Keiko on our website takes students from 6th to 1st kyu. But what comes next, once the exam sets are in hand and you want to understand why aikido looks the way it does? For that path we have built a new page: The system of Ikeda Masatomi sensei.
Who Ikeda Masatomi was
Ikeda Masatomi (池田昌富, 1940–2021), 7th Dan Aikikai, Shihan, led the Swiss Aikikai association from 1977. From 1995 to 2002 he was technical director of the Slovak Aikido Association, and its honorary technical director from 2002. The 1999 SAA exam syllabus, which we use for gradings in Vráble, is built on his system.
Two charts
Ikeda Masatomi sensei summed up the whole of aikido in two handwritten charts:
- Chart A says what is practised: the attacks, the four principles (striking, control, throwing, cutting) with the elements water, earth, wind and fire, the 32 techniques that grow out of them, and the ways of training.
- Chart B says in what order: a core with four great techniques (ikkyo, kote gaeshi, irimi nage, shiho nage) and seven stages in which movement, falls, attacks, techniques and the spirit of the dojo are learned together.
What you will find
- A map of the 32 techniques by principle, with an illustration and description of each. A slider shows which techniques are added at each stage.
- Omote and ura pairs: eight throws and eight controls that belong together.
- The attacks from chart A, with illustrations.
- The teaching path in seven stages: movement, ukemi, attacks, techniques and dojo spirit for each stage.
- A glossary of the Japanese terms in the charts.
- The original charts, which you can zoom in on.
What is in the charts is transcribed faithfully. The technique descriptions are our explanation for students; the exact form of each technique is shown by the teacher on the tatami.
The page is in Slovak and English, so it can serve aikidoka abroad too. You will find it in the Keiko section of the home page, in Keiko and in the site footer.