Gozo Shioda - Founder of Yoshinkan Aikido
"Gozo
Shioda, Vice President of the International Martial Arts Federation, outstanding
martial artist, author, teacher and Founder of the Yoshinkan school of
Aikido, died in Tokyo, Sunday, 17th July 1994 after a protracted illness.
He was 78 and is survived by his wife Nobuko and three sons, Tetsutaro,
Takahisa, and Yasuhisa. His autobiography published in 1985 summarised
his outlook in its title, Aikido Jinsei - "Aikido is My Life",
as Shioda dedicated his life to transmitting the aikido he learned from
the modern art's founder, Morihei Ueshiba.
Gozo Shioda was born in Shinjuku, Tokyo in 1915. His father, Seiichi Shioda, was a prominent paediatrician and medical academic who, having a penchant for the martial arts, had constructed a dojo, known as the Yoshinkan, at his home in Yosuya, Tokyo. Various teachers were invited to demonstrate and instruct there and the young Gozo was soon taken with the prowess of the newly emerging judo. He enthusiastically began to practice, showing the determination and superabundance of energy that were to characterise his entire approach to life. He was naturally talented and made rapid progress, quickly advancing to third dan, and while in his early teens liked nothing so much as to challenge police judo teachers to test his technique and push himself to the limit.
A turning point in his life came at the age of seventeen, when his father
sent him to watch a class led by Morihei Ueshiba, whose dojo, the Kobukan,
was located a couple miles away at Ushigome. Ueshiba's school was then
somewhat exclusive and was said to offer a powerful martial art to those
who could provide suitable guarantors of good character and stand the
disciplined atmosphere.
On his initial visit, watching Ueshiba throw his opponents so easily and without any apparent effort, Shioda felt sure he was witnessing a fraud, but was invited to try his judo skills against Ueshiba to see for himself. On launching an attack he found himself flying through the air, hitting the ground head first, without understanding what had happened. He was immediately convinced that this was the real thing and the very next day, the 24th May 1932, joined the Kobukan Dojo and commenced his aikido career as an uchi-deshi or "resident disciple".
Since his early judo experiences Gozo Shioda maintained frequent contact with police martial arts instructors. During the 1950's he travelled all over Japan demonstrating the effectiveness of his aikido to local police forces. This gradually led to a number of police aikido courses, culminating in the compulsory Yoshinkan aikido training of the Metropolitan Women's Police Force and the annual training of an elite group of Kidotai or Riot Police to become aikido instructors at the Yoshinkan Headquarters dojo. The Riot Police Instructors' Course is now in its 30th year. In 1990 Gozo launched another course, this time for Yoshinkan aikido practitioners from around the world seeking to become instructors, and this international program is currently in its fourth year. Shioda's complete mastery of aikido was confirmed in 1961 when Morihei Ueshiba awarded him the degree of ninth dan and his outstanding contribution to the promotion of Japanese martial arts in general and aikido in particular was further acknowledged by the honorary award of tenth dan by the International Martial Arts Federation in 1984, along with the title Meijin or Grand Master.
During
the forty years since it was established, the Yoshinkan has expanded all
over Japan, in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South
East Asia. The reputation of Gozo Shioda, described by Black Belt Magazine
as "Aikido's Little Giant", attract a long line of distinguished
visitors to his dojo, all eager to observe the diminutive Shioda subdue
opponents a third of his age and in some cases more than twice his weight.
Members of the Japanese and the British Royal families, including the
Crown Prince Hironomiya, observed Shioda demonstrating, as did Robert
Kennedy in 1962.
Towards the end of his life, Gozo Shioda travelled widely overseas to practically demonstrate his vision of aikido as a means to promote meaningful interaction between cultures. In 1990, he established the International Yoshinkan Aikido Federation (IYAF) to follow up on this and to coordinate the extraordinary growth in interest worldwide in Yoshinkan Aikido. He was convinced that through the silent language of aikido, all differences between peoples, between cultures, disappear, rendering peace and harmonious coexistence a reality, rather than a pipe dream." (IYAF, P.19 1994).
Yoshinkan Aikido is regarded as one of the three main schools of Aikido in the world today. These schools were formed by early students of Morihei Ueshiba.
"They are the Aikikai, the Yoshinkai and the Ki no Kenkyukai. Each of these "foundation dojos " in Japan tends to place a slightly different emphasis on the art, reflecting the particular experience and character of the teacher in charge of it." (D. Lynch, 1996)
Aikikai was headed by the founder's son, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, Yoshinkai was founded by Gozo Shioda and Ki no Kenkyukai was founded by O Sensei's son-in-law, Koichi Tohei.
Bibliography
International Yoshinkan Aikido Federation, 'Gozo Shioda 1915-1994', New Zealand Martial Arts, Issue No.4, Keith Biddle, Whangaparaoa, N.Z., October 1994, p.19.
Lynch David,'Foundations of Aikido: The Three Main Schools', Hakama, Vol.2 No.5, Aikido Lynch Dojo, Auckland, N.Z., October 1996, p.12
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Aikido Yoshinkan
"House for the Cultivation
of the Spirit."