by PAUL WILDISH - Senta Yamada was the first exponent of Tomiki Aikido to come to the UK, to teach professionally. Yamada, a 6th Dan in both judo and aikido, arrived in London with a training pedigree second to none. Not only was he one of Kenji Tomiki’s original students in the formative days of Tomiki Aikido’s genesis but he had also spent nine months as an uchideshi (a live in student) of Morihei Ueshiba. As with Kenji Tomiki and Hideo Ohba them-selves he had had the inestima-ble experience of learning direct-ly from the ‘Founder’ of aikido without mediation or re-interpretation by others
Aikido Italia Network 