about Hamamatsu SEIFUKAI

HAMAMATSU AIKIDO ASSOCIATION (SEIFUKAI)

Master Mochizuki, creator of Yōseikan Budō, began by training in Kendō at the age of five, at his grandfather's dojo in Shizuoka. Then he began Judō and joined the Kōdōkan (World Judo Headquarters) in 1925 where he became an outstanding competitor. Under the tutelage of Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judō, Master Mochizuki became the youngest member of the Kobudō Kenkyukai, an organisation for the study, preservation and development of classical martial arts, established within the Kōdōkan, in which he practiced among others Katori Shintō-ryū. In 1930, he was sent by Jigoro Kano to study Aikijujutsu with Morihei Ueshiba. He was the student of Morihei Ueshiba at the Kobukan dojo for one year before opening his own dojo in Shizuoka City in 1931. This is when he began developing his own style of Aikidō, now known as Yōseikan Budō. His style of aikidō is the composite martial art that incorporates elements of the pre-war Aiki Budō of Morihei Ueshiba, as well as elements of many other martial arts including: Jūdō, Aikijūjutsu, Karate, Jūjutsu, Kenjutsu, Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, Gyōkushin-ryū Jūjutsu, Iaijutsu, Kendō, Yari, Kitō-ryū and several others. At the Hamamatsu Aikidō Association, Mr. Sugiyama is Chief Instructor and head of the association. He has 55 years experience in the martial arts himself and currently teaches aikidō to around 160 students aged five to ninety years old at various dojo in and around Hamamatsu City.