Aikido: My Spiritual Journey

Description

On this first full autobiographical work, the legendary aikido grandmaster Gozo Shioda tells of his exciting life. Born in Tokyo in 1915, Shioda excelled as a student of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido. He went on to win first place within the All Japan Martial Arts Exhibition in 1954; and later, founded the Yoshinkan school of aikido, thought to be a “hard” style for its rigorous training techniques and emphasis on correct form. In 1988, Shioda was once awarded the title of Aikido Master by the International Martial Arts Federation. Over the course of his distinguisehd career, he also served as the manager instructor for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the Air Self-defense Force, the Japanese National Railways, and quite a lot of leading Japanese universities.

In Aikido: My Spiritual Journey, Shioda relates moving, personal anecdotes about Ueshiba and imparts what he learned from his mentor. He offers a concise overview of the important thing elements of aikido, including breath power, focused power, and the facility of the middle line. About 20 rare photos of the writer, chronicling his life in aikido, are also included. Yasuhisa Shioda, the writer’s son and himself a prominent figure within the aikido world, has contributed the Afterword to this volume.