Kanshu Sunadomari


Kanshū Sunadomari was a Japanese aikido teacher who was an uchideshi to the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. He founded the aikido style Manseikan Aikido.

Biography

He was born kobuke Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kikaiga-shima, Japan and in his teens became an uchideshi of Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido. His live-in apprenticeship under the founder took place during World War II, and he also spent a brief period at the Aikikai Hombu Dojo after the war. On October 23, 1953 he gave the first public demonstration of aikido in Kyūshū. The following January he opened up the Manseikan dojo on the premises of the Tettori Shrine studied under the founder in the early 1930s and published the first biography of the Founder in 1969 entitled Aikido Kaiso Morihei Ueshiba. A newer version of this book was later published under the title Bu no Shinjin. Fukiko Sunadomari was a close personal confidante of the founder until his death and was also a high ranking practitioner of aikido.
After Ueshiba's death in 1969, Sunadomari founded his own independent style in Kumamoto City and began his further study of the spirit of aikido. In 1999, he renamed his style Aiki Manseido symbolizing his conviction to help spread world peace by transmitting the spirit of the founder across the world through physical technique. The "do" in Manseido is the same as in Aikido, referring to "the way", rather than the "kan" in Manseikan that can be translated as mansion or castle. Manseido translates as "the way of giving life to all things" or "the way for all people." On January 11, 2008, Sunadomari chose to return to using the name Manseikan Aikido to pay homage to the Founder and to re-emphasize his organization's dedication to the study and manifestation of the Founder's philosophy.
Practitioners of his style recite the Spirit of Aikido before beginning each practice : "Aiki is Love... it is through the spirit of protective love for all things that we perfect our life's mission... ". Practice in Manseikan Aikido consists of a set of flowing warm-up exercises, a number of paired movements that train both body movement and breath-power, practice of basic technique, as well as paired warm-down exercises. Training is further supplemented with practice using the wooden sword 　and staff. Sunadomari is known for his emphasis on kokyu ryoku and his extremely soft and powerful technique. He is widely acclaimed for his dynamic performance in the First Friendship Demonstration which was held in Tokyo in 1985 and became one of the most famous modern aikido demonstrations captured on film. He has written several books, most of which have never been translated from their original Japanese. In 2004, his book Enlightenment through Aikido became the first to be released in English translation.

Translated works