Yasuo Kobayashi is a Japanese 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He is chief of the Aikido Kobayashi Dojo organization with more than 100 Dojos around the world.
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Shoji Seki Shihan was born on 6 March 1950 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. While he was a student in a Musashi Institute of Technology in Tokyo a group of the aikidokas was giving a demonstration and in 1969 Shoji joined.
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Masatake Fujita (April 21, 1937 – May 28, 2014) – 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai. Was born in a town with the name Changchun, China. At that time territory was controlled by Japan and named Manchuria. His father was deeply in Budo and because of that Masatake’s interest was low until he personally met a founder during the student years.
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Katsuaki Asai was learning aikido under the guidance of the Morihei Ueshiba himself. He was born on 18 February 1942 in Tokyo and joined Hombu Dojo in 1955 being just 13 years old. After 10 years of intensive training with O-Sensei, Katsuaki was already the 4th Dan and been giving aikido lessons at the Meiji University of Tokyo.
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Rinjiro Shirata (March 29, 1912 – May 29, 1993) was a 9 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan also known as the Kobukan Prodigy because of the strong body.
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There are only a few direct O-Sensei disciples left alive and Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei is one of them. He holds a rank of the 8 Dan in Aikikai and is a teacher with a name known all over the world. This is one reason he is so respected and demanded. A bigger reason is his high aikido skill, unique style and colossal contribution to the Aikido.
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Yoji Fujimoto (March 26, 1948 – February 20, 2012) was an 8 Dan Aikikai Shihan. At the age of 23, he moved to Italy and became a big part of the Aikido history in the country.
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Hiroshi Isoyama was born in 1937. In June 1949 he joined the Iwama Dojo to learn Aikido under the Morihei Ueshiba. Training under O-Sensei continued for around 20 years of his life and is the main part of Hiroshi Isoyama’s knowledge about the martial arts philosophy which he still transmits to the world.
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Philip Lee Shihan has a 7th Dan in Aikido Aikikai Shihan based in Singapore. He’s a founder of the Aikido Shinju-Kai organization which is the largest one in the territories of the Malaysian countries.
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Nobuo Takase is a 7th Dan Aikikai Shihan and a Technical Director of Aikido in New Zealand. He is a head-instructor in Aikido Shinryukan with headquarters in Auckland.
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Yukio Kawahara (August 14, 1940 – June 2, 2011) – was an 8 Dan Japanese Aikido Shihan and official representative of the Aikikai in Canada.
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Juba Nour has a 6 Dan in Aikikai and holds a status of a Shihan. He’s one of the first known uchi-deshi’s for Kazuo Chiba. A founder of the Baja Aikido on the beaches of Mexico and one of the Birankai’s heroes.
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Kisshomaru Ueshiba (June 27, 1921 – January 4, 1999) – was a son of the Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the Aikido and was a second Doshu which literally translates as a tradition keeper.
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Robert Savoca Sensei is a 6th Dan teacher from Birankai base in New York, USA. He is one of the T.K. Chiba Shihan’s successors and a founder of the Brooklyn Aikikai Dojo. This interview was conducted on Saturday, February 2, 2019, during Savoca Sensei’s seminar at Wroclaw Aikikai, Poland.
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Kanshu Sunadomari (1923 – November 13, 2010) was an Aikido teacher with a 9 Dan in Aikikai. Learned from the O-Sensei directly and founded the Manseikan Aikido style.
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Seigo Yamaguchi (April 13, 1924 – January 24, 1996) 9 Dan Aikido, Hombu Dojo Shihan and one of the most important, early teachers in Aikikai.
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Bjorn Eirik Olsen Shihan represents Norway Aikikai. He is presently holding a 7th Dan and is the Chief instructor of the Norwegian Aikido Federation. He holds seminars regularly in Greece, England, and has a close relationship to Aikido in Vietnam.
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Kenji Tomiki was born on March 15, 1900 in Kakunodate, Akita Prefecture. He began to learn under the Morihei Ueshiba in 1926 and was also a Jigoro Kano‘s student. He managed to get 8 Dan at Aikido in 1940 and 8 Dan at Judo in 1978. He taught both of them in Waseda University, Tokyo and this is when he started a development of his own Aikido theories which crossed with what Aikikai was about to become.
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