André Cognard was born in France in 1954. He was 17 years old when he started teaching aikido by opening five dojos in several cities in France. Four years later, he received the French state diploma for teaching judo...
Archive - October 2018
The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, Part 3
Yoshio Sugino was a direct student of Morihei Ueshiba in the early 1930’s and opened an Aikikai-affiliated dojo by 1935. He as also a direct student of Jigoro Kano, founder of judo, and by the 1940’s was teaching...
Fighting for Her Daughter’s Life: Lee Lavi Ramirez Speaks
“Aikido makes strong people.” So says Lee Lavi Ramirez Sensei, former Israeli judo champion and military officer turned aikido instructor and founder of North Valley Aikikai in Northridge, California. The pupil of...
The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, Part 2
Yoshio Sugino was a direct student of Morihei Ueshiba in the early 1930’s and opened an Aikikai-affiliated dojo by 1935. He as also a direct student of Jigoro Kano, founder of judo, and by the 1940’s was...
The Last Swordsman: The Yoshio Sugino Story, Part 1
Yoshio Sugino, swordsman of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, is respected worldwide as one of the elder statesmen in the world of Japanese kobujutsu (classical martial arts). Born in 1904, his life has paralleled much...