10/02/15 The Grave of Kenji Tomiki Founder of Modern Aikido | Tokyobling's Blog

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The Grave of Kenji Tomiki Founder of Modern Aikido
Posted in People, Places by tokyobling on December 4, 2014

Aikido is probably one of the most famous of the many different forms of Martial Arts coming out of Japan. In the
West it is often seen as the softest martial art, focusing on throws and using the opponents energy against him. Modern
Competitive Aikido was founded in 1961 by Kenji Tomiki (1900-1979) who in his lifetime achieved 8th grade black
belts in both Aikido and Judo. He studied under the legendary Morihei Ueshiba who was teaching Jujutsu and
developing Aikido from it. Tomiki was the first of his students to reach the 8th level of the black balt, in 1940. He
worked as a teacher at the university of Kenkoku in then Manchuria from 1938 to 1945 and spent three years in a
Soviet labor camp after the war before returning to Japan in 1948 as part of a large prisoner release effort.

Master Tomiki died in December 1979 and his grave is the town where he was born, Kakunodate, in Akita
Predecture. If you are one of the millions worldwide who study Aikido, be sure to look up this tomb the next time you
visit Akita!

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