1. Our Aikido Lineage Next >
In 2012 I had the great privilege of accompanying Linda Holiday Sensei and several other Aikido of Santa Cruz students to the Kumano Area of southern Japan, where the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba O-Sensei, was born. I was told to think of it as an Aikido pilgrimage. We spent a week training in the Kumano Juku Aikido Dojo, which was founded by O-Sensei. They have an active youth program. When we visited one evening during the children’s class, the instructor, Fujioka Sensei, stopped the class and everyone turned to bow to us and issue a hearty konban wa! (“good evening!”). They quickly organized a spontaneous demonstration. Their dedication to Aikido and their level of experience was inspiring.
Young Japanese Aikidoists training in the dojo where O-Sensei taught years earlier.
Many of the calligraphies high up on the wall were brushed by O-Sensei.
In the picture below, Linda Sensei is addressing the young people’s class in Japanese. She is explaining that in her dojo in Santa Cruz there are also many young people who practice Aikido, and that she used to train here years ago.
The background images in this photo-essay are from the rural area of Kumano in Southern Japan, near Shingu, and Tanabe, where O-Sensei was born. It is a beautiful area, with mountains and the Kumano River, and is often compared with Santa Cruz. You may be aware that Shingu and Santa Cruz are Sister Cities, but you may not know that this Sister City relationship is a result of the Aikido connection forged by Linda Holiday Sensei and Mary Heiny Sensei when they trained there in the 1970’s.