Ryuji Shirakawa was born on 4th September 1980 and started aikido at 15 years. He lived in Kobayashi’s Dojo as an uchi-deshi, traveled to Germany to learn under Katsuaki Asai Sensei, lived in Calgary Aikikai, Canada as an uchi-deshi. But let’s make it fare right from the start…
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Senseis category is about the teachers we have these days. You will learn their stories, ways and future plans inside.
We’ve met Morito Suganuma Shihan earlier on the site in a post with the warm-ups but he really deserves more… He was born on July 27, 1942, in Fukushima, Japan. He knew about the Aikido from an early age and heard about O-Sensei a few times but only at Asia University in Tokyo, he was able to join a Nobuyoshi Tamura‘s Aikido class. He continued at the Hombu Dojo, where future Sensei was surrounded by the greats with the Morihei Ueshiba as in charge.
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Yukimitsu Kobayashi was born on 15 April 1960. He is a 7 Dan Aikido Aikikai Hombu Dojo Shihan.
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Piotr Masztalerz studies Aikido since 1988. He’s a 6 Dan Aikido Birankai Shidoin based in Poland. For those who don’t know Birankai is an association of Aikido Practitioners and Dojos founded by T. K. Chiba Shihan, forged by rigorous training, tempered by mutual respect, and committed to the relentless pursuit of the art.
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Igor Zaharevich was born on March 23, 1963, in Chisinau, Moldova. He’s a 5 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shidoin and a founder of the Aikido Federation in the country.
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Etsuji Horii Sensei was born on May 4, 1964, in Osaka, Japan. He holds a rank of a 7 Dan in Aikikai and is a founder of the Aioikai Aikido Dojo in Sanda.
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Yasunari Kitaura Sensei was born on May 25, 1937. Since 1967 he is an official representative of the Aikido Aikikai in Spain where he lives constantly. Kitaura Shihan is the 8 Dan Aikikai holder.
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Ikuhiro Kubota was born on June 19, 1943, in Kashihara, Nara, Japan. He is 8th Dan Aikido Aikikai and one of the biggest masters of the time in Japan. His main teacher and aikido-friend is Hiroshi Tada.
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Christian Tissier gave an interview for the SFR Sport Kombat which is a French TV channel about the Martial Arts, MMA and everything related. The interview is originally in French, Tissier’s native language and a translation to English is inside the post, hop in. The interview was taken by Lucie Bertaud.
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Tsuruzo Miyamoto was born on March 30, 1953, on the island of Kyushu, Japan. He is an 8 Dan and one of the most respected Hombu Shihans at the moment.
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Vassilis Nykteris holds a 5th Dan and is based in Greece. He is a founder of the Aikido Academy of Athens, Aikido Academy of Cyprus. He is running a full-time Dojo in the city of Athens.
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Jiro Kimura is an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He is in charge of the Osaka Buikukai that is considered to be one of the biggest organizations affiliated to the Aikikai.
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Christian Tissier was born on February 7, 1951, in Paris, France. He began aikido at the age of 11 under the Jean-Claude Tavernier in his native city and soon on moved to train under the Mutsuro Nakazono, 7 Dan Aikido Aikikai. In 1968 Christian received a 2nd Dan from Nakazono Sensei and made a plan to go to Japan after.
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Dang Thong Phong was born in 1935. He started his Martial Arts career from Han Bai Duong (Vietnamese Shaolin Kung-Fu) and Judo. From 1958 he added Aikido and Taekwondo to the list of his favorite activities and he continues to follow his choices up, after almost 60 years.
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Yoko Okamoto holds a rank of a 6th Dan in Aikido Aikikai, a status of Shihan. She is the most respected female-Sensei in Aikido and is very important in Japan.
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An interview was taken on June 9, 2018, during a seminar with the Shihan at Chisinau, Moldova. Hiroyuki Sakurai held 6 Dan at the time. During the 2020 Kagamibiraki ceremony, Sensei received 7th Dan from the Aikikai.
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Joe Thambu was born on 24 March 1961 in Seremban, Malaysia. He’s an 8 Dan Yoshinkan Aikido Shihan. A student of Gozo Shioda and Aikido Shudokan founder in Australia.
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Ulf Evenas Shihan was born on 3 November 1946 in Trollhattan, Sweden. His Budo way began with a Kyokushin Karate but soon after, in 1968, he switched to Aikido which he studied under Carl Hansson in Gothenburg who had a background in Judo, Ju-Jitsu.
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Hayato Osawa is an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He is a son of the Kisaburo Osawa and one of the main instructors at Hombu just as his father was.
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Hiroshi Tada was born on December 13th, 1929 and is the only living 9th Dan Aikido Aikikai holder. He entered Hombu Dojo in 1950 and doing aikido now for 67 years! He was just always there, he knows them all, and seen it all happened and changed with his own eyes.
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