Aikido Styles - Post-war Aikido (first 40 Years)

Post-war Aikido (first 40 Years)

In the post war period, the Aikikai Foundation led by the Ueshiba family has become the most successful organisation in terms of growth in numbers and prominence in the public eye. However, it was not the first to bring aikido to prominence in Japan in the immediate post-war period.

Immediately after the war, due to the ban on martial arts imposed by occupying US forces, aikido was not being taught in Tokyo. A number of students including Koichi Tohei and Gozo Shioda took it upon themselves to become active in disseminating aikido. Some years later, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, the Founder's son began to actively revive the Aikikai Headquarters in Tokyo.

From the post-war period until the 1980s, numerous aikido organizations evolved in parallel to the main branch led by the Ueshiba family.

The earliest independent styles to emerge were

• Yoshinkan aikido founded by Gozo Shioda in 1955,
• Yoseikan aikido, begun by Minoru Mochizuki in 1931, and
• Shodokan aikido, founded by Kenji Tomiki in 1967.
• Shin'ei Taidō (親英体道) is a style closely related to aikido, founded in 1956 by Noriaki Inoue (井上 鑑昭 Inoue Noriaki, 1902–1994), a nephew and pre-war student of Morihei Ueshiba.

The emergence of these styles pre-dated Ueshiba's death and did not cause any major upheavals when they were formalized. Shodokan aikido, did cause some controversy as it introduced a unique rule-based competition that some felt was contrary to the spirit of aikido.

After Ueshiba's death, more senior students branched out on their own to establish independent schools.

• Iwama Ryu - This style evolved from Ueshiba's retirement in Iwama, Japan, and the teaching methodology of long term student Morihiro Saito. It is unofficially referred to as the "Iwama style". Saito's students have split into two groups; one remaining with the Aikikai and the other forming the independent organization Shinshin Aikishuren Kai (神信合気修練会?) in 2004 around Saito's son Hitohiro Saito (斎藤 仁弘 Saitō Hitohiro, born 1957).
• Ki Society - Another event that caused significant controversy was the departure of the Aikikai Honbu Dojo's chief instructor Koichi Tohei, in 1974. Tohei left as a result of a disagreement with the son of the founder, Kisshomaru Ueshiba (植芝 吉祥丸 Ueshiba Kisshōmaru, 1921–1999), who at that time headed the Aikikai Foundation. The disagreement was over the proper role of ki development in regular aikido training. After Tohei left, he formed his own style, called Shin Shin Toitsu aikido, and the organization which governs it, the Ki Society.

Other important styles and organizations include:

• The Kokusai Aikidō Kenshūkai Kobayashi Hirokazu Ha, or Kobayashi aikido, founded by Hirokazu Kobayashi.
• Tendoryu aikido (天道流合気道 Tendō-ryū Aikidō); founded by Kenji Shimizu (清水 健二 Shimizu Kenji, born 1940) in 1982. Founded the "Shimizu Dojo" in 1969, renamed it the Tendokan (天道館 Tendōkan) in 1975.
• Shingu Style referring to the students of Michio Hikitsuchi
• Nishio Style referring to the style of Shoji Nishio
• Yamaguchi Style referring to the highly influential Seigo Yamaguchi
• Manseikan Aikido founded by Kanshu Sunadomari