Aikido, My Way : The Story of Kobayashi Dojos.

• Inquiry
• Japanese

• Live-in Training Program
• Aikidou, My Way
• Musubi Fund
• Montyly Schedule
• Annual Schedule
• Contents of member

• Link
• Dojo Information
• Registration
• Our Instructors
• Biography of Kobayashi Yasuo
• About Kobayashi Dojo
• Home

Aikido, My Way.

Part 4 The Senior Instructors Section 3 Hiroshi Tada Sensei

Hiroshi Tada Sensei was the sensei who was teaching the first time I went to observe a practice at Hombu Dojo. He was a somber ball of lightning who was twisting arms and smashing people down. When I was leaving, he just said “If you’re interested, come to practice.” There had been no explanation of the techniques. After I had begun to practice, I realized that Sensei had no half measures in his tempering style. With the bokuto, if we resorted to strength, it was as if we had had a thousand cuts to the abdomen. After regular practice, we uchideshi would have to do 1000 suwariwaza ikkyos. In the dojo he would pick up and hold in one hand an enormous tempering stick and brandish it, stopping just where he wanted to.

A really long time ago, when I was walking on a narrow street near the Arch de Triomphe in Paris I heard someone calling “Kobayashi. Kobayashi.” When I turned my head I saw Tada Sensei waving his hand. It was a good accidental meeting.

Later, when Tada Sensei returned to Japan from Italy, he took it easy at his dojo Gessuji in Kichijoji. My dojo isn’t far from Kichijoji. Suddenly there was a phone call from Sensei. “Kobayashi, I’m going to Italy the day after tomorrow. Send some teachers here.” He only said what he needed and that was all. He didn’t ask my opinion. With great excitement teachers were sent one after another. Kazuo Igarashi Sensei went there a great deal. He had been my assistant having trained up in my dojo and I lost him during this time. Tada Sensei even today is still energetically teaching.

• Forward.

• Part 1 Birth in Kudan.
• Part 2 End of the war and the Black Market.
• Part 3 I Begin Judo.
• Part 4 My Mother’s Death.
• Part 5 I Begin Aikido.
• Part 6 I Enter College and Begin Aikido.

• Part 1 The Founder Morihei Ueshiba.
• Part 2 Kisshomaru Ueshiba Dojocho.
• Part 3 Koichi Tohei Shihan.
• Part 4 The Senior Instructors.
• Part 5 Unforgettable Folks.

• Part 1 Practice, Days of Tempering.
• Part 2 The Founding of the Aikido Club.
• Part 3 I Become an Aikido Pro.
• Part 4 Life in Hombu Dojo.
• Part 5 Ueshiba Sensei and Mifune Sensei.

• Part 1 The Pilgrimage to Ise Shrine.
• Part 2 Dojo Management.
• Part 3 What an Uchideshi Needs is Management Skill.
• Part 4 Kobayashi Dojos’ Test.
• Part 5 The Need for Children’s Class.
• Part 6 To Train Good Instructors Takes the Understanding and Cooperation of the Members.
• Part 7 Kobayashi Dojos Teaching Policy.
• Part 8 My Ebullient Life from Here.
• Part 9 My Family’s Cooperation in Building Kobayashi Dojo’s Future.
• Part 10 It is Worth the Sweat and Tears.