Minoru Mochizuki
Japanese master, a student of Jigoro Kano and Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the Yoseikan dojo and, according to sources, the first to teach aikido in the West.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Minoru Mochizuki was born in April 1907 in Shizuoka Prefecture; English-language sources give 7 April, Japanese sources 11 April. He is the founder of the Yoseikan Aikido school and is regarded as the first person to teach aikido in the West. He died on 30 May 2003 at the age of 96 in Aix-en-Provence, France.
From the age of five he practised kendo in his grandfather's dojo, and later also under Kurogoro Oide at the Ryokishin school. In 1925 he began practising judo at the Kodokan, where he was also taught by Hisao Mifune and Tokuzo Tokusaburo, and in 1930 he earned 4th dan. As the youngest member of the Kodokan's research group Kobudo Kenkyukai, he studied, among other things, Katori Shinto-ryu. In 1930 Jigoro Kano sent him to study aikijujutsu under Morihei Ueshiba; he spent a year as an uchideshi at the Kobukan dojo, and in June 1932 he received two scrolls (makimono) of the Daito-ryu school from Ueshiba. He also trained in karate under Gichin Funakoshi, in iaido under Hakudo Nakayama at the Yushinkan dojo, and in staff work under Ryuji Shimizu at the Shinto Muso-ryu school; in jujutsu he obtained a certificate from the Gyokushin school.
In 1931 he founded the Yoseikan dojo in the city of Shizuoka. He conceived his system as a fusion of classical Japanese techniques, holding that martial arts had degenerated through specialization or turned into sport. He spent eight years in Mongolia as an educator and businessman, working among other things on irrigation and communication projects. From 1951 to 1953 he taught judo in France, and in 1973 aikido and judo in Vietnam. He was the third head of the aikido division of IMAF Japan. He reached 10th dan in aikido, 9th dan in jujutsu, 8th dan in iaido, judo and kobudo, and 5th dan in kendo, karate and jojutsu.
According to English-language sources, Yoseikan Budo was founded by his son Hiroo Mochizuki, who brought karate to France; Japanese sources attribute the creation of the Yoseikan Budo system, combining aikido, judo, karate, iaido and staff work, to Minoru Mochizuki himself.
Teachers, students and family
Associated Martial Arts
Ranks and titles
- 10th danAikido