Masatomi Ikeda (April 8, 1940 – June 21, 2021) was born in Tokyo, Japan. He was a Japanese Aikido teacher with a rank of 7th Dan Aikikai and a status of Shihan. Through the course of life, he also achieved the 4th Dan in Judo and had success in Sumo.
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Patrick Cassidy is a 6th dan Aikikai Aikido instructor. He is a founder and a Dojo-Cho at Aikido Montreux in Switzerland.
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Hiroshi Ikeda holds a 7 Dan in Aikikai and is a Shihan based in the USA. He learned from the Misogi Saotome and is a founder of the Boulder Aikikai Dojo.
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Haruo Matsuoka was Steven Seagal‘s most important student for more than 20 years. He followed Steven to the USA from Japan, participated in the movies, was a Chief Instructor in Steven Seagal’s Tenshin Dojo in Los Angeles for 8 years…
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Yoshiaki Yokota Shihan was born in 1958. He was a Captain of the Judo Club in a Junior High School at the age of 12. He soon found more interest in Karate and joined an Aikido club in a High School.
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Mitsugi Saotome Shihan is one of the few former OSensei’s uchi-deshi’s still alive. He saw with his eyes all those things we read about. Sensei fully devoted himself to the Aikido and Ueshiba’s and you will learn why inside.
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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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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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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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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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Ichiro Shibata is a 7 Dan in Aikido Aikikai Japanese Shihan who relocated to the USA to become a chief instructor at the Berkeley Aikikai.
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