Video: Yoshio Kuroiwa Sensei at the 1st Aikido Friendship Demonstration in 1985

Yoshio Kuroiwa enrolled in the Hombu Dojo about 1954 having had a strong background in judo and boxing. In his younger years, Kuroiwa Sensei was known as one of the strongest aikidoka at the headquarters dojo. He remained a controversial figure within the Aikikai system throughout his career.

Kuroiwa Sensei was also a skilled writer and penned a series of articles in the magazine of Rikkyo University titled Wago. Aikido Journal published several of them over the years. Ellis Amdur was one of Kuroiwa Sensei’s students and wrote this about him:

When I first met him at the 1977 Kagami Biraki at the Aikikai, he sat down beside me, and began asking me questions about my training, and soon launched into what, as long as I knew him, were the same stories and same theories. In some ways, he was caught in a time, when he, a golden youth with a body much like Marvelous Marvin Hagler, was an almost invincible street-fighter, a high-ranking amateur or professional boxer (it was never clear) and a wonderfully innovative aikido practitioner.

In this clip, you will see a marvelous clip of part of his demonstration at the 1st Aikido Friendship Demonstration held in Tokyo in 1985. Dressed in a suit, he puts on a marvelous display of intricate stick movements to explain basic aikido principles and a series of effortless koshinage throws. A totally unique presentation!

Duration: 11:31
Access: free access through Sunday, December 4

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