Yoshinkan

Yoshinkan Aikido

Yoshinkan eagle logo
Also known as	Aikido Yoshinkai Foundation (AYF), Yoshinkai, International Yoshinkan Aikido Federation (IYAF)
Date founded	1955
Country of origin	Japan
Founder	Gozo Shioda (塩田 剛三, Shioda Gōzō, 9 September 1915–17 July 1994)
Arts taught	Aikido
Ancestor arts	Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, Aiki Budō
Descendant schools	Yoshokai, Renshinkai, Shudokan, Shinwakan
Practitioners	Kiyoyuki Terada, Kyoichi Inoue, Takeshi Kimeda, Takafumi Takeno, Tsutomu Chida, Tsuneo Ando, Susumu Chino, Takashi Kimura, Jacques Payet, Michiharu Mori, Joe Thambu, Robert Mustard, Masahiko Noriki, Jacques Muguruza
Official website	www.Yoshinkan.net

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 because the training methods are a product of Shioda's grueling life before the war. Shioda named his dojo "Yoshinkan" after a dojo of the same name that was built by his father, a physician, who wanted to improve both physical and spiritual health. The Yoshinkan style is currently the second largest aikido organization worldwide.

As a style of aikido, Yoshinkan is more akin to the pre-war aikibudo techniques taught by Morihei Ueshiba, and therefore also generally closer to aikijujutsu than those styles of aikido developed after the war. The unusual emphasis placed on correct form prior to practicing correct flow and timing further contributes to its image as a "hard" style.

Gozo Shioda created a structured method in which beginning students would learn the foundation techniques. Techniques are performed by a pair of students called uke (受け, the partner on whom the technique is performed) and shite (仕手, the partner who performs the technique). They are categorized by elements such as the initiating attack, the applicable control and whether it is a pin or throw. They are further divided into two groups called ichi (first) and ni (second) techniques. Ichi techniques have a feeling of the energy moving towards uke, while ni techniques have a feeling of energy moving towards shite. For example, in an ichi technique, shite would move in the same direction as a pull by uke, while in a ni technique, shite would divert or pivot away from a push by uke.

The current method of breaking the techniques into steps and the kihon dosa were developed in order to facilitate teaching beginners in a group. The kenshusei codified many of these methods in consultation with Gozo Shioda, especially Kyoichi Inoue and Takashi Kushida.

To remove stiffness from techniques taught in this way, practitioners over the rank of shodan also practice timing and flow.

Yoshinkan Aikido has some 150 kihon waza (lit. "basic techniques"), which are practised repeatedly and designed to teach principles of movement, balance, timing, etc. In addition to set techniques, the style includes kokyunage (lit. "breath throws"), or techniques in which nage attacks and uke makes a non-mandatory, short and decisive response. As students progress, they begin to practice jiyu waza (lit. free techniques), which is a time-limited free-form attack and defense. In higher grades, jiyu-waza is performed against multiple attackers and/or attackers with weapons. Yoshinkan students do not normally practice the randori free-form found in other styles of aikido.