Kenji Tomiki 1900 – 1979 “Kumite creator for Aikido”

“Kumite creator for Aikido”

Shodokan Aikido is the style of Aikido founded by Kenji Tomiki. His teacher was Moreihei Ueshiba.

Shodokan Aikido is sometimes referred to as "Sport Aikido" because of its use of regular competitions, and although Tomiki used the name Shodokan, the style is still often incorrectly referred to as 'Tomiki Aikido'.

Shodokan places more emphasis on free-form randori sparring than most other styles of aikido. The training method requires a balance between randori and the more stylized kata training along with a well-developed set of training drills both specific for randori and for general aikido development.

The participation in actual shiai (competitive randori) very much depends on the club with greater emphasis being found in the university clubs, although randori is core to all Shodokan clubs.

In 1967 Kenji Tomiki built a Shodokan hombu dojo in Osaka, Japan, to teach, train and promote his style.


Shodokan Aikido is organised with two major groups, the Japan Aikido Association (JAA) and the Shodokan Aikido Federation with Tetsuro Nariyama as the current chief instructor.

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