Aikido Competition

What split Tomiki Aikido from the other styles

Aikido Competition is a bit of an oxymoron, because most styles of Aikido do not have any competition.

But some do, namely the schools of Tomiki-style Aikido. They allow Shiai or Competition but only under the most carefully-controlled conditions.

The founder of modern Aikido, O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba was strongly against Aikido competition because he believed it fostered a bad attitude in martial art students. (He is the bald guy seated in the picture on the left. Tomiki sits next to him and Obah stands behind him, on the right.)

"O-Sensei did not want his Aiki students to get inflated egos."

However, Kenji Tomiki, the first student of Morihei Ueshiba to be awarded 8th Dan black belt rank by the founder, was also an 8th Dan master of Judo (which he learned from Judo's founder, Jigoro Kano).

Tomiki Sensei knew how the Kodokan's Randori (free practice) competition helped train better Judo students.

And Tomiki taught both Judo and Aikido. So he reasoned that his Aikido pupils would learn faster and better if they had a form of competition in their Aikido sessions as well.

Kenji Tomiki was a Professor of physical education... a teacher by profession. So he merged Judo training methods into the Aikido he taught his own students.

He reasoned that a strictly-controlled form of Aikido competition would keep his students from becoming bored, and it would help them test their skills under pressure.

It's actually very hard to deal with an opponent who is not co-operating, and who knows every Aikido move you know.

Adventures in China

Both Kenji Tomiki and Morihei Ueshiba went to China when Japan invaded it during the 1930's. Tomiki went to teach Judo and Aikido to students at the Japanese University in Manchuria (the country between north China and Russia.

O-Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba, was deeply into the Omoto religion, was a peace activist. Some say he fled Japan because his Omoto sect was being persecuted by the Japanese government of the time.

When Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, Kenji Tomiki Sensei was imprisoned for three years before he could return to Japan.

I was told O-Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba, had expressed interest in the changes Tomiki Sensei had added, including Aikido competition. But politics intervened, and Ueshiba's assistants prevented the two Aikido teachers from ever getting together again to compare notes.

I think that's very sad.

Aikido Demonstrations