Kenji Tomiki
| Kenji Tomiki 富木 謙治 Tomiki Kenji | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 15, 1900 |
| Died | December 25, 1979 (aged 79) |
| Native name | 富木 謙治 Tomiki Kenji |
| Nationality |
 Japanese |
| Style | Judo and Aikido |
| Teacher(s) | Jigoro Kano, Morihei Ueshiba |
| Rank |
8th dan Judo 8th dan Aikido |
Kenji Tomiki (富木 謙治 Tomiki Kenji, March 15, 1900 – December 25, 1979) was a Japanese aikido and judo teacher and the founder of aikido style Shodokan.
Tomiki was one of the early students of the founder of aikido Morihei Ueshiba, beginning in 1926, and also of Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. In 1928 he obtained 5th dan in judo and in the following year he represented Miyagi Prefecture in the first judo tournament held in front of the Emperor—this tournament became the All Japan Tournament the following year. From 1936 till the end of the second world war he lived in Manchukuo (Manchuria) where he taught aikibudo (an early name for aikido) to the Kanton army and the Imperial Household Agency. In 1938 he became an assistant professor at Kenkoku University in Manchukuo. He went on to be awarded the first 8th dan in aikido (1940) and an 8th dan in judo (1978). After returning from a three year internment by the Soviet Union, he taught both judo and aikido for many years at Waseda University. It was there that he formulated and expanded his theories concerning both kata based training methods and a particular form of free-style fighting which would put him at odds with much, but not all, of the aikido world.
In 1974, he founded the Japan Aikido Association (JAA) from an earlier organization of the same name to promote his theories. He called his style Shodokan Aikido and a honbu dojo, dedicated solely for the study of aikido and named Shodokan, had been built in 1967 in Osaka. The current head of the dojo and chief instructor of the JAA is Tetsuro Nariyama.
Tomiki is perhaps best known in the judo world for his influence in the developing of Kodokan Goshin Jutsu kata. His work Judo, published in 1956, is considered a classic. The aikido appendix to the book is thought to be the earliest English language text on aikido.
Sources
- Shodokan Honbu profile of Kenji Tomiki
- Aikido Journal Encyclopedia entry for Kenji Tomiki
- Aikido Journal Encyclopedia Interview with Kenji Tomiki (Part 1)
- Aikido Journal Encyclopedia Interview with Kenji Tomiki (Part 2)
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