Aiki Jujutsu: Development of a Tradition (Part 2)

 Published on 05/22/2014 in AIKIDO ONLINE

We publish the third and final installment of the series “Aiki Jujutsu: A Creation of Concepts,” a collaboration by Master Ricardo Sanz, National Director in Spain of the Nihon Aikido / Aikijutsu / Aikibudo Department of the Nippon Seibukan in Kyoto, and 6th Dan Renshi of Aikibudo from the Nippon Seibukan Academy. The first, second, and third parts are also available in previous posts. These original articles by Master Sanz were originally published in the magazine El Budoka.

Aiki Jujutsu: Development of a Tradition (Part 2)

By Ricardo Sanz

THE PRESENT

One of Master Sokaku’s early students would become his assistant: Master Roland Hernaez (born 1934). While continuing to study Karatedo, Judo, Aikido, Shorinji Kenpo, etc., he established a teaching methodology based on the Aikido and Taijitsu (the use of the body as a means of both defense and attack) techniques of the Yoseikan Dojo, combined with techniques from other martial arts and both Western and European/Japanese pedagogical aspects. This gave rise to a comprehensive teaching system now called Nihon Taijutsu.

This system incorporates influences from Shorinji Kenpo (learned from Aosaka Hiroshi), Judo and Jujutsu (Mikonosuke Kawaishi, Lucien Levannier), Shotokan Karatedo (Henri Plée, Tetsuji Murakami), and of course Yoseikan Aikido and Taijitsu (Jim Alcheik, Minoru Mochizuki, and Hiroo Mochizuki).

Master Hernaez—student of Minoru Mochizuki, Hiroo Mochizuki, and Jim Alcheik in Yoseikan Aikido and Taijutsu—is also a 6th Dan in Aikijutsu and a Shihan of the Yoseikan school. His Nihon Taijutsu methodology is grounded in key concepts and Aiki techniques originally developed at the Yoseikan Dojo by Master Minoru Mochizuki. Hernaez studied with Mochizuki and integrated those techniques into the Nihon Taijutsu curriculum rather than letting them fade, preserving them as essential components of his teaching.

Understanding Nihon Taijutsu requires recognizing the significant role of movement and fundamental concepts derived from Aiki no jutsu and Aiki jujutsu from the Yoseikan style.

The first Spanish practitioners to be tested in Aikijutsu or Aiki no jutsu [1] were in 1991: Mr. Pere Calpe—now a 4th Dan in Aikijutsu—and the late Mr. José M. Romero. In 1995, another group of Hernaez’s students attained 1st Dan certification in France: Mr. José Checa (now 4th Dan in Aikijutsu), Mr. Angel Palleja, and Mr. Ricardo Sanz.

In France 1995, upon receiving their 1st Dan in Aikijutsu, they were acknowledged with the words:

"Our Federation regards you as an example. You must represent all traditional martial arts with dignity, as that is the duty of the graduates of our Federation."

—Master Roland Hernaez, Hanshi [2]

After Ricardo Sanz returned from France in 1995, he and Mr. Balaguer—1st Dan of Nihon Taijutsu—developed the first nationally published Aikijutsu grading program, titled "Grade Program for Nihon Taijutsu, Jujutsu and Aikijutsu." In 1998, they presented the technical program "Aiki no jutsu Kihon Dosa" as part of the examination for 2nd Dan in Nihon Kobudo: Aikijutsu, co-authored with Mr. Ibañez (2nd Dan Aikijutsu) and submitted to Mr. Miranda, then National Technical Director of Nihon Kobudo: Aikijutsu of the International Federation [3].

In August 2003, at the International Course of the International Federation of Nihon Taijutsu, Jujutsu and Associated Disciplines held annually at Temple-sur-Lot, they presented the "Technical and Methodological Program of Seibukan Aikijujutsu and Nihon Jujutsu." This program was approved by the Federation’s Technical Commission and officially recognized as Aikijujutsu. Following the technical–pedagogical examination, 4th Dan and Renshi certifications were granted, recognized by the Nippon Seibukan of Kyoto, Japan. On the same occasion, Pedro López, Diego García, and Carmelo Echarri—students of the program—received their 1st Dan in Aikijujutsu, becoming the first certified teachers of the organization.

Presentación del programa técnico y metodológico de Seibukan Aikijujutsu y Nihon Jujutsu.

In October of that year, an unsuccessful proposal was made to integrate Nihon Jujutsu and Aikijujutsu into the Spanish Wrestling Federation by creating a national department. The International Federation expressed its intention of incorporation to the president of that Spanish federation, designating Ricardo Sanz as national head of that Department.

In February 2004, the Aikijujutsu program approved by the International Federation was introduced nationally. The first Aikijutsu examinees, along with other practitioners and instructors of Aikijujutsu and Aikido, attended. Annual meetings were arranged to train teachers in the Aikijujutsu program, including the first 1st Dan instructor, Mr. Pere Soler, teaching in Vilanova del Camí, Barcelona.

Today, the need for a national organization uniting practitioners, instructors, and teachers from different Aikijujutsu schools led to the founding of the Spanish Association of Nihon Jujutsu and Aikijujutsu.

If you wish to join, here is the 1st Dan grading program. Dare to challenge yourself?

[1] Aikijutsu or Aiki no jutsu should not be confused with the broader art of Aiki Jujutsu. It is a component of the larger discipline.

[2] French Federation of Martial Arts Schools, with Master Minoru Mochizuki as Honorary President, Hiroo Mochizuki as Director of the Aikido Division, and Roland Hernaez as Director of the Jujutsu Division.

[3] Mr. José Miranda later provided the criteria for Ricardo Sanz’s 3rd Dan. Currently, Mr. Miranda is 6th Dan Yoseikan Aikijujutsu of IMAF Europe, a professor in Figueras, Girona, and holds the highest rank of Aikijujutsu in Spain (cf. Budoka magazine).