Kobayashi Yasuo Shihan is one of the last living uchi deshi of the founder of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei. Unlike many of his peers, he did not chose to settle abroad, but to help diffuse Aikido whithin Japan. Nowadays, he is the head of Kobayashi Dojo, one of the largest group of Dojos in Japan, with extensive ties throughout the world.
Kobayashi Yasuo is as well known in Japan for the energy that he employs teaching Aikido, as for his joviality and freedom of tone. I had never had any contact with him and it is thanks to the help of one of his close students, Matsuoka Hiromi, that the meeting could be arranged. I visited the dojo that Kobayashi Sensei built in Kodaira, in the western portion of Tokyo, on a Sunday morning and managed to get a glimpse of the very special atmosphere that fills the dojo. Considering how little I knew about him, I asked Mihály Dobróka, a Hungarian Aikidoka living in Japan who frequently trains with Kobayashi Sensei to assist me in conducting the interview.
Matsuoka Hiromi celebrated her promotion to the 4th Dan on that day .
- Interview with Kobayahsi Yasuo Shihan Part 2
- Interview with Kobayahsi Yasuo Shihan Part 3
