We are publishing this article with the kind permission of Susan Perry, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of Aikido Today Magazine. Aiki-wiki and Aikido Today Magazine are now collaborating to preserve and digitise old articles.
Susan Perry Sensei’s personal website: https://susanperry.info/
All issues of Aikido Today Magazine can be purchased here: https://budovideos.com/products/aikido-today-magazine-e-book
by Susan Perry & Mark Adachi — Aikido Today, January 1988, Vol. 1, No. 4
Here is the ’50’s section of a time-line on the history of Aikido in the U.S. If you have any information, documents, photos, films, etc. about this era, please contact Susan Perry at Aikido Today (714) 624-7770.
Next issue we will concentrate on the ’60s. So, if you have any information on the history of Aikido then, please help us fill in the gaps.
1953-4 Tohei Sensei first visits Honolulu, Hawaii, sponsored by Hawaii Nishikai Health Organization. The Rainbow Garden Tea House in Honolulu was the location for the first meeting (and thus, the first Aikido dojo outside of Japan). Tohei impressed boxers, wrestlers, and high rankers in Judo and Kendo. Hawaii Aiki Kwai was established with chief instructors Yukiso Yamamoto of Oahu (a 5th dan in Judo), Shinichi Suzuki (Maui), Takashi Nonaka (Hawaii), Ichiro Ishii (Kauai), and David Kalama (Guam).
1953 Isao Takahashi, already a practitioner of Kendo and Judo, begins his study of Aikido in Hawaii.
1953 Roy Suenaka begins his study of Aikido in Hawaii under Tohei Sensei.
1954 Ben Tsuji, a Judo rokudan who studied Aikido in Hawaii, comes to San Diego to open the first Aikido dojo in the USA.
1955 Wailuku Dojo on Maui is founded. Suzuki is the Chief Instructor.
1955-6 Tohei Sensei visits Hawaii.
1957-8 Tohei Sensei visits Hawaii.
1957 Rod Kobayashi begins his study of Aikido In Honolulu at the Hawaii Aiki Kwai with Yukiso Yamamoto, Kazuto Sugimoto, and Isao Takahashi.
1957 Robert Tann, a former Hawaiian police officer, transfers from Hawaii, where he has been studying Aikido, to San Diego, Recruit Depot for Marines. He teaches with Ben Tsuji, and his students include B.J. Carlyle, a Judo and Karate student, a hand-to-hand combat instructor for the marines, and Frank Doran’s sergeant. Doran — a Judo student, a hand-to-hand combat instructor, and a police defensive tactics instructor — also becomes Tann’s student.
1958 Tokuji Hirata, a sandan in Aikido comes to San Diego from Hawaii.
You can find this entire article and much more in Aikido Today Magazine.
Aikido Today Magazine
Aikido Today Magazine was a forum where Aikido students and teachers wrote in their thoughts. Many were the controversies about the nature of Aikido and how it should be practiced. Many articles from the beginner point of view as well as articles and interviews with seasoned teachers. ATM enjoyed correspondents from all over the world. Don’t miss out on this great material.
You can find this entire article and much more at: https://budovideos.com/products/aikido-today-magazine-e-book
More from the author of Aikido Today Magazine
Illuminating the inner philosophical and practical aspects of Aikido, forty-seven-year Aikido practitioner and 6th-degree blackbelt Susan Perry, Ph.D., uses personal stories of joy, achievement, and hardship to demonstrate real-life applications of the transformational principles of Aikido. She introduces what Aikido is and where it comes from, providing a brief biography of its founder, Morihei Ueshiba. She explains in detail how Aikido helped her resolve difficulties at work, as a student, and as a teacher/sensei. Through each story shared, the author offers a glimpse of the beginner’s mind in action, the key to changing even the violent energy of an attack into peaceful interaction.
Presenting Aikido’s step-by-step protocol for developing the receptiveness of the beginner’s mind, a state essential to personal transformation, Perry explains how distraction and timing can be used to deescalate potentially violent or dangerous situations. She discusses the founder’s philosophy of conflict, showing how Aikido can help peacefully resolve difficulties that arise with pushy, intimidating, and unpredictable people, those who are stubborn or don’t listen, insincere people who want something from you, and chaotic situations. She explains how a deepening practice of the martial art leads to an aiki state of inner peace, fusion, and boundless joy.
Revealing how Aikido can help you face your fears and develop your heart and soul, this book shows how this martial art helps you embrace change, cultivate a strong center, and ultimately live a joyful life of engagement with the world.
You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Power-Aikido-Transcending-Cultivating/dp/1644118971
Budo Videos
Budo Videos is a very extensive online shop specialising in budo. It features a wealth of fantastic content, and you’ll find plenty of material from Susan Peryy, editor-in-chief of Aikido Today Magazine.
If you’re interested in Japanese budo, Budo Videos is one of the best shops specialising in this subject. There’s also plenty of material here for Aikido practitioners that you’d struggle to find elsewhere.
Link: https://budovideos.com/