Category: Interview

Interview with Aikido Shihan Nobuyuki Watanabe, Part 1
Nobuyuki Watanabe sensei at the 42nd annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration
Nobuyuki Watanabe was born in Miyazaki Prefecture on July 25th, in Showa year 5 (1930). He began Aikido in 1952, at the age of 22, and is a senior instructor at Aikikai Hombu Dojo. He is famous for his controversial “no touch” Aikido demonstrations at the annual All Japan Aikido Demonstration (全日本合氣道演武大会), which some people love – and some people hate, shown here at the 44th All Japan Aikido Demonstration in 2003:
You may also be interested to read Ellis Amdur’s thoughts on training with Watanabe sensei in “It Had To Be Felt #9: Watanabe Nobuyuki: How the Mighty Have Fallen“.
This interview was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 (“Profiles of the Founder”) in 2009. It originally appeared in the August 2007 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
There was a short introduction to this work in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“. I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2) and Shigenobu Okumura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2). (more…)
October 20, 2013
Interview with Aikido Shihan Shigenobu Okumura, Part 2
Shigenobu Okumura sensei in 1985 giving advice before promotion examinations
Take the initiative from the beginning. This is Aikido.
Shigenobu Okumura was one of the senior instructors at the post-war Aikikai Hombu dojo, and one of only a few Aikikai instructors to have started pre-war.
He was born in Otaru, Hokkaido in 1922, began Aikido in 1940 at Kenkoku Daigaku in Japanese occupied Manchuria with Kenji Tomiki, and passed away on August 12th 2008.
After the war he spent three years and eight months as a prisoner of war in Siberia before being repatriated to Japan.
Okumura sensei, perhaps partly because of his longstanding ties to Kenji Tomiki, acted as an intermediary between Tomiki sensei and the Ueshiba family during discussions concerning Tomiki sensei’s introduction of competition to Aikido, and often advised him to change the name of his art.
This is the second part of a two part English translation of an interview with Shigenobu Okumura sensei. You may wish to read part one of the interview before moving on to this section.
This interview was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 (“Profiles of the Founder”) in 2009. It originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
There was a short introduction to this work in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“. I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2). (more…)
June 1, 2013
Interview with Aikido Shihan Shigenobu Okumura, Part 1
Shigenobu Okumura sensei, from Aikido Tankyu #37
“Remembering the Late Okumura Shigenobu Shihan” (亡き奥村繁信師範の思い出)
Encountering Aikido in Manchuria
“Budo is not just moving your body. At the end is whether to live or die, your view of life and death.”
-Shigenobu Okumura
Shigenobu Okumura was one of the few pre-war students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba to remain at Aikikai Hombu after the war. Born in Hokkaido in Taisho year 11 (1922), he was a senior instructor at Aikikai Hombu dojo until his passing on August 12th, Heisei year 19 (2008).
He began Aikido in Manchukuo – the Japanese occupied Manchurian state “Manshu-koku” under Kenji Tomiki. While a student at Manshu Kenkoku Daigaku he was drafted into military service, and was later repatriated to Japan after three years as a prisoner of war in Siberia.
I remember watching him through an entire All Japan Aikido Demonstration one year as he sat and took notes on each and every group and individual participating. I’ve often wondered what those notes contained, and what happened to them.
This is the first part of a two part English translation of an interview with Shigenobu Okumura sensei that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as 開祖の横顔 (“Profiles of the Founder”) in 2009. It originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Gekkan Hiden (月刊秘伝 / “Secret Teachings Monthly”), a well known martial arts magazine in Japan.
There was a short introduction to this work in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“.
I previously posted an English translation of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2). (more…)
May 26, 2013
Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 3
The two faces of Masando Sasaki Sensei
“Aikido is the manifestation of the principles of the universe – connection and the union of opposites.”

“Your belly won’t get full reading a cookbook; you have to eat!”
-Masando Sasaki Sensei

Aikido movement is a spiral. Not a circle, a spiral.
Masando Sasaki (佐々木の将人), 8th Dan, passed away on February 15th 2013 at the age of 84. Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1929, he was a graduate in economics and law of Chuo University. Sasaki began aikido in 1954 while employed by the Self-Defense Agency, and was also was a member of the Tempukai and Ichikukai, and a priest of the Yamakage San’in Shinto sect.
This is the third part of a three part English translation of an interview with Masando Sasaki that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as “Profiles of the Founder” (開祖の横顔) in 2009. You may wish to read Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview before reading this section.
There was a short introduction to “Profiles of the Founder” in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“.
Previous postings have featured English translations of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2). (more…)
April 6, 2013
Interview with Aikido Shihan Masando Sasaki, Part 2
Funeral for Masando Sasaki Sensei, February 20th 2013
Tojo Ceremony Hall in Tsurugaoka, Saitama – attended by more than 700 people
The plaque to the right of center reads “Aikido Doshu Ueshiba Moriteru”
合氣は宇宙法則の陰陽結びの道で
美しく投げ美しく受身を取る稽古から
切磋琢磨の和の武道である
Aiki is the Way of the universal principle of In-Yo connection
Throwing beautifully in training, falling beautifully in training
Assiduous cultivation of the Budo of Peace
-Masando Sasaki Sensei
Hiding in the mountains while chased by the CIA
Masando Sasaki (佐々木の将人), 8th Dan, passed away on February 15th 2013 at the age of 84. He was one of the early post-war students of Aikido Founder Morihei Ueshiba, entering Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 1954.
He was a colorful character, and often controversial. Concerned with the course of Japanese political affairs, he set up a spy school together with some former members the of the Nakano spy school (Morihei Ueshiba was an instructor at the Nakano spy school until 1942). Exposed in the United States through an article in Time Magazine, he was forced to resign from the Japanese Defense Agency.
This is the second part of a three part English translation of an interview with Masando Sasaki that was published in a collection of interviews with students of the Founder published in Japanese as “Profiles of the Founder” (開祖の横顔) in 2009. You may wish to read Part 1 of the interview before reading this section.
There was a short introduction to “Profiles of the Founder” in the article “Morihei Ueshiba – Profiles of the Founder“.
Previous postings have featured English translations of interviews from that collection with Nobuyoshi Tamura sensei (Part 1 | Part 2), and Hiroshi Isoyama sensei (Part 1 | Part 2). (more…)
March 30, 2013