Shizuo Imaizumi (今泉鎮雄), born 1938) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that 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 practiced in a ...

teacher. He holds a rank of 7th dan from the

Ki Society The is an aikido organization founded by Koichi Tohei in 1971, while he was the chief instructor at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. The official Japanese name of the organization is Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido Kai (心身統一合気道会), but it is also k ...

, but broke away from the Ki Society in 1987 to found the Shin-Budo Kai style of aikido.

Early Aikido Career

Imaizumi sensei first started training in

in April 1959 during his days as a student at

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. He went to training sessions at the

Aikikai Hombu Dojo The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai#Aikikai Foundation, Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Aikikai#Doshu, Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally thr ...

which was located near the Waseda Campus. It was there he first met

Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher/Old Teacher (old as opposed to ''waka (young) sensei'')". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba st ...

, (Ōsensei), during one of his aikido demonstrations. In 1965, Imaizumi became an apprentice to the teaching staff, ''shidoin'', at the Hombu Dojo. He would often serve as uke, for Ueshiba during his early morning classes.

First visit to the United States

During his time at the Hombu Dojo he frequently trained under

Koichi Tohei (20 January 1920 – 19 May 2011) was a 10th Dan aikidoka and founder of the Ki Society and its style of aikido, officially Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (literally "aikido with mind and body unified"), but commonly known as Ki-Aikido. Aikido Koi ...

and became one of his supporters. This was a time of increasing tensions between several high-ranking instructors of the Hombo Dojo and the head instructor Koichi Tohei, starting with the death of Morihei Ueshiba in 1969 and culminating in Tohei's departure from the Aikikai in 1974. During that time in spring of 1972 he was instructed by Tohei, who was still serving as head instructor at the Hombu Dojo, to travel to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

to teach aikido and ki-principles under

Roderick Kobayashi Roderick T. Kobayashi (January 7, 1932June 17, 1995) was an American aikido teacher and founder of Seidokan Aikido. He is one of the teachers profiled in the book ''Aikido in America''. Kobayashi was born in Hawaii and raised in Japan by his gra ...

Sensei, who was the chief Instructor of the Western States Aikido Federation at this time. During his stay there he would tour the immediate Western Area of the US, teaching regular classes and spread Tohei's ki-principles.

Ki no Kenkyukai

Imaizumi returned to Japan after three months in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

and served as an instructor at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo until 1974, when he joined

in his breakaway from the Aikikai and the creation of Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (Ki-aikido). Imaizumi and Tohei spent 1974 and early 1975 with the consolidation of the new Ki-aikido organisation and its new holdings.

Second visit to the United States

In June 1975, he was once again instructed by Tohei to travel to the United States as an ambassador of Ki-aikido, this time to New York, to help organise and run the dojos which had earlier joined Toheis new organisation. Before this, however, he would first accompany Tohei on a tour of the US new Ki-aikido dojos, more specifically in the

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

(and finally) New York regions. Tohei would later continue on to Boston alone to hold seminars while Imaizumi remained in New York to get things in order. Shiuzo held his first Ki-aikido class on the evening of July 22.

New York Ki Society

This new organisation was composed of Ki-aikido dojos in New York and was named New York Ki Society with Imaizumi becoming the Chief Instructor. On June 1, 1980 he was officially assigned the post of Chief Instructor for the Ki Society in the United States for a period of three years. After the three years had expired he nominated Koichi Kashiwaya, then the Chief Instructor of the Boulder Ki Society in Colorado, for the position of Chief Instructor for the United States. Imaizumi retained his title of main instructor for the New York Ki Society.

Resignation and later return to aikido

In September 1987, Imaizumi resigned from the Ki no Kenkyukai and martial arts in general, in order help with the management of the family business. During his time away from aikido he kept in touch with several of his former students of the ki-dojos in the US. Many of these students, scattered around the US in New Mexico, New York and Texas, had by now left the Ki no Kenkyukai and founded their own independent dojos throughout the US. They were unanimous in their wish for the return of Imaizumi. Since the situation was stable with his family business, Imaizumi was able to return to the US and resume his aikido career in April 1988. He did not return to his old position in New York, but assembled a group of independent ki-aikido dojos under a new organisation called Shin-Budo Kai. The organisation was officially created on October 1, 1988. Shin-Budo Kai is independent of both the

Aikikai The Aikikai is the original school of Aikido. It is centered on the Aikikai Foundation in Japan, and its figurehead is the Doshu (the family heir of the founder of Aikido). It is represented globally through the International Aikido Federation ...

and Ki no Kenkyukai with Imaizumi serving as Chief Instructor. Shin-Budo Kai's emphasis is on knowledge provided not only by aikido, but on other martial arts and in Genkido; ki-exercises with the aim of teaching the student to fully understand the "True Martial Way" and the "way of cultivating one's body". Shin Budo Kai is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, NY.

References

Aikido Journal Encyclopedia EntryAikido Journal Interview Pt. 1Aikido Journal Interview Pt. 2Official Shin-Budo Kai website - USAChopsticks NYAikido classes at Shin Budo Kai
Suenaka, Roy. ''Aikido Complete''. Tuttle Publishing, 1997, p. 70 Maruyama, Koretoshi. ''Aikido with Ki''. Kodansha International, 1984, p. 207 Kohen-Haskins, J. (August 2012). Training in New York. ''JS Magazin, 20-23''.

External links

Official Shin-Budo Kai website - USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imaizumi, Shizuo Japanese aikidoka 1938 births Living people