Kazuo Chiba Shihan : May 2022

How Times have Changed in Almost 70 years of UK Aikido

" No matter your pretence, you are what you are, nothing more. " Kenshiro Abbe Sensei.

I have studied at length with many high ranking Japanese teachers / Legends. Most memorable were Kenshiro Abbe - Mutsuro Nakazono - Kazuo Chiba . ( Tada - Kobayashi - Noro - K Williams -Ichimura - Tamura - Harada - Karate - T Otani - Kendo) Jei Nakazono.

I think back to a time when there were only five dan grades for Aikido in the whole of the UK, I was proud to be one of them.

I seriously never thought there would become a time when teachers would grade themselves or much more pathetic to be graded by their own students.

I can imagine when I was a child and all the kids in my class at school getting together to promote the teacher to `` Professor ` we would have got, and deserved a thrashing with the cane.

There are so many now calling themselves 7th or 8th dans and I believe some higher still. I have to ask the obvious question, do they really compare themselves to Kenshiro Abbe Sensei and Chiba Sensei to name a few ??

Site Admin: Henry Ellis

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Scroll down past the books and video information for the blog content as titled.

NEW VIDEO - A Video for all Budoka

The Founding of - JuJitsu, Judo - Aikido in the United Kingdom

CLICK The above YouTube video heading the live link will take you to the video of the history of the arrival of the martial arts to the UK from the late 18th century - The video is narrated by Abdul Rashid with many photos and much factual in-depth research. This video is based on the now popular and highly credited book of the same name. The UK visiting Japanese masters from pre - WW1 and post WW2 were - Yukio Tani - Kaneo Tani - Seizo Yamamoto - Taro Miyake - Sadakazu Oyenishi - Akhitaro Ono - Gunji Koizumi - Matsutaro Otani - Kenshiro Abbe - Mutsuro Nakazono - Kazuo Chiba.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

"Its discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty, and how few by deceit" ~ Noel Coward

Martial Arts Books by Abdul Rashid & Henry Ellis - Derek Eastman

Click on Image to Enlarge

The books authors respectfully acknowledge the many `genuine` Budoka involved in the UK origins of Aikido and other inclusive Martial Arts.

L to R: `British Aikido Board Controversy` - `Kenshiro Abbe Bio` - The Founding of JuJutsu - Judo - Aikido in the UK` - `Positive Aikido` - ` My Interviews with Henry Ellis ` - `British Aikido History`

The six books above are all factually honest books, documenting and protecting the legacy of UK Traditional Martial Arts from its UK origins. All the books are available on. Link> " Amazon Books ".

" British Aikido History " - the book-Amazon release March 12th 2021

"British Aikido History" This new book tells the history of Aikido from its 1955 earliest UK origins, old photos - stories - anecdotes - interviews - This book by two of the last surviving pioneers Henry Ellis and Derek Eastman, their personal stories and reminiscences will give the reader a taste of the atmosphere of those days when Aikido was virtually unknown to the western world.

`British Aikido History ` available from March 12th 2021 on Amazon. The book is published in two versions, Black and white - cost; £6-35p - USA $7-65 or the coloured version cost £27-31p

Click Pic - Visit Amazon "Look Inside" for free preview.

Kazuo Chiba Sensei 8th dan

The Life - Giving Sword (Click )

This blog was created to help preserve the memory of Kazuo Chiba Sensei 05/02/1945 - 05/06/2015 - Chiba Sensei a direct student of OSensei who came to the UK in 1966. Henry Ellis and Derek Eastman left the `Hut Dojo` in 1967 to join Chiba Sensei as assistant for five years and remained associated until his passing.

I strongly recommend the new book by Liese Klein Sensei a long time student of Sensei, Liese is the only person authorized by the Chiba family to author the book " The Life- Giving Sword ".

This new book is now available on Amazon. 537 pages of fascinating and compelling reading.