Koichi Tohei’s Aikido Curriculum: Shizuo Imaizumi’s Online Ki Aikido Video Course

Special Offer Available through Monday, September 29th!

Modern aikido was born in Japan in the years following World War II. At the forefront of the dissemination of Morihei Ueshiba’s martial art were the founder’s son, Kisshomaru, and the gifted Koichi Tohei. Tohei, in particular, was a leading light and gathered around him many of the young talents of the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo. Among them was Shizuo Imaizumi, one of Tohei Sensei’s closest students and a member of his inner circle.

When Koichi Tohei resigned from the Aikikai in 1974 — one of the most traumatic events of the young’s arts history — Imaizumi Sensei remained loyal and was one of the few with whom Tohei Sensei confided.

With the founding of Tohei’s Shinshin Toitsu Aikido, Imaizumi Sensei was sent to New York City in 1975 to develop and oversee aikido dojos on the east coast who had joined Tohei Sensei’s Ki no Kenkyukai organization. He became chief instructor of the Ki Society in the United States in 1980, a position he held for three years.

In 1987, after a long association with Koichi Tohei, Imaizumi Sensei temporarily retired from aikido and returned to Japan. Imaizumi Sensei returned to New York City in 1988 from where he assumed responsibility for a group of aikido dojos that had become independent of Tohei’s Ki Society organization. The new umbrella association was called the Shin-Budo Kai and Imaizumi Sensei became its chief instructor. From that time forward, he has continued his teaching activities and research into Ki Aikido and its underlying principles.

After two years in the making, we are delighted to release Shizuo Imaizumi Sensei’s Ki Aikido course produced in collaboration with Aikido Journal. This content-rich course consisting of 47 modules will introduce you to the world of Ki Aikido taught in the tradition of Koichi Tohei, 10th dan.

For those desiring to learn Ki Aikido from one of the art’s top experts, Shizuo Imaizumi’s Ki Aikido Course will provide instruction in the entire basic curriculum. Few have mastered this subject matter to the degree Imaizumi Sensei has as one of Tohei Sensei’s original students. He will explain the Ki principles forming the basis of Tohei Sensei’s aikido. Imaizumi Sensei will also demonstrate the entire set of the genial Ki No Taiso exercises that were once practiced at the Aikikai and which few remember today. To top off this important course material, Aikido Journal Editor Stanley Pranin conducts a lengthy video interview of Imaizumi Sensei containing first-hand witness testimony on several pivotal historical events in the early days of the art.

Many practitioners today are only vaguely conscious of the masters responsible for building the infrastructure of modern aikido. Koichi Tohei — aikido’s first 10th dan — was such a figure and left an incredible body of knowledge and techniques that shaped the growth of today’s art. Tohei Sensei passed in 2011. Among Tohei Sensei’s original students carrying forward his legacy, Shizuo Imaizumi Sensei stands among a select group of teachers qualified to teach and explain the origin and evolution of Ki Aikido to our modern generation. This is your opportunity to get the very best study aid available to gain real skills in this system and deepen your grasp of the art. Welcome to the world of Ki Aikido!

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