aikikai

Lifting the Veil: Aikido Opens to the World

The 50th All Japan Aikido Demonstration
May 26th, 2012 marked the 50th All Japan Aikido Demonstration (第50回全日本合気道演武大会) in Tokyo, at the Nihon Budokan.  The All Japan is the biggest event of the year for Aikikai, and groups come from around Japan and around the world to attend. It is attended by thousands of spectators and demonstrators. But did you know that much of the motivation for these huge Aikikai events was actually provided by the Yoshinkan?At the end of the war the Wakamatsu-cho Aikikai dojo (the Kobukan Dojo before the war) was one of the few buildings still left standing after the bombing. Even so, the roof was badly damaged, many of the tatami mats were missing, and refugees were actually living in the dojo. Morihei Ueshiba was living in Iwama and rarely came to Tokyo.

Koichi Tohei: Aikido Comes to Hawaii

Koichi Tohei demonstrates Sankyo in Hawaii
In "Morihei Ueshiba: Untranslatable Words" we explored one of Koichi Tohei’s experiences during the 1961 visit to Hawaii by Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba. For those that are interested, Koa Kimura’s photo journal of O-Sensei’s visit to Hawaii is available on the Aikido Hawaii website.Koichi Tohei originally visited Hawaii in 1953, at the invitation of the Hawaii branch of the Nishi Health System.
Between 1953 and the opening of the Honolulu Aiki Dojo in 1961 Aikido experienced an explosive growth in the Hawaiian islands – the Hawaii Aikido groups were even able to raise funds to send to Japan for the repair of the Aikikai hombu dojo, which had been damaged in the bombing of Tokyo during WWII.

Masters of the Universe, the Aikikai and the Shihan Certification

Masters of the Universe®, Mattel Inc.
"Shihan" – most often translated as "Master Instructor". Sound pretty important?The term wasn’t used much when I first started Aikido, but it seems to be the title to have nowadays.In Japanese, the Kanji for Shihan (師範) break down to "instruct" and "model"  – or "model instructor". This makes sense, especially considering normal Japanese methods of instruction – this would be the guy that everybody else copies, or hopes to copy.The usage of the word varies from art to art. Some arts issues Shihan certifications, some don’t. Some arts (like Shodokan "Tomiki" Aikido, which only has two, although it is also used as an organizational title) have a very limited number of Shihan, some have many. In Judo, Jigoro Kano is usually called "Kano Shihan", as Morihei Ueshiba is often called "O-Sensei" in Aikido.What does "Shihan" mean in the Aikikai (I’m only going to talk about the Aikikai here)?