Yoshinkan

Yoshinkan Aikido (Japanese养神 馆, Yoshinkan, " home for the cultivation of the mind ") is an aikido style, which was founded by Gozo Shioda ( 1915-1994 ) in the years after the Second World War.

Shioda was an early student of Morihei Ueshiba and Aikido Yoshinkan has retained many elements from the Aikido Ueshiba in the 1930s. It is related to the classical Aikijutsu closer than the more modern, gentler Aikido styles (such as Aikikai, Tendo Ryu, etc.) and has sharper, more angular movements. It is therefore often viewed as a " harder " aikido style - with the permission of such classifications can be questioned.

The main difference lies in the method of teaching, which in turn is rooted in the personality of the founder: Ueshiba developed his aikido spontaneous, intuitive and creative way and expected his students that they abschauten the techniques with him; Shioda, however, was a taxonomist, who conceived the Yoshinkan Aikido at the same time as a teaching method. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for teaching in larger classes, and is used in Japan taught as self-defense art for police forces.

When Yoshinkan Aikido is for the beginner the emphasis mainly on the correct form and less on flow of movement and timing, which set only in the progress of the training. Similar to the classic Budo beginners learn first a series of basic techniques ( Kihon ), the ( kata) can be practiced as an individual exercise and convey to him the general principles and patterns of movement. Then the specific techniques are derived from the Kihon.

For the basic position of the Yoshinkan Aikido is characteristic that the hips do not in Hanmi - slightly rotated laterally so according to the position of the feet - but hitting the attacker ( Uke ) are aligned; the weight is resting at 60 % on the front leg; the rear leg is stretched, with strong angled foot.

Characteristic of the Yoshinkan is that every movement variant has its own name; the names of the techniques often differ significantly from the usual in the Aikikai and are still partially taken from the Aikijutsu (eg Dai- Ikkajo for the more common Ikkyo ).

The Yoshinkan Honbu Dojo, located in Tokyo in Shinjuku district.