Tomiki Aikido
富木合気道The only line of aikido with competition. Kenji Tomiki was a student of both Ueshiba and Kano and brought judo's principle that technique needs a measurable test.
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About Tomiki Aikido
Tomiki aikido, also called Shodokan aikido, is a current of aikido built on competition. It was founded by Tomiki Kenji (1900–1979), a student of Ueshiba Morihei from 1926 and a judoka with 5th dan from the Kodokan, who was the first to receive 8th dan in aikido from Ueshiba. He modelled competitive aikido on judo. The competitive method arose after 1958, when Waseda University approved an aikido club on condition that a competition be created. In tanto randori one of the fighters attacks with a dummy knife and halfway through the match the roles are swapped. The knife keeps the fighters at aikido distance. Besides the match, sets are practised, mainly randori no kata with 17 techniques. Because of the competition there was a break with Aikikai, which called on Tomiki to name his system differently. In 1967 Tomiki opened the Shodokan research dojo and in 1974 he became the first chairman of the Japan Aikido Association. He rejected the name Tomiki-ryu. Internationally, competitions are governed by WSAF, of which the Czech Republic is also an associate member. The 2023 world championships in Tenri had 650 competitors.
History
Tomiki Kenji was born on 15 March 1900 in Kakunodate in Akita Prefecture. On 11 January 1928 he received 5th dan in judo at the Kodokan. He first met Ueshiba Morihei in 1926 and in the summer of 1927 he trained daito-ryu aikijujutsu with him for a month in Ayabe. From March 1936 he worked in Manchuria and from the spring of 1938 he led the aiki budo programme at Kenkoku University in Hsinking. On 11 February 1940 Ueshiba, according to Aikido Journal, awarded him 8th dan in aikido as the first person. After 1945 he was interned for about three years in a Siberian camp and at the end of 1948 he returned to Japan. On 26 February 1958 Waseda University approved an aikido club on condition that a competitive method be created. Tomiki and the members developed a contest in which the attacker attacks an unarmed defender with a dummy dagger. In 1967 he opened the Shodokan research dojo and in 1974 he became the first chairman of the Japan Aikido Association, while another source gives the founding of the association as March 1975. He died on 25 December 1979. He rejected the name Tomiki-ryu, as judo was never called Kano judo.
How it differs
Tomiki aikido is a current of aikido built on competition. Aikikai states of itself that in aikido tournaments do not decide superiority, and Yoshinkan does not hold competitions either. Tomiki, however, maintained that competitive aikido should not be a separate school or style and that aikido needs at least one competitive element so that it is not ridiculed by other martial arts. He also warned against excessive emphasis on competition and an attitude of victory at any cost. The differing approach led to a split. According to Aikido Journal, Aikikai called on Tomiki to adopt a different name for his system, and when he refused, there was a break with Ueshiba and Aikikai. At a meeting in Osaka in the summer of 1970 it was agreed that Tomiki would stop awarding his own dan grades if Aikikai recognised his competitive aikido, but the senior Aikikai instructors refused. At the Japan Budo Festival in November 1972 Tomiki's students performed together with Yoshinkan, and in their part it was announced that the method is not recognised by Aikikai. The competition rules prohibit the sacrifice techniques sutemi and techniques in which both knees touch the mat.
Technique
Tomiki modelled competitive aikido on judo and at first briefly called it Dai Ni Judo, the second judo. He arranged the basic techniques gradually: in 1958 into 15 techniques in the book Aikido Nyumon, in 1963 into 17 randori techniques and in 1970 into 19 techniques covering the whole of aikido. According to the Shodokan Aikido Federation, eight wrist techniques, four kote hineri and four kote gaeshi, never changed. Randori no kata splits into four groups, ate waza, hiji, kote and otoshi, and according to an article by the British Aikido Association almost half of the techniques originate more in judo than in aikido. Tomiki introduced the tanto knife dummy, according to his student Nariyama Tetsuro, so that contestants stay at aikido distance. Without it judoka won mainly with the throw seoinage. Koryu goshin no kata contains many techniques against a weapon, the first three to the principles of the sword and the fourth to those of the spear.
Training
According to Tomiki, matches are a result of training, not its goal, and the real goal is good randori. He compared kata and randori to the two wheels of a cart, which must be matched. Training progresses from practice without resistance, kakarigeiko, to practice with light resistance, hikitategeiko, and tori and uke may swap roles. The kyu syllabus also includes eight suwari waza techniques and six oyo waza, applications at a distance. According to Nariyama Tetsuro, changes to the competition rules go through review by a committee, a trial among practitioners in Kansai and approval by the board.
Ranks and progression
Progress in Tomiki aikido is also measured in competition. At the WSAF world championships, the categories are Junior up to 11 years, Youth 12–15, Cadet 16–18 and Senior from 18 years. Juniors perform 10 atemi and hiji techniques in embu, and the Youth and Cadet categories perform 17 randori no kata techniques. Seniors compete in embu, where they perform randori no kata in versions for kyu and dan, a free kata and koryu goshin no kata with 16 techniques, and in individual and team tanto randori. Under British Aikido Association rules, ippon scores 4 points, waza-ari 2, yuko 1 and an effective tanto thrust 1.
Today
Competitive aikido is today governed by the international organisation WSAF, whose supervisory body is the Shodokan Aikido Federation based in Osaka. The founding countries of WSAF are Australia, Georgia, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA, and the Czech Republic is an associate member. The third world championships in July 2023 in Tenri had 650 competitors, and the fourth is listed on the federation's website for 25 and 26 July 2026 in Jarosław, Poland. The Kansai Aikido Competition holds its 51st edition on 15 November 2026 at the Abeno Sports Center in Osaka. Senta Yamada brought tomiki aikido to Britain in 1959 and the British Aikido Association was founded in 1966 to support this style.
Did you know
In 1933 Tomiki helped prepare the manuscript of Ueshiba's manual Budo Renshu. In the summer of 1941 the second director of the Kodokan, Nango Jiro, led a committee on techniques at a distance, where Tomiki presented insights from aikido, and the meetings continued until 1944. He regarded aikido as a separate half of complete judo, which joins judo in the grip and judo at a distance. In 1953 Tomiki took part in a teaching tour of judo and aikido across fifteen states of the USA. He hoped that competitive aikido could become an Olympic discipline. Under the rules of the British Aikido Association the competition area measures 9.09 × 9.09 m, about 50 tatami, and the tanto must strike the body between the armpit and the waist and bend on impact.
Frequently asked questions
What is tomiki aikido?
A competitive style of aikido, also called Shodokan aikido, created on the model of judo by Tomiki Kenji, a professor of physical education at Waseda University. The main competitive form is tanto randori, in which one competitor attacks with a mock knife and the roles are swapped halfway through the match.
Does aikido have competitions?
Most aikido does not, and Aikikai states that there are no tournaments in aikido. Tomiki aikido has competitions, governed internationally by the WSAF. The 2023 world championship in Tenri, Japan, was attended by 650 competitors.
Who was Tomiki Kenji?
A Japanese judoka and aikidoka (1900–1979), a student of Ueshiba Morihei from 1926, who held a 5th dan in judo from the Kodokan and was the first to receive an 8th dan in aikido from Ueshiba. From 1954 he was a professor of physical education at Waseda University, and in 1974 he became the first chairman of the Japan Aikido Association.
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