Josh Gold
Shizuo Imaizumi was among the last generation of students of the Founder Morihei Ueshiba at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo on the 1960s. He later joined Koichi Tohei as a senior instructor for the Ki Society when the latter resigned from the Aikikai. Imaizumi relocated to New York City where he has taught for some 25 years. He is now chief instructor of the Shin Budo Kai, an independent organization he founded. This is the second part of a two-part interview; read part one here.
When did you first begin to travel abroad to teach?
In spring 1972, Koichi Tohei Sensei ordered me to go to California for about three months to spread ki principles and aikido under Roderick T. Kobayashi Sensei, then Chief Instructor of the Western States Aikido Federation. On March 19, 1972, I left Haneda airport for Honolulu. This was the first time I had ever stood on foreign soil in my life. After passing through immigration and customs there, I proceeded on to Los Angeles. I stayed at Kobayashi Sensei’s residence in Los Angeles and taught his regular classes in the LA area. I traveled to various places such as Orange County and San Diego in Southern California, and Stockton, Sacramento, Eureka and San Francisco in Northern California. I also went to Phoenix, Arizona and Boise, Idaho. After three months, on June 18, I left Los Angeles for Seattle. This was a vacation for me to visit Yoshihiko Hirata Sensei, then Chief Instructor of the Northwest Aikido Federation, who was a friend of mine from Japan. We became friends in January 1965 and he recommended that I join the Tempukai in Kokokuji, Tokyo. I left Seattle on June 23, again passing through Honolulu. After a week’s stay at the Hawaii Aikikai Hombu Dojo, I left for Japan arriving on June 30. This was a wonderful trip for me.
Please tell us something about your initial experiences in the USA.
The questions I was most often asked by Americans were about Tohei Sensei and his art. For example, “What is the Ki Society?” “Will Tohei Sensei become independent from the Aikikai soon?” or “I am practicing aikido in the way Tohei Sensei taught me. Why must I support the Ki Society?” My answers to these kinds of questions were simple ones. “Tohei Sensei founded the Ki Society for those who would like to study ki principles. That’s why his position at the aikido remains unchanged. He is Chief Instructor of the Hombu Dojo and he is also in charge of dealing with aikido affairs in the United States. If you like his aikido style, that’s fine. Just continue to practice. If you want to open ki classes in addition to aikido, you can do it in the same way he is conducting ki classes in Tokyo with the permission of Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei.”
As you know, aikido politics in California were complicated. I don’t want to say who was against Tohei Sensei or Kobayashi Sensei because I only learned those things after I left California. But most instructors accepted me as an Aikikai instructor when I visited their dojos. Since I joined the Aikikai in May 1959 I had experience in practicing with foreign students, so I didn’t feel any specific difference with students training in the United States.
When and under what circumstances did you go to New York to teach?
In February 1974, I learned from Tohei Sensei directly about his real intention to resign from the Aikikai Hombu Dojo after his USA instructional tour which was to take place from March 9 to April 29. I told him I would resign from the Hombu Dojo together with him. In April that year, Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei also left Tokyo for New York to attend the 10th anniversary of the New York Aikikai. It was an unusual situation in that the top two aikido figures left Japan for the United States for different purposes. Although I was still in the Hombu Dojo, I already knew what would happen in Honolulu soon. All the Japanese instructors in the United States who met with Ueshiba Sensei in New York accompanied him to Honolulu, and a final top-level meeting which included Tohei Sensei was held there. I heard about this incident in detail after Tohei Sensei returned to Japan.
On April 30, Tohei Sensei resigned all of his aikido positions at the Aikikai. I also resigned from the Hombu Dojo at the same time. On May 1, 1974, he established Shinshin Toitsu Aikido. As a result, the Hawaii Aikido Federation split into two organizations—an Aikikai group and a Ki Society group. The Northwestern Aikido Federation and Western States Aikido Federation, mainly in California, also split into two factions. The Midwest Aikido Federation and East Coast Aikido Federation remained almost unchanged except for a small group in each. After Tohei Sensei became totally free from the Aikikai, he dispatched Fumio Toyoda Sensei to Chicago in June of that year because there was a group of supporters to establish the Chicago Ki Society. Although Tohei Sensei decided to dispatch me to New York the next year, in 1975, there was not yet any support group.
Before I talk about New York, let me describe an interesting trip I took with Tohei Sensei to New Zealand. In March 1975, Tohei Sensei and I went to New Zealand at the invitation of the New Zealand government arranged by David Lynch Sensei who was working at the New Zealand Embassy in Japan. Although the government paid all expenses including airfare, room and board, the conditions were that we had to demonstrate aikido on a stage set up in a farm field grandstand from March 14 to April 1. It was a kind of Easter event and corresponded to a county fair in the United States. As there were no night events scheduled, we had spare time. One of the sponsors of the Easter Show was Pan American Airways so all of our flights were handled by them. In those days, there were no direct flights from Tokyo to Auckland, New Zealand on Pan Am.
After brief stopovers in Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia, we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on March 9. The public ki and aikido seminar conducted by Tohei Sensei was held at one of the dojos of the Judokwai in Auckland each night from March 10 through March 14. Each ki session ran an hour and thirty minutes. Tohei Sensei taught both aikido and ki sessions on March 12. The participants were mainly aikido students from the Yoshinkan and Aikikai. Meanwhile, Tohei Sensei conducted the first aikido demonstration for the Easter Show on March 14. It was too easy a schedule for Tohei Sensei. On Saturday, March 22, the final day, Tohei Sensei taught three aikido sessions starting at 8 am, and did aikido demonstrations for the Easter Show two times, ending with the 7:45 pm show. That was our busiest day during our stay in Auckland. Tohei Sensei left for Japan on March 24 via the same route. I took over for him at the Easter Show while teaching ki and aikido for Lynch Sensei’s group. On April 11, I left Auckland and arrived back at Haneda, Tokyo on April 13.
If you like his aikido style, that’s fine. Just continue to practice. If you want to open ki classes in addition to aikido, you can do it in the same way he is conducting ki classes in Tokyo with the permission of Second Doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei.
When did you arrive in New York?
On June 20, 1975, Tohei Sensei and I left Haneda for Honolulu. Many students of the Hawaii Ki Society came to see us and we received a warm welcome. On June 22, the Ki Society hosted a dedication ceremony for the new Honolulu Dojo under the guidance of Tohei Sensei. Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei, who had come to conduct a seminar in Hawaii earlier, and I helped Tohei Sensei and the senior students of the Hawaii Ki Society give a demonstration.
On June 23, Tohei Sensei and I left Honolulu for Chicago arriving the next day. We were warmly received by Fumio Toyoda Sensei and his students. Tohei Sensei taught an eight-day ki and aikido seminar from June 25 to July 2. On July 4, we gave another demonstration for the Chicago Buddhist Association and then left for Philadelphia. We were greeted by Shuji Maruyama Sensei and his students. Tohei Sensei conducted a nine-day ki and aikido seminar from July 5 to 13.
On July 14, we were driven to New York in Shuji Maruyama Sensei’s car. When I gazed out the window from the Verrazano Bridge, now the starting point for the New York Marathon, to see the Statue of Liberty and the skyscrapers of Manhattan, I felt that I had at last arrived in New York. St. John’s University in Queensborough was the site of Tohei Sensei seven-day ki and aikido seminar so Tohei Sensei and I checked into a nearby motel while Maruyama Sensei and his students stayed in my temporary dojo at 8 Waverly Place in Manhattan which Maruyama Sensei had sublet from a dancing group for about two months while the group was touring Europe that summer. He told me that I would have to look for my own dojo in the middle of September. Toyoda Sensei and his students came from Chicago to New York to help us and they also stayed in the dojo.
On Sunday morning, July 20, we held the opening ceremony of the New York Ki Society Dojo as the seminar was held only in the evenings. On July 22, Tohei Sensei left New York for Boston to demonstrate ki and aikido there. I started my first classes that same evening. Tohei Sensei returned to New York the next day and departed for Japan on July 24.
What were your early years like attempting to build up a dojo? You must have had to overcome many difficulties?
I had to look for a new dojo by the middle of September 1975 before the subletting contract expired on September 14. As I had been living in the dojo, I first looked for an apartment with my new students. On August 11 that year, I made my first contract with the owner of my apartment building and I moved in immediately. As I didn’t have any possessions, it was a simple move. It’s very hot in summer in New York. There was a refrigerator and an air conditioner. All I had to prepare was a sleeping mat and a carpet. As I had bought a portable typewriter during the seminar to issue Ki Society certificates to the participants in the seven-day seminar, I didn’t have to spend any more money. We found a new dojo at 29 East 10th Street near the temporary dojo in early September and moved in on September 13. We started regular classes at the New York Ki Society on September 15.
Koichi Tohei Sensei returned to New York on April 21, 1976 and conducted a seminar. He then left New York for Boston on May 1. After that, he came to New York for about five consecutive years for seminars. In the summer of 1977, the New York Ki Society applied for tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service. In February 1978, we became exempt from the payment of state and local sales taxes. This was a very positive step for the New York Ki Society.
On June 1, 1980 I was appointed Chief Instructor for the USA by Tohei Sensei. To prove it I would like to quote from the appointment certificate issued on the same date by Tohei Sensei, President, Ki no Kenkyukai Headquarters:
“Mr. Shizuo Imaizumi is hereby appointed as the Chief Instructor for the Ki Society within the area of the United States for a period of three years commencing June 1, 1980. His responsibilities are to supervise and coordinate the activities of all federations in the U.S. to include the fair and amicable disposition of all questions and problems that may arise, and to promote the continued and effective development of ki principles.”
In May 1982. I received the resident alien card—the so-called “green card” from the U.S. government. On July 31, 1982 we moved to a new location at 137 Fifth Avenue, and began regular classes. My three-year tenure as Chief Instructor for the USA expired on June 1, 1983. At the USA instructors’ meeting held at the New York Ki Society in August of the same year, I recommended Koichi Kashiwaya Sensei, then Chief Instructor of the Boulder Ki Society in Colorado as the next chief instructor. At that meeting, I also proposed the dissolution of the Eastern States Ki Society Federation of which I was Chief Instructor and let the chief instructors of the New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia Ki Societies become independent of me so they could directly report their students’ promotions to the Ki Society Headquarters in Tokyo. I remained on as the Chief Instructor of the New York Ki Society.
Living in a city with a reputation for being a violent place, what do you find to be the motivations for students wishing to learn aikido?
Many students coming to study aikido want to learn to defend themselves with aikido techniques. There are many techniques in aikido. But if a student wants to use aikido technique for self-defense, he should build up his own foundation by learning how to coordinate mind and body. Otherwise, the aikido techniques he studies are something like a veneer of culture. They will be useless as a self-defense. That’s why ki training is important. Ki training is also useful for stress reduction in this competitive business world. So I encourage students to attend the basic ki classes besides aikido classes.
Please describe the timing and reasons for establishing the Shin Budo Kai.
I officially resigned from the Ki Socety on September 12, 1987 by sending a letter of resignation to Koichi Tohei Sensei. I also sent a copy to parties concerned. This is the text of my letter of resignation:
“I hereby report that I must unfortunately resign from the Ki Society in order to succeed to my father’s business of breeding thoroughbred horses in Japan. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your guidance and encouragement over these many years.”
Although my decision to go back to Japan was made in the summer of 1987 after consulting with my parents and elder brother in Japan, Tohei Sensei and his family were on a long vacation in Europe at that time. That’s why I sent him my letter in September after his return to Japan from his European tour. I also attached a personal letter to Tohei Sensei to my letter of resignation. This was the end of my Ki Society association. In September, I left New York for Japan to help in my family business.
“Mr. Shizuo Imaizumi is hereby appointed as the Chief Instructor for the Ki Society within the area of the United States for a period of three years commencing June 1, 1980. His responsibilities are to supervise and coordinate the activities of all federations in the U.S. to include the fair and amicable disposition of all questions and problems that may arise, and to promote the continued and effective development of ki principles.”
In Japan, I didn’t meet with anyone related to the aikido world including my friends from the Waseda University Aikido Club. On December 28 that year, I returned to New York on vacation since my wife, Atsuko, was still working and living there. I visited the new dojo at 416 West 14th Street. As you know, most dojos in the U.S. are open after Christmas Day. I taught several classes at the request of my former students during my stay. I then returned to Tokyo on January 7.
My return to New York was soon in coming. I had kept up correspondence with several of my advanced students in New York, Texas and New Mexico. I learned that they had resigned from the Ki Society and were running independent dojos. All of them wanted me to come back to the U.S. and resume my aikido career. Fortunately, I found the opportunity to leave Japan for New York and returned on April 3, 1988. Although I resumed my teaching career after a short hiatus, I no longer managed the New York dojo. So one of the best ways for me to organize the new group was to unite several dojos under me. Thus, the Shin Budo Kai was officially founded on October 1, 1988. We will hold our 10th anniversary seminar in Austin, Texas in the middle of October 1998.
What are the unique characteristics of the Shin Budo Kai approach to aikido?
A man can teach only what he knows. In other words, I wanted to teach my students all of the martial arts subjects I have studied since my youth. As Chief Instructor of the Shin Budo Kai, I offer four subjects to my students: genkido, aikido, bokkendo and jodo. My main emphasis among these four is aikido. Thus I only issue aikido kyu and dan certificates in the Shin Budo Kai. Genkido is the “way of cultivating one’s body, mind and spirit through training in the ki exercises for coordinating mind and body.” Genkido forms the foundation of training in Shin Budo or the “True Martial Way.” Bokkendo and jodo are ways of cultivating one’s body, mind and spirit through training in the techniques and kata of the bokken and jo. To distinguish the shinai (bamboo sword) from the bokken (wooden sword), I selected the term “bokkendo” instead of “kendo.” In bokkendo classes I mainly teach sword kata, kumitachi (paired sword exercises) as well as basic sword movements and old-style kata from Shinkage-ryu and Itto-ryu. In jodo classes I usually teach jo kata, kumijo (paired staff exercises) and the basic jo movements of the old-style Muso-ryu. Students are required to perform ken and jo kata beginning at the 3rd kyu examination level in the Shin Budo Kai. I encourage them to practice how to handle the bokken and jo from the early stages of training.
Finally, is there are thing else you would like to comment on in this interview?
You offered to conduct this interview. I would like you to put the following comments in your magazine. I really want to stress these historical facts. Authors tend to disclose their real intention in their first published books. For example, if you write a book for the first time, you will write want you really want to say. Let me give an example from the first aikido book titled Aikido by Kisshomaru Ueshiba, published in August 1957 by Kowado, Tokyo. Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei wrote the following in praise of his brother-in-law Koichi Tohei Sensei on page 83 in a section titled “What is Aikido?”:
“Tohei, 8th dan, traveled to Hawaii in 1953 staying through 1954 in an effort to spread aikido. While in the USA, he participated in the All-American Judo Championship held in San Jose (California) together with Mr. Kurisaki, the President of the Hawaii Judo Kai. On the request of many people in attendance, Tohei took on five men at the same time as his opponents including Americans and American-born Japanese who were selected from among the judo competitors from all over the USA. Tohei threw them all and the news spread all over the world at that time. All of his opponents were over six feet in height and were unknown to him. Thus he became a hero by easily besting five men using aikido techniques. The true value of aikido was recognized by the general public. In 1955, Tohei again traveled to Hawaii. He returned to Japan in May 1956 and became the Chief Instructor of the Hombu Dojo…”
In November 1970 after Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei became the Second Doshu, he wrote Aikido Nyumon (Introduction to Aikido), published by Tokyo Shoten, When he received this book from the publisher, he gave us a copy with his autograph. On page 249 of Chapter 7 of Aikido Nyumon, entitled “History and the Present,” Ueshiba Sensei wrote about Tohei Sensei simply as follows: “In the United States, Koichi Tohei, Shihan Bucho, took a first step in Hawaii in 1953. Since then, the population of aikido increased there rapidly…” By the way, Tohei Sensei was still shihan bucho (chief instructor) at that time and Ueshiba Sensei could not erase this from his book. However, in the revised edition of this book years later, Seisetsu Aikido Kyohan (Detailed Aikido Textbook), this section no longer existed.
But if a student wants to use aikido technique for self-defense, he should build up his own foundation by learning how to coordinate mind and body. Otherwise, the aikido techniques he studies are something like a veneer of culture. They will be useless as a self-defense. That’s why ki training is important.
Take a look at Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei’s latest book, Aikido Ichiro (My Life in Aikido), published in October 1995 by Shuppan Geijutsusha, Tokyo. This book is a sort of memoir of the author through a history of aikido. But this time I can only find mention of the name of Koichi Tohei Sensei. For example, the name of Tohei Sensei appears several times: on page 79 (as a friend of Tadashi Abe Sensei in a quotation from an article by a fiction writer named Kawahara), on page 166 (as a mediator between O-Sensei and a student named Kikuchi), on page 194 (as one of the uchideshi in the Kobukai), and on page 212 (as one of the pioneers who went to foreign countries to spread aikido). Although the book contains several anecdotes involving Hawaii by O-Sensei and Doshu, there is no mention of who took the first steps to spread aikido in Hawaii. Even in the aikido chronology in the appendix, Tohei Sensei’s achievements in the United States have been completely obliterated. This, despite the fact that many matters of no consequence in comparison with Tohei Sensei’s initial efforts in Hawaii were mentioned. Based on Ueshiba Sensei’s Aikido Ichiro, it seems to me that aikido began in the United States almost spontaneously without anyone’s effort. Mr. Pranin, how different are the contents of the three books by the same author, Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei!
In conclusion, I am not in a position to criticize Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei because I became a shidoin (instructor) at the Hombu Dojo with his permission. But I no longer belong to either the Aikikai or the Ki no Kenkvukai. Therefore, what I can do as a third party is merely to show certain historical facts by quoting from Ueshiba Sensei’s own three books. To sum up, Koichi Tohei Sensei was the first person from Hombu Dojo to spread aikido in the United States. He went to Hawaii in 1953 for the first time and had to build a foundation for aikido among the people in the U.S. He became shihan bucho of the Hombu Dojo after he returned from Hawaii in May 1956. History shows that this is true. These historical facts should not be obliterated from a history of aikido even after Tohei Sensei had resigned from all the positions he held during his time at the Aikikai.
Now is the age of the Internet—an international network of computers. People can seek answers to any questions they have ever had. They can send messages and documents across the world in a flash. In other words, even if one author tries to hide historical facts, another person can easily expose them around the world. For example, John Stevens wrote Invincible Warrior published in 1997 by Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston. This book is a pictorial biography of O-Sensei. Take a look at the photograph taken in Hawaii on page 140. Mr. Stevens wrote: “(Above) Memorial photograph taken after the dedication ceremony of the Honolulu Aikido dojo on March 11, 1961. Koichi Tohei, the father of Aikido in the United States, sits to Morihei’s left…” Seeing is believing. Tohei Sensei is sitting next to O-Sensei in this photo. Mr. Stevens described Tohei Sensei as “the father of Aikido in the United States.” Therefore, many aikidoists around the world will be able to know the correct history of aikido regarding this event in Hawaii without relying on Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei’s latest aikido books in Japanese and English. Even if I don’t mention Tohei Sensei’s achievements in this magazine, many people will recognize him as the father of aikido in the United States through other publications on the Internet. If they know that Kisshomaru Ueshiba Sensei has ignored this fact in his latest aikido books, they will think it strange that he has intentionally omitted Tohei Sensei’s accomplishments during his association with the Aikikai. A man who intentionally ignores historical facts may end up being consigned to oblivion. I believe that a man’s true achievements will surface out of the bare facts. A history does not exist to decorate a man’s own achievements.
Finally, do you have anything to personally add?
I personally would like Tohei Sensei to publish his own aikido books again. Once Tohei Sensei wrote This is Aikido, published by Japan Publication Book, Inc. Tokyo. It was first published in 1968. It went through several printings in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, and a revised edition in March 1975. It probably would have had several more print runs, but unfortunately, Tohei Sensei himself suppressed this world famous book around 1981 and now no one can obtain this valuable book any more even in a used bookstore. His decision to suppress this book was a great mistake. But it is not impossible to do a reprint edition of This is Aikido because printing technology has significantly improved. Thirty years have passed since the first publication. It is important to inform the general public worldwide what true aikido is through the reprinting of This is Aikido. This book could become a compass for all readers who love aikido beyond organizational barriers if this comes to pass. Mr. Pranin, please ask Tohei Sensei when you have a chance to meet with him again. If Tohei Sensei gives permission to a publisher to reprint the book, the project can be realized soon.
This interview was conducted jointly by Stanley Pranin and Marc Abrams. Shizuo Imaizumi Sensei may be contacted through the Shin Budo Kai.
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