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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Nobuyuki Watanabe (July 25, 1930 – August 20, 2019) was born in the Miyazaki Prefecture. Sumo was the first Budo on his way and at secondary school, he started Judo. He also made Jukenjutsu but really liked and considered Judo to be the best martial art possible before he got thrown with the Shiho-Nage…
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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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Shoji Nishio (December 5, 1927 – March 15, 2005) was an 8 Dan Aikikai Shihan. He was one of Morihei Ueshiba’s post-war-era students in the Hombu.
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Gozo Shioda (September 9, 1915 – July 17, 1994) one of the most senior students of the Aikido founder and a creator of the Yoshinkan Aikido style.
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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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Morihei Ueshiba (December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969) founded Aikido as a martial art. He is often called O-Sensei which literally means the great teacher.
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Kisaburo Osawa (1910 – May 28, 1991) was one of the first 9 Dan Holders and has been a great inspiration for the deshi’s he was teaching in the Hombu Dojo for many years.
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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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Morihiro Saito (March 31, 1928 – May 13, 2002) was born in the Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. He practiсed Aikido for 56 years and been one of the few 9 Dan-holders in 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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Koichi Tohei (20 January 1920 – 19 May 2011) was a first one to be promoted to a 10 Dan by the Morihei Ueshiba ever. He taught people like Hiroshi Tada, Seigo Yamaguchi, Mitsugi Saotome, Sadateru Arikawa, Kazuo Chiba, Yoshimitsu Yamada, Steven Seagal and many others.
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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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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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Masando Sasaki (February 1, 1929 – February 15, 2013) – was an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan and a Shinto priest. Was an Otomo for the O-Sensei and been teaching in the Hombu Dojo.
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Yoshinobu Takeda is an 8 Dan Aikido Aikikai Shihan. He had a chance to learn from the O-Sensei and Seigo Yamaguchi was his main teacher.
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Steven Seagal is a well-known actor, producer, screenwriter, musician… Ukraine Bans Steven Seagal Over ‘National Security’, Steven Seagal asked to teach Aikido to Serbia’s special police forces, Steven Seagal granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin, Is Steven Seagal actually a police officer? Is Steven Seagal actually a martial artist? There are a lot of interesting and not much-known facts about his life and especially from the Aikido perspective.
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