About Sensei
Some resources about Sensei, on our blog and elsewhere.
The New York Times eulogized Sensei recently. And here is the announcement of his passing from New York Aikikai.
You can also find several photos of Sensei on our website.
On Sunday, January 15, Yamada Sensei passed away peacefully at Mount Sinai Hospital. His impact on Aikido worldwide was immeasurable. For us, however, his impact was immediate and quantifiable. We see his legacy in every technique we practice, and in every seminar we attend.
It is more than that, however. There is no aspect of our dojo that is not in some way modeled after his example. Everything, from the culture we strive to create, to the physical space we inhabit, is a lesson we learned from Sensei at New York Aikikai. His loss for us is devastating.
Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei was born on February 17, 1938 in Toyko, Japan. In 1955, at the age of seventeen, he entered the Aikikai Hombu Dojo as an uchi-deshi, or live-in student, where he trained under the instruction of Morihei Ueshiba. Later, he became a full time instructor at Hombu Dojo, while also teaching at Japanese universities and American military bases. In 1964, after having been awarded yondan, Sensei traveled to the New York World's Fair to demonstrate this new martial art to an American audience. He remained in New York City and became the chief instructor of the New York Aikikai.
Sensei dedicated his life to the teaching of Aikido. He authored several books, and traveled worldwide teaching seminars to thousands of students. Just as significantly, he inspired and taught the leading Aikido instructors today, who now have their own dojos and their own students. It is difficult to imagine Aikido existing in the form it does now had Sensei not made that fateful trip in 1964.
Below are some personal memories of Sensei.
Dee: What I remember best about Sensei was our Tuesday night gatherings in his office after class. Sensei of course was there, as was Donovan and Harvey and Noriko. The deshi were also there, either waiting to refill Sensei's drink, or sitting down exhausted after taking classes all day. This was back in 1997, before the office was remodeled, when I was training there for about six weeks. I think about those days with great fondness.
Jerry: For me, I will always remember Dee taking me with her to train at New York Aikikai, and meeting Sensei for dinner upstairs. It was crazy. Here I was, a brand new 4th kyu, and I was having dinner with Sensei himself. And he made me noodles. I'm still amazed at the hospitality he and Noriko showed me, twenty years later.
Buck: One of the last classes I took from Sensei was at Winter Camp. He was in his 80s. It was the first class of the day. While most of the class was bleary eyed, Sensei turned to everyone and said "I feel great today, so look out!"