Yokota Sensei

The first thing that comes to mind is he deserves his title as a shihan. I have trouble remembering a specific technique. One was a shomenuchi kokyunage. Mike Jones described it to us the day after as raising both arms and attacking the uke with the butt of the sword. The move was a very aggressive irimi. Nage’s lead hand raises up like always. The second hand raises up underneath the attackers arm across their face. the lead foot is placed behind the attackers lead foot. Then you move in and take their center. You may find videos of it on the net. I saw several people taping him with their cameras.

Yokota Sensei was very humorous on the mat. He made the class laugh numerous times with his teaching tips. Later after class when everyone was asking to get their picture taken with him or get his autograph, I asked him why he doesn’t smile for pictures. He said that his serious face was, in fact, his version of a smile. It was funny, no one had ever heard of him before he came and now he’s a celebrity.

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Published:
10.23.08 / 3pm
Category:
Aikido