Yukio Kawahara (August 14, 1940 – June 2, 2011) – was an 8 Dan Japanese Aikido Shihan and official representative of the Aikikai in Canada.
He was born in the Nagasaki prefecture. As a kid, he did different martial arts but joined Aikido only at the age of 17 in Osaka. Future Kawahara Sensei became an uchi-deshi for the Bansen Tanaka, the early student of the O-Sensei.
Yukio has been learning and serving in Osaka as an assistant instructor until 1972. Morihei Ueshiba came regularly to the city during the period and Kawahara Sensei had a lot of chances to get the knowledge directly, which he did.
He then went to Taiwan and successfully became an Aikikai Chief Instructor in the country but was forced to come back to Japan in 1973 because of the political relationship between the countries. This time he was a senior instructor in the Osaka Aikikai, Okayama Aikikai, gave lessons in the dojos and universities until he was invited to Montreal, Canada in 1975.
Sensei gave his best to the Americas. After relocation to Vancouver he created the Canadian Aikido Federation. At the same time, he was teaching in the USA, Mexico and Europe and Japan, created a B.C. summer camp with lots of notable like Tohei, Yamada, Chiba, Kanai, Sugano, Shibata, Kurita, Tamura Shihans, Kisshomaru and Moriteru Ueshiba teaching through years.
Yukio Kawahara was known for his traditional view on Aikido, powerfull technique and an intense focus on the basic principles of the art like correct posture, precision and accuracy in training. Enjoy the insider’s story on the Sensei and learn the Preserving Authenticity in Aikido Training article from the Shihan.