Budo, Kobudo & Japanese Artisanry - The Seido Blog

Kimura Jiro Shihan is a Japanese Aikido teacher, the successor of Kobayashi Hirokazu Shihan in Japan, and director of the Buikukai. In 2018, Guillaume Erard, a Daito Ryu practitioner and Aikido historian, and Jordy Delage - who started Aikido in a group affiliated to Kobayashi Hirokazu - teamed up for a joint interview held at the master’s Dojo in Osaka. This is the story of this encounter!

Hoshi Norio is one of those Budoka that you never hear about outside Japan. Reserved, simple, hard-working, away from the internationalisation of martial arts. He is nonetheless an extraordinary Kendoka and police officer. He started Kendo at age 10 aiming from the very beginning to become a professional Kendo teacher.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about weapons from the perspective of traditional craftsmanship. Today, I would like to continue talking about those weapons, but with a different perspective: what consequences the choice of a Bokken can have on your training.

February 16th 2019, Tokyo, Tsukishima Station 1pm. Nicolas Nothum, responsible for Seido's BudoStudies program and Jordy Delage Seido's founder have a meeting with Yamamoto Takahiro Shihan of the Kenjutsu school Hyoho Taisha Ryu for a 3h Keiko (practice) and interview. Here is the story of yet another encounter with a Kobudo master and fantastic human being.

We’ve been going around interviewing experienced martial art teachers for a while now. Mr. Saitō Hitohira, who actually knew Morihei Ueshiba when he was a kid and devoted to Aikido from an early age, is still living in Iwama, right next to the Aiki Jinja. When we had the opportunity to get an interview with him, we did not hesitate, and here is how it all happened.

August 2017, enjoying the quiet summer months, we traveled across Japan to Miyakonojo and the Kirishima Sankei region to visit 3 of Japan's last Bokken workshops. We've conducted 3 interviews and here's the transcript of the second one with Master Matsuzaki Yoshiaki, including some additional comments and information.

August 2017, enjoying the quiet summer months, we traveled across Japan to Miyakonojo and the Kirishima Sankei region to visit 3 of Japan's last Bokken workshops. We've conducted 3 interviews, starting with master Aramaki Yasuo. Here's the transcript with some additional comments and information.

Academic research about Budo culture and history is important, and popularizing it in different forms is at least as important as the research itself. Alex Bennett does both, and he does it well. In this interview, we start with Alex's story, his first encounter with Kendo, then how he decided to dedicate his life to practice, research and teaching. In the second half, we talk about the History of Budo and how all major Budo appeared and evolved through the 20th century.
Presentation of Alex Bennett’s interview by Jordy Delage.