Here is a translation of the latest column from Iida sensei about Kenji Tomiki and Kodo Horikawa.

“The late Professor Kenji Tomiki was the founder of the Waseda University Aikido Club. He held ranks of 8th dan in Kodokan Judo and 8th dan in Ueshiba Morihei’s art of Aikido. Professor Tomiki once remarked that the situation within the Aikido community might have changed completely if the art of Kodo Horikawa had become more widely known at an earlier juncture. Indeed, Hiroki Otsuka, the founder of Wado ryu karate also remarked on several occasions of his great admiration for the techniques of Horikawa Sensei. It can thus be said that one master truly recognises another.

In 1972, Professor Tomiki invited Horikawa Sensei to Waseda University to give a demonstration of his art. Tomiki was amazed when he saw Horikawa’s techniques which paralysed his opponent. He realised that Horikawa’s techniques were based on a principle that was completely different from Ueshiba Morihei’s round movements and flowing throws. He concluded that “Ueshiba’s art is akin to judo, in that it is more similar to the art of Kito ryu ju jutsu”. After watching Horikawa’s art Mr. Tomiki felt that something was missing from Judo. Jigoro Kano -the founder of Judo and Tomiki’s teacher- had left his system incomplete, and Tomiki was constantly researching the missing portion.

“If this missing ‘half’ is not discovered, I fear that there will never be another Sugata Sanshiro” Tomiki stated, indicating that while sporting judo was fine for students, high level abilities could not be developed through competition alone.

Professor Tomiki began learning Aikido from Morihei Ueshiba in 1927. Until this point, Tomiki had only been teaching and practicing close quarters grappling judo, however, he wanted to expand his knowledge of using judo at a distance through the study of atemi (striking) and principles based on swordsmanship. Tomiki’s teacher, Jigoro Kano understood that old style martial arts contained many deep teachings which he wanted to introduce into judo. When Kano saw Mr. Ueshiba’s Aikido he remarked that “This is the ideal judo.”

The scroll of yoshin ryu jujutsu – which was a major influence on Kano’s judo- states “that the intention of our school’s techniques is not to kill”. Indeed, the core teachings of jiu-jitsu schools from the past stress the importance of not using mortal blows. Tomiki wondered how his teachers- Kano and Ueshiba- reconciled this teaching with their use of atemi (body strikes). Kano had based some of the techniques in judo on the “koshiki forms” taken from Kito ryu jujutsu. These did not contain any striking techniques, but after some research Tomiki discovered another section of techniques in Kito Ryu called “Kodaore” which were developed for use on the battlefield. The technique of kodaore stresses that you do not brace yourself when you clash with an opponent, rather it stresses the importance of body movement when you are attacked.

Tomiki introduced competition into his style of aikido, as he viewed competition as way of checking one’s progession in techniques. However, Tomiki’s last student, Tadayuki Sato, remarked that nowadays students only think about practicing for competition. In actuality, Tomiki believed that a practitioner only needed to engage in competitive practice once every three or four years. The core part of regular training was the perfection of techniques through the practice of forms.

In the Muden Juku school, this practice known in Japanese as “kata geiko”- in which both practitioners “throw and fall according to the form”- is very important. Through kata geiko, beginners can enjoy practicing our techniques even if they don’t take breakfalls. This system also allows us to practice ‘aiki’ techniques from the beginning. Unlike jujutsu techniques, which are hard on the joints and the body, aiki techniques allow people to practice without suffering pain or injury. In addition to his demonstration at Waseda University, Horikawa Kodo also gave demonstrations for the Tokyo police force and the Yoshinkan school of aikido. Years later, Okamoto Seigo Sensei (a senior student of Horikawa and founder of the Roppokai school of Daito Ryu) moved to Tokyo from Hokkaido and built upon the foundations laid by Horikawa Sensei. When I visited Okamoto sensei to pay my respects in 2001, he encouraged me to make the name and art of Horikawa sensei more widely known. Professor Tomiki believed that “through learning the techniques of bujutsu, we come to learn about life”. This is also the meaning behind the saying that training “begins with courtesy and ends with courtesy.” Horikawa sensei also stated that Daito ryu is strong because it has aiki.

We must throw ourselves into training!”