Kenji Tomiki
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Kenji Tomiki 富木 謙治 Tomiki Kenji |
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|---|---|
| Born | March 15, 1900 |
| Died | December 25, 1979 (aged 79) |
| Native name | 富木 謙治 Tomiki Kenji |
| Nationality |
 Japanese
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| 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 competitive aikido (aikido kyogi) style. The style is referred by several names including Tomiki Aikido, Shodokan Aikido and Sport Aikido.
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.
It was this action on the part of Tomiki of attempting to convert aikido into a sport that led to a schism with the founder Morihei Ueshiba and the Aikikai around this time. Tomiki was urged by the Aikikai to adopt a different name for his art other than “aikido” if he intended to introduce such a system of competition. Convinced of the need to modernize aikido, he stood his ground and persisted in his efforts to evolve a viable form of competition.
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