 Masuda Seijuro was born in 1936 and he joined Hombu Dojo in 1962. He retired a few years ago after undergoing several serious surgical operations on his back. Of short stature, he possessed however an an outstanding power and was a bodybuilding athlete before starting Aikido. It was Masuda Sensei who, apparently, taught bodybuilding principles to the famous writer Mishima Yukio.
His Tuesday evening classes were very well attended and usually followed by a diner at the legendary Yamakura eating place, a notorious tonkatsuya close to Hombu Dojo. Always cheerfull, he liked to wisper in his uke’s ears while executing very effective Aikido techniques. One would soon forget the playful attitude to concentrate on the usually painful projection or pining that was soon to come. |
I dont have much chance to practice in his class. The evening class full of lovely ppl, n I will never forget them especially Masunaga sensei, n Betty Kozuki n the whole group which i hv lost contact due to my work. Hope those who knew these ppl contact me that is more than 20 years ago. love to visit Tokyo n see Sensei again nrxt year
Sensei Masuda Shihan was my sensei in Tokyo from 1974 to 1977 when I was working in the British Embassy.. He had.a small class at the American Embassy compound and i can attest (with agony) to his whispering in one’s ear whilst he. applied a painful pin. The message was normally rightly deserved. If he saw you inflicting pain on your uke then he would always use you next as his uke. I learned fast. He was nevertheless a joy as a sensei and I couldn’t have wished for a better teacher in the art of aikido. I returned to Tokyo 12 years later on a flying visit and went to his Tuesday day class; he recognised me immediately and announced to the class that a “super-guest” had arrived – quite embarrassing but wonderful to be remembered. Thank you for your patience with me, Sensei. A grateful student – Vincent Sumpter