Yoseikan Budo - Hiroo Mochizuki

Hiroo Mochizuki

Minoru Mochizuki's son (b. 1936), Hiroo Mochizuki, studied martial arts under his father from a very young age. He studied widely, in the eclectic system of his father, but whereas his father had perhaps a particular talent for judo, his son had a greater affinity for karate. Studying in France from 1957-58 as a university student, he returned to the country after the death of one of his father's students Jim Alcheik and took over the large following that was growing for the art in that country. He introduced new kata of his own invention, employing both Western and Eastern inspired techniques and introduced a form of point sparring for karate and kobudo tournament styles.

Hiroo must be seen as very successful both as a major innovator and a popularizer of the art, teaching it on a far larger scale than did his father, along with his connections to the quite large aikido based organizations such as the Fédération Française Libre D'Aïkido et de Budo.

Minoru Mochizuki died in France in 2003, and before that, handed down the leadership role of the organization to Hiroo. Nowadays, few practitioners of the old style are found, as most went into the style of Yoseikan Budo created by Hiroo Mochizuki in the 1970s. The new style incorporates both traditional budo and modern budo, including western arts such as Western boxing, savate, and others. The new system also includes sporting and competition aspects, with innovative equipment allowing for safe yet powerful competition. The sporting and competition aspects are but a small part of the modern budo system and serve as devices of education and to demonstrate the art to the rest of the world.