is an intensive, 11-month aikido

Aikido

is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...

 training program conducted at Yoshinkan

Yoshinkan

Aikido Yoshinkan is a style of aikido founded by Gozo Shioda after World War II...

 Aikido's honbu dojo

Dojo

A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...

(headquarters and main training hall) in Shinjuku

Shinjuku, Tokyo

is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population...

, Tokyo, Japan. The term senshusei means "specialists." The course has received attention through Robert Twigger

Robert Twigger

Robert Twigger is a British poet, writer and explorer. He lives in Cairo, Egypt.-Life:Twigger was educated at Balliol College, Oxford University. He first began to study engineering, but after six weeks switched to politics, philosophy and economics. His attendance record was poor, and he left...

's controversial book, Angry White Pyjamas

Angry White Pyjamas

Angry White Pyjamas is a book written by Robert Twigger about his time in a one-year intensive program of studying Yoshinkan aikido.-Summary:...

(1997).

Course

Course participants, themselves referred to as senshusei, train from April 1 each year to March 1 in the following year. Training takes place from 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM, five days per week, for the duration of the course. The course starts from fundamentals, assuming very little about participants' initial knowledge of aikido, but a high level of physical ability is expected. Participants learn from the instructors of the honbu dojo. The first two months of the course are considered a trial period, and it is common for participants to drop out. In the year that Twigger participated, the number of foreign participants decreased from sixteen at the beginning of the course to four by the end.

History

The Senshusei course was originally created in 1957 by Gozo Shioda

Gozo Shioda

was a Japanese master of aikido who founded the Yoshinkan style of aikido. He was one of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba's most senior students. Shioda held the rank of 10th dan in aikido.-Early life:...

, founder of Yoshinkan Aikido, to train the Tokyo riot police. The course has been available to non-police candidates since the 1980s, but was developed primarily for foreign students interested in becoming instructors starting in 1991. There are now two other versions of the course: a less-intensive version for participants aged 40 years or older, and a part-time version taking two years to complete.

Former instructors

Then-9th dan

Dan (rank)

The ranking system is a Japanese mark of level, which is used in modern fine arts and martial arts. Originally invented in a Go school in the Edo period, this system was applied to martial arts by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo and later introduced to other East Asia countries.In the modern...

Kyoichi Inoue

Kyoichi Inoue

Kyoichi Inoue is a 10th dan Yoshinkan aikido master. He was an uchideshi under Yoshinkan founder Gozo Shioda, in what became the Yoshinkan senshusei course....

, shihan

Shihan

- Title of "Master" is a Japanese Honorific Title, Expert License Certification used in Japanese martial arts for Master Level Instructors. The award of the Expert License Certification is if designated by the qualification by virtue of endorsement by the [A] Association of Chief Instructors or [B]...

, stopped teaching in the Senshusei course when he resigned from the Yoshinkan in March 2006 following an internal dispute, later establishing his own branch, Aikido Shinwakan (合氣道親和館). Following Inoue-shihan's departure, Tsutomu Chida

Tsutomu Chida

was previously one of the highest ranking shihan of Yoshinkan aikido, at 8th dan, and dojocho of its hombu dojo from 2002. He first became a part of Yoshinkan in 1969 but split from the organization in January 2008 following the resignation of kanchou Kyoichi Inoue...

, 8th dan, and then-dojocho

Dojocho

Dōjōchō is the title for the head of a Japanese martial arts training hall, or dōjō .The dōjōchō is not always the chief instructor or highest ranked person, but reflects an administrative or ownership role...

of Yoshinkan honbu dojo, also broke away, establishing Aikido Renshinkai (合気道錬身会) in 2008, thus ending his teaching in the course.

External links

• Senshusei course yoshinkan.net