Retrieved on August 27, 2010. is an intensive, 11-month
aikido
Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 1 ...
training program conducted at
Yoshinkan
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 b ...
dojo
A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...
'' (headquarters and main training hall) in
Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
, Tokyo, Japan.Aikido Yoshinkan: The Senshusei course – Information and application package Retrieved on February 28, 2010. (2007). Retrieved on February 28, 2010.Honeyman, J. (2009) (June 1, 2009). Retrieved on February 28, 2010. The course has received attention through
Robert Twigger
Robert Twigger (born 30 October 1962) is a British artist and writer. He travels widely but divides his time mostly between the UK and Egypt.
Life
Twigger was educated at Balliol College, Oxford University. He initially studied engineering, but ...
's book, ''
Angry White Pyjamas
''Angry White Pyjamas'' is a book written by Robert Twigger about his time in a one-year intensive program of studying Yoshinkan aikido.
Summary
The book is set in Tokyo in the mid-1990s. Twigger is living with two friends in a tiny apartmen ...
'' (1997).Twigger, R. (1997): ''Angry White Pyjamas''. London: Phoenix. ()
Course
Course participants, themselves referred to as ''senshūsei'', train from April 1 each year to March 1 in the following year. Training takes place from 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM, five days per week, for the duration of the course. The course starts from fundamentals, assuming very little about participants' initial knowledge of aikido, but a high level of physical ability is expected.Twigger, R. (2008): "Foaming at the mouth." In Z. M. Jack (Ed.): ''Inside the ropes: Sportswriters get their game on'' (pp. 125–142). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska. () Participants learn from the instructors of the ''honbu dojo''. The first two months of the course are considered a trial period, and it is common for participants to drop out. In the year that Twigger participated, the number of foreign participants remained constant at 10 participants throughout the entire course. This is a rare occurrence, most courses have a higher drop out rate.
History
The senshusei course was originally created in 1957 by
Gozo Shioda
was a Japanese master of aikido who founded the Yoshinkan style of aikido.Tokyo riot police.Aikido Yoshinkan: About Gozo Shioda (Yoshinkan Founder) (''c.'' 2009). Retrieved on February 27, 2010. The course has been available to non-police candidates since the 1980s, but was developed primarily for foreign students interested in becoming instructors starting in 1991. (''c.'' 2009). Retrieved on February 27, 2010. There are now two other versions of the course: a less-intensive version for participants aged 40 years or older, and a part-time version taking two years to complete.
Former instructors
Then-9th ''
dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...
''
Kyoichi Inoue
was a 10th dan Yoshinkan aikido master. He was an uchideshi under Yoshinkan founder Gozo Shioda, in what became the Yoshinkan senshusei course. During his early years as an uchi-deshi, he was instrumental in developing the Yoshinkan's current pe ...
, ''
shihan
is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor".
The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process of ...
'', stopped teaching in the senshusei course when he resigned from the Yoshinkan in March 2006 following an internal dispute, later establishing his own branch, Aikido Shinwakan (合氣道親和館). Following Inoue's departure,
Tsutomu Chida
was previously one of the highest ranking ''shihan'' of Yoshinkan aikido, at 8th dan, and dojocho of its hombu dojo from 2002. He first became a part of Yoshinkan in 1969 but split from the organization in January 2008 following the resignation ...
, 8th ''dan'', and then-chief instructor of the Yoshinkan ''honbu-dōjō'', also broke away, establishing Aikido Renshinkai (合気道錬身会) in 2008, thus ending his teaching in the course.
See also
*
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister.
The Tokyo Metro ...
*
Uchi-deshi
is a Japanese term for a live-in student/apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis. The system exists in
''kabuki'', ''rakugo'', ''shogi'', '' igo'', ''aikido'', ''sumo'', ''karate'' and other modern Japanese martial ...