Retrieved on August 27, 2010. is an intensive, 11-month
aikido
Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...
training program conducted at
Yoshinkan
Yoshinkan (養神館 ''Yōshinkan'' lit. "Hall of Spirit Cultivation") Aikido is a style of aikido that developed after World War II in the Yoshinkan Dojo of Gozo Shioda (1915–1994). Yoshinkan Aikido is often called the "hard" style of aikido b ...
Aikido's ''
honbu
Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
dojo
A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese.
History
The word ''d� ...
'' (headquarters and main training hall) in
Shinjuku
, officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...
, Tokyo, Japan.Aikido Yoshinkan: The Senshusei course – Information and application package Retrieved on February 28, 2010. (2007). Retrieved on February 28, 2010.Honeyman, J. (2009) (June 1, 2009). Retrieved on February 28, 2010. The course has received attention through Robert Twigger's book, '' Angry White Pyjamas'' (1997).Twigger, R. (1997): ''Angry White Pyjamas''. London: Phoenix. ()
Course
Course participants, themselves referred to as ''senshūsei'', train from April 1 each year to March 1 in the following year. Training takes place from 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM, five days per week, for the duration of the course. The course starts from fundamentals, assuming very little about participants' initial knowledge of aikido, but a high level of physical ability is expected.Twigger, R. (2008): "Foaming at the mouth." In Z. M. Jack (Ed.): ''Inside the ropes: Sportswriters get their game on'' (pp. 125–142). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska. () Participants learn from the instructors of the ''honbu dojo''. The first two months of the course are considered a trial period, and it is common for participants to drop out. In the year that Twigger participated, the number of foreign participants remained constant at 10 participants throughout the entire course. This is a rare occurrence, most courses have a higher drop out rate.
History
The senshusei course was originally created in 1957 by
Gozo Shioda
was a Japanese master of aikido who founded the Yoshinkan style of aikido.Tokyo riot police.Aikido Yoshinkan: About Gozo Shioda (Yoshinkan Founder) (''c.'' 2009). Retrieved on February 27, 2010. The course has been available to non-police candidates since the 1980s, but was developed primarily for foreign students interested in becoming instructors starting in 1991. (''c.'' 2009). Retrieved on February 27, 2010. There are now two other versions of the course: a less-intensive version for participants aged 40 years or older, and a part-time version taking two years to complete.
Kyoichi Inoue
was a 10th dan Yoshinkan aikido master. He was an uchideshi under Yoshinkan founder Gozo Shioda, in what became the Yoshinkan senshusei course. During his early years as an uchi-deshi, he was instrumental in developing the Yoshinkan's current ...
, ''
shihan
is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor".
The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process o ...
'', stopped teaching in the senshusei course when he resigned from the Yoshinkan in March 2006 following an internal dispute, later establishing his own branch, Aikido Shinwakan (合氣道親和館). Following Inoue's departure, Tsutomu Chida, 8th ''dan'', and then-chief instructor of the Yoshinkan ''honbu-dōjō'', also broke away, establishing Aikido Renshinkai (合気道錬身会) in 2008, thus ending his teaching in the course.
See also
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Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
The , known locally as simply the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), is the prefectural police of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Founded in 1874, the TMPD is the largest police force in Japan by number of officers, with a staff of more than 4 ...
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Uchi-deshi
is a Japanese term for a live-in student/apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis. The system exists in
''kabuki'', ''rakugo'', ''shogi'', '' igo'', ''aikido'', ''sumo'', ''karate'' and other modern Japanese martia ...